Found this new YouTube video to be quite informative as to the what's and why's.

Had a circuit board that controls the top LED lights in my refrigerator and the lights in the bottom freezer go south on me.

The tech came out and said I needed a new board and he'd order one. That would be 4 months ago on the 8th of this month.

It came in yesterday. Fortunately the lights on the side of the refrigerator work fine.

I've worked in manufacturing for most of the last 25 years. I've been to Toyota city in Japan. In the past few years I've seen the takeover of manufacturing by "supply chain consultants" that are long on theory and short on real world experience.

For manufacturing professionals and engineers that manage operations and complex technical processes, we all know that "materials" departments have always been the most incompetent and inefficient of all. But somehow by calling themselves "supply chain" they have elevated themselves far above their capabilities. Now they run the show, with outside consultants hired to be their senior managers, and we are all seeing the results.

I just led a couple of studies looking at potential automation opportunities at large manufacturing plants due to the inability to hire and retain employees in the current economy. Guess what we found? Our assembly and machining operations are largely automated to the degree reasonably warranted by production opportunities and constraints. Manufacturing engineers have largely done a good job setting the level of automation in these areas.

Yet the materials "supply chain" people have left their operations woefully ancient and inefficient, with almost entirely manual processes relying on people with walkie talkies to move stuff where it needs to go. And their ideas for improvement largely revolve around moving stuff to outside warehouses where they can pay contractors less money to do the same manual processes. Zero investigation and effort into automated material handling. Why? Because they lack any of the technical abilities to even consider much less implement automation.

What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

Only 2 US ports handling container shipments from the pacific rim. They're overwhelmed and empties are not being sent back exacerbating the cycle.

Manufacturers adopted just-in-time inventory strategies with no insurance stocks. So production has stopped for many industries.

There are numerous other contributing factors to these two significant ones. The video really is worth your time.

Thank you. Hopefully, we/they are making the needed changes.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Thank you. Hopefully, we/they are making the needed changes.

Sadly I wouldn't bet on it.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

Only 2 US ports handling container shipments from the pacific rim. They're overwhelmed and empties are not being sent back exacerbating the cycle.

Manufacturers adopted just-in-time inventory strategies with no insurance stocks. So production has stopped for many industries.

There are numerous other contributing factors to these two significant ones. The video really is worth your time.

Would I be wrong when listening to this that China and area is selling and shipping to us but we are not selling and shipping out to them and similar area = trade imbalance?

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

Would I be wrong when listening to this that China and area is selling and shipping to us but we are not selling and shipping out to them and similar area = trade imbalance?

The trade business is a factor but not as much as the port congestion and lousy container recycling. Watch the video.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

Only 2 US ports handling container shipments from the pacific rim. They're overwhelmed and empties are not being sent back exacerbating the cycle.

Manufacturers adopted just-in-time inventory strategies with no insurance stocks. So production has stopped for many industries.

There are numerous other contributing factors to these two significant ones. The video really is worth your time.

Two ports? Guess someone forgot about Seattle and BC.

Actually it is a supply chain surge issue.

Seattle has container ships held up in the Puget Sound also.

Ports from L.A. to B.C. are at capacity due to a supply chain surge.

https://www.king5.com/article/...c2-813b-ec6c487de2b7

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

Only 2 US ports handling container shipments from the pacific rim. They're overwhelmed and empties are not being sent back exacerbating the cycle.

Manufacturers adopted just-in-time inventory strategies with no insurance stocks. So production has stopped for many industries.

There are numerous other contributing factors to these two significant ones. The video really is worth your time.

Two ports? Guess someone forgot about Seattle and BC.

Actually it is a supply chain surge issue.

Seattle has container ships held up in the Puget Sound also.

Ports from L.A. to B.C. are at capacity due to a supply chain surge.

https://www.king5.com/article/...c2-813b-ec6c487de2b7

Two MAJOR California ports see the overwhelming bulk of inbound container ships. Yes, other ports are feeling the impact of the excess to capacity.

