Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

bloombergquint.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 153 posts

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#61

Post by jpindar »

defanor wrote: post #25
tetromino_ wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two basic color words for different types of blue. You might think of azure, cobalt, and sapphire as shades of blue. To a Russian speaker, синий and голубой are not shades of each other, they are different basic colors, like blue and green in English. And there is no one color word in Russian encompassing all blues.

> To a Russian speaker, синий and голубой are not shades of each other, they are different basic colors, like blue and green in English. As a native Russian speaker, I always understood "голубой" as a light shade of "синий" (blue), and that's how it's defined in dictionaries [1,2]. [1] https://academic.ru/searchall.php?SWord=%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D... [2] https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B...

Like pink and red? Technically pink is light red, but no one calls it that.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#62

Post by jdlshore »

mzs wrote: post #39
jdlshore wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear this complaint frequently, and I always wonder if the people making it are well-informed about supply chain logistics or are just parroting what they’ve heard elsewhere. Because my understanding of TPS and Lean is that it solved serious issues with supply chains involving waste due to outdated and rusted (figuratively and literally) inventory. It also doesn’t prevent the use of buffers to absorb shocks, as Toy…

Here's recent supply-chain thread calling-out a current bottle neck: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1451543776992845834.html https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1451543776992845834

That’s a great thread, thank you. Do note that one of the replies calls his fundamental thesis into question, though: empties are sitting on chassis not due to regulation, but due to lack of equipment for stacking them higher.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#63

Post by extrapickles »

missinfo wrote: post #47
mzs wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's recent supply-chain thread calling-out a current bottle neck: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1451543776992845834.html https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1451543776992845834

That is amazing. Why is the Flexport CEO apparently the only one trying to diagnose and solve this critical problem? It's not even that hard. He lays out a relatively simple solution: 1) Executive order effective immediately over riding the zoning rules in Long Beach and Los Angeles to allow truck yards to store empty containers up to six high instead of the current limit of 2. Make it temporary for ~120 days. This w…

There is a emission’s control law that is effectively banning any truck older than a 10 years from entering California which would also need a temporary stay to help get the bottleneck cleared as fast as possible.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#64

Post by philwelch »

wongarsu wrote: post #57
philwelch wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't with the methodology itself but with how it's implemented in practice. Lean makes your buffers a lot more visible to management, and if you combine that with a culture of short-sighted cost-cutting, you run into issues. The problem isn't lean; it's a management culture of short-sighted cost-cutting.

And that management culture is an effect of how compensation works. Cut costs, put "reduced overhead by X Million" on resume, either get promoted or switch jobs before negative impact happens.

Which might explain how Toyota has less of these problems. I don't think Toyota executives are the type of people to make these kinds of moves and hop jobs.

Ted Ogawa, President and CEO of Toyota North America (https://pressroom.toyota.com/biographies/tetsuo-ogawa/):

> After joining Toyota in 1984....

Mark Templin, President and CEO of Toyota Financial Services(https://pressroom.toyota.com/biographies/mark-templin/):

> Since joining Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) in 1990, Templin has held a number of positions.

Chris Nielsen, Executive Vice President, Product Support & Chief Quality Officer (https://pressroom.toyota.com/biographies/chris-nielsen/):

> Nielsen joined Toyota in 1987 as a buyer at its Georgetown, Kentucky, plant

Toshio Niimi, Executive Vice President, Production Engineering and Manufacturing (https://pressroom.toyota.com/biographies/toshio-niimi/):

> Niimi joined TMC in 1984 and has held positions in the company’s engineering and manufacturing divisions.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Chairman of the Board of Directors (https://global.toyota/en/company/profile/executives/board-of...):

> Takeshi Uchiyamada was born on August 17, 1946. He graduated from Nagoya University with a degree in applied physics in March 1969, and joined Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in April the same year.

Shigeru Hayakawa, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors (https://global.toyota/en/company/profile/executives/board-of...):

> Shigeru Hayakawa was born on September 15, 1953. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a bachelor's degree in economics in March 1977, and joined Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in April of the same year.

