Zengineer
Well-known member
I think if the "shortage of everything" hadn't come along the trend would likely be more customization available. The systems available to manage the supply chain are very sophisticated but are only as good as the reliability of the information they are based on.
If I make plastic parts for Ford and my contract says they will give me 4 weeks visibility on demand and I need 2 weeks lead time, and that all happens as planned then everything is beautiful. But if a chip issue or labor issue causes Ford to continually revise their plan inside that 4 week window and my resin supplier has a production issue it falls apart very quickly. Sporadic COVID shutdowns in other countries are still happening, labor shortages, weird weather, transportation shortages, inflation, general uncertainty delaying investment, travel restrictions for technical support...it's 3 times more jacked up than I've seen in 37 years as a supplier.
Every car maker wants to offer full customization and super fast turn around to set them apart from the competition. It's been on every car, truck and bus makers list for 4 decades. Easier said than done.
If I make plastic parts for Ford and my contract says they will give me 4 weeks visibility on demand and I need 2 weeks lead time, and that all happens as planned then everything is beautiful. But if a chip issue or labor issue causes Ford to continually revise their plan inside that 4 week window and my resin supplier has a production issue it falls apart very quickly. Sporadic COVID shutdowns in other countries are still happening, labor shortages, weird weather, transportation shortages, inflation, general uncertainty delaying investment, travel restrictions for technical support...it's 3 times more jacked up than I've seen in 37 years as a supplier.
Every car maker wants to offer full customization and super fast turn around to set them apart from the competition. It's been on every car, truck and bus makers list for 4 decades. Easier said than done.
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