Redundancy and diversification is always a good idea in general, but I find the recent clamor for supply chain diversification due to COVID-19 bit of a knee-jer

Redundancy and diversification is always a good idea in general, but I find the recent clamor for supply chain diversification due to COVID-19 bit of a knee-jerk reaction, especially considering the virus is now global. Where to diversify to is not an easy question to answer, compare to say a few weeks ago, when the virus was mostly just infecting China. Most supply chain analysis focus on cost/location/scale (this one too), but ignore the manufacturing and engineering skills that are accumulated from experience, which are much harder to replace. Countries level up to make themselves more valuable. And the cost v quality tradeoff is really hard to figure out. Apple's failing foray into India's supply chain a few years ago is a case in point [0]. I've written about this too in an India and China comparative context when it comes to Apple [1]. Tim Cook said recently on TV that he's not leaving China anytime soon [2]. Not everyone is Apple. How do you think about the tradeoff depends on your business model. But rushing to "rethink" something as complex as global supply chain, because of an unrelated, intervening event, however severe, seems imprudent to me. [0] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/inside-apples-search-for-an-indian-supply-chain https://www.theinformation.com/articles/inside-apples-search... [1] https://interconnected.blog/leaving-china-supply-chain-a-pipe-dream/ https://interconnected.blog/leaving-china-supply-chain-a-pip... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDU-QsfkX4&feature=emb_logo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDU-QsfkX4&feature=emb_logo