Supply Chains
One Component, One Supplier, and an Entire Industry Waiting
A part worth a fraction of a product's cost can stop its production completely. Value share and criticality are unrelated…
Supply Chains
How a product is assembled across borders, and where it is fragile.
13 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Supply Chains
The Suppliers a Company Cannot Name
Most manufacturers know who they buy from. Very few know who their suppliers buy from, and almost none know the tier below that.
More in Supply Chains
Supply Chains
The Bullwhip: How a Small Demand Wobble Becomes a Factory Shutdown
Order volatility grows as it travels upstream. The amplification is caused by rational behaviour at every step, which is what makes…
Supply Chains
Lean or Buffered: How Firms Decide How Much Stock to Hold
Inventory is money sitting still, and stockouts are sales that never happen. The balance between them rests on assumptions that…
Supply Chains
Why Lead Time Decides More Than Price Does
A cheaper supplier four weeks further away is not cheaper. The difference is carried in stock, and stock is paid for continuously.
Supply Chains
The Real Cost of Adding a Second Supplier
Everyone agrees dual sourcing is prudent. Fewer people cost it properly, which is why so many critical parts still have one source.
Supply Chains
Reading a Bill of Materials Like a Map of Risk
The parts list that tells engineering what to build also tells you where the product is exposed. Most firms only use it for the…
Supply Chains
Make It or Buy It: Where a Manufacturer Draws Its Own Boundary
Every firm decides how much of its product to build itself. The answer moves over time, and the reasons it moves are structural.
Supply Chains
Why Suppliers Cluster Within an Hour of Each Other
Component makers rarely spread evenly across a country. They pile up around each other, and the reasons are older than modern…
Supply Chains
Three Kinds of Chokepoint, and Why Only One Is Geographic
The word suggests a strait or a canal. In practice most supply bottlenecks are technical or corporate, and they are far less…
Supply Chains
Why Tracing a Product Back to Its Source Is Harder Than It Sounds
Consumers, regulators and buyers increasingly want to know where material came from. The chain rarely keeps records in a form that…
Supply Chains
When a Component Needs Permission Before It Can Cross a Border
Some goods move under licence rather than under a duty rate. The mechanism is entirely separate from tariffs and behaves…