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That is a thoughtful reply. Working in IT spoiled me, and I like having a backup or failover server or data centre but for Apple factory. But, it makes sense no

That is a thoughtful reply. Working in IT spoiled me, and I like having a backup or failover server or data centre but for Apple factory. But, it makes sense now, knowing the scale of this Apple iPhone factory, it is next to impossible to build the backup factory. Thanks!

8ytecoder 4y ago
There are aspects of this[1] book that I really enjoyed. I have no hardware/factory experience either but I had taken some operations research courses in college. In general, holding onto inventory more than you need is a waste of time, space, cost and introduces other complexities as well - like a defect identified even a little bit later in the process could lead to huge waste if you’re holding on to too much. But of course not having any sort of reserve also leads to issues. During the pandemic one of the only car companies that didn’t have major disruption was Toyota and they were the pioneers of this model of operating but they also understood the need to keep reserves of critical components. In the case of Apple, they do have a backup plan - the lower end models were already being manufactured outside China and they could scale that up while they scramble to fix the Pro lines. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=d6eeff6b-2314-4cff-8129-e8b8bd4d979b https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0...
cududa 4y ago
Consider that each new iPhone and iPhone size required retooling entire portions of the manufacturing line. And by retooling I mean physical tools - the shoots that deliver the right sized screw to the individuals assembling that part, soldering techniques changing and requiring different equipment, spot weld equipment etc. Building a “backup factory” would also require that massive investment every year to revamp the assembly line, and never get used. Then there’s the thousands of components that go into an iPhone, and their deliver schedules perfected down to 30 minute windows - you’d have to recreate that, and just ship, what, nothing? To the backup factory?
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  You don't build a backup factory to sit there unutilized. You build four large factories instead of one mega factory and run all four. Similar number of machines, similar investment to update them - each is big enough for efficiencies of scale - but if one gets shut down by the local government or has a massive fire or there's a coup you've still got 3/4 of your production going.

8ytecoder 4y ago

There are aspects of this[1] book that I really enjoyed. I have no hardware/factory experience either but I had taken some operations research courses in college. In general, holding onto inventory more than you need is a waste of time, space, cost and introduces other complexities as well - like a defect identified even a little bit later in the process could lead to huge waste if you’re holding on to too much. But of course not having any sort of reserve also leads to issues. During the pandemic one of the only car companies that didn’t have major disruption was Toyota and they were the pioneers of this model of operating but they also understood the need to keep reserves of critical components. In the case of Apple, they do have a backup plan - the lower end models were already being manufactured outside China and they could scale that up while they scramble to fix the Pro lines. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=d6eeff6b-2314-4cff-8129-e8b8bd4d979b https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0...

cududa 4y ago

Consider that each new iPhone and iPhone size required retooling entire portions of the manufacturing line. And by retooling I mean physical tools - the shoots that deliver the right sized screw to the individuals assembling that part, soldering techniques changing and requiring different equipment, spot weld equipment etc. Building a “backup factory” would also require that massive investment every year to revamp the assembly line, and never get used. Then there’s the thousands of components that go into an iPhone, and their deliver schedules perfected down to 30 minute windows - you’d have to recreate that, and just ship, what, nothing? To the backup factory?

ceejayoz 4y ago
You don't build a backup factory to sit there unutilized. You build four large factories instead of one mega factory and run all four. Similar number of machines, similar investment to update them - each is big enough for efficiencies of scale - but if one gets shut down by the local government or has a massive fire or there's a coup you've still got 3/4 of your production going.