China’s dominance in critical minerals processing highlights the urgency of building alternative supply chain ecosystems. Manufacturers must secure reliable sources of critical materials, strengthen regional supplier networks, and develop processing capacity before export restrictions or supply disruptions threaten production and growth.
Critical minerals are becoming an even greater priority as the U.S. strengthens defense supply chains. New requirements emphasize multi-tier supplier visibility, supply continuity, capacity, and alternate sourcing to reduce risk and strengthen resilience.
In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson explains why companies must pay close attention to demand signals, translate demand into supply requirements and confirm whether suppliers truly have the capacity to support the plan. Knowing when materials will arrive and having a clear ETA is critical.
Disruptions rarely stay contained and aluminum is a clear example. In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson explains how challenges in one material can ripple through the entire end-to-end supply chain, affecting the largest of manufacturers.
Geopolitical risks and events happening around the globe can adversely impact medical device supply chains, creating delays, increasing costs, and causing other challenges for companies. Companies must pursue supply chain resiliency and additional strategies to succeed.
Before Trump took office, let alone announced or implemented his tariffs plan, many major companies brought in extra inventory of products to the US in an attempt to mitigate the impact of potential tariffs, but the buffer will run out soon.
Opportunities to increase market share will increase when companies are pre-positioned for growth in a resilient and scalable way.
There is a potential for chaos in the logistics world with simultaneous strikes from Canada's rail workers and the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast longshoremen. It is gaining in likelihood each day as negotiations are not progressing.
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) continues to rage and threaten manufacturers and supply chain chain organizations. The VUCA threshold skyrocketed during the pandemic, and it has not returned to normal.
The aerospace supply chain has been struggling to recover since the pandemic. The industry has been plagued with shortages, labor issues, and supply chain issues. According to McKinsey, demand was back to 97% of pre-pandemic levels as of December 2023.
