Lessons to Be Learned From the Microchip Shortage

SupplyChainBrain
10 Dec 202110:22

Summary

TLDR在这次访谈中,Cornerstone Consulting的总裁兼管理合伙人Bill Currents讨论了全球微芯片短缺问题以及制造商如何应对这一挑战。他指出,尽管制造商可能没有明显的错误,但全球大流行这样的不可预测因素导致了供应链的紧张。Currents强调了保持一定库存的重要性,以应对不可预见的危机,并建议制造商考虑库存策略的调整,如增加库存或本地化资源。他还提到了供应链多元化的必要性,以及自动化作为应对劳动力短缺的潜在解决方案。访谈强调了制造商可以控制的因素,如工资率、定价结构和供应链管理,以及如何利用这些工具来减轻未来潜在的干扰。

Takeaways

  • 😀 由于全球性事件如大流行病,即使是有良好协议的公司也难以避免供应链中断。
  • 🤔 专家普遍认为,过去几十年中实施的及时库存策略在无法生产时并不理想。
  • 📚 企业需要储备一定的库存以应对外部力量,如自然灾害或极端天气。
  • 🔄 未来可能会看到对过度精益生产和及时库存策略的调整。
  • 🌐 企业可能会更多地考虑将资源本地化,减少对外部国家如中国的依赖。
  • 🔍 在供应链管理中,多元化供应来源是减少风险的关键策略。
  • 💡 自动化可以作为解决劳动力短缺问题的工具,随着技术的发展,自动化变得更加智能和经济。
  • 💰 短期内,公司可能需要提高工资以吸引和保留员工,同时提高产品价格以应对通货膨胀。
  • 👥 劳动力市场的变化要求雇主提供更好的生活质量和工作平衡,以吸引新一代员工。
  • 🛠️ 企业应考虑自动化作为提高效率和减少对重复性工作依赖的手段。
  • 🛡️ 企业应控制其能够控制的因素,包括库存、工资率、定价结构和供应链多元化。

Q & A

  • 当前制造商面临的微芯片和其他组件供应不足的主要原因是什么?

    -根据访谈内容,当前制造商面临的微芯片和其他组件供应不足的主要原因是全球性的外部力量,特别是全球大流行,这是一个百年一遇的事件,影响了全球所有人,即使是拥有最好协议的公司也难以避免。

  • Bill Currents 认为制造商在当前供应链危机中犯了哪些错误?

    -Bill Currents 认为制造商并没有犯太多错误,因为这次危机主要是由不可控的外部因素导致的,比如全球大流行。

  • 访谈中提到的'just-in-time'库存策略在当前危机中暴露出了什么问题?

    -访谈中指出'just-in-time'库存策略在当前危机中的问题在于,当制造线关闭时,这种策略无法保证足够的库存,导致生产中断。

  • Bill Currents 认为制造商应该如何调整他们的库存策略?

    -Bill Currents 建议制造商应该保留一些所谓的'body fat'或库存,以保护自身免受自然灾害或其他不可预见事件的影响。

  • 访谈中提到了供应链本地化的趋势,这是什么意思?

    -供应链本地化是指将资源和生产重新定位回美国,以减少对外部国家如中国和东盟国家的依赖。

  • Bill Currents 对于供应链多元化有什么看法?

    -Bill Currents 认为企业应该至少有两到三个良好的供应源,特别是如果他们要在国外采购,这样可以减少供应链风险,并在出现地缘政治风险或其他问题时有更多的选择。

  • 访谈中提到自动化可以解决劳动力短缺问题,这如何实现?

    -访谈中提到,随着自动化技术的发展,将重复性或冗余的工作自动化是有意义的,这样可以应对劳动力短缺问题,同时自动化也有助于降低长期成本。

  • Bill Currents 认为制造商在应对当前危机时应采取哪些措施?

    -Bill Currents 建议制造商应该采取一些措施,如提高工资以吸引员工,提高产品价格以应对成本上升,以及采用自动化技术来减少对人工的依赖。

  • 访谈中提到的'lean fanaticism'是什么?

    -'lean fanaticism'指的是过度追求精益生产,以至于忽视了保留一定库存的重要性,这在访谈中被认为是导致当前供应链问题的一个因素。

  • Bill Currents 对于未来制造业的发展趋势有何看法?

    -Bill Currents 认为未来制造业将会出现更多的自动化,供应链的多元化,以及对劳动力的需求和待遇的重新评估,这些都是为了应对当前和未来可能出现的供应链危机。

  • 访谈中提到的工资和物价上涨对制造商意味着什么?

