Industries

A sector describes what a company sells. A chain describes what it depends on. Everything in this section is written from the second one.

Twelve chains are walked tier by tier, from a raw input to recognised revenue. Each is graded on depth, on how narrow it gets at its narrowest step, on how many months a replacement takes to qualify, on what limits output today, and on who ends up carrying that limit.

Chains covered12
Tiers traced61
Narrow steps named12
Chains revised, 90d
Open a chain map →
Lead · chain reading/Compute · Power · Electrical equipment

Grid interconnection has replaced silicon as the binding constraint on compute

Announced capacity is a statement about chips. Delivered capacity is a statement about substations. The step that now sets the pace sits two tiers below the operator and appears in none of their disclosures: the winding shops that build large power transformers, and the queue for a connection to the network.

The reading
Depth
Six tiers, copper and steel core to a leased rack
Narrowest step · tier 2
Large power transformers and HV switchgear, — qualified shops
Substitution
36–48 months, order to energisation
Chain behind this story →
ANNOUNCED · QUEUED · ENERGISED CAPACITY, BY REGION · INDEXED
QUEUE POSITION AGAINST TRANSFORMER LEAD TIME · 24 MONTH WINDOWARCANE DESK
Constraint heatmapWhat limits output today, by kind and by chain
SEMDCCGRDDEFPHAMINCHMAUTSHPENPFODCONPowerPermitsToolingLabourWaterTransit
BindingTighteningNot bindingRead from permits, tariffs, tenders, gauge levels, hiring
Substitution clock
Optics
60m+
Xfmr
36–48
Forge
30–42
Pkg
24–30
API
18–24
Cath
12–18
Box
3–6

Months to qualify an alternative at each chain's narrowest step. Where substitution runs longer than the cycle that needs it, price adjusts instead of volume.

How a chain gets mapped

01  The chain is walked from end demand down to a raw input using customs records, permits and awards, not supplier lists. A tier exists when two independent records agree that it does.

02  Nodes at each tier are counted, with the share the largest one carries. One node above the threshold ends the search: that tier is the chain.

03  Substitution is priced from precedent rather than statement. What matters is not whether an alternative exists but how long it took, the last time, before one could be used.

04  Incidence is named. A constraint with no named bearer has been described, not mapped, and the desk holds the piece until it can say who pays for it.