Amid the COVID-19 crisis, companies are making both tactical and strategic adjustments to their supply chains that could very well set their path for the next decade or longer. Of course, having a nimble supply chain is an especially important advantage when supplies are harder to come by or when demand spikes or plummets, but such disruptions happen all the time, albeit on a smaller scale. The smartest companies are reworking their supply chains accordingly.

Now, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, global supply chains are drawing parallels to the financial companies of 12 years ago -- crippled by an unexpected shock, exposed by flaws in their sophisticated instruments, second-guessed for pushing the public close to panic, diagnosed for a once-in-a-generation overhaul.

During the pandemic, it was shown that one of the major disadvantages of stretched supply chains is that they can easily break at any point. You never know when the logistics department will fail to deliver, and your entire business is affected by it. As a solution to this problem, companies will have to invest their resources into shortening the supply chain and making sure that the merchandise is transported from one end to the other in the shortest period of time.

The pandemic has impacted 75 percent of supply chains for US companies. The supply of essential goods like food and medicine continue to come under heavy pressure and have prompted both policymakers and industry leaders to question the security of relying on a single major supplier, such as China. Instead, many are now looking to bolster supply chains by diversifying across multiple countries and building redundancies into supply networks. According to a recent report by Bristlecone,  by the fourth quarter of 2020 many companies will study consumer behavior pattern and move to digitally optimize their logistics operations while building an online presence. 

Amazon has dominated the COVID-19 news because of its ability to get some medical supplies and the reliance of people on ecommerce to protect them as they shop. It’s been a good time for the company’s financials, with significant increases in sales and secure positioning for its other services. Logistics professionals should look at regional needs and concerns right now.

World Trade Center Miami (WTCM) - Miami’s premier platform for international business is excited to announce that the organization has just signed an 11 year, 5,800 sq. ft. lease at 5835 Blue Lagoon Drive, Miami, FL 33126 that will include the World Trade Center Miami's name located at the top of the building prominently visible from Miami International Airport and the 836 expressway.  We expect to be moving into our new offices sometime during the fall of 2020.   

The U.S. ambassador on the spot in an Asian economic powerhouse put it bluntly in a cable to the secretary of state in Washington: Don’t cut them off. Give them some “economic elbow-room,” or they’ll be forced to carve out an economic empire of their own by force. But Washington was in the grip of economic nationalists battling a historic economic downturn. The White House, consequently, was deaf to the Ambassador Joseph Grew’s pleas from Tokyo in 1935.

The slowdowns in GDP reported in the UK, the US and the eurozone in recent days give an idea of the economic impact COVID-19 is having.

For anyone hoping global tech might be the one industry to dodge the economic fallout of the coronavirus, falling shipments from the world’s biggest chip exporter offers little comfort.

Global trade is forecast to fall by a record 27% in the second quarter of the year after a slump in the export of cars, machine parts and oil.