News & Insights

I, Supply Chain

(A classical reference to Leonard E Reed’s essay “I, Pencil” published in the 1950’s)

Why is that camera, video game console or new car you want so difficult to find? Almost every part of the global supply chain is experiencing significant bottlenecks today, causing a process that has functioned seamlessly for a very long time to falter. In much of the developed world, corporations have globalized production, moving their manufacturing base to lower-cost economies in order to enhance their profitability. This framework was developed over many years and never considered the potential vulnerability a worldwide crisis might present. Consumers are now seeing this on a day-to-day basis as interruptions in production in faraway lands have resulted in missing goods on market shelves.