COVID Supply Chain Risk Planning
Kairos Research, NC State, ASU Win IARPA Contract to Analyze Hidden Risks in Complex Supply Chains
If you look far enough back in history, you will find the literal definition of a linchpin to be an item which kept the wheels from falling off wooden carts. During the recent COVID-19 crisis, we have all experienced firsthand the consequences of […]
Q: Why so many product shortages? A: The Perfect Storm
I have had a number of calls this past week with various media outlets, including the Associated Press, WRAL, Forbes, and even the New York Times! All of these reporters are asking the same question, which was best captured by […]
Vaccines are the Utility Needed for the Global Economy
In an article in Politico, the (somewhat) obvious point is made that the Biden administration is finally recognizing that there is not enough manufacturing capacity in the US to produce booster shots that will be needed to combat the new […]
Diversifying the Supply Base to Prepare for Disruption in COVID: Now is the Time!
Diversifying your supply base prior to a major crisis like COVID is more important than ever as we go into the winter season. The likelihood of another surge is now becoming apparent, as the cases in Europe and the US […]
Double Bullwhip Effect Impacted Trade in the First Half of 2020
Evolutionary design requires individuals to constantly look for emerging patterns in how material moves through their supply chains. Force or action must be taken to change the path of supply chain flows, to compress the amount of time that inventory […]
Foraging for Healthcare Supplies in a Western Economy
Yesterday I spoke with a procurement executive at a major hospital in the Northeast. This is someone that I know and respect, and who is considered a highly proactive and informed individual. He is deploying advanced procurement technology in his […]
The Strategic National Stockpile that Failed Us
The COVID-19 crisis arrived in the United States in February and was largely dismissed as a non-threatening issue. In particular, the CDC was convinced that it had contained the virus and retained control of all diagnostic testing, which later produced […]
We Need Supply Chain Immunity, not Resiliency: A Position Paper
In today’s post I am sharing insights from a position paper that my colleague Dan Finkenstadt, PhD, myself, and other academic and government officers are working on. The paper is an attempt to create some logic in the fact of […]
Needed: A National Governance Framework for Healthcare Supply Chains
The Tragedy of the Commons – A situation in which a shared resource system, where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource […]
Catastrophic Impacts of COVID19 in Bangladesh Apparel Supply Chain
An article written by my former PhD student, Rejaul Hasan, and I just came out this week in Contracting Excellence, the journal published by IACCM, which documents the catastrophe that is unfolding in Bangladesh, one of the world’s major exporters […]