March 07, 2020
The complexity of global supply, coupled with “just-in-time” inventory practices and narrowing sources of supply, have created vulnerabilities for virtually all enterprises.
The coronavirus, known as COVID-19, is wreaking havoc on global supply chains woefully unprepared for the massive scale of the emerging disruption. Large corporations such as Ikea, Starbucks, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Tesla are closing or slowing operations close to the epicenter in China. Mattel expects product delays due to factory closures, while Apple expects to ship 5%-10% fewer iPhones this quarter. The complexity of global supply, coupled with “just-in-time” inventory practices and narrowing sources of supply, have created vulnerabilities for virtually all enterprises.
Exacerbating the problem is that the spread of COVID-19 is a moving target. Although COVID-19 originated in China it is now spreading quickly across continents and is already in countries such as South Korea, Australia,