OT- Another “Victim” of Supply Chain Shortages

So with a history of Coronary Artery disease, and 2 stents already inserted in my plaqued up heart, I had a routine Nuclear Stress test yesterday. There was an “irregularity” that showed up on the images, which the Dr told me may be nothing, or maybe something, but if it’s something, it’s very very tiny and I shouldn’t panic . (Sadly he knows me well).

So being the cautious guy he is, he wants to be sure it’s nothing to be concerned with and he has ordered a Heart CT scan, which would show any new blockages, plus any potential issues with my 2 stents inserted in 2015.

Contacting a few imaging centers, the earliest appointment I’m able to get is mid July. So I emailed the Drs office just to let the nurse practitioner know.
She explained that the issue is there is a supply chain issue with the contrast dye they use in the ct scan, to light up any areas of concern (as discussed here in the past regarding other scans)

End result is she is setting me up at the hospital next week, where they have a good supply,

Supply chain disruption is probably a new concept for most of us Americans. After decades of honing the "just in time" supply chain we became accustomed to waiting for a day or two at worst for a product that might be out of stock. I wonder how long it will take to recover? Maybe we will learn some lessons from the experience.

It's been eye-opening to witness how fragile the supply "chain" truly is ...

Instead of forged, iron links in a chain, it's more akin to a delicate gossamer thread!

C-Y-C-L-O-N-E - # Iowa State University

Cyclone, I like that. It's more like a spider-web: Lots of potential paths from point to point, until enough connections break.

I've been dealing with it daily for the last 2 years. It is slowly getting better in some areas. But, offshoring of critical items is really not a good idea, but it's what happens when cost becomes the sole determining factor of production.

Supply chain issues when it involves brackets, or cars is one thing. When it involves critical health supplies, it’s something totally different.
I’m not even sure I totally understand the mechanics of how this happened. I know Covid is partly the issue. But so much if the world is back to operating in a post Covid world (even though the world is not post Covid.)

Hope it all resolves soon. I bought my car off lease, which I’ve never done before. That was painful LOL.
But need to get this ct scan over with soon for the sake of mental health LOL

Prato, what we are seeing is the end result of the current version of Lasse-Faire capitalism, where businesses (a) consolidate and form monopolies in pretty much every good and service and (b) make shareholder value (ever increasing stock price) their only consideration.

It forces finding the least-cost solution to all forms of manufacture and supply, it allows the producer of a material or product to determine what 'essential' means, and it allows said producers, particularly in specialty areas like chemical manufacture, to build the majority of their production facilities in third world countries to specifically avoid both environmental and other regulatory safe practices and pay as little as possible in wages.

It doesn't matter whether it's about critical medical supplies or air conditioner brackets. It all part of the same thing: minimize production cost and maximize profit is the only thing that matters, literally. Back in the day, Vanderbilt famously said, "the public be darned!". It's no different today.

"Supply chain problem" has become the latest buzzword. What it really means is that somewhere along the path, there are one or more disruptions. It could be that the facility that makes the product can't get raw materials, or they don't have enough people to run or maintain things, or they've had a facility breakdown and can't get the parts they need to fix it, or any other of a myriad of things.

What my cynical self knows for sure is, the problem has been years in the making, and fixing it is going to take years as well. Even if some new regulation came into effect tomorrow to require the producer of contrast dye to move production back to the US, and to then manage things to prioritize supply for the US market, it would take a significant period of time to actually make that happen: plants would need to be built, or modified, at significant expense. It wouldn't happen at a snap of a finger.

In my limited experience and memory, it was the advent of fax machine and Federal Express that started speeding the business process up in the 70’s & 80’s. Everything was slow and deliberate in the 1960’s with cheap Japanese stuff being the only import concern. Same with interstate highway system that improved trucking through US.

The cost of money/inventory was never a major concern until interest rates jumped around 1980 (Jimmy Carter era @ 15-16%) with runaway inflation. Business became a cash flow exercise as any cash was like gold and was worth more the next day. Reducing inventory and not paying vendors on time was standard practice. Today, the version of this is to have inventory in China and not pay until after delivered to US.

I think Jeff Goldblum’s explanation of chaos theory in Jurassic Park about covers the world situation now. Small event happens somewhere in the world and a month later a massive effect is felt on the other side of the world. Covid plan shutdown in China = no contrast dye in US a month later. We have met the enemy, and it is us.

Maybe it's not relevant to this conversation but it is a cautionary tale about shipping costs.
My wife mostly uses Amazon prime but liked bathroom shelves for the shower and didn't notice where they were shipped from. They were too large so we had to return them. The company is in France. We were stuck with $300 shipping costs.
We paid $550 so we shipped them. They claimed damage (of course) and it cost us another $50
So we Lost $200 but learned a lesson.
I have offered to return some other heavy items like a desk that were free returns and both times they said "keep it" we gave them away as we'd feel guilty if we sold them.
My point is be careful of shipping costs.
BTW overseas shipping is a nightmare beyond the high cost.
Glen

Good example pratoman.

I agree about the rant reference and admit that I took this thread beyond it's intended purpose. Heck I just have to rant from time to time.
Back to supply chain... I hope.

Glen

Seems like ever since the pandemic hit, we're trying to "right the ship" after a storm at sea ...

And we just aren't there yet ...

The ripple effect is staggering ... and at times incomprehensible.

C-Y-C-L-O-N-E ••••• # Iowa State University