The world gets clock-wise

Nor are they likely to confine themselves to suppliers close to home over the long run. "The forces of globalization are so powerful that they will overcome the current slowdown."

As border authorities, airports, and others develop new security procedures, the general economic slowdown is giving them a little breathing room.

"Traffic is down a bit," David Jolly, general manager of the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing in North America, acknowledges. "It's definite that you're going from one country to another now," he adds.

Joyce Farrer, a 22-year veteran of the Henry Ford Hospital, whose drive time used to be 45 minutes either way, reports that border delays have dropped from several hours a day to just about zip lately, as a result of extra staffing by US Customs. "But this emergency plan is just a Band-Aid. "They're working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. They can't keep that up forever," she adds with a sympathy born of familiarity: The commuters and "their" customs agents know one another on sight.

"Since Sept. 17, we've been pretty much back to normal operations," says David Barnas, a Chrysler spokesman in Detroit. He acknowledges that there have been some delays, but they are a matter of "minutes, not hours."

Similarly, General Motors spokesman Tom Wickham reports a return to normal after the drama of directing corporate operations from a situation room staffed 24/7. Lost production came to 10,000 units, he says, "but within a week we were 100 percent back up and running."

Despite the positive public statements, there are signs that the business community is concerned about loss of speed. The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce has 15 staff members a day working on border issues, says its president, Richard Blouse.

And Bill Promisch, director of international business policy for the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, sees among his member companies "very broad concerns about the way they do business."

"Just-in-time delivery seems to be the wave of the future," he adds, "but I sense that companies are rethinking their whole logistics."

The business community is also eager to see governments introduce new technologies that will facilitate border crossings. The National Customs Automation Program is "especially near and dear to our hearts at GM," says Mr. Wickham. Introduced on a pilot basis already, it is to be phased in nationwide in 2003-04. But Charles Armstrong, executive director of the Customs Modernization Office, warns that it will need $300-400 million a year from Congress over the next four years.

Unpredictability in the system is the real "wild card" out there, Mr. Primosch says. "Ninety-five percent reliability is not enough." Within the auto industry, a 20-minute delay in delivery can idle a plant.

Noel Greis, a director of the center for logistics and digital strategy at UNC's Kenan Institute, says that some American companies may decide to get components from Mexico instead of Asia, or may rely on nearby ground shippers rather than suppliers who ship by air. She sees time-definite delivery as even more important than speedy delivery. "Fast is good, but too fast is not." Components that show up before they're needed disrupt production.

Are we really sure "fast" is where it's at?

After Sept. 11, everything slowed down - in human as well as economic terms - a function of grieving, of mourning. Some observers have suggested that this is a time for a change of tempo, a less intense lifestyle.

History is not on their side.

Stephen Kern of Northern Illinois University, author of "The Culture of Time and Space: 1880-1918," has seen the future - and it is faster.

"No one wants to go slower. The notion that people are going to be in shock because of constant change is nonsense.

"People don't go into shock because their world is changing too fast. People go into shock because they're bored and stagnant.

"The historical record is clear: The world has never opted to slow down."

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