Adding Manufacturing Capacity: Herding Snowflakes, By Thomas Archer

Jack Ganssle's Blog ^ | April 28, 2020 | Thomas Archer

[pa_dweller]

Adding Manufacturing Capacity: Herding Snowflakes, By Thomas Archer

In the current Covid-19 crisis a critical shortage is medical ventilators. Manufacturers are increasing production within their operations and by transferring technology to other companies. One example in the national news is Ventec Life Systems Inc., an established ventilator supplier, working with General Motors.

Increases in ventilator production are possible, perhaps even 100% if raw materials are already in the chain. Hearts, minds, money and bodies will be in the right places, but multi-digit increases in domestic production in 30 to 90 days isn't going to happen. Irregularities in the supply chain preclude it.

The Ventec GM effort is exceptionally difficult because it includes a radical, forty times, increase in production that will challenge the existing, disparate, fractured supply chain and requires major process changes.

[pa_dweller]

Summary:   It isn't going to a bed of roses getting failproof ventilators out the door in quantity.

[wjcsux]

Given the way that the Whu-flu scenario is changing daily, it’s looking like they won’t be needed. Watch eBay for upcoming sales on ventilators.

[FreedomPoster]

I’m wondering what you can repurpose a ventilator to do?

[arthurus]

Ventilators themselves are damaging to the body. Use H.chloroquine earlier in the progress of the disease instead. A few will die still, but the numbers will be much lower. A Depression with broken supply lines and sky high food for a money poor population will occasion more death than the Plague and shortened lifespans, too.

In the thirties the rural population could mostly make do outside of the dust bowl area. The cities didn't require nearly so much food as now. The rural population can still make do but it is a much smaller portion of the whole population.

[krogers58]

I’d say pump the extra ventilators out, as it’s clear we should’ve had more of them stockpiled. Perhaps next time, if our national stockpile is prepared for a faux pandemic, maybe we won’t panic so badly.

[wjcsux]

I’ll have to sleep on that one.

[FreedomPoster]

Advanced CPAP machine? I have no idea.

[Vermont Lt]

Manufacturing orders are so, so, very dead. No one is buying. No one is shipping.

It’s going to take more than a few months to get manufacturing back. And who is going to use all those vents? It was ridiculous “busy work.”

[Senormechanico]

Maybe we will see a “Kash for Klunkers” program again.

[Tallguy]

Try buying lexan, plexiglass or any other see-thru plastic. It’s all gone due to every convenience store, grocer or drug store installing slapdash protective screens — which will no doubt be scrapped in a few weeks. Most of the ones I’ve seen are very rickety if not downright dangerous (sharp edges, no support frames).

My company just booked an order from a regular customer that calls for a few sheets of material. It’s weeks/months away when it’s always been a stock-item before.

There are other problems. The supply-chain problems are beginning to ramp up.

[pa_dweller]

every convenience store, grocer or drug store installing slapdash protective screens
==========+=======

I’ve seen that and wondered how much plexiglass is on hand.  There’s a sudden interest if face shields, too.   I imagine that material will dry up shortly.

What’s really whacky is you can still pass cash back and forth under the shield.   Whut?

[cp124]

Trump pollutes the US and fills the landfills with thousands of unused ventilators and masks. More at 11.

[Tallguy]

“What’s really whacky is you can still pass cash back and forth under the shield. Whut?”

A lot of irrational behavior, decision making & wasted resources. Probably be dumping excess ventilators in the ocean by summer and that’s after putting 10’s of thousands in storage for the next panic.