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Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

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Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#251

Post by aptxkid »

davidjfelix wrote: post #211
wenc wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A positive feedback loop in this instance means more and more of something happening, and is being reinforced in every iteration. In control theory, the language of positive/negative in feedback loops usually means growth/diminution rather than good/bad. It’s seemingly counter to common intuition but as a former control theorist I immediately recognized this language in the context of feedback loops.

I'm not arguing that what he said was correct nor saying that I don't know which is which. I think it's weird that we're nitpicking something that was pretty obviously miscommunicated rather than the content.

I agree that positive vs. negative is beside the point. But deadlock and positive feedback loop are different things though.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#252

Post by kortilla »

dexterdog wrote: post #172
postingawayonhn wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But isn't this exactly what makes Silicon Valley so effective? A willingness to challenge the status quo and rapidly iterate.

Move fast and break things doesn't work so well with things like the supply chain. We don't have a good qa env.

Move slow an break things isn’t exactly working out so well is it?

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#253

Post by nullc »

DaveExeter wrote: post #79
rsj_hn wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be really careful when citing numbers like these. A typical American "manufacturing" firm primarily does design and supply chain management, with the actual physical task of production and assembly outsourced. So if they can get the foreign production for $100 and they sell the product for $300, then their design and supply chain management is worth $200 and we say that the US has a strong manufacturing b…

>The moment the suppliers can set up their own shop or sell enough IP to local rivals, they will be able to sell the identical good for $150... That's what I am looking forward to! What is so special about manufacturing? What would be wrong with assembly-line workers going the way of farm workers? 14 million farm workers in 1910. 3 million today. Tragedy? https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Farm_Labor/fl_frmw..…

Farm workers went from 14m to 3m because farms became much more productive (even more than 14/3, since we produce more agricultural goods too).

Surely you see that having fewer workers because the work is being done someplace far away is not equivalent having fewer workers because we can do more work with fewer.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#254

Post by nullc »

DaveExeter wrote: post #106
jdkee wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what would you suggest those workers learn to do that could substitute for manufacturing job wages?

I think there has been more a winding-down of manufacturing jobs, not an abrupt cutoff.

The winding down consists of a large number of independent abrupt cutoffs.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#255

Post by avs733 »

drcode wrote: post #63
graton wrote: post #60

Related: The mayor of Long Beach has increased the stacking limit. https://mobile.twitter.com/RobertGarcia/status/1451679404757...

It's weird to me that thousands of people work at the docks or with the trucks, and likely understand these problems quite well, but only after a silicon valley guy rented a boat to take a look and tweeted about it did it come to attention of the larger world. Is it just that these other people don't want to "rock the boat" at their place of employment?

Narratives about who is listened to

Theories about entrepreneurship for example are entirely based on the actions of financially successful entrepreneurs. There’s nothing to prove they are more rational or somehow superior…but that’s who gets to build the narrative.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#256

Post by newbie789 »

drcode wrote: post #63
graton wrote: post #60

Related: The mayor of Long Beach has increased the stacking limit. https://mobile.twitter.com/RobertGarcia/status/1451679404757...

It's weird to me that thousands of people work at the docks or with the trucks, and likely understand these problems quite well, but only after a silicon valley guy rented a boat to take a look and tweeted about it did it come to attention of the larger world. Is it just that these other people don't want to "rock the boat" at their place of employment?

I think there may be a slight causal disconnect between “guy tweets” and “stuff gets fixed.” I’d bet stuff got fixed after lots of stakeholders complained!

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#257

Post by fuzzfactor »

dredmorbius wrote: post #241

About 7 years ago I wrote out a quick list of issues (or steps) in problem resolution. Ryan Peterson's Tweet thread here seems like a near-perfect fit for my formulation. Phrased positively,[1] the steps are: - Awareness. Registering that there is, in fact, a problem. "The first step is admitting you've got a problem". Here, "The ports of LA/Long Beach are at a standstill." - Diagnosis. Recognizing a problem, and cor…

This is highy logical and so very sensible.

It would be intersting to see the converse in its failure version for comparison.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#258

Post by CyanLite4 »

shusson wrote: post #162

Stupid question, why isn’t simple capitalism working on the port? This solution while admirable, reminds me of the USSR trying to set the price of bread.

Capitalism is working, some companies are making more with the delays than without. Perverse incentives.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#259

Post by pokstad »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #185
drcode wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's weird to me that thousands of people work at the docks or with the trucks, and likely understand these problems quite well, but only after a silicon valley guy rented a boat to take a look and tweeted about it did it come to attention of the larger world. Is it just that these other people don't want to "rock the boat" at their place of employment?

Or they have asking for it for many years and it was ignored until the president put a spotlight on LB harbor and the mayor scrambled to look like he was doing something. Time may tell if it has any impact. At worst, the mayor end up being able to say they tried something. At best it helps resolve the problem, or the problem resolves itself over time and they can still claim a credit

You’re spot on. The fact that Mayor Garcia didn’t take any action on something he SHOULD intimately understand until a Silicon Valley outsider told him what to do is ridiculous.

Re: Flexport CEO on how to fix the US supply chain crisis

#260

Post by TrispusAttucks »

drcode wrote: post #63
graton wrote: post #60

Related: The mayor of Long Beach has increased the stacking limit. https://mobile.twitter.com/RobertGarcia/status/1451679404757...

It's weird to me that thousands of people work at the docks or with the trucks, and likely understand these problems quite well, but only after a silicon valley guy rented a boat to take a look and tweeted about it did it come to attention of the larger world. Is it just that these other people don't want to "rock the boat" at their place of employment?

Almost all blue collar workers I know complain about how clueless their management is to operations on the ground. A complete "failure of common sense".

Bottom up communication isn't effectively or really in place because command comes from the top down. In many cases their boss and bosses boss never even worked a yard or understand the fundamental realities at the bottom.

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