Post AjhMMMHoKfZCbFo6RU by klausman@mas.to
(DIR) More posts by klausman@mas.to
(DIR) Post #AjhGiOQ4TxbPrUnJse by ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social
2024-07-07T19:27:11Z
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At the risk of sounding callous... why do so many books refer to covid as producing a "supply chain collapse." Supply chains rapidly adjusted, with (usually brief) shortages along the way, and in some areas (e.g. container shipping) there was massive inflation. But "collapse" ? Like, Wendy's stayed open.
(DIR) Post #AjhGwhtUsBBEJcNqOO by ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social
2024-07-07T19:29:46Z
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It seems to me this is the kind of talk I expect from preppers looking forward to the apocalypse. The common thread it seems to me is there's a desire to come out against a globalized trade system, but that globalized system was crucial to not having the shortages, no? How would we have gotten masks and toilet paper without China being an industrial powerhouse?
(DIR) Post #AjhHCLyg7pgKyaGg8e by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2024-07-07T19:32:35Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I don't want to be a reply guy but I think the simplest answer to the question you close with is that the US was once an industrial powerhouse. Offshoring has decimated our capacity to scale up quickly.Supply chains are actually still kind of a mess, but I don't blame covid at all, really. I blame "just in time" and "lean manufacturing" and other strategies that created short-term efficiency at the expense of resilience. The pandemic just exposed that.
(DIR) Post #AjhHQkCKs6cK9FWBGa by cstross@wandering.shop
2024-07-07T19:35:07Z
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@ZachWeinersmith My understanding is that the cost of intercontinental shipping dropped by about 98% between 1970 and 1990 due to containerization. This led to the globalization of formerly regional supply chains, as economies of scale took hold. And A LOT of people are still upset about dad or grandpa's (local) employer going bust.
(DIR) Post #AjhHa2irMosmCvAHvk by syntaxseed@phpc.social
2024-07-07T19:36:49Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I think people's bar for what counts as collapse is drastically lowered in the generation that hasn't had direct involvement in a world war. Like I saw people freaking out that their *brand* of a product was out, even though competing brands were in stock. đ”âđ«
(DIR) Post #AjhHx37I4HjG5dYvzM by wikkit@mastodon.social
2024-07-07T19:40:48Z
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@ZachWeinersmith Toilet paper is not a great example for this argument, as there was no actual shortage. The fundamental supply and demand didnât change, but the supply chain failed to quickly change from supplying offices and restaurants to supplying grocery stores, and then that was exacerbated by a run on it.
(DIR) Post #AjhI5uNvtwFPcEZTeK by faraiwe@beige.party
2024-07-07T19:42:03Z
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@ZachWeinersmith If anything, it proved how elastic and reliable our supply chains are.And, for those who CAN read more than just the front page of anything, how much they rely on crushing people paid minimally.But, anyways, either way it crushes the mythos of the rugged survivalist depending on nobody. As usual.
(DIR) Post #AjhIHJWukmWEmpD8Iy by paper_clip@twit.social
2024-07-07T19:44:40Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I feel that it's more exaggerated rhetoric than anything else. Supply chains adjusted; some things took longer than people expected (e.g., toilet paper, because there were apparently separate supply chains for home toilet paper and industrial toilet paper (malls, offices), and everyone suddenly pooping at home showed weird rigidities in how toilet paper was produced and distributed), but, yeah, "collapse" would be going much too far.
(DIR) Post #AjhIQbE2KbfSH4oBqi by DrorBedrack@mastodon.social
2024-07-07T19:46:22Z
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@ZachWeinersmith "supply chain distruptions" sounds less dramatic. Sells less paper.Sorry, gets less clicks, nobody is selling papers these days.There were shortages of some things, and a lot of price hikes. I know the price of transporting a container from China rose about x5-x10. And getting stuff by air was even more trouble. So for some bussineses, they just couldn't get their materials/parts/products. For them it was a collapse.
