EARLY THIS JANUARY AFTER A long search, Laura Kastner, a 27-year-old consultant living in New York City, found her dream couch: a plush, Joybird brand L-shaped sectional. “It gave me butterflies when I pictured myself laying on it.” She ordered it on January 3 and was told it would be delivered in six weeks. It wasn’t. Now, it’s due on March 16th. The reason? “We are working through delays,” the company told her.
A lot of Americans have been having similar experiences lately. “A sofa is a good microcosm of how everything in the supply chain is impacted,” according to Mark Schumacher, CEO of the Home Furnishings Association. “It’s called a supply chain for a reason. What we have found is that it’s not been a weakness or a single broken link, it’s been many.”
The last few months have made the phrase “supply chain” part of everyday language. According to an Oracle survey, 45 percent of Americans say that before the pandemic, they never thought about how products were delivered. Now, 87 percent say they have been negatively impacted by supply chain issues, with 60 percent unable to buy items due to shortages and 51 percent canceling orders because of delays.
A lot of forces have combined to stress supply chains starting with COVID-19–related shutdowns by manufacturers and shippers. Those pressures revealed weaknesses in the way goods are made and delivered that long predate the pandemic.
This story is from the February 25 - March 04, 2022 edition of Newsweek Europe.
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This story is from the February 25 - March 04, 2022 edition of Newsweek Europe.
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