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https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/07/bosch-opens-1-2-billion-chip-plant-in-germany/
Bosch, one of the worlds largest engineering companies, is trying to cash in on the global chip shortage by starting production in Germany, even though it's apparently mostly a wafer plant and they are sending those to Asia for packaging and assembly.
A large chunk of it is probably for their own needs as they make everything from power tools to medical equipment.
But why not just do the assembly in Germany to? This shipping things back and forth — isn't this one of the points of failure that has been experienced during COVID-19?
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Bosch Starting New Wafer Production in Europe
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Wednesday June 09 2021, @07:31AM (3 children)
Not that I'm aware of - the huge reduction in passengers flights has not been mirrored in air transport flights, or not to any significant degree as far as my ADSB records show. There are daily flights into and out of Europe to most places in the world, just as surface transport has continued. Ships are still crossing the oceans - remember the problem with the blockage in the Suez Canal? - and road haulage has continued except for a matter of a few days (and ignoring the disruption due to Brexit between the UK and the rest of Europe).
(Score: 3, Informative) by crafoo on Wednesday June 09 2021, @10:38AM (2 children)
Not true at all. Surface transport has been greatly disrupted in all major US ports, and most likely other ports around the world (I didn't check). There are container stackups in ports that do not have significant exports because it just isn't worth it to waste crane operator time stacking them when they are already so behind on actual, loaded containers. Ships were sitting out at anchor for weeks on end.
This is why, for instance, you can't buy a Honda generator and no one knows when they will be in stock again. Also, mass inflation about to hit so people are buying up real, tangible assets now.
The supply chain was heavily disrupted by the COVID scare. Just-In-Time manufacturing failed, worldwide.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 09 2021, @12:53PM
Just In Time is just another word for zero safety margin. System is run to the edge with no room for hiccups, resulting in catastrophic failure if anything happens.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday June 09 2021, @01:52PM
Perhaps the problem was that people were being isolated in the US - not that the ships or aircraft could not operate. That suggests that procedures needed to be changed. What were all those ships queuing to enter the Suez Canal carrying? Where were they going? I'll bet that a lot of freight was still being moved. Freight aircraft including DHL, FedEx, ABX and many others have crossed my location everyday. Do you suppose they were just burning fuel for the fun of it? I suspect that they were doing what they do best - hauling freight.
My SiL handles manages the movement of some aircraft in the Toulouse area. They are flying some freight just as they always have done - but with additional medical checks because of Covid 19.
Passenger aircraft is a different story entirely - none essential travel (including holidays or meetings that could be held online) was stopped. But, as far as Europe is concerned, essential goods (especially foodstuffs) were still moving, non-essential goods were not so lucky. I guess those container ships were carrying stuff that is just not that important to everyday survival.