Another thing to note. As this virus travels, will be interesting to see how places like Las Vegas deal with it. If you ask me, the casino environment is a great place to spread this virus. Will also be interesting to see how brothels, night clubs, bars, etc. deal with the virus. Could you imagine Las Vegas looking as empty as Wuhan?
We've mentioned how products from China have insinuated themselves throughout our lives. Now we'll be seeing how this virus will affect all aspects of our daily lives.
But one lesson, worldwide, I sure as hell hope and pray that has been learned from this - NEVER put your production/sourcing eggs in one basket. Have at least one more source of materials and one alternative production facility available. China has proven to be a very weak reed to depend on. The other lesson that should now be learned is just-in-time inventory has too many vulnerabilities. Gonna have to spend the money to build warehouses, develop delivery systems from bigger warehouses to smaller warehouses at factories. The only way I can see just-in-time working is if ALL your suppliers are in the same country, or better yet, in your region of the country. It must no longer be taken for granted that supplies/parts/whatever coming from another country will even arrive at all, much less get there in time.
You know, this was going to happen in China, sooner or later. If it hadn't been an outbreak of a virus, it was going to be political turmoil when the next recession hits. Any time you get too far out on a limb, that limb's going to break on you. Now, all over the world, organizations and people are scrambling to make up what's being lost. There will be competition for limited supplies and a limited rate of building/setting up manufacturing facilities.
Question for anyone who might know - how much has air cargo traffic increased these days? Only way to get critical things quickly from one relatively clear country to another. This is where your logisticians earn their pay.