    -访谈中提到工资和物价上涨意味着制造商需要找到新的平衡点,这可能包括提高工资以吸引员工,提高产品价格以覆盖成本,以及寻找更有效的生产方式。

Outlines

00:00

😀 微芯片短缺与供应链管理

本段讨论了制造商在获取微芯片和其他组件方面面临的困境。Bill Currents,Cornerstone Consulting Organization的总裁和合伙人,被邀请分享他对当前形势的看法。他指出,尽管一些公司因为缺乏适当的协议而不再存在,但即使是那些有最佳协议的公司,也因为全球大流行这一百年或两百年一遇的事件而措手不及。讨论还涉及了及时库存策略的问题,这种策略在过去几十年中被用来最小化库存并节省成本,但在生产线停工时却显得不是个好主意。Bill认为,未来可能会看到更多的库存储备和供应链的本地化,以及对过度追求精益生产的重新思考。

05:01

😐 劳动力短缺与自动化的兴起

这段内容探讨了制造商面临的另一个挑战——劳动力短缺,尤其是在工厂中的工作。Bill提到,为了应对这一问题,公司可能不得不提高工资或改善生活质量以吸引员工。他还预测,未来几年可能会有一段通货膨胀期,供应可能需要三到五年才能满足需求。此外,Bill认为,制造商将更加依赖自动化来应对劳动力短缺问题,自动化不仅可以提高效率,还可以减少对重复性工作的依赖。他强调,虽然自动化可能不会完全取代人工,但它将成为处理劳动力短缺的一个越来越受欢迎的选项。

10:01

🤔 制造商的未来策略

在对话的最后部分,Bill和主持人讨论了制造商可以控制的事情,以及他们可以采取的策略来减轻未来可能发生的任何干扰。Bill强调,制造商需要有适当的库存来应对危机,控制工资率和定价结构,并且需要有多元化的供应链来应对外部冲击。他提到,尽管存在不确定性,但通过领导力的执行和正确的策略,制造商可以应对挑战。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡微芯片短缺

微芯片短缺是指制造商在获取足够的微芯片和其他组件方面遇到的困难。这是视频讨论的主题之一,因为这种短缺对制造业产生了重大影响。例如,Bill Currents提到,许多制造商目前面临获取足够微芯片的严峻形势。

💡及时库存策略

及时库存策略是一种旨在最小化库存并以此节省资金的库存管理方法。然而,Bill指出,在面对无法控制的外部事件(如全球大流行)时,这种策略可能不是好主意,因为它可能导致生产线停工。

💡精益生产

精益生产是一种旨在通过减少浪费来最大化效率的生产管理哲学。Bill提到,过度追求精益生产(即“精益狂热”)可能导致公司在面对危机时缺乏必要的库存。

💡供应链多元化

供应链多元化是指企业从多个来源获取原材料和组件,以减少对单一供应商或地区的依赖。Bill强调,企业应该至少有两到三个好的来源,以应对全球问题或特定地理区域的干扰。

💡地理特定干扰

地理特定干扰是指由于特定地区的事件(如自然灾害或政治动荡)导致的供应链中断。Bill提到,过去有些公司因为从特定地理区域采购所有物资而受到影响,这强调了供应链多元化的重要性。

💡自动化

自动化是指使用机器和控制系统来执行原本需要人工操作的任务。Bill预测,随着自动化变得更加智能,企业将更多地依赖自动化来应对劳动力短缺问题。

💡劳动力短缺

劳动力短缺是指企业找不到足够的合格工人来完成工作。Bill提到,这可能是将生产带回美国、加拿大或墨西哥时需要考虑的问题,尤其是在当前情况下。

💡质量生活

质量生活是指员工对工作与生活平衡的需求。Bill指出,与之前的一代人相比,千禧一代和Z世代更加重视质量生活,这可能影响企业的员工参与和留存策略。

💡通货膨胀

通货膨胀是指货币价值下降,导致商品和服务价格普遍上升的经济现象。Bill提到,企业可能需要通过提高价格来应对通货膨胀,这是企业可以控制的因素之一。

💡固定成本

固定成本是指不随生产量变化而变化的成本,如租金和设备折旧。Bill提到,企业需要确保有良好的市场并达到年度预测,以避免因固定成本过高而陷入财务困境。

💡领导力

领导力是指引导和激励团队或组织向目标前进的能力。Bill强调,企业需要有领导力来执行决策,如提高工资率和调整定价结构,以应对当前的挑战。

Highlights

当前许多制造商因无法获得足够的微芯片和其他组件而面临困境。

全球大流行是导致供应链问题的一个不可预测的外部因素。

即使是有最佳协议的公司,也难以应对百年一遇的全球性事件。

及时库存策略在无法生产时显得不再有效。

企业需要保持一定的库存量以应对不可预见的情况。

未来可能会看到对精益管理的狂热有所改变,以及更多资源的本地化。

制造商应该考虑多元化供应基地以减少特定地区的风险。

即使在全球化问题中,多元化供应源也是减少风险的关键。

自动化可以作为解决劳动力短缺问题的工具。

自动化的智能化使得将重复性工作自动化变得更加合理。

制造商可能会更多地依赖自动化来应对劳动力短缺。

短期内,制造商可能需要提高工资以吸引和保留员工。

生活质量的提高是年轻一代工人所期望的,企业需要适应这一点。

通货膨胀期间,企业需要提高产品价格以维持运营。

制造商可以控制的因素包括自动化、供应源多样化、工资率和定价结构。

企业需要有前瞻性,及时做出决策以应对市场变化。

制造商应从当前危机中学习,准备应对未来可能的中断。

Transcripts

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lessons to be learned from the microship

