There wa a rather striking graphic in yesterday's Globe and Mail that didn't appear in the online version of the article for some reason, so I have copied it here.
It shows the progress of a vehicle being manufactured in North America. It shows just how complex and integrated the process is these days. But to me, more thsn anything, it shows just how convoluted and carbon-intense it has become.
It starts in Mexico with the metal casing. Then it goes up to Canada, where the crankshaft is re-finished. Then down to the US for further finishing ofnrhe crankshaft. Then back to Canada, where the crankshaft is incorporated into the engine. Back to a US assembly plant. Back to Canada for painting and trims. And finally back to the US to be sold to a consumer.
Now, that's kind of ridiculous, isn't it? Re-finishing in one country, then more re-finishing in another? A vehicle in the US has to go to Canada to be painted before returning to the US for sale?
And it's not just cars, of course. Canada exports aluminum to the USA, they make cans, and then they export them BACK to Canada for beer, pop, etc, containers. Ridiculous!
It just seems so inefficient, although no doubt it is justified by economies of scale or labour practices or some other such considerations. But the unnecessary transportation costs and the alarming carbon footprint this system entails is surely hard to justify. Is this the state of modern capitalism in some of the most advanced countries in the world. Crazy.
No comments:
Post a Comment