[linker3000]

At least one of my local, out of town, supermarkets doesn't have a warehouse any more.

It's all Just in Time, with a residual amount above the main shelves. If you can't find what you want, they don't have it 'out back', because apart from an unloading area, there's no 'out back'.

[EFreethought]

There was a brief period after 9/11 when planes were grounded that people realized JIT might not be such a great idea.

Why does society need to learn the same lessons over and over?

[nyarlathotep_]

We live in ahistorical times, it seems, especially since Covid.

[obelos]

“Sure, it will probably happen again, but what if we made some money along the way?!”

[raincole]

It sounds... amazing? Less stockpile and spoilage. Less carbon footprint from transportation.

[lm28469]

Amazing until covid hits and everything is out of stock at t+ 5 minutes. Every major city is like 24 hours away from MAJOR riots if anything serious happens to the supply chain.

[Majestic121]

COVID happened though, and shortages of commodities were extremely temporary, with no dire consequences overall.

What was actually unavailable with dire consequences, like masks/etc... was not unavailable due to lean manufacturing, but simply because it was a new demand that did not exist at this scale before.

[lm28469]

covid was nothing. Try a few bombs on the major highways and airport runways, now you have to deal with a war AND your entire capital starving. Millions of people will go from somewhat civilised to starvation mode real quick. All in all covid was a blip on the radar. There is a huge different between just in time and even a month of stock

> What was actually unavailable with dire consequences, like masks/etc... was not unavailable due to lean manufacturing, but simply because it was a new demand that did not exist at this scale before.

Well yeah that's what stocks are for. France had hundred millions of masks in stock in the early 2009 because they were expecting H1N1, we scraped the project because the pandemic didn't hit as bad as we thought, fast forward 10 years later and we spent twice as much to get half as many masks

Wait until ww3, Europe will discover that having one week of ammunition stock is not enough... all of that is expensive so let's not plan anything and pray for the best case scenario

[HWR_14]

JIT shipping doesn't necessarily mean less carbon footprint from transportation. A single large shipment is far more efficient than many small shipments.