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shortage my guest is bill currents he is

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president and managing partner of

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cornerstone consulting organization

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hello bill

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thanks a lot for having me on and uh

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good to see you again good to see you

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again as well so as you know

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many manufacturers today are in a dire

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situation with regard to obtaining

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adequate supplies of microchips and

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other components so putting aside for a

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moment the factors that are beyond their

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control

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what mistakes do you think they made

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that helped to put them in this

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situation in the first place

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uh uh honestly robert and not too many

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real really uh and the reason why

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is we've seen something this goes

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back to a cornerstone we could fit

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operations but there is external forces

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that sometimes uh the bear gets you in

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this case we had something unimaginable

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a global pandemic uh

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there's there's some companies that's

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now no longer exist that didn't have the

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right protocols but even those companies

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that had the best protocols

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uh this is a once in a 100 200 year

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event that we have going on that

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affected everybody across the entire

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planet so uh quite honestly uh there

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were some very good uh companies still

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caught off guard because it was

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absolutely outside of their control as

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far as the reach and the overall this

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global magnitude of this uh this event

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well there is a general consensus among

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a lot of experts and observers of monday

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morning quarterbacks maybe you could

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call them that the just-in-time

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inventory strategies that were put into

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place over the recent decades to

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minimize inventory and save money in

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that way turned out to not be a good

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idea when you can't when your

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manufacturing line shuts down would you

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second that observation

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we we first did the observation before

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we seconded at cornerstone we're very

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very very careful about uh we have

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something called lions and tigers and

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bears and and certain industries need

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inventory to protect uh it could be a

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hurricane it could be something else

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like bad winter weather where trucks

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don't make it on the road but we believe

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that you should have some body fat when

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you're a bear like in the in the uh in

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denali uh not everybody's a lion on the

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serengeti now sure oems

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can actually get by away with it a

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little bit more because all they're

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doing is assembling parts but they still

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have to have enough what we call body

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fat or inventory i absolutely think that

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this will change

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uh what i would consider lean fanaticism

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to some degree i mean one of the two

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things that's going to happen here is a

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little more body fat uh can can make you

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healthier actually at times you don't

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have to be at a 15 bmi all the time as

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an organization uh to be healthy and uh

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and the other thing that i think that

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we'll see changing is a lot more

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localization or resourcing back to the

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us because of our dependency upon

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external forces uh external countries

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like china and uh the asean countries so

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those two things but absolutely to be

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sure

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um this is something that lessons have

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to be learned about taking lean too far

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and taking just the time inventory too

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far yeah

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what about diversifying the supply base

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now i know that in this case it's a

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global problem but in the past we've had

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geographically specific disruptions and

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companies have been caught out because

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they had decided to source everything

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from that particular geography going

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forward do you think that this in any

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way will cause companies to look to

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diversify their supplier base

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but if they don't they're in trouble the

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the bottom line is they're in trouble i

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mean if you're going to get an

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electrification which we're doing a lot

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just met a ceo for a large box truck

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electrification uh company yesterday and

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they're gonna need help if you're

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getting all your uh buying all your

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lithium from china watch out because hey

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it's a it's a it's a limited resource

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and b

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uh we know what happened we had all the

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ppp uh you know the ppe stuff mass and

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everything uh coming over from china and

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then everything got hit i would say that

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you need to have at least two or three

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good sources if you're going to go

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outside of the country but if i'm a u.s

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manufacturer or north america i would be

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looking inside north america at either

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mexico or canada or inside the u.s as

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part of a trade partner agreement so you

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limit your supply chain and that risk

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and also you have more options in case

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there's a geopolitical risk or something

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else happens in one of those regions

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absolutely cost a lot more up front

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requires longer term thinking on the

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part of executives to in order to

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embrace that that idea well honestly you

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know the cost actually is not as much as

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you would think and and this is where i

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think that there's a mis there's some

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there's misinformation out there if you

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set things up correctly and in high you

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know in high industrialized countries

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you have a lot more opportunity for

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automation the only reason you go to

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low-cost countries is to leverage a

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labor market but now you can almost meet

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the exact same cost point through

