Supply chains are a miracle of human engineering. The car's engine and transmission shows up at the plant at just the right time for them to be assembled into the right color car with all the electronic features ordered by the customer. It only happens when all the gears of the supply chain are turning "just right."
Add a glitch, tsunami in Japan, oops, Toyota, you now have a parts problem from a sole source provider for a part that goes into many different makes and models that you sell. COVID-19 has revealed shortages, production issues, sick workers, and nasal swabs made in Northern Italy -- oops again when those plants closed early in the pandemic.
This week it is meat packing plants. Unseen yet are seed potatoes that are not being planted in Eastern Washington. Watch for a potential french fry shortage at McDonald's come November.
We have not seen the end of the supply chain impacts. You can't just "turn off the supply" because the farmers will start killing the livestock that were supposed to be shipped in April.
It is complicated! We made it complicated. Resilience has been eliminated at the altar of price and profit.
