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What Democrats (and everyone else) don't get about the supply chain
American Thinker ^ | 5 Oct, 2023 | Dawn Merrill

Posted on 10/05/2023 8:33:19 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Supply chains are not something most of us think about on a day-to-day basis. Or they weren't, until the last few years, when we've been exposed, at least on the right, to the fragility and susceptibility of said supply chains. This author works in the shipping industry and has a few thoughts.

First and foremost, one needs a rudimentary understanding of how the supply chain actually works, so here is a summation. Let's call it Supply Chain 101:

1. A producer creates goods.

2. Goods need to get to market, which is handled by shippers.

3. Markets may be local, global, or anything in between, so the producer must tailor its shipping needs for supply chain movement accordingly.

4. A carrier (any company that moves goods) is selected and contracted to move the goods.

5. The goods are moved.

6. The recipient, also known as the consignee, receives the goods.

7. The consignee then either sells or redistributes the goods in accordance with the downstream contracts of the consignee.

8. When the goods need to travel farther along the supply chain, the consignee then becomes the shipper.

9. This is repeated as needed.

10. Eventually, the goods are available to the consumer.

That's the very simple explanation, and it took ten steps to get there. Planes, trains, trucks, ships, and even cars are all involved in the vital transport of goods. Trucks, more than any other mode of transport, are the most involved. Whether your shipment is a small parcel that fits in a 6"x8" padded envelope and goes between adjacent ZIP codes in a small box truck or an FTL (full truck load) that requires a 40' container that will travel by truck, train, and ship, in that order, then travel again by rail to truck...

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: shipping; supply; supplychain; transportation; trucking

1 posted on 10/05/2023 8:33:19 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

Do you think Biden’s Secretart of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg (diversity hire because he is a homosexual), understands any of the threats to the supply chain? Do you think he even worries about it?


2 posted on 10/05/2023 8:33:31 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Oh some of us understand supply chains quite well. I have for years told my wife kids, 3 days to complete panic. That is all it takes.

They started believing me over the last 2 years. Unfortunately most still have not learned the lessons of the plandemic.

Supply chain components are the quickest route to that.


3 posted on 10/05/2023 8:36:54 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: MtnClimber
"Do you think he even worries about it?"

The only thing ButtPlug worries about is his public image.
4 posted on 10/05/2023 8:37:04 AM PDT by indthkr
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To: Skwor

The Technology Trap is about to shut tight.


5 posted on 10/05/2023 8:37:31 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MtnClimber
"Do you think he even worries about it?"

Only when the new buttplug he ordered doesn't arrive on time. Otherwise, he couldn't be bothered.

6 posted on 10/05/2023 8:37:44 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe (The woke were surprised by the reaction to the Bud Light fiasco. May there be many more surprises)
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To: MtnClimber

Estes is one of our regular carriers, as well. Fortunately, there are enough independent companies that it would be hard to cripple the country through a cyber attack. But if three or four of the largest ones, including UPS or FedEx went down, even for a few days, there would be big trouble.


7 posted on 10/05/2023 8:42:52 AM PDT by Repealthe17thAmendment
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To: MtnClimber

You forgot the front end….parts need to be transferred to the manufacturer


8 posted on 10/05/2023 8:43:30 AM PDT by Nifster ( I see puppy dogs in the clouds )
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To: MtnClimber

“Everyone else...”? Thinkin’ a lot of folks understand.


9 posted on 10/05/2023 8:43:39 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉)
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To: Repealthe17thAmendment
I wonder how many of the carriers use a common logistics/cloud software service. Usually hacking into a cloud service means hacking into just the individual customer's portion (largely from that company's IT not tightening up the security they're allowed to manage). That means only one carrier would be down.

But a comprehensive hack impacting the overall logistics software service provider could cripple all of the carriers depending on that software service.

10 posted on 10/05/2023 8:50:46 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: MtnClimber

Truckers for Trump can shut down most major cities in the US if they so desire.

It’s the Dem’s Achilles Heel.


11 posted on 10/05/2023 8:52:56 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: MtnClimber

What shipping companies will the FBI target next? Or will it be a coordinated attack on all of them?


12 posted on 10/05/2023 8:53:46 AM PDT by eyeamok
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To: tired&retired

That’s why Trudeau responded the way he did against the truckers.

Problem was, Canadian truckers were not strategic.


13 posted on 10/05/2023 8:54:52 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: MtnClimber
Also, modern supply chains reflect the airy 'just in time' manufacturing wonder that did away with much of the costs of warehousing products.

That's where this system was birthed.

And our Transportation Secretary's chances of understanding all of this? ZERO...

14 posted on 10/05/2023 8:55:27 AM PDT by GOPJ (MSNBC bimbos and pretentious 'men': "THE ELITE " ARE NOT "THE 1%". MAGA's not Marxist/Class envy..)
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To: MtnClimber
It’s far more complex than stated in this article. Back in the 80’s I worked for a electric/electronics component manufacturer. They had over 100k products that they sold. The business was mostly based in the US, but some components and raw materials were sourced globally. The 100k+ products sold consisted of many combinations of components. Think in terms of combinations and permutations sourced from many locations in the US and around the world, each necessitating decisions about order quantities, inventory control, transportation and pricing products to remain competitive and profitable. That was the tip of the iceberg. There was no way for a single person to fully comprehend the complexities.

I can guarantee you that it is much more complex today. I can also guarantee you there’s about zero people in government, beside a few in the military, that has the least bit of comprehension what goes into a supply chain and how all manufacturing activities are affected by supply chains. How can I say this? There isn’t a damn lazy ass government employee that ever built anything in their life.

15 posted on 10/05/2023 9:02:54 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA
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To: ConservativeInPA

When I got out of college in 1982, I managed a small circus board manufacturing company. We made boards for Telex, and Badger Meter, and Oil Dynamics.
There was a large company calledTime Mark In Tulsa at that time also producing boards. All gone in a few years.


16 posted on 10/05/2023 9:51:45 AM PDT by Iceclimber58
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To: MtnClimber
As much as I like the internet - and all things Free Republic - I think we'd be a better society, nation and world if Silicon Valley (mass public computers & the 'net) never existed.

Maybe that makes me something of a Luddite, idk.

17 posted on 10/05/2023 10:20:15 AM PDT by citizen (Put all LBQTwhatever programming on a new subscription service: PERV-TV)
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To: MtnClimber

Mysterious fires at food processing plants now cyber attacks on the shipping system that moves food… maybe I need more tinfoil in my hat


18 posted on 10/05/2023 10:21:05 AM PDT by The Great RJ ( )
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To: ConservativeInPA
It goes way beyond that. Modern manufactured products and the supply chains that support them have become so complex that NOBODY can really understand them well.

As Thomas Sowell astutely pointed out years ago, there isn't a single person alive who even knows how to manufacture a simple yellow pencil.

19 posted on 10/05/2023 11:58:23 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (If something in government doesn’t make sense, you can be sure it makes dollars.)
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