X220T Order Page Changes

I see that the Custom Order Page has been updated. The two items that stand out are:

1.) Delivery changed from 8 business days to more than 4 weeks.
2.) Ordering either of the displays, including the standard default screen will delay shipment by 1-2 weeks.

Looks like things in Japan are still causing delays. No mention yet of the Gorilla Glass.

 

thinkpads are built in china, not sure exactly how much Japan's crisis is contributing to this.

 

But most of the screens are sourced from Japan's manufacturing plants. That coupled with the fact that Lenovo seems to use a just in time parts stocking system only adds to the problem.

 

The modern world is a global world. Parts in your laptop come from around the world, mainly the U.S., China, and Japan. A crisis and shortage anywhere in the supply chain will affect the final product.

JIT production is modern production; pretty much all OEMs that offer CTO systems use this--it's expensive and usually pointless to keep a huge backstock of parts inventory.

The disaster in Japan, as well as the usual shortages early in the life of many CTO computer systems, are likely responsible for the limited supplies of X220t screens.