{"id":26968,"date":"2011-04-03T21:17:04","date_gmt":"2011-04-03T21:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/?p=26968"},"modified":"2017-03-08T23:08:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T23:08:33","slug":"just-in-time-just-in-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/04\/03\/just-in-time-just-in-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Just in Time? Just in Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Instapundit\u2019s<\/a> Glenn Reynolds<\/strong> has written a thoughtful piece<\/strong><\/a> about inventories and happenstance, for the Washington Examiner:<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s earthquake was in some ways a triumph of preparedness: Thanks to strict building codes, not a single building in Tokyo collapsed. But the earthquake, and the tsunami it produced, have had impacts that go well beyond the immediate.<\/p>\n

In particular, the damage is exposing the extent to which modern supply-chain management has produced a system that is so lean it lacks the reserve capacity needed to cope with disasters.
\n[\u2026]
\nMy wife takes a heart-rhythm drug called Tikosyn; if she misses a dose, she could die.<\/p>\n

Walgreen\u2019s doesn\u2019t want to keep it in stock, so they order a bottle by air-freight when her prescription is about to expire. Normally, that\u2019s fine \u2014 but if something happened to interrupt shipping, she\u2019d be in trouble.<\/p>\n

She keeps a backup supply, but what would Walgreen\u2019s do for others in a similar predicament? A few days of shipping problems and many pharmacies would be out of important drugs.<\/p>\n

Likewise, grocery stores now keep only a small supply of food on hand, depending on regular deliveries for restocking. When those deliveries are interrupted, shelves start to empty pretty fast. (And government emergency food stockpiles are nothing like they were in the Cold War era).<\/p>\n

Power plants used to keep a 60-day supply of coal in stock. Now they typically keep only 30 days\u2019 worth. That saves utilities money but it means that there\u2019s less margin if deliveries get interrupted. In the past, severe blizzards have left some utilities dangerously close to running out. Most cities have only a few days\u2019 worth of gasoline.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Something to think about and prepare for.<\/strong> If someone wanted to create a situation where our society would quickly devolve into chaotic self-interest and have Americans tearing at each other, these tight inventories would be the thing to disrupt. Talk about \u201cremaking\u201d America!<\/p>\n

\u201cBe prepared\u201d never sounded like better advice. Read it all<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instapundit\u2019s Glenn Reynolds has written a thoughtful piece about inventories and happenstance, for the Washington Examiner: Japan\u2019s earthquake was in some ways a triumph of preparedness: Thanks to strict building codes, not a single building in Tokyo collapsed. But the earthquake, and the tsunami it produced, have had impacts that go well beyond the immediate. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remaking-america","category-alternative-energy","category-alternative-media"],"yoast_head":"\nJust in Time? 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