Re:In Pursuit of PPE
by dntrkv on Friday April 17, 2020 @02:59PM
(#22901836)
Does anyone know why these shortages haven't been sorted out? I don't work in manufacturing but aren't these things relatively simple to manufacture? We have factories and employees that are sitting idle, why can't they be repurposed to manufacture these en masse? It would resolve our supply issues while providing employment. Am I missing something?
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Re:In Pursuit of PPE
by NikolaeVarius on Friday April 17, 2020 @03:10PM
(#22901970)
I don't really understand why the existence of a "factory" means it can produce arbitrary product in any meaningful fashion in a short period of time.
Well it is happening [0,1,2], just not at the scale I would expect when you consider the fact that a large portion of our economy is at a standstill. You would think it would be all hands on deck when there are trillions of dollars on the line. And like the GP pointed out, we've achieved things that are magnitudes more difficult when it comes to quickly repurposing our industry when the situation calls for it.
[0]: https://news.nike.com/news/nike-ppe-face-shields-covid-19-su... [1]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211028 [2]: https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/15/21222219/general-motors-v...
You need the right machines. In the factory. A cnc lathe is no use. The large collection of jigs for whatever they made before don't help.
They can get the right machines and jigs but that means making them which takes time. They you need the right materials, you aluminum supply chain isn't helpful (unless they retool to make your raw materials...)