Supply Chain

DC VELOCITY’s new podcast is designed to help you keep up with what’s happening in this fast-changing industry. Each week, the editors of DC VELOCITY discuss the latest news and developing trends we all need to know about to keep ahead of the competition. We also talk to industry experts and practitioners in the logistics field.

Many would agree that the pharmaceutical supply chain presents its respective share of obstacles that all parties must work toward resolving daily, ranging from material shortages to negotiating prices for services.

CNBC’s Andrea Day joins ’The News with Shepard Smith to report on how supply chain issues and labor issues are impacting stores and shoppers nationwide.

With the COVID-19 pandemic straining medical supply chains for more than two years, operation experts are still grappling with daily disruptions.

(CNN) Dozens of international flights loaded with baby formula have already come into the United States, but formula stock rates are not improving. Experts say it will take at least another couple months for this to change, as both supply levels and consumers' perspectives level out.

As supply chains face new and unprecedented pressures on a number of fronts, companies look to emerging technologies to automate tasks, get intelligence and become more resilient.

It began with cleaning supplies and toilet paper in early 2020. Baby formula shortages created concerns among mothers with infants. Most recently, tampon shortages have surfaced. Automobile parts and computer chips available from multiple providers scattered around the globe have supply chains that are particularly fragile. Energy prices are at record levels. All these shortages are driving prices higher, which in turn are impacting numerous other consumer products and services.

Over the past three years, the U.S. government has intervened frequently to shield American consumers from the pain of wrenching global supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, the Ever Given's misadventures in the Suez Canal, and labor shortages. Last October, President Joe Biden's newly created White House Supply Chain Disruption Task Force convinced port workers and terminal operators at the Port of Los Angeles to keep the facility running 24/7 to avert a Christmas supply chain crisis. This week, Congress passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act that is aimed at clearing red tape and backlogs in U.S. ports to ease shortages and delays.

Audio Interview: Global Risks - Why Good Risk Management Practices are Essential for the Automotive Industry

The tampon shortage, like that of baby formula, is the result of many factors, including too few manufacturers, not enough trained workers, droughts that have affected cotton crops, and the war in Ukraine driving up prices of raw materials.