The Universal Request Object Preface: I have been in software long enough to distrust anything labeled “universal.” Most of those efforts are covert standardization campaigns that collapse under edge cases. This one has a narrower goal. The network needs a single internal packet to route work, measure friction, and attach

Tariffs Buy Time but Coordination Wins The Day A stamped steel bracket for a transformer cabinet is missing from a build, and the line is about to stall. The drawing packet says Rev C, the STEP file is Rev B, and the buyer’s RFQ email has “ASAP” where lead

The Very Lively Corpse of Globalization Most “globalization” arguments skip the part where procurement actually happens. A prototype needs a quick turn and the program manager wants hardware next week. The buyer sends the RFQ to whoever answers fast, asks the fewest questions, and will ship on a credit card.

The Trust Spiral One quality escape can lock a supply chain for years This series argues that American manufacturing already exists as a national system, but it is hard to query, hard to verify, and therefore hard to coordinate. This essay focuses on a narrow claim about what happens when

The Hidden National Supply Chain The supply chain exists, but it is not queryable Ask a simple question, “How many factories are in the United States,” and you immediately hit a problem: we don’t know. Some counts treat a “factory” as any manufacturing establishment, including very small facilities with

The RFQ Noise Floor Priority poison When I worked on advertising software, I watched a routing queue collapse because of one override. We ran an optimizer across campaign IDs, pacing curves, impression caps, and monthly budgets, and the only thing an operator could touch was a priority flag called BBB

Ambiguity Lives in People The most expensive part is rarely the tightest tolerance. The greatest expense comes from hidden ambiguity because it forces someone to guess. A silent assumption often turns into rework. A machine shop does not fail because it cannot hold a thou. A buyer does not miss

The Latency Tax A buyer can do everything “right” and still lose weeks. The drawing is approved. The budget exists. The part is needed to keep an assembly moving. The buyer sends an RFQ and waits. While they wait, nothing else can lock: material release, tooling allocation, fixture planning, inspection

Local Optimization Creates National Failure A nation that cannot make essential goods is not sovereign. It is exposed. Domestic manufacturing is a prerequisite for national security and for a healthy middle class. In a crisis, the limiting factor is rarely courage, it is throughput. Eisenhower famously said that battles, campaigns,