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Trucks trucks and more trucks
SCOUT5
Member Posts: 16,181 ✭✭✭✭
There is a Ford truck assembly plant in Louisville. Due to the chip shortage they are having to park inventory until they can get the chips to complete them. So they have been parking trucks in a lot of lots and open spaces. There are trucks sitting all over this area. There are about a 1000 sitting just down the road from me on ground that used to be part of the gun powder plant.
Comments
... and the chips come from where? What, not the USA? To quote PP&M: When will we ever learn.
😒
thats what I don't understand, even if they had an exclusive contract or some such, with them not meeting demand, find a local source, can't be that much more expensive, especially with all the vehicles waiting/sitting around........
LOL. There is no local source. The chips are very item specific and it would take years for another plant to get materials and a production line going and even if it could be done in say a single year's time, the back log for companies that are already chip capable would be up to speed meeting demand by then.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Incidentally, I had read a news article just yesterday that the requisite chips are arriving on shore now and trucks are moving to get them assembled as I type.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Well it will work out or they will get cheap to buy
"And the chips come from where?" Good question.
And I remember a year ago, in the middle of the corona problem, we were running low on antibiotics, and we learned that 90 percent of our antibiotics are manufactured in China. Look, I know this saves some bean counter at Merck Pharmaceutical some money, but seriously, there ought to be a law.
I worked for almost 22 years for a "chip" maker. Every time they got a tax break from the state to expand, the general public
would hoot and hollar about the rich company not paying their fair share of taxes. All the time the foreign competition was being subsidized to the hilt by their governments. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and now China. It is no wonder they folded or moved production off shore. The U.S. can hold its own with anyone on a level playing field. Problem was that this playing field was far from level. If you think trucks are an important issue, think of what puts the "smart" in smart bombs and other weapons. Are we sure we want our enemies making critical pieces of our weapons for us. It's not just our medicines.
Yep, people here cant stand the answer. Chips are being made in China, Korea, PI, Japan, Taiwan and even Mexico. We spent 40 years taxing, regulating, taxing, FMLAing, forcing ACA, OSHAing, egregious and unwarranted law suing and Unionizing manufacturers out of the country. No different than PPE and most pharmaceuticals. Made in China.
They did preserve the military industrial complex in the name of national security.
Funny how the only president who tried to fix the problem and bring manufacturing back was destroyed by the same people (DEMOCRATs) and RINOS that created the mess.
Generally speaking weapons systems employed by the US armed forces have critical components such as this sourced only in the US for that very reason. It's why companies like Lockheed, Raytheon, and General Dynamics (to name a few) are alive and large.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I'd really like to believe that but 50+ years of cynicism and watching the moral decay of this land, I find it hard to believe.
I think any one of those companies would sell us out if the price is right.
Well there is a metric ship ton of traceability requirements. I work in Engineering in their supply chain and can allay your fears in that regard.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
That is comforting to know. It seems our enemies get a fair amount of cooperation from our own government. Sometimes
we are our own worst enemy.
Without going into specifics. You would be shocked to find out that is NOT true. I work on those systems, chips are NOT made in USA. Like all others, the chips that run the very electronics you speak of are in fact made in indonesia, japan, mexico, etc. I can say that I have not seen any manufactured in China, but I will definitely look when I go back to work.
I'm sure they made them, tested them and then moved production to an offshore plant in China or Taiwan because they can make them for about half the cost, even including audits of the production line by Ford. Hell, it may be a Ford owned plant in China. That's what our company does.
Maybe @Warbirds wants to weigh in. He works for a prime.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Well, I help design those system components (such as for the THAAD missile defense platform and the Patriot Missile defense platform). We have all manner of traceability for critical components. Now, that doesn't mean that some screw or washer doesn't get sourced from China, but those aren't considered critical to function, typically, unless they're so unique they'd have to be single sourced.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I'm not talking about screws and washers, LOL. I specifically said chips. DIP chips surface mount chips etc. Some are made in USA, several are not. Taiwan is a big supplier. This are chips used on circuit boards, which are used in LRUs which are part of a bigger system. I'm just saying, the military DOES import several chips for critical systems.
And they DO have traceability, it's just that they trace back to a country other than USA.
Yep, and a few well placed EMP bombs fries all those exotic chips and we can't get past our vehicles dead in the driveway. Sometimes I wish I had my 55 Chevy back again.---------------Ray