What would happen if this type of pivot occurred in response to an even greater global threat? A common situation in science fiction is a first contact, the arrival of aliens. If extraterrestrials were to appear, threatening the entire planet, what other factories would be able to change what they manufacture?
An easy transition would be for car factories to switch to satellite and rocket technology. Another would be for pharmaceutical manufacturing plants to exclusively make drugs and compounds related to space travel.
An interesting story would be to come up with a small problem that symbolizes a larger issue faced by humanity. Think of a disease where everyone is infected with a disease that makes them allergic to meat (this is actually a possibility. Alpha-gal syndrome is transmitted by a tick and makes humans allergic to red meat). Would pharma companies change their trajectory to solve the problem? And if so, would the production of meat alternatives hit the level required to make companies consider changing their production?
An interesting way to approach this would be to wonder what would happen if people began hoarding a household well, like batteries. Why would they do this? Maybe there is a supply chain issue, where the country that has a rare metal goes to war and makes it impossible to continue production. How many companies would switch their focus to create new technology to store energy?
My first thought would be to make this scenario a standalone story, one about an older couple who can’t fight get the supplies they need and eventually succumb to the disease in each other’s arms.
If this was going to play out in a series, it could be a survival story where people try and get into jail in order to stay alive. On the outside it’s hard, if not impossible, to get the required supplies but the government’s responsibility to make sure the prisoner serves their sentence could present some interesting possibilities. Book one is in the prison, book two is breaking out of the prison, book three is finding and protecting a safe haven from those infected.
The pivot of one factory to produce another product is happening in light of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. The Japanese company Sharp, known for its LCD televisions, will transition one of their manufacturing plants to produce facemasks instead of electronics.
The factory is able to switch its output because the cleanliness required for making LCD screens is comparable to the conditions necessary for sterile facemasks. The change comes as the world is scrambling for supplies in preparation for the outbreak. Sterile masks, gloves, and other common household items have been flying off store shelves as the threat of the virus spreads across the globe.
