{"id":5468,"date":"2022-03-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/?p=5468"},"modified":"2022-02-25T12:07:13","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T20:07:13","slug":"economic-benefit-of-modern-manufacturing-flaws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/2022\/03\/02\/economic-benefit-of-modern-manufacturing-flaws\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Benefit of Modern Manufacturing Flaws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why Has the Small Dent in my Hood Left Me with an Indefinite Rental? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a fateful chilly morning in the beginning of January 2022 when my beloved Ford Taurus experienced what I consider a punch to the face; she was backed into by a CRV with a large spare tire on the back. Although it didn\u2019t appear as extensive external damage, a crunched hood and broken grille begged to differ. I brought her to the nearest trusted body shop later that day who gave me words of advice I will always appreciate- go through insurance and expect it to take a while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We contacted insurance who made sure that I would be set up with a rental while it was repaired, another thing I learned to appreciate only after the fact. Monday, January 31 arrived, and she was dropped at the body shop, me being picked up by the rental company. A week later, I called the body shop, wondering, \u201cshouldn\u2019t I have received a final time estimate by now?\u201d They laughed, saying that in a perfect world I would, but in Ford\u2019s world, it\u2019s up to wait for my, \u201chood to be released by Ford.\u201d Not knowing that that means, I took it upon myself to look into what my brother explained as Ford\u2019s \u201cjust-in-time\u201d manufacturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Ford in 1922, he explained this new age of manufacturing in his book, My Life and Work. <\/em>They found that, \u201c\u2026 in buying materials that it is not worthwhile to for other than immediate needs. We buy only enough to fit into the plan of production, taking into consideration the state of transportation at the time\u2026\u201d Well, Ford didn\u2019t exactly figure that out too well, as it took Toyota and Japanese manufacturers until the 1970s to perfect it<\/a>. Ford and other vehicle manufacturers followed suit- only supplying for<\/em> the quantity demanded, not allowing market equilibrium to shift out from under it. Well\u2026 until now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supply chain issues and automobile shortages mean my car\u2019s hood isn\u2019t exactly on the top of Ford\u2019s docket of demanded goods. Ford even knew this, writing that, \u201cif transportation were perfect and an even flow of materials could be assured, it would not be necessary to carry any stock whatsoever.\u201d Alas, transportation is not perfect and automobiles are not invincible, meaning that the hood of my 2013 Ford is not just on a shelf; just as Ford insisted was not necessary. Eliminating inventory and surplus goods meant maintaining profit for Ford, while the relative inelasticity of cars creates a price and quantity both at their will. As for me, we\u2019re more than four weeks out and Ford still hasn\u2019t decided that it is (just) in time to manufacture my car\u2019s hood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford, H. (1922). My life and work: Henry Ford<\/em>. IAP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Has the Small Dent in my Hood Left Me with an Indefinite Rental?  It was a fateful chilly morning in the beginning of January 2022 when my beloved Ford Taurus experienced what I consider a punch to the face; she was backed into by a CRV with a large spare tire on the back. Although it didn\u2019t appear as extensive external damage, a crunched hood and broken grille begged to differ. I brought her to the nearest trusted body shop later that day who gave me words of advice I will always appreciate- go through insurance and expect it Continue reading Economic Benefit of Modern Manufacturing Flaws<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[852,850,851,755],"class_list":["post-5468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","tag-ford","tag-manufacturing","tag-supply-chain","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5468"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5470,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5468\/revisions\/5470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/econ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}