(DIR) Post #AjhIkAoUEyZG9OBvZQ by lkngrrr@hachyderm.io
2024-07-07T19:49:51Z
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@ZachWeinersmith The global supply chain shit itself for durable components. You just couldnât get some commodity chips. You ended up paying a premium to join a âbuyers clubâ to be eligible to be notified to have the opportunity to buy chips when they came in stock.We had a whole paging structure set up for our buyers so the moment we got the notification they could be online and placing orders.And the quality issues from lockdown are still working their way through the supply chains.
(DIR) Post #AjhK26TFE0LPqgMwWe by MisuseCase@twit.social
2024-07-07T20:04:20Z
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@ZachWeinersmith If Waffle House stays open itâs not a collapse
(DIR) Post #AjhK8yKnsCiKdrhDVo by marc_w@union.place
2024-07-07T20:05:31Z
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@ZachWeinersmith "Supply chain collapse" is when people starve because food is rotting undelivered in fields or warehouses. "Supply chain collapse" is not trouble finding your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor for a couple of weeks.
(DIR) Post #AjhMMMHoKfZCbFo6RU by klausman@mas.to
2024-07-07T20:30:18Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I think you point to the right spot there: people perceive "I can't get what I want *at the amount and quality I think I need*" (i.e. top-notch toilet paper for twelve months) as "the supply chain has failed" and therefore "I must bunker this shit", which in turn as a group/mob mentality is self-fulfilling.
(DIR) Post #AjhPQlYecAMe01Tk8m by AlexanderKingsbury@mastodon.social
2024-07-07T21:04:48Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I think globalized trade is great, but I do think some things have become too centralized as a result. When a problem at a single facility can cause serious shortages of, say, diapers, or helium, or baby formula, I think it's reasonable to ask if maybe things should be produced a little more widely. We could have gotten a lot of masks much faster if people had listened to Mike Bowen and others like him, who were sounding the alarm WAY before covid hit.
(DIR) Post #AjhPxuFvITQUX1WIka by oblomov@sociale.network
2024-07-07T21:10:47Z
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@ZachWeinersmith apocalyptic rhetoric sells, and trains the consumer into downplaying it, thus ignoring it when it actually makes sense (e.g. the imminent catastrophic effects of anthropogenic climate change)
(DIR) Post #AjhQIxuSuIGRwfWbce by bmalsuj@ohai.social
2024-07-07T21:14:35Z
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@ZachWeinersmith "Collapse" is hyperbole... but by a similar token, you are underselling the damage.
(DIR) Post #AjhRDYFKzlLurGGoBk by max@smeap.com
2024-07-07T21:24:46Z
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@ZachWeinersmith A half well thought argument I saw was that just-in-time logistics is inherently a failure to plan for long term outcomes. It would be nice if someone was thinking about the long term and preparing âtoilet paper reservesâ for emergencies. But I think they discount how relatively fast JIT processes adjusted and maybe didnât waste as much on reserves we didnât need for that particular crisis (bandaids or kryptonite or something).
(DIR) Post #Ajhex4tTl4jUY15KOu by nitpicking@mstdn.party
2024-07-07T23:58:41Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I'm not an economist, but presumably if China wasn't an industrial powerhouse, someone else would be. It isn't that people are proposing to eliminate industry and return to medieval agricultural economies.
(DIR) Post #AjiAm74mV8vkfDBeOu by raven667@hachyderm.io
2024-07-08T05:55:18Z
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@ZachWeinersmith I think there is real value in maintaining regional capacity though, China can't be the worlds _only_ manufacturer of PPE (or a million other items in the supply chain) because if they had to choose between maintaining exports and protecting their own people, the exports would lose. COVID didn't hit them as hard and as fast as it did other places because of their strong early response and willingness to maintain a high degree of public health procedures, keeping factories open.
(DIR) Post #AjiYt6qo8SWqtLWIDY by MacBalance@mstdn.games
2024-07-08T10:25:29Z
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@ZachWeinersmith Is Y2K a relevant reference? Everyone expected massive failures of various systems and very little happened⊠due to tons of developers and support preparing and fixing things before they felll down.for supply chains there was a lot of reorganization. The toilet paper one is interesting as Iâve heard the paper mills had to pivot from commercial products to residential products and did so poorly, causing shortages. (Plus hoarding of course.)