Director’s Blog
Force Majeure: A Non-Issue When it Comes to COVID Supply Chain Disruptions
Early in the pandemic, many lawyers were licking their chops, thinking about the stream of force majeure lawsuits that would be coming their way, with manufacturers suing suppliers, and vice versa, all using force majeure as a contractual escape hatch […]
The Next Supply Chain Capacity Expansion Will Be…
In the current environment, the big push for production and the biggest shortfalls in capacity is for test kits. Recent reports identify that the level of testing is far below what they need to be, and despite their best efforts, […]
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 […]
Automation in the Meat Packing Industry is on the Horizon
An article in the Wall Street Journal discussed the emerging technology of automation in the meat packing industry. This is no doubt a harbinger of more automation to come not just in this industry, but in all industries where human […]
PPE Shortages Disrupting Hospitals Nationwide: Portrait of a Broken Healthcare Supply Chain
A recent article in the Washington Post highlighted the massive shortages of PPE that are now decimating hospitals nationwide, as the number of new cases of Coronavirus goes through the roof. The Post notes that: “Health-care workers on the front […]
COVID and Touchless Logistics for Home Delivery: Guest Post by Michael Kay PhD
Today’s blog was provided by Professor Michael Kay of the Edwards Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University. This is a reprint of an article he published in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Work. With so […]
U.S. Government Poised To Award ‘Commercial Platforms’ Contracts That Will Open Online Marketplaces To Federal Purchasers
I was recently involved in a research discussion with Chris Yukins of George Washington University’s Law School’s Government Procurement Program, and Thomas Kull from Arizona State University, exploring the impact of the rise of electronic marketplaces in government procurement. In […]
The PPE Shortage Nightmare is Far From Over — It’s About to Get Worse
Given the lack of discussion in the media on supply chain shortages in healthcare, one would think that this crisis has been averted, and that shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medicines, and hospital supplies is now a history lesson. […]
Government’s Big Move to Electronic Marketplaces
I was recently involved in a research discussion with Chris Yukins of George WAshington University’s Law School’s Government Procurement Program, and Thomas Kull from Arizona State University, exploring the impact of the rise of electronic marketplaces in government procurement. In […]
Integrating “The Edge”, or “The Rise of the Machines”
Flow improvements from the integration of supply chain partners and the elimination of layers of traditional communication can also facilitate movement. Machine to Machine — or more appropriately, App to App — communications, without humans in the loop, are going […]