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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

#271

Post by dredmorbius »

fuzzfactor wrote: post #270
dredmorbius wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the way I originally wrote it. Please read the Reddit link above. - Deny there's a problem. This is distressingly popular. - Identify the wrong type of problem. Again, quite common. - Identify the wrong cause of the problem. Where the causal chain is complex, or there are multiple candidates, and/or direct observation or measurement are difficult (geology, infectious disease until the 20th century, mental heal…

Equally logical and very well worded. I would say for decision makers handling a serious problem or trying to avoid one, a review of both of these checklists in some form would be a good exercise to help them grasp where on the spectrum they stand at the time.

Thanks.

I've found a few similar lists:

- Aviation Threat & Error Management: identify, assess, act, monitor.

- OODA: Observe, orient, decide, act.

- Problem Management (IT): Detection, logging, prioritization, diagnosis & analysis, known errors, review.

- Tom Hicks: 7-stage Problem Solving:

  1. Identify issues
  2. Understand parties & interests.
  3. List possible solutions
  4. Evaluate options
  5. Select option(s).
  6. Document agreement.
  7. Agree on contingencies, monitoring, & evaluation
- "Grey Problem": a problem where the causing factor is unknown or unconfirmed.

- ITIL: Information tecvhnology infrastructure library.

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

#272

Post by xxpor »

sneak wrote: post #228
xxpor wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because "apartments bad" >With particular reference to apartment houses, it is pointed out that the development of detached house sections is greatly retarded by the coming of apartment houses, which has sometimes resulted in destroying the entire section for private house purposes; that, in such sections, very often the apartment house is a mere parasite, constructed in order to take advantage of the open spaces and…

This is one of the most astoundingly antisocial things I have ever read.

And yet it's the law of the land!

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

#274

Post by thephyber »

GaryTang wrote: post #237
thephyber wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a million little government regulations that is causing the majority of the supply chain kinks. China was the only country working full speed after the Wuhan lockdown for about a year. The entire world bought masses of PPG and ventilators in addition to our normal plastic consumerism widgets. China sent tons of full containers to the rest of the world but those containers haven’t returned to China. Everythin…

Mayor of Long Beach thinks otherwise.

I’m happy that the Mayor of LB was responsive. To be objective, it cost him basically no political capital to agree to change the policy temporarily. It is the lowest of the low hanging fruit and perhaps the only easy step for that actor to take.

I was careful to distinguish “the majority” in my assessment. I view the filled warehouses downstream of the ports and the occupied trailer chassis they are occupying as the majority of the problem. These warehouses cause back pressure to the ports. The only reason raising the LB container stack depth from 2 to 4 only matters because those lots are buffers between the ports and distributors/retailers, but those buffers are full.

There are a handful of other problems, both downstream of distributors and upstream of the LA/LB ports which cause this change to be effectively a small lever.

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

#275

Post by thephyber »

ta988 wrote: post #176
thephyber wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve also heard that ships are rushing back to Asia to chase high profits after unloading at US ports before they allow empty containers on the ship. I think we have mismatched incentives that allow something like Tragedy of the Commons.

There are some systems that don't have a capacity for self-regulation, and this is not solved by believing really hard that if left alone they would. This will need intervention if we don't want to just burn money to let time solve it.

Sorry. I didn’t mean to give off the vibe that I think this solves itself quickly.

I see this as we are quickly approaching deadlock conditions. People are used to restarting a Windows box, but I’m pretty sure that only fixes deadlocks because RAM is (mostly) volatile. The physical containers (whether at ports or lots or warehouses or on ships or on rail cars) don’t disappear after we “restart” any part of the system. Without actively adjusting incentives, this looks like a downward spiral to me.

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

#276

Post by thephyber »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #186
thephyber wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are most likely all blind men feeling an elephant. They can all see some inefficiency but they don’t necessarily have a great view of what upstream problem is causing it or who to call to fix it. I would imagine most companies don’t sufficiently reward low level employees pointing out and proactively fixing inefficiencies.

Dock Workers don't have the ability To change city regulations. For all we know, the organizations have been pushing for this change for decades.

As far as we know, the mayor only changed this policy because a tweet told readers to contact the mayor. A dock worker has the ability to tweet or contact a journalist.

I would argue that is our duty to our fellow humans in society to know about the issues and our proposed solutions.

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

#277

Post by pests »

hammock wrote: post #62
lotsofpulp wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the empty needs to be either filled and put back on a ship going back to Asia, or put back empty. Either way, all the containers that go from Asia to the US need to go back. And it makes sense for the port that unloads to also load.

Doesn't seem like it makes sense in this case, though, does it?

If they don't go back, how will China ship stuff to us?

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

#278

Post by mediaman »

kmlx wrote: post #22
cr1895 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a European, i have always associated American made with low quality, cheaply made, bad taste and expensive. American products are to be avoided at all times. What informs that viewpoint? It’s really foreign to any perception I’ve ever heard from anyone or experienced myself.

weird. i don’t know anyone who has had a good experience, or who prefers american made products. cars, food, fashion etc. they represent bad taste and poor quality. i thought this was known globally. like how germans are technical. one of those things that are part truth, part myth. where i come from if someone wants great quality we buy european, japanese or chinese products. whenever i travel to different continent…

This sounds totally foreign to me. In the industrial world, American equipment is pretty good quality. Japanese also. And German, Italian, and French.

Chinese is cheap but their machinery is generally not very good. They screw up all sorts of stuff: wrong bearings, designs are copied but not always thoroughly thought out, weld issues, poorly programmed PLCs, incorrect wiring, poor metals quality control, dangerous safety implementations, the list goes on and on. Some bigger manufacturers are getting better there.

But places like Turkey and Korea have a nice balance of technically "good enough" and cheaper than the Euro/American products, though Korean machines have gotten more expensive and are technically very sophisticated.

The idea that anyone building a factory would turn to China for technically sophisticated machinery is interesting and would be a quick way to get fired in industry. China has gotten a lot better over the years, but I think a lot of people forget that a lot of what happens in China is assembly, not necessarily manufacturing of the subcomponents, which is where much of the actual value add is. If you do get machinery made in China, you look for those who use as much European, Japanese, Korean, or American parts as possible.

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

#279

Post by sparky_z »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #110
sparky_z wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this example, the containers weren't bound for Dallas, the trains were. They're being commandeered from their normal route to move the containers to a new pickup point where the trucks will get them.

That's backwards. The issue is the chassis/trailer, right? Use the trucks to take the containers to the AFB, and use the trains to take them from there to Dallas. A truck (and chassis/trailer) can make two or three trips a day from LA/LB to the AFB. Or, it can take two or three days to take one container to Dallas.

Yes, the issue is the chasses. Removing the containers from the port frees up the chasses that are currently holding them.

And why are you taking all the containers to Dallas? They aren't bound for Dallas, they're all going to different places, which is why you need a fleet of trucks to get them to their various destinations. The trains are just to get them to the new pickup point. It's a temporary measure to free up chasses until the logjam at the port works its way free.

He only mentioned Dallas as a way to say "The trains aren't running their full usual cross-country route [i.e., all the way to Dallas]. They're just running the 1st leg back and forth over and over again so that the containers can be moved as quickly as possible." The goal was never to get the containers to Dallas.

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