He didn't say that. I did. 'Me?! No, I didn't say that, boss.' I'm not talking about you, Voice. 'Oh.' I'm talking about Dr Jonathan Owens, logistics expert from the University of Salford Business School. It's a PR email.
Obviously, I'm an expert from the University of Life, where things are looking really grim. However, I'm trying to stay positive.
Coronavirus: shortages may be on the way.
Yeah, the least of our potential problems. So ...
With financial markets in turmoil, Dr Jonathan Owens, logistics expert from the University of Salford Business School, looks at why the coronavirus is having such a huge impact on business and what can be done to mitigate the risks.
Okay. Okay. Let's hear what he says.
Dr Owens says: "The spread of the Coronavirus to the west means there is a much greater chance of noticeable disruptions in the global supply chain network. Most supply chains continually have disruptions of sorts and these are sometimes factored into their planning, and they survive."
I've already got my baked beans, veggie burgers, soups, Pot Noodles. Just saying, like. 'Let him speak!' All right. Christ.
"However, in this instance given that mostly the flow of our manufactured goods is East to West, and although slowly Chinese manufacturing companies are returning, much of the country is still on quarantine lockdown, and after a full production shutdown it will take a while to get up to previous working capacity."
There's over a billion people in China. Eighty thousand is a small number. Hopefully, most people will be okay.
"Also, it is difficult to raise production to the full level when only 50 to 80 per cent of workers are present due to the earlier mass migration because of the Chinese New Year and are unable to return due to China lockdown. With a reduced workforce there are now additional operational sterilizing phases to be added for the manufacturers before they ship goods, and these needed to be set up quickly."
Back in Britain, a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet. How can they take weeks off work and stay at home? This isn't just about shortages, man. It's about life, and death. And the NHS has no capacity for hundreds of thousands of sick people. / Anyway ...
"Then, because of the numerous quarantine checkpoints installed regionally, we are seeing a stockpile of empty shipping containers that are not able to get from the ports and load up. Subsequently, the normally balanced flow of shipping containers within the supply chain has been seriously disrupted. As such, we have read reports about vital components such as key fobs being shipped out of China in suitcases."
Key fobs?! Whatever.
"We are seeing no big breaks in the supply chains yet, but what is arriving at our ports now may have been ordered five to six weeks ago. So, if we do see shortages this will be in the coming weeks. Looking to alternative sourcing is not the immediate answer, as this is more a medium to long term solution. In addition, it is not clear how long it would take to get an alternative source in place and operating efficiently within the existing supply chain. Also, due to the spread of the Coronavirus, we may find ourselves in a similar situation with this source."
Okay. Thank you, Jonathan.
Yes, yes. It is a problem. But there are bigger problems. I'm just saying. 'It's not his job to talk about all the problems, boss.' No? 'No. That's your job. You're the expert on ... Life.' Oh, of course. Thank you, Voice.
ENDS
...
Anything else? Well, I had a musical dream on Sunday morning, before I woke up, uh, obviously. It was ... one minute of a song, yes. Words and music. And not gibberish words neither. A proper lyric! And a great tune! Unfortunately, I could only remember a few seconds of it. Which is very frustrating. It seems that my subconscious is writing songs while I'm sleeping, but I'm only getting fragments. I deserve more than fragments, man.
This might be something for me to look into. I got a Carlos Casteneda book out of the library about lucid dreaming, oh, years ago. The libraries aren't what they were though. My local one has been shut down, and the big one in Ealing is more interested in coffee and computers these days. Actually, I don't have much time or desire to read, uh, these days - because of music - but in my late teens and twenties I read hundreds of books, mostly from libraries.
Never mind. It's the way of the world now, ain't it? Modern life. Maybe YouTube has something on controlling your dreams. Ha!
