- Jul 22, 2015
- 2,724
(mods - feel free to move to more appropriate section, as needed. This didn't qualify for the 'escape room'. You may decide to delete the post as 'fearmongering'; I'm just trying to give a heads-up to a community that I frequent. It is also geared more to the US members, as I don't have firsthand knowledge of Canadian supply chains. Thx.)
FYI... was placing a parts order this morning, and had to hunt for certain items that I normally never see 'on backorder'. This was for a full-size pickup, which sells 500K copies / yr.
I did eventually find everything I needed, at least for this order.
If you have something you know you're going to need to replace soon, or be potentially stranded... it might be good to get your order in now, or at least start looking.
China (where so many of the world's manufactured goods come from now) is restarting their own economy now, but it's been down for a couple of months, and takes time to restabilize.
Our own is obviously going to take awhile to get back to some sense of 'normalcy'. I used quote marks, there, for a reason.
This, on top of the continuing issues I see with item availability at the grocery (some caused by disparate supply chains for commercial / foodservice vs. consumer grocery, but an issue, nonetheless.) And government people (AgSec) getting on TV saying "no worries about food, people". To which I say, 'well, where IS it - it's been a month, now'. And my local grocery (a major chain) is probably 25mi from one of its main distribution warehouses, so it's not a 'distance' issue.
I also notice the weekly sales circular has become a LOT smaller, here, for two weeks running (not sure if happening anywhere else.) I went to the grocery yesterday and saw a lot fewer things 'on sale' (which usually occurs cyclically (e.g.; promotions), or in cases of excess inventory.)
Not suggesting you start hoarding, but if you need to replenish the larder, be aware that there are a LOT of empty spaces on the shelves where foodstuffs used to be. Oh, btw - same-store grocery sales are up 26%, month over month -- people are eating most meals at home, now. I know it's been a full month since I've ordered anything from a restaurant, at least.
On the farm front, we're now seeing news stories / video of dumped milk, smashed eggs, and harvest-ready crops being plowed under, for lack of a buyer / processor, or a crew to harvest the crop. Meat processing plants are prime places for the spread of transmission, due to the close proximity of workers; they're now being labeled 'hotspots', and closing. This also affects affiliated plants farther down the chain that depend on a regular supply of semi-finished goods, to make their own products (bacon, sausage, etc.)
And finally, the extended lead time on shipping "non-essential" items w/ Amazon (which also shows more items 'out of stock', as well).
Pharmaceuticals also look to be affected. Many of the raw materials now come from... China. And are manufactured in... India (which is also under a nation-wide lockdown). Lead times to manufacture certain items (injectables, for one) take an extended period under optimal circumstances. If you have maintenance prescriptions, it would be good to get an additional supply refilled, when you can. The good thing, here, is that these won't go to waste; you'll eventually need to use them.
Yeah, I'm officially 'concerned', now. Situational awareness can be a good thing.
FYI... was placing a parts order this morning, and had to hunt for certain items that I normally never see 'on backorder'. This was for a full-size pickup, which sells 500K copies / yr.
I did eventually find everything I needed, at least for this order.
If you have something you know you're going to need to replace soon, or be potentially stranded... it might be good to get your order in now, or at least start looking.
China (where so many of the world's manufactured goods come from now) is restarting their own economy now, but it's been down for a couple of months, and takes time to restabilize.
Our own is obviously going to take awhile to get back to some sense of 'normalcy'. I used quote marks, there, for a reason.
This, on top of the continuing issues I see with item availability at the grocery (some caused by disparate supply chains for commercial / foodservice vs. consumer grocery, but an issue, nonetheless.) And government people (AgSec) getting on TV saying "no worries about food, people". To which I say, 'well, where IS it - it's been a month, now'. And my local grocery (a major chain) is probably 25mi from one of its main distribution warehouses, so it's not a 'distance' issue.
I also notice the weekly sales circular has become a LOT smaller, here, for two weeks running (not sure if happening anywhere else.) I went to the grocery yesterday and saw a lot fewer things 'on sale' (which usually occurs cyclically (e.g.; promotions), or in cases of excess inventory.)
Not suggesting you start hoarding, but if you need to replenish the larder, be aware that there are a LOT of empty spaces on the shelves where foodstuffs used to be. Oh, btw - same-store grocery sales are up 26%, month over month -- people are eating most meals at home, now. I know it's been a full month since I've ordered anything from a restaurant, at least.
On the farm front, we're now seeing news stories / video of dumped milk, smashed eggs, and harvest-ready crops being plowed under, for lack of a buyer / processor, or a crew to harvest the crop. Meat processing plants are prime places for the spread of transmission, due to the close proximity of workers; they're now being labeled 'hotspots', and closing. This also affects affiliated plants farther down the chain that depend on a regular supply of semi-finished goods, to make their own products (bacon, sausage, etc.)
And finally, the extended lead time on shipping "non-essential" items w/ Amazon (which also shows more items 'out of stock', as well).
Pharmaceuticals also look to be affected. Many of the raw materials now come from... China. And are manufactured in... India (which is also under a nation-wide lockdown). Lead times to manufacture certain items (injectables, for one) take an extended period under optimal circumstances. If you have maintenance prescriptions, it would be good to get an additional supply refilled, when you can. The good thing, here, is that these won't go to waste; you'll eventually need to use them.
Yeah, I'm officially 'concerned', now. Situational awareness can be a good thing.