It’s been approximately a year since the COVID 19 pandemic ravaged economics, supply chains, and people around the world. In that time we have struggled, and recovered, with the worst of the pandemic behind us sure the job is done, right? That’s where we likely differ, even though COVID only took a small percentage of the total infectants, 1 % of a billion is still 10 million people, 1% should not simply be looked at as a statistic, it should serve as a reminder of what we lost, and don’t want to experience again. One observed consequence of travel shutdowns during the pandemic, was the effect and strain on our supply chains, and the fear it caused. Supply chains are involved in almost every thing you can imagine, from your fast food burger, to parts at the auto store. Simply one bottleneck at a given point in time in a supply chain, can cause a domino effect that affects multiple industries. It is time for America to proactively manage and optimize their supply chains, whether funding, research etc, and the House’s proposed semiconductor chip package that aims to combat the ongoing global chip shortage, is a small step in a series of many, on the road to a sustainable and efficient American future.
The theme of supply chain deficiencies has unsurprisingly made its way into 2021, because of its ever important nature. Currently due to an extreme demand in electronic devices, combined with the reduction of travel and transportation, we are currently experiencing a global chip (semiconductor) shortage, that’s rearing its head in many common applications and devices average consumers are trying to order, from iphones/ipads, to consumer vehicles.
Now while this shortage isn’t necessarily something that people are going to die without, we must truly analyze every consequence of our nations, and in this case the globe’s inefficiencies. Firstly, due to shortages, many workers are seeing hours slashed drastically at their manufacturing jobs in the technology/semiconductor industry. This means less pay, less support for their families, and lack of comfort and security. In addition to that, does the length of this drought not concern everybody? If we can’t manage our technology supply chains in times of stress and demand, who’s to verify the health of our vital supply chains in the food and medical industries??
While not a focus of conversation anymore, we shouldn’t forget the hysteria and panic that the nation was in a mere year ago, with grocery stores nearly looted and many key items gone from cleaners to foods, it would be irresponsible to act like this issue won’t occur again. The goal as a nation should always be proactivity, the key to less stress is proactivity instead of reacting. Sure there will be some things that happen that are out of your control, but our nations supply chain is firmly in our grasp.
People always talk about fearing China, fearing that they’re taking over the globe and we must retain our dominance, well this is where it starts, strengthening our supply chains. The major advantage that China has over the United States is the fact that we outsource a large portion of our labor to China in favor of cheaper labor, increasing profit margins and keeping costs low. I think that this arrangement when looked at superficially seems like complete reliance on China, but it’s a mutual benefit, but as we have seen, these systems of reliance on Asian allies during the time of the Pandemic, and more specifically the Chip shortage have shown transitions may be necessary in our supply chain systems.
Whether through government mandates to keep a certain percentage of production onshore, or whether there are added government incentives to give companies a reason to keep a certain portion of jobs onshore, we need to build some sort of safety net for when inevitable events like COVID-19, and the global chip shortage as a result, from completely upending the economy and vital industries.
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