Director’s Blog
Partnership is More Important than Digital Innovation when it comes to Complex Construction Projects
Across all industries, construction management has perhaps been the slowest to adopt digital technologies, and many opportunities exist to drive out inefficiencies. Due to the multi-stakeholder and shifting nature of roles and responsibilities over the life of construction projects, numerous […]
Just How Dire is the COVID Healthcare Global Supply Chain Response? (A Case Study)
One would surmise from some of the political proclamations made in the last few days that the COVID crisis is behind us and that everything is back to normal. Some of my recent research has involved interviews with healthcare physicians, […]
The Hinge Factor in Supply Chains: A History Lesson
An important component of digital dexterity is known as a “hinge factor:” the mental agility to respond to and know what to do with data as it flows into one’s consciousness. As we discussed previously, even as systems evolve to […]
Five Things We Can Do to Get Ready for the Next Pandemic
It’s probably too late to already be thinking about how to fix the bungled response to the current pandemic. We can’t really fix it now that it’s set in motion, as much of the damage has already occurred. However we […]
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 […]