Businesses gear up for supply chain challenges

Companies should ready for a six-month disruption to global supply chains and prepare for changes in sourcing strategies moving forward as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain experts warn.
Companies should prepare for a six-month disruption in global supply chains as the novel coronavirus pandemic increases in intensity—and they should also brace for changes in global sourcing in the long term, according to business experts tracking the situation. Silicon Valley-based supply chain technology firm Resilinc said this week it expects global supply chains to be disrupted for six months due to inventory shortages, lead time delays, and logistics and transportation concerns related to the virus. The firm had previously projected a three-month disruption, but revised its outlook due to the increasing intensity of infections and deaths from COVID-19, the name of the respiratory illness that began in China and has now spread around the world. The total number of cases worldwide has topped 200,000 and there have been more than 8,000 deaths, according to the most recent statistics from Johns Hopkins University.