Fogbow

Here’s How Many Ford Vehicles Are Currently Parked and Waiting for Chips
Since the debut of the chip crunch in 2020, the carmakers out there have tried all kinds of approaches to reduce the disruptions caused in their manufacturing operations.

At first, most of them turned to temporary halts of the production at certain facilities. Then, they switched to building vehicles and keeping them parked until the necessary chips were delivered by suppliers.

Some ended up shipping vehicles without certain non-critical systems, while others decided to wait a little bit longer until the required chips became available.

Ford is one of the companies that turned to this strategy, with the company building a large inventory of vehicles that are now sitting and waiting to get their chips.

In the latest earnings call with analysts, John Lawler, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, actually provided a clearer picture of the existing inventory of unfinished vehicles.

Lawler says Ford currently has “about 53,000 vehicles on wheels, completed but awaiting installation of components affected by the semiconductor supply shortage.”

humblescribe wrote: ↑Sat May 14, 2022 3:12 pm Not really all that relevant, but here goes.

I purchase baker's yeast in one-pound vacuum-sealed packages. It is much cheaper than those tiny packets or even the four-ounce jars. I have always purchased my yeast at Winco. A one-pound package generally lasts me about 9-10 months. These packages have a two-year "best by" window from date of manufacture.

I was at Winco early this month, and yeast was on the list. There were three of these one-pound packages with expiry dates in June 2022. The clerk stocking the shelves with flour said that her boss told her yeast in those packages was unavailable because of "supply chain" issues. I thought to myself, "Probably bullshit. Yeast is a pretty important raw material for our daily diets."

I went home and sure enough, Amazon had a twin-pack of these packages, so I took the plunge. This yeast was manufactured in February 2022, so is good until February 2024. I freeze it so it will last even longer if need be. Supply chain problems, my dough.

Anyway, I think this is yet another convenient excuse in a long line of convenient excuses when companies make decisions that adversely affects their customers. It is no different from the "temporary" fuel surcharge implemented in 2008 when gas prices skyrocketed. When prices returned to normal, this surcharge did not go away.

Abbott, maker of Similac and other popular baby formulas, said it has come to an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fix safety issues at a Sturgis, Mich., factory that has been shuttered for more than three months, contributing to a nationwide shortage of baby formula.

“This is a major step toward re-opening our Sturgis facility so we can ease the nationwide formula shortage,” said Robert B. Ford, chairman and chief executive of Abbott, who noted that the shortage was also exacerbated by a voluntary recall by the company of formula that had been possibly tainted by a bacteria that sickened and killed infants. “We know millions of parents and caregivers depend on us and we’re deeply sorry that our voluntary recall worsened the nationwide formula shortage. We will work hard to re-earn the trust that moms, dads and caregivers have placed in our formulas for more than 50 years.”

Once the FDA confirms the initial requirements for start-up have been met, Abbott could restart the site within two weeks, the company said.

Due to a perfect storm of supply chain issues, product recalls, labor shortages and inflation, manufacturers are struggling to keep up with formula demand and retailers are rationing supplies. As a result, families that rely on formula are scrambling to ensure that their babies get the food they need.

Naturally, people are weighing in on the crisis, with some throwing out simplistic advice like, "Why don't you just do what people did before baby formula was invented and just breastfeed?"

That might seem logical, unless you understand how breastfeeding works and know a bit about infant mortality throughout human history.

Rutgers University historian Carla Cevasco, Ph.D. shared some of the history of infant feeding in a viral Twitter thread to set the record straight. (Note: Cevasco provided sources for her facts, which can be viewed at the end of her thread on Twitter.)

"You may be hearing the argument that before the rise of modern commercial infant formula, babies all ate breastmilk and everything was great," she wrote. "As a historian of infant feeding, let me tell you why that’s not true."

U.S. begins inquiry into industry’s role in infant formula supply shortages.
The Federal Trade Commission said it would examine patterns of mergers and acquisitions to better understand how the industry became so concentrated.

By Madeleine Ngo
May 24, 2022

A severe shortage of baby formula has prompted the Federal Trade Commission to begin an inquiry into the industry’s consolidation and whether online resellers have taken advantage of desperate families struggling to find formula.

“The F.T.C. is launching a public inquiry to identify the factors that contributed to the shortage or hampered our ability to respond to it,” Lina M. Khan, the agency’s chair, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Learning from this experience can help determine how we can minimize the risk of similar shortages in the markets for other life-sustaining products.”

The agency said it would examine patterns of mergers and acquisitions to better understand how the industry — which is now dominated by four manufacturers — became so concentrated and how that consolidation should inform future merger reviews. The F.T.C. will also examine federal regulations and trade barriers that prevent foreign companies from entering the infant formula market.




https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/24/busi ... ustry.html

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:28 pm This is why I prefer stupid appliances. I don't need them to be smart.

sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:39 am

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:28 pm This is why I prefer stupid appliances. I don't need them to be smart.

Exactly. I'm not sure I've ever paid $700 for a completely new washer. And I don't need to watch tv on my fridge or voice command the faucet to fill up the coffee pot either.