Manufacturers back to building inventory

Before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world, factory workers were humming along assembling products just after components were delivered. It was called “just-in-time” production. It was efficient, predictable and cost effective.

Today, companies are scrambling just to find parts, lock in purchases (and hopefully prices) and work around estimated delivery schedules. It is a vastly different world.

For example, three years ago people touring the Boeing 737 plant in Renton saw 737s creeping down long assembly lines where wings, engines and tail were mounted on fuselages. Parts came from around...