To support supply chain leaders on the front lines of responding to COVID-19, AWESOME is acting as a clearinghouse for information and updates. Read previous updates
SAP is providing a free platform to connect buyers and supplies: Through free access to SAP Ariba Discovery, any buyer can post their immediate sourcing needs and any supplier can respond to show they can deliver. According to Chris Haydon, president of SAP Procurement Solutions, “The reality is that procurement is the function that keeps the world going.”
Update from ALAN on COVID-19 response: Find out what’s needed now as the American Logistics Aid Network continues to connect logistics services and equipment to the organizations that need them to facilitate their work during the crisis.
Monitor the real-time status of roads, ports and airports in disaster-impacted areas through ALAN’s Supply Chain Intelligence Center: This interactive map also provides information about the latest policy changes at the national, state, local and county levels.
Clearheaded analysis from MIT’s Yossi Sheffi, professor of engineering systems and director of the Center for Transportation and Logistics at MIT. Sheffi writes in the Wall Street Journal about the impact of just-in-time inventory on healthcare supplies coming up short during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying “supply chains built on precise and timely deliveries are vulnerable to unexpected and large-scale disruptions.” He observes that while some have suggested that companies better prepare by also having a “just-in-case” inventory, “the benefits of just-in-time operations are just too significant to forgo.” Instead, he suggests, the solution should be for the U.S. to keep a mandated emergency inventory – “a very large, centrally-managed inventory of health-care supplies in several locations around the country to supplement the inventory maintained at each hospital.” Read More
Prolonged shutdowns encourage ingenuity to keep a business going: One of the many industries being affected – with supply chains being dramatically impacted – by COVID-19 is the fashion industry. According to this article on forbes.com, with manufacturers ceasing production and buyers being in lockdown, designers are finding new ways to be creative digitally and stay alive. Learn More