So you thought your supply chain was prepared for disruption? Then COVID-19 happened.Years of building supply chains with efficiency and cost as primary drivers resulted in significant gains in growth and profitability. However, the resulting lack of operational flexibility and resiliency led to an

Out of the coronavirus pandemic will emerge a new digital society status quo — one that will accelerate major technological advances that are already underway. Among the many important innovations that the pandemic will push forward are blockchain and cryptocurrency.What is it about this uncer

More than 90% of Fortune 1000 companies have experienced supply-chain disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Accenture. Seventy-five percent of those companies reported “negative or strongly negative impacts on their businesses.”These statistics only confirm what many

The challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic lies in the unprecedented scope of its impact, both in terms of human lives and what it reveals about the United States’ dependence on foreign goods.Many critical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and life-saving medicines

We’re facing the greatest disruption to global supply chains ever witnessed, with the pandemic grinding production to a halt across nearly every industry. But the political decision on when to reopen each state won’t act as a virtual on-switch for the economy, and back-up plans for alter

Insurance is a financial product that is based on social need. It doesn’t serve just the interests of one, but of many. From regulation through academic theory, it is widely accepted and required that “the business of insurance is to serve the public trust.”I have been thinking a l

Retailers have been moving quickly to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic — with more than 65% experiencing or expecting supply-chain disruptions due to production halts in China, according to the National Retail Federation.After this year's unprecedented drop in consumer activity, the

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed a lack of resilience in organizations and societies — and, more specifically, in global supply chains.Supply-chain resilience can be addressed in three main areas: critical phases, attributes and categories.The three critical phases for an organization facing a

While traditional higher education will remain a valuable asset, we are witnessing the death of our post-World War II, post-Industrial Revolution economy, where workers earned a steady paycheck for 40 years with a corporate entity, then retired comfortably at 65 with few or no hiccups.Major events l

American companies across the board are striving to reduce their dependence on China as a source of manufacturing, but one industry sector is especially keen to bring production back to the U.S.It’s the business of mining and processing rare earth materials, 17 chemical elements that are essen

Supply-chain management is ever changing, even when it’s business as usual. A natural disaster can expose or emphasize weakness in an organization’s supply chain. Today we are faced with a global pandemic that has brought many companies to their knees. More than ever, organizations need

Since the very start of the spread of COVID-19, the virus has disrupted supply chains and distribution on a global level. From empty grocery shelves to shortages of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, such disruptions are likely to continue even after shelter-in-place mand

As supply-chain managers begin working toward a new normal after the COVID-19 crisis, they’ll be trying to understand dynamics they haven’t encountered prior to this pandemic — not the least of which is how their vendors and customers are handling their restart, and how the marketp

In the last three weeks, I’ve spoken with senior executives of dozens of companies about how they’re managing business continuity during the COVID-19 crisis. Their insights have been consistent.It’s clear that reaction is not a strategy. Today, we have the COVID-19 crisis. Last yea

One of the biggest challenges facing the U.S. healthcare system is drug shortages. In the last several years, shortages of critical drugs — morphine, lidocaine, epinephrine, immune globulin, vincristine and even normal saline for injection — have caused significant problems for patients,

As talk of reopening the economy picks up steam, retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers face a whirlwind of decisions about how to maintain cash flow, turn inventory, and seed growth for the ongoing recovery. But certain things that are key to the success of a restart should already be

The concept of sole sourcing is as old as that of strategic sourcing. Call it vendor consolidation, volume concentration, or reduction of part-number proliferation, the endgame is always the same: reduce the number of vendors at the part and enterprise levels, to help drive cost efficiencies.The ide

At a time when ports are suffering from severe congestion and scarcity of land, one designer of cargo-handling equipment is proposing a radical new way of moving ocean containers between ship and shore.With the coming of mega-ships carrying upwards of 10,000 forty-foot containers on a single voyage,

The COVID-19 crisis has added new layers of unpredictability to supply chains. Industry executives are having to rethink every aspect of operations, and address potentially permanent shifts in consumer behavior.In the near future, significant investment in technology and automation will be a primary

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting supply-chain fallout, many have speculated about how the U.S. found itself so reliant on manufacturing in China and other countries.The global pandemic has cruelly exposed the dependence of the U.S. on China’s mass-manufacturing capability,