The Health Pulse S3E4: The End of Global Supply Chains?

What has disruption taught us about global supply chains? Dr. Robert Handfield shares his vision on what agile and resilient supply chain models look like in the future. He is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, as well as Founder and Executive Director of The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. On this episode, Handfield joins host Alex Maiersperger to talk about the impact of the pandemic on global supply chains and provide insights into what has worked, what hasn’t, and what learnings we can apply in the future. Handfield speaks about the dependency on global supply chains for urgent medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic and inadequate national stock, due to a just-in-time inventory management system. Having strategic national stockpiles in place has become a major governmental and industry focus, as well as the effort to increase domestic sourcing of certain medical and pharmaceutical products. Handfield speaks about a shift towards near shoring, a concept where a company transfers work to suppliers nearby in the region where possible, despite remaining dependent on certain products from global supply chains. Finally, Handfield emphasizes that having the right technology, training and workforce in place, will be key to resilient and agile supply chain systems in the future.