Just in time works until it doesn't. For the last decade plus companies made outsized profit by squeezing their supply chains to the bare minimum.
Then covid hit and it all fell apart. Companies that had resilient supply chains made outsized profit during this time.
Companies are all about making bets on where they make more money. If you were in the hot seat to maximize quarterly profits would you make the first or second bet?
I chuckle because there is some truth to it. A real business survives by understanding the ground reality. MBA/spreadsheet business survives by trying to maximize shareholder value (often by mindlessly cutting costs) until it implodes on itself.
