Why There are Now So Many Shortages (It's Not COVID)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters point to it as a better explanation of just-in-time versus the Toyota Way and of container and chip shortages.
What it is
Wendover Productions explains the wave of supply shortages in 2021, arguing the causes go beyond COVID. It covers how just-in-time manufacturing was applied, container imbalances and the chip shortage.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2021 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Recommends AlbertoGP · 2021-06 · on “Japan's government plans to encourage 4-day workweek, but experts split”
I’ve heard recently (in a video that I don’t know how to find again) that that’s exactly what happened with the automotive industry’s chip shortage: Toyota was the only one that built a stock of chips in advance, and now are the only ones that can keep producing cars without being limited by the shortage. Edit: found the video: [this video] At 13 min. 24 seconds: > Just in time is such a simple principle, but the pursuit of the elimination of waste is now the central mission of any major manufacturer. > However, most did it wrong. Manufacturers globally saw the headline “elimination of inventory leads to massive efficiency gains” and jumped on that without actually determining what made it work f
Recommends danparsonson · 2021-08 · on “Chip shortage: Toyota to cut global production by 40%”
I don't think that's exactly true and actually may be a common misconception - see [this video] for a much better explanation than I could provide.
Cites bobthepanda · 2021-10 · on “Long Beach has temporarily suspended container stacking limitations”
The demand became a lot more lopsided for several reasons: * consumers were shifting spending from experiences that would've been COVID impacted (holiday travel, entertainment venues, restaurants) to online shopping * industrial supply chains in Asia were the least impacted by COVID due to the relative lack of explosion in cases there compared to the rest of the world, so we are legitimately shipping more from there and exporting less * a good chunk of the medical equipment that has been necessitated by COVID (e.g. masks) is made in Asia and that has made demand even more lopsided * there was a ship backlog because COVID impacted how ships were getting unloaded, and at one point they weren't
Cites Hammershaft · 2022-06 · on “The Fed has made a historic mistake on inflation”
I wouldn't be so confident on pinning US COVID policy as the root of supply shortage issues consider supply shortages and soaring costs are currently worldwide problems; Other causes have been cited more commonly by economists & institutions. [this video]