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automation in high-cost countries the

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the big concern there is fixed costs

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fixed leveraging so you need to make

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sure that you have a good market and

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you're going to hit on what your annual

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projections are so you don't wind up

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upside down or over levered by fixed

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costs yeah

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another factor that is

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affecting manufacturers today is the

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human factor and that is specifically

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the lack of humans or the lack of

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adequate humans to do jobs in the

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factories and the like

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uh if you bring it back to the united

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states or or back to canada or mexico i

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wonder that could be a problem

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especially given today's uh you know

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situation can't find enough people to

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staff

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these uh operations so going forward

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what hard decisions might companies have

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to make about workforces in order to

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anticipate that kind of development

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uh uh well robert on the short term

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you're gonna have to raise your and

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we're seeing it companies are starting

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to come to the pub and raising their uh

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their hourly rates or their salary um we

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see a lot of turnover but it will begin

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to stabilize even though we're still in

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flux uh but quality of life is another

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thing too i mean

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gen x uh in the baby boomers you know

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our generations here are you know going

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to uh eventually retire and you've got

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these millennials and and these genzirs

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that quite honestly they demand a much

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more balanced quality of life so you

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know employers have to switch the way

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they engage

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however

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what we're going to see is a period of

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inflation just like in the last

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interview so you have to also raise your

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prices we'll have to get through this

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it'll probably be a three to five year

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stint uh before supply actually comes

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back to meet demand and then once we get

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to that point i think we'll see a

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leveling off of the workforce but the

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lessons to be learned here is don't get

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cut short don't wait too long to make

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those bold decisions to you know raise

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your hourly rates to make sure that you

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stay in business and then have the

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courage coming behind it to raise your

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prices because guess what we're seeing

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it going everywhere and i've got to

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commend procter gamble and some of the

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other companies out there in the food in

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the in the in the uh

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the consumer industries that's doing

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that because uh they're not going to get

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caught short so what it really is is

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just a new equilibrium point we're

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seeing where everybody's wages are going

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up but all the prices are going up and

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so really it's almost the same thing

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it's just everything's going to be a

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little more costly

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wages are going to be higher but also uh

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you know consumer goods is going to be

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higher and do you think that

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manufacturers will come to rely more

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heavily on automation i mean we're not

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talking about automation replacing all

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people in fact obviously but as a tool

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for dealing with workforce shortages do

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you think it'll become a more popular

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option robert you're exactly right in

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that aspect is you have to deliver

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yourself and again it's just the natural

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progression as automation becomes more

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intelligent it makes more sense to put

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those redundant or reoccurring jobs in

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through automation

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a lot of times you know

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folks will look at it as a cost-benefit

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analysis where you know the cost of

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capital isn't going to go up at the same

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rate as the cost of employees so some of

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those business cases that they had

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before where it didn't quite make sense

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to automate

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two years ago now today may make sense

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so i think what we're going to see is a

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resurgence of that and i think we're

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going to see a lot of growth in the

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technical uh the tech industry and the

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automation industry over the next few

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years because of this so bottom line we

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started out this conversation by talking

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about all the stuff that is not within

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the control of manufacturers today but

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we got into talking about the things

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that are within their control so there

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are things that manufacturers can do i

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mean the high points as you say certain

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amount of automation a certain amount of

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the supplier diversification so some

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manufacturers have some tools do you

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think to make to to kind of lessen the

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pain of the next disruption do you think

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i think that they absolutely exist i

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mean we have a whole array of tools and

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not just you know at cornerstone but

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there's others out there i think it's

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going to be a departure from some of the

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old sacred cows

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the lean manufacturing likely covered

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earlier you have to have enough

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inventory to survive a small or a large

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crisis that's within a company's control

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to say it's just like you know most

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people have an insurance policy on their

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house yes it's extra money that you

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normally don't you know need to use but

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when the time comes where your house

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goes up in flames you you have you have

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the insurance policy inventory in that

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matter has to be looked at external

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forces you control that you also control

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your wage rates you also control the

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pricing structure that you're going to

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present to your customer and quite

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honestly we're working with a lot of

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oems they understand that prices are

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going to have to go up because of

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inflationary pressures all that is

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within your control so the main tenants

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uh that each company has is largely

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within their control even your supply

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chain right like you said

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diversification of supply chain people

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and companies have to be able to realize

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that i need two or three different

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resources here so in case something

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happens in one area earthquake or like

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what happened to japan a few years ago

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tsunami i can overcome that by having

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secondary supply sources so all those

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things are within a company's control

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it's just again having the leadership

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encouraged to execute on those things

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that is good to know in uncertain times

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bill currents cornerstone consulting

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good to talk to you on these topics

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thanks for your insights really

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appreciate your time thank you

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appreciate it robert thanks again bye

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you

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