Akio Toyoda, President (https://global.toyota/en/company/profile/executives/board-of...):

> He joined Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in April 1984.

(He also happens to be the grandson of the founder of Toyota.)

Koji Kobayashi, Member of the Board of Directors (https://global.toyota/en/company/profile/executives/board-of...):

> He graduated from Shiga University with a bachelor's degree in economics in March 1972, and joined Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in April of the same year.

I can see how that would discourage short-term decision-making.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#65

Post by azinman2 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #60
TomAbel wrote: post #49

After the 2011 Japan earthquake automakers ran into a the same problem, they ran out of a pigment called Xirallic made by Merck >After the earthquake, automakers worldwide were forced to stop making cars of certain colors because they couldn't get the aluminum-flaked Xirallic pigment that makes the paint sparkle. Merck was making the pigment at only one plant worldwide -- its Onahama plant in the quake zone -- and ke…

Just how much stock would companies need to avoid the problems we have now? This isn't just a supply side problem, demand for some goods has gone through the roof. How can a business compete on resilience when all their competitors are cheaper because they carry less stock. I'm not even sure I'd want that as a consumer. Mostly I'd rather wait than pay more (although obviously not for food).

Except waiting ripples through the economy. You may not need a particular thing, but something that depends on it for their business 18 chain links away from things you need, does. And without it, certain businesses might not be able to sell anything, and thus go bankrupt, and thus put people out of work. It's all a very complicated interconnected web

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#66

Post by toxik »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #58
routerl wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't just any purple, but the particular purple that came from a species of sea snail. For example, purple dyes were common in China many centuries before the Roman Tyrian Purple we're talking about, but never gained this luxury status. So it's worth pointing out that Tyrian Purple was an exceptionally long lasting dye; it did not fade when left in the sun, or after washing. Compared to other purple fabrics, Tyr…

So it was expensive to make and worth the expense involved because of it's unusual durability. It wasn't some artificial scarcity, like modern day diamonds, nor "valuable" merely because it was scarce. Thank you for that. That's a wonderful bit of trivia.

Well, “worth it” is a stretch - I think they almost put the snail to extinction from needing so much of it.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#67

Post by margalabargala »

jdlshore wrote: post #62
mzs wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's recent supply-chain thread calling-out a current bottle neck: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1451543776992845834.html https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1451543776992845834

That’s a great thread, thank you. Do note that one of the replies calls his fundamental thesis into question, though: empties are sitting on chassis not due to regulation, but due to lack of equipment for stacking them higher.

Reasonably large mobile cranes exist and the cost of renting one for a day is small compared to the amount of capital bouncing around logistics operations surrounding the Port of LA.

They're not currently in use at truck yards because it's illegal to stack containers high, but if it were no longer illegal then they could be quickly and temporarily set up.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#68

Post by azinman2 »

My hope is that supply chain issues will make clear the downsides to execs (not just the workers) and governments of externalizing all manufacturing abroad and out of reach. Look at the chaos caused by a pandemic, now imagine war or purposefully using supply chain as leverage.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#69

Post by DoreenMichele »

toxik wrote: post #66
DoreenMichele wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it was expensive to make and worth the expense involved because of it's unusual durability. It wasn't some artificial scarcity, like modern day diamonds, nor "valuable" merely because it was scarce. Thank you for that. That's a wonderful bit of trivia.

Well, “worth it” is a stretch - I think they almost put the snail to extinction from needing so much of it.

I meant financially.

People have been doing terrible environmental damage to indulge themselves for eons. We aren't exactly the brightest bulb in the box about some things.

Re: Paintmakers are running out of the color blue

#70

Post by coliveira »

azinman2 wrote: post #68

My hope is that supply chain issues will make clear the downsides to execs (not just the workers) and governments of externalizing all manufacturing abroad and out of reach. Look at the chaos caused by a pandemic, now imagine war or purposefully using supply chain as leverage.

This is all momentary situation caused by the pandemic. In one year, people will not even remember this. Companies will not spend billions of dollars unless they have no other option.
Post reply on HN