Everyone’s talking about supply chain breakdowns from the dinner table to the mainstream press. Images of 96 ships waiting to unload containers at ports with stacks of containers – some piled up as high as four containers each waiting to be picked up for delivery – and empty shelves are being shared across social media, in publications and news outlets. Today we are seeing a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing issues that built up for the past 15 to 20 years within the supply chain and have never been fully resolved.
Beginning in China, manufacturing is not fully operational, running anywhere from 60 to 80% capacity due to sporadic outbreaks of COVID, intermittent blackouts, raw material shortages, and in some cases, not enough workers. Other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia are also experiencing sporadic outbreaks of COVID, impacting manufacturing.