Chain Reaction Podcast Easter Special Supply Chain Round Up
In this Easter Special Edition Tony Hines takes a retrospective look at all things impacting global supply chains and identifies some key challenges for supply chain managers and the C suite.
Many factors have disrupted global supply chains including:
- Geopolitics
- Inflation
- Energy Price Increases
- Climate change and droughts
- Shipping costs and container box prices
- Covid 19 pandemic
- Disruptions continue to impact global supply chains
- Ports under pressure with delays and strikes
- Trade wars between US and China
- Threats to supply chains from cyber attacks
- US policies aim for resilient supply chains and the notion of friend shoring
- Costs and risks moving to EV's and China's leading position in controlling mineral resources along with their processing capabilities give the country a leading edge in shaping the new automobile market.
- Retail supply chain costs have risen and average inventory levels are much higher
- Russia invading Ukraine and the grain shortages that followed
- Food shortages due to many factors including climate change, droughts, and Brexit have caused empty shelves in the supermarkets.
- Labour shortages and skill gaps emerged in the UK and Brexit made matters worse. This impacted food supply chains with shortages of workers to pick and harvest crops.
- Inflationary pressures have brought strike action as workers seek to get higher wages.
- Energy prices have gone sky high and many businesses may decide enough is enough and some already have.
- Brexit has posed many challenges for the UK with the Northern Ireland Protocol, worker shortages, supply chain frictions, additional costs and extra paperwork which has added to the problems of inflation for the UK.
- Energy, food and water security are some of the big challenges.
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