by Dave Frentzel | May 9, 2020 | Briefs, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Management
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed startling deficiencies in many companies’ sourcing strategy and supply chains. Supermarkets were unable restock their shelves when demand for home basics like peanut butter and toilet paper surged [1]. Healthcare providers could...
by David Bovet | May 6, 2020 | Briefs, Operations, Strategy, Supply Chain Management
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of many global supply chains. Supply plummeted first from shutdown factories in China, then demand collapsed worldwide as countries adopted stay-at-home orders. These unprecedented events surfaced a level of...
by David Bovet | Apr 28, 2020 | Briefs, Capabilities, Consumer & Retail, Strategy, Supply Chain Management
Stay-at-home orders in the time of coronavirus have dramatically altered the path food takes from farm to plate. Grocery stores have suffered shortages while farmers plow crops under due to lack of demand from the food service channel. What is happening to our food...
by David Bovet | Apr 13, 2020 | Briefs, Supply Chain Management
Irrational consumers or unresponsive supply chains? Consumer behavior is not necessarily irrational. Applying business inventory management techniques to toilet paper purchasing at the household level highlights three rational considerations: Higher home demand due to...
by David Bovet | Mar 25, 2020 | Briefs, Operations, Supply Chain Management
Dramatic images on TV and our own personal experience at the grocery raise the very real question: Will food, other consumer goods and medical necessities be available when and where we need them? The coronavirus has put a stark spotlight on the nation’s producers and...
by Dave Frentzel | Feb 25, 2020 | Briefs, Due Diligence, Investor Advisory, Operations, Supply Chain Management
In our August 2019 Supply Chain Contingency Planning Brief, the timely “call to action” was the US-China trade war. Today COVID-19 is the greater concern to our supply chains and more tragically to human health. These might be considered black swan events; thus,...