I cant remember if it was Deming who was the advocate and often misquoted creator of "Just in Time" philosophies we studied in the 1980's, but its just another example of a theory being misunderstood.
What is really scary is my oft mentioned issue I have with marketing or even more accurately sloganism.
What's sloganism I hear you ask?
Not another new word that doesn't exist until some idiot blogger with a keyboard adds 'ism' to the end of a quiet wee word. It's quite simply 1984 revisited. Remember doublespeak. Applications like changing the Royal Mail to Consignia followed Diageo even Curriculum for Excellence, which apparently is about education. Sometimes re-branding is good but mostly its just nonsense or abuse.
So Just in time is now an excuse to be wheeled out by governments who will tell you that carrying stock is an inefficient use of capital resources, just after they tell you about PPE or even BPE (cladding for buildings apparently).
Economists stock and trade is to identify the opportunity cost of one course of action against another. They compare what benefits accrue when certain actions are taken and what the negative impacts or costs are. The simple trade off involved in stockpiling bog rolls occurs because money in the bank at 0% interest is better invested in bog rolls.
Us punters looked on aghast as we heard that our hospitals' stock of PPE could be exhausted so quickly or more recently that we pay fortunes to friends of politicians, no mate's rates here. We probably carry a larger stock of poppies, although this is not a new problem. Ask all those in the trenches in WWI as news came through about problems in the supply chain for gas masks. Just not in time for too many of them.
Predicting when you need to stock up is what the retail world specialises in. The pandemic was well forecast, just check the press or the stock markets in January and February. Even if we had no plan surely the medical emergency would have got more than the slogan writers out.
Supplies of PPE require forward planning and that saves money but this government, like its predecessors dont like to invest in intangibles. The trade off, of being ill-prepared is paying higher prices. Had the government increased borrowing in 2010 to ensure Pandemic planning were protected the austerity gods of their party would've have voted it down. Instead, they just waved the axe and binned the plan. If the London Evening Standard makes any noise about PPE they should be rounded on by Londoners as the Sun was in Liverpool. The scandalous Grenfell disaster was a horrible demonstration of the abandoning of planning.
Its simply not vote worthy to say we have stocks of PPE, our supply chains for ventillators....etc etc.
Sloganism, like leave the EU and put £888bn into our NHS are far more successful, so its not a big step to then make these slogans vague promises or downright lies.
Deadbeat has never said this is the best band in Scotland, but if it had, it wouldn't have mattered, a little hyperbole is good for the sales right?
So my point is quite simply this. Politicians are the last people you want making "Just in Time" decisions and as much as they do or dont want to 'front up' and 'take responsibility', they are ill equipped to help out.
Their skill set is in the sound bite, the slogan and being elected, shows their success at this key politicians attribute.
Wading through plans that will impact in the eventuality of XY or Z is as far away as you can get from a politicians metier. The vote about leaving the EU was about winning the vote not about leaving. We are still negotiating to stay but on our own terms, ie that we've left but we still get to stay.
Our society as Deming tried to highlight, has theories for efficiency. Making assembly lines more productive uses specialist suppliers now and guess what? They supply stuff. Unfortunately Government seems to employ people to specialise in messages. I wouldn't ask any politician for professional advice in anything other than slogans.
I cracked a joke the other day when somebody gave me a bag of coffee beans from a well known chain. I laughed and suggested if they'd brought me meat or veggie burgers from another well known chain, I wouldn't have thanked them either! If a retail outlet specialises in sourcing, then supplying a variety of beans or teas I might consider it a treat.
There's a fine line between people who sell goods and those who source goods, its as narrow as the Champs Elysees!
So to conclude, Politicians sell and others do the work, like Astra Zeneca who are putting union jacks onto vials, a sorry message that needs flogged to death......
I've already said too much...now let's talk about the boundaries between streets.....
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