I cannot recall seeing as much supply-chain disruption as organizations are experiencing today and can expect to see for some time.
Not only do we have significant challenges in obtaining the materials and products we need in our business (just consider the reports of ships waiting off the coast of Southern California for the opportunity to offload their cargo at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach), but there are shortages in the labor required to transport those cargos to our facilities. (The American Trucking Associations estimates that in 2021 the truck driver shortage will hit a historic high of just over 80,000 drivers. This figure is the difference between the number of drivers currently in the market and the optimal number of drivers based on freight demand.)
There are reports of labor shortages everywhere, exacerbated by concerns about whether organizations will be able to retain employees (who are resigning in droves for better opportunities) and how they will manage in a continuing work-at-home environment.
Companies are responding as best they can, although anything significant takes time.
According to an interesting McKinsey article, How CoVID-19 is reshaping supply chains, 93 percent of senior supply-chain executives intended in 2020 to “make their supply chains far more flexible, agile,…
