Supply Chain Risk

Jun 10, 2021

Will Supply Chain Price Increases Result in Inflation? The Fed isn’t Worried…

As vaccination rates in the US, the UK, and Europe have risen, economies have shifted back and capital projects are beginning to resume. However, significant problems remain with respect to…

Mar 12, 2021

Supply Chain Preparedness Lessons Learned: The Gulf Coast Refineries and the Texas Storm

I interviewed some individuals who work in the Houston area and learned more about what happened. One supply chain executive shared with me some of the challenges they experienced during…

Feb 1, 2021

Thinking About a Recovery…Building Flexibility Into Your Supply Chain in 2021

In the thick of a crisis, it is difficult for many executives to think about a recovery. However, we all need to think about preparedness for emergencies, and ensuring a…

May 11, 2023

Shining a Light on the EV Supply Chain: A Poor Environmental and Human Rights Record

For years, the public has been going around buying electric vehicles, claiming that they are promoting “clean energy” and contributing to less global warming, feeling very smug about themselves. However,…

May 23, 2025

The Domino Effect of Global Tariffs on the Supply Chain

The announcement of tariffs on “Liberation Day” has created a cascading set of outcomes for global supply chains. The first impact was that every US-based company has essentially gone into…

May 20, 2025

Current issues facing supply chain managers in an era of uncertainty

I was recently asked about a few questions related to how managers should be navigating the waters around the tariff uncertainty, AI, contracting, and a host of other issues. Here…

Jan 17, 2025

Trust without vulnerability can’t exist in supply chain relationships

People often throw around the term “trust” in discussing supply chain relationships. Trust (and its cousin, Collaboration) seems to be a highly discussed element of effective supply chain relationships. In…

Mar 2, 2020

Steps for industry and government to prepare for the Coronavirus

As I noted in an earlier blog, the issue of global epidemics is something that we have seen in the past with the SARS epidemic. People sometimes think these come…

Nov 2, 2019

Pierre Mitchell of Spend Matters: Delivering Value in the Face of VUCA

Variability, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) – these are the conditions of the “new normal” set of operating conditions faced by most firms today in their value chains. When one…

Jul 28, 2019

Global Sourcing and Human Rights Go Hand in Hand

Low-cost country (LCC) sourcing is now a commonplace strategy for shrinking bottom line labor and material costs in most consumer products industries, including apparel, footwear, toys, and other manufactured products.…