Recent Supply Chain Issues Highlight the Need for Modernization

The latter half of 2021 saw the global supply chain struggle mightily. Disruptions stemming from the pandemic, labor shortages, cyberattacks, increased consumer demand for goods and other global factors collided to cause unprecedented bottlenecks and backlogs.

- Tom Coughlin

Experts predict that supply chain-related issues will persist into 2023, despite efforts from the public and private sectors to improve the situation.

In the consumer electronics industry, more than 70 percent of U.S. smartphone retailers faced shortages. The situation in the automotive industry was even more difficult.

“Recovery from these shortages has been slow because of the continuing impact of COVID in many countries, as well as some changes in the workforce that resulted in worker shortages that impacted the supply chain,” said Tom Coughlin, IEEE Life Fellow. “For this reason, I suspect that recovering from these supply chain issues will take many months and even years to resolve fully.”

There are several technologies that show promise for easing supply chain disruption. Looking ahead, modernizing the supply chain – factories, ports, warehouses etc. – is a critical component of ensuring a more secure and reliable future.

BLOCKCHAIN FOR IMPROVED TRACEABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY