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Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

bloomberg.com

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Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#41

Post by inigyou »

orphereus wrote: post #35
jongjong wrote: post #31

In most of the west, technically talented people are fully subjugated to suits so I'm not surprised. Sometimes, there are brief moments when technical people are given the control they need to deliver... But after a few years, they are again subjugated to MBAs in suits again and the capacity is lost. I see this constantly nowadays. As a technical person, there are many companies/roles where the constraints set you up…

Shouldn't free market reward companies that go the other way and where people don't "fail upwards"? It is kind of demoralising to think otherwise, but it seems it is true. We see it everywhere. Bad companies making bad decisions keep surviving, and actually the vast majority of companies are like this. One implication is that MBAs in suits that make bad decisions are actually right and their decisions are not bad. Th…

The market rewards companies that know how to play the market, and the market isn't a free market.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#42

Post by CoastalCoder »

lthi747 wrote: post #39

Am I the only one, that can’t read the article because it requires subscription?

One of the comments provides an archive link to the story.

I was kind of able to read that on my Android phone, but something on the page made panning really janky so I gave up.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#43

Post by code_duck »

maxglute wrote: post #17
taneq wrote: post #9

Is this the new “China can’t manufacture a ball point pen”? (Which I strongly suspect they can do at this point. :)

Ballpoint pen tips was proxy Li Keqiang used to shame PRC industry to build precision micromachining capabilities (tungsten carbide for high-end munitions etc), TISCO did it in like a year and it upgraded entire PRC metallurgy chain. US struggling to make 100% indigenized gloves 5+ years after covid... is well maybe not something new relative to US industrial decline, but certainly something else. I'm sure US can...…

The article states some of the companies successfully made gloves, but customers such as hospitals considered the prices too high, which is why they're looking to the federal government to be the primary customer now.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#44

Post by dmix »

The article mentions access to NBR latex being an issue, but doesn’t explain that this is less commonly produced in America because they produces much more shale gas these days which doesn’t result in enough butadiene needed. So the most important supply chain to build the product is mostly coming out of Asian and European crackers. Giving an advantage to the Malaysian factories on top of the other lower costs of business there.

Which makes you wonder why the government thought it was a feasible investment or if they didn’t care and hand waved it with ‘national security’.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#46

Post by fl0id »

PowerElectronix wrote: post #34
karakoram wrote: post #3

A very important question to ask. Should the US make medical gloves?

Making them? Not in the least. But being capable of making them? It's a must, be it gloves, EVs, semis, or screws.

It's all a question of price, based on the article. And not planning how much it takes to start up. In any case it's also not feasible to keep a plant on standby, just in case you need it one day.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#49

Post by mrkeen »

orphereus wrote: post #35
jongjong wrote: post #31

In most of the west, technically talented people are fully subjugated to suits so I'm not surprised. Sometimes, there are brief moments when technical people are given the control they need to deliver... But after a few years, they are again subjugated to MBAs in suits again and the capacity is lost. I see this constantly nowadays. As a technical person, there are many companies/roles where the constraints set you up…

Shouldn't free market reward companies that go the other way and where people don't "fail upwards"? It is kind of demoralising to think otherwise, but it seems it is true. We see it everywhere. Bad companies making bad decisions keep surviving, and actually the vast majority of companies are like this. One implication is that MBAs in suits that make bad decisions are actually right and their decisions are not bad. Th…

The market does reward proficiency. We live in the punished timeline. No contradiction. Most software is buggy and most businesses fail.

Re: Why it's so difficult to produce American-made medical gloves

#50

Post by maxglute »

code_duck wrote: post #43
maxglute wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ballpoint pen tips was proxy Li Keqiang used to shame PRC industry to build precision micromachining capabilities (tungsten carbide for high-end munitions etc), TISCO did it in like a year and it upgraded entire PRC metallurgy chain. US struggling to make 100% indigenized gloves 5+ years after covid... is well maybe not something new relative to US industrial decline, but certainly something else. I'm sure US can...…

The article states some of the companies successfully made gloves, but customers such as hospitals considered the prices too high, which is why they're looking to the federal government to be the primary customer now.

Article says 1% of gloves are made in US, but US doesn't produce any of the rubber, so raw inputs not American.
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