Article on Semiconductor Shortages at Ford

[MakinDoForNow]

With the technology changing as fast as it is, that does not even make sense.

That would be like buying 5-years of today's Intel processors for laptops to be built well into the future.

How competitive would that be?

True if Ford is using the "state of art chips" if their purchase contract did not demand reservations for chip improvements every 1,2,3,?years. They apparently did not buy or cancelled orders when covid hit and let others sign long term orders.

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[davnau]

True if Ford is using the "state of art chips" if their purchase contract did not demand reservations for chip improvements every 1,2,3,?years. They apparently did not buy or cancelled orders when covid hit and let others sign long term orders.

Chip foundries typically sell chips for many different applications across the spectrum. All the auto companies cancelled orders when COVID hit, and the computer industry picked up the capacity slack, since lots of people were working from home and needed a laptop, if they did not have one already.

When the auto industry came back, the capacity was already mostly taken, so it has been harder to ramp up production again.

One exception was Toyota. After the earthquake/tsunami in 2011, they always wanted to have at least 6 months of parts on hand, including semiconductors. However, late last summer, they ran out too, and started to close plants and eliminate shifts. The practice did buy them some time.

It's just a mess all around. Ford is trying to switch to an build-to-order model, while still using the existing dealer allocation system, and while there are parts shortages. A perfect storm. They are dealing with it, and we, as the end-user customer, are dealing with it.

 

[PriusHater]

With the technology changing as fast as it is, that does not even make sense.

That would be like buying 5-years of today's Intel processors for laptops to be built well into the future.

How competitive would that be?

Not unheard of to stick with what already works as opposed to investing resources into testing and integrating new tech. NASA continued using the same Dell computers and cameras on the ISS long after manufacturer of each was discontinued. The space agency had to resort to eBay to find replacements and parts.

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