I think I understand how we won WWII.
And why we are at terrible risk for WWIII.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

The utter and complete incompetence of governments both US and Internationally. Shut down whole economies, even for short periods and the consequences are extreme and far reaching. But don't waste time attempting to explain that to men who can't count to eleven without removing their shoes.

That video is interesting and sheds a lot of light on the problems occurring in supply and transport chains, but those are symptoms of the root causes of all this, which like every problem plaguing society, starts with bad government.

And the MOB probably still controls the docks

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

Would I be wrong when listening to this that China and area is selling and shipping to us but we are not selling and shipping out to them and similar area = trade imbalance?

The trade business is a factor but not as much as the port congestion and lousy container recycling. Watch the video.

Thank you
I did watch it, just making an observation.

My belief (mine alone) a lot of this is BS. Plain and simple. I do not buy into a lot of it.

I have not had one thing I have been in need of that I could not get. Not one thing.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's the short version of this? Can it be summed up in a couple of sentences?

Only 2 US ports handling container shipments from the pacific rim. They're overwhelmed and empties are not being sent back exacerbating the cycle.

Manufacturers adopted just-in-time inventory strategies with no insurance stocks. So production has stopped for many industries.

There are numerous other contributing factors to these two significant ones. The video really is worth your time.

SO basically we have put most of our eggs in one basket of having China manufacture most of our stuff. We do like Trump suggested and what he was trying to accomplish and bring back most of the manufacturing jobs back to the USA. God Bless

Yes shortening supply lines to in country manufacturers would be a huge step in the right direction as President Trump wanted. That said there will remain some critical raw materials that must come from overseas sources. But all in all a great leap forward.

Yes, it’s a real shit show for importers right now. This is my business and the cost of ocean freight is eating us alive. The problem is feeding on itself also. I am worried about the coming inflation caused by freight, raw material, production delays because of not enough workers.

And the Steam Ship Lines are making record profit as the 5 big players are the only game in town. Getting space on a vessel, is like trying to by a house now. You make an offer, it’s not enough, so you either pay FAK Premium ++ prices and that does not guarantee space on the ship. They have adopted the airline practice of over selling their space. They value the profit on the containers they can ship, and deny the lower cost containers the space they supposedly were allotted. They just roll them to another sailing, and that could be few days to a week later. Then the whole bidding war starts over.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
My belief (mine alone) a lot of this is BS. Plain and simple. I do not buy into a lot of it.

I have not had one thing I have been in need of that I could not get. Not one thing.

Here's one very real shortage.

https://www.caranddriver.com/n...g-car-supply-survey/

On Chip Shortage Affecting Car Supply, 93% Think It's a Big Deal

Anecdotally, this has been clear for a while. Ford CEO Jim Farley, for example, recently said that the chip shortage is "perhaps the greatest supply shock" he's ever seen. Automotive News used that quote in a new survey of automakers and suppliers called Examining the Global Chip Shortage, which gives us plenty of survey data to back up the feeling that this is a big, big deal.

Perhaps the most surprising number in the survey is that only—yes, only—93 percent of respondents said that they think the chip shortage will have a severe impact on the auto industry. The survey was conducted a month ago, before recent estimates put the shortage's impact on the auto industry at $110 billion in lost revenue this year. But even in January, the estimates were around $50 billion, which apparently wasn't severe enough for 7 percent of respondents.

There's also the feeling that the chip shortage will stretch out for most of the rest of the year. Almost three-quarters of respondents, 72 percent, said they expect the chip shortage crisis to impact the industry for at least six months.

Just a reminder that the shortage of the chips, used in cars, computers, and other products, was caused by worldwide demand for electronic goods that intensified because of the coronavirus pandemic, along with inadequate planning in the supply chain and weather problems. As the New York Times pointed out, a new vehicle can have up to 100 of these semiconductor chips on board; they're used (and needed) in components from touchscreens to transmissions.