Supply Chain

The shortage of crucial medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment, has crippled the United States’ ability to quell the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 54,000 nursing home residents and workers have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of June 26. This is a staggering number when compared to nursing homes in Hong Kong, which have reported zero deaths despite cramped quarters.

Much like the internet isn’t one thing, the supply chain isn’t either. Instead, it’s a complex, symbiotic relationship between consumption and production that, in theory, is supposed to balance out. And usually it does. But when it doesn’t, you get the current toilet paper aisle at your favorite local grocery store with limited supplies. Four months ago, WABE’s host of “All Things Considered,” Jim Burress asked Georgia Institute of Technology’s Pinar Keskinocak to break down the concept of the supply chain. Monday, Keskinocak spoke to Burress again and gave an update, but she started the conversation with a reminder of what exactly the supply chain is.

The shortage of crucial medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment, has crippled the United States’ ability to quell the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 54,000 nursing home residents and workers have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of June 26. This is a staggering number when compared to nursing homes in Hong Kong, which have reported zero deaths despite cramped quarters.

Few of the coronavirus’ many inconveniences tax Americans like the line. Food banks in Vermont and Arizona have miles-long queues of cars. At testing sites in Florida, motorists show up with full gas tanks to keep air conditioning pumping all day. Travel to Europe is off, with America waiting behind other nations to re-enter someday. Even the electronic realm is tied up: Amid 11% unemployment, people applying for benefits report frozen computer screens and abrupt phone disconnections. Sometimes, the reward waiting at the end is simply a chance to try again tomorrow.

The coronavirus era has intensified the strategic decoupling between the United States and China. At this historical juncture, supply chains are now deemed the critical strategic drivers of regional and global security dynamics, business operations and the engine of economic activity.  

In the face of the coronavirus crisis, building improved supply chain resilience is perhaps the hottest topic in the industry right now, with literally dozens if not hundreds of articles and pundits weighing in on what companies need to do to become more resilient.

Professor ManMohan S. Sodhi, Professor in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Cass Business School, has been listed amongst the leading operations management (OM) professors in the world, based on researchers’ publications in the very top four OM journals over 2001-15. The four journals were Journal of Operations Management, Management Science, Manufacturing and Services Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management (POM).

The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t even over and U.S. preparations for the second wave are nowhere to be seen. Political leaders like Vice President Michael Pence have said there won’t even be another resurgence, but fresh evidence suggests otherwise: Seven states, including Arizona, Florida and South Carolina, are experiencing new daily cases that more than doubled from two weeks ago. Regardless of whether a second wave is on its way, one thing is clear: The U.S. health care system is still struggling.

The pandemic has exposed one of the major weaknesses of many supply chains: the inability to react to sudden, large-scale disruptions. This lack of resiliency has been especially notable in the supply chains of the life sciences, health care, and food industries. The resulting turmoil has generated calls for companies that had offshored production to Asia (and China, in particular) to bring it back home. But this approach is no panacea. For one thing, given the huge size of the Chinese market, most global companies will need to keep a presence there to serve it. For another, since China is now a dominant, if not sole, source, for thousands of items, reducing dependence on it in many cases will take considerable investment and time.

The coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has created enormous anxiety, uncertainty, and disruption to our lives. Much has already been written about potential shortages of medicines and face masks, but little has been said about something only you and I can provide – lifesaving blood.