Be patient: Covid, is correct.
A lot of this can be put at the foot of JIT (Just In Time) and it's implementation in the early '80s. Instead of warehousing parts, supplies, sundries, etc., manufacturers discovered that, like their Japanese counterparts who did this in the '70s, they could cut down on costs by closing down those warehouses and lay off the few employees it would take to manage them and keep the money saved for themselves.
The problem was, and still is, Japan is nowhere near as large as America and can very well afford to implement such a thing. And all it took was a pandemic to bring the whole thing down. Like others have said, we have backlogs of container ships out there with some crews never seeing land for well over a year.
JIT has been exposed for the cheap, cost cutting tactic that it always was. It very well have been the first domino to fall and the rest, as they say, is history.
All the best,
Nonoise
A lot of this can be put at the foot of JIT (Just In Time) and it's implementation in the early '80s. Instead of warehousing parts, supplies, sundries, etc., manufacturers discovered that, like their Japanese counterparts who did this in the '70s, they could cut down on costs by closing down those warehouses and lay off the few employees it would take to manage them and keep the money saved for themselves.
The problem was, and still is, Japan is nowhere near as large as America and can very well afford to implement such a thing. And all it took was a pandemic to bring the whole thing down. Like others have said, we have backlogs of container ships out there with some crews never seeing land for well over a year.
JIT has been exposed for the cheap, cost cutting tactic that it always was. It very well have been the first domino to fall and the rest, as they say, is history.
All the best,
Nonoise