Supply Chain, Shortages, and Whatnot
I'm sure most of you in the US have been familiar with shortages of items during the pandemic. Truth is, it seems to be still happening even after "opening up" the economy. When I go to the grocery store, I still see things such as cleaning wipes and hand soap being out of stock on the shelves.
A few aisles over, you could see the some other PSAs informing you about other shortages.
One could say that's a minor convenience since soda is not exactly a necessity of life. For the most part, I drink the original flavor during my break at work. So, losing a few exotic flavors is none of my concern. It is worrisome in that the whole supply chain seems more fragile than I thought.
Of course, the coin shortage is something that has also been happening. On one hand, it goes to show how much people use cash for transactions. When the stores and businesses shutdown, they also affected the flow of the coins. It's amazing that my bank still manages to offer quarters to me during this time.
Can you imagine a year 2020 coin becoming something special down the road? It seems far-fetched, but it would be a memento for me.
What about in places such as clinical labs? Well, I had known about the plastic shortages months back. It would appear that if finally caught up with us.
One of the most common media, the 5% sheep blood agar (SBA), is now in short supply in my department. We have managed to compensate by using chocolate agar. The department reserved SBAs for cultures that had to have them.
Unfortunately, improvisation sacrifices quality for "good enough". That isn't good for patient care in the long run. Times like this force managers to reconsider the contracts they have with suppliers. If the suppliers cannot rectify the issue, they would lose business. And that is one of the effects of shutting down the economy.
It would appear our supply chain is rather delicate. Despite new technology and tools to help us run the operations, it's not resilient. Is it possible to create buffer in anticipation of black swan events? Do we need more advancement in technology to mitigate similar effects in the future? Or, is this the result of stretching things too thin for the sake of profits?
As for me, it is somewhat chilling to think that we are but a few steps away from civilization to chaos.
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So it is due to the labs needing chocolate that there seems to be a candy bar shortage lately. It started with M&M's and has spread to other candies in the stores I shop in in Alaska. Mind you it does not bother me because I don't do the chocolate thing anymore, but it seems lately that the shortages are artificial comfort shortages.
Chocolate agar made from chocolate is a popular misconception. It's only called that because of its color.
It's actually made from lysed red blood cells.
Non lab science guy, but there was an M&M candy shortage up here. We went through the wheat shortage, that lasted about a month, then the M&M shortage, that is still on going along with other candies, after the wheat came back surprise surprise there was a yeast shortage, still ongoing, along with a baking powder and soda shortage. lots of corn starch still available though. As canning season is approaching I am hoping we do not have an artificial pectin shortage, I still have not gotten that yet.
A lot of it could be because of the supply chain, trucks and airplanes and boats to Alaska, but it seems as if the shortages are being manufactured, because when the stuff comes back on the shelf it is at a higher price.
Different locations will experience shortages differently.
I remember flour and other baking essentials could not be found a few months ago.
The shortages here have all but disappeared, is this all going to start again, the madness!
Where I'm at, the stores seem to be missing soap and other cleaning products now.
Before, it was the toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, etc.
What I am noticing, beyond consumer goods, is a widespread lack of compassion and tolerance, "thanks" to the infodemic touted by the mainstream and the puppet politicians. Do you notice it too?
In my state, things are still relatively tame.
I would contribute a lot of it to the fact that our unemployment rate hovered around 5%, which is second lowest in the entire US.
But, looking around social media like Twitter, disgusting behaviors seem to be everywhere. It becomes taxing to even read about them.
Just like that!
I am gradually eliminating the mainstream streams from my social networks, to avoid being contaminated by negativity and terrorism!
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Weird about the coins. I only use cash to buy lotto tickets and stuff off unlicensed street vendors.
Didn't know that was a possible production route.
The coins were surprising, but it also kinda made sense. Less transactions would have meant less distribution.
A lot of the beverage factories in Korea have switched some production to making ethanol based sanitizers for the cause.
Corn has a lot of uses. In USA it's 40% animal feed, 30% fuel ethanol (fuel / sanitizer), 8% processed foods (starch, oil, and sugars~ soft drinks). 3% food ~ canned corn, corn on the cob, corn meal/flour, alcohol. The rest is exported or saved for seed and zombie attacks or whatever.
Well, TIL.
I read a book about it. Neat stuff.
I mean. Wouldn't it be best to have a shortage of anything unhealthy? :P
Sir, this is 'Murica.
Haha ye xD There would be riot of there were shortages of real cokes I guess :p
They should take this opportunity to cancel pennies and perhaps even nickels.
There has been lots of talk of canceling the distribution of pennies, but they don't want to put people out of business.
It costs around 1.5 cents to make a penny.
It'd make sense. But, it would make too much sense for our government.
Wow, that is definitely very interesting. My wife and I have noticed that certain things we would think should be in short supply are not and then other things like the soda you mentioned are. It is crazy how there can be a domino effect with this sort of thing.
I guess unless you are actually looking at the inventories and schedules, it's not possible to predict what's gonna go short next.
The two things that seemed to be the hardest to find during the initial panic was powdered milk and yeast so it doesn't surprise me someone mentioned yeast is still in short supply. I haven't particularly looked for it lately and it's usually high up on a shelf out of normal eye range walking down the aisle but powdered milk I spot quite a bit and the self is still relatively empty except for two, three bags. Stock has pretty much leveled out to pre panic conditions around here but there is still a lot of stuff they only stock so much for sale in a day, like in the meat department, once it's gone it's gone for the day, no more until the butchers come in early in the morning whereas before they'd cut enough to keep stocking all day.
The butchers in my area seem to be stocked for the most part.
I guess it depends on the region you are at. Some things are more plentiful than others.
Pretty stoked that this is what the shortage effects.
I hope it all goes downhill regarding sodas and candy bars, so we can realize all we need to live healthy and well is a garden in our yard!!
Granted, that may not seem practical, but in any event, growing food = good, canned sugar water = bad
It's really not that simple.
https://www.syracuse.com/living/2020/08/no-can-do-pandemic-canning-trend-causing-shortage-of-lids-and-jars-for-home-gardeners.html
It never is! I suppose I always see the bright side, by choice. I think a lot of people will be gardening in the spring!!
I made a little gardening / perma aggregator site a few months back if you or anyone reading is interested: perma.rocks
I think this is something we all have felt intuitively for some time. May explain all those apocalyptic movies and TV shows. There's a sense that we have to take care of ourselves, that we shouldn't be too dependent on outsiders. Survivalism has always been strong in the U.S., but I think there is a revival of the movement in recent years.
When I was young, communes were the thing, self-sufficiency. But this was a kind of idealistic utopianism. Communities grew up where people would share responsibilities and rewards. These communities didn't last long. The tone of them was quite upbeat, not desperate. I think the rise in gun ownership today is partly due to a fear of a catastrophic social failure. There are of course other factors driving gun ownership, but this is one. And I think it is an impulse you are less likely to find in Europe.
Maybe we should all start growing our victory gardens and installing private home generators. Can't hurt, can it?
The more self-reliant you are, the better in the long run.