> "Before the pandemic, a batch like this would typically arrive in Chicago in April, just in time for growers to use during planting season" Hard deadlines ar

> "Before the pandemic, a batch like this would typically arrive in Chicago in April, just in time for growers to use during planting season" Hard deadlines are a really underappreciated factor in JIT supply chain issues. When deadlines are softer, time itself can act as a buffer to smooth out the supply chain --- e.g. if the latest iPhone needs an extra month to finish production, that's not the end of the world. But with stricter deadlines like planting, you don't have the same release valve for supplier pressures. When your Just-In-Time becomes Just-Outta-Time, you've got to scrounge up the necessary inputs ASAP, and that sends price spikes reverberating throughout the system, or worse, cascading downstream failures in the event that you're unable to find enough inputs for what you're already in the process of producing.