The Fed’s balancing act (growth/full employment vs. inflation) requires them to forecast where the economy is headed. The state of national and global supply chains is an increasingly important piece of that puzzle.
Pandemic
Anything related to pandemics, but particularly impact on supply chains, as well as supply chain practices to prepare for and deal with pandemics
2021, The Year of Opportunity – Rebuilding Anew
Though the challenges that emerged in 2020 are far from over, 2021 is nevertheless a year of tremendous opportunities—for companies, whole industries, individuals, supply chains, and governments. Here we lay out some of these historic opportunities of the current moment—chances to seize the moment and make some dramatic changes that would not be possible in normal times.
A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
What is the future in our company? How will we serve our customers going forward in this new reality? And how do we help/collaborate with our suppliers when we radically and suddenly change our product offerings?
Only the Strong Adaptable Survive – Companies Thinking Way Outside the Box to Survive the Pandemic
The pandemic has suddenly made ‘agility’ a key survival skill, rather than just an aspiration for businesses. Here’s a look at how some companies have swiftly adjusted, pivoted (sometimes radically), and improvised on the fly.
Home Delivery in the Spotlight
The current world crisis highlights the good and the not so good of home delivery practices.
Can We Minimize Coronavirus Deaths Without Destroying the Economy?
Ongoing debates on what to do about the COVID-19 pandemic focus on the tradeoff between the economic pain of extreme suppression measurements vs. the societal/health consequences of not doing enough. Here we look at the “Hammer and the Dance”; a proposed approach to limiting the peak infection and death rates, while simultaneously limiting the economic and social costs to society.
The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Impact on Different Sectors and Their Supply Chains
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted supply chains to a degree not seen for nearly a century or perhaps ever in modern times. As bad as things are, this is only the beginning. We explore the very different issues that different sectors are facing, how they are meeting those challenges in very different ways, and some early lessons learned.
What Noah Knew About the Supply Chain That You Don’t
Certainty principles can be leveraged to significantly improve your inventory optimization and customer service levels: A simple approach to isolating uncertainty.
Managing Risk, Maintaining Continuity
This article discusses the importance of risk management for businesses, drawing parallels to the Dutch East India Company’s approach to risk in the past. It emphasizes the need for better evaluation and prediction of risks to prevent disruptions and losses, and outlines strategies and enablers for effective risk management, including pandemic preparedness, supply chain improvements, security measures, and addressing issues like counterfeiting and piracy.
Pandemic Preparedness for Businesses and their Supply Chains
This report describes two vital indices to help assess and improve a companies readiness for the pandemic
Executive Summary: Pandemic Preparedness for Businesses and their Supply Chains
Many experts predict that it is only a matter of time before the H5N1 Pandemic Flu arrives. And, when it does come, the impact on global business will be devastating–failed operations and business shutdowns, due to the collapse of business and transportation infrastructures, because key human resources have refused or are unable to come to work. Businesses
will be unable to obtain supplies to continue operations. As consumer priorities change, many goods will become scarce. Entertainment and luxury items will fall out of favor as the need for survival goods grows. There will be decreased productivity due to fear, stress, high absenteeism, low morale, enforced isolation, and depletion of the work force. There will be restricted face-to-face contact, and public service shutdowns of gathering places in an effort to reduce personal contact. Many economists predict a severe economic
depression, depending on the length and severity of the pandemic.