News Room

Chinese exports plummeted 17.2 percent in dollar terms in the first two months of the year as the Asian giant grappled with the effects of the spread of Covid-19. The coronavirus outbreak has shed light on the risks of companies relying on China as a sole source of manufactured goods, as factory closures and transportation restrictions disrupted global supply chains in sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals to electronics to auto production.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought medical supply chains into the spotlight. There has been a national shortage of testing kits, and at least one drug is already unavailable because of the outbreak, though it hasn’t been publicly named.

INFORMS President, Pinar Keskinocak, does her first live TV interview on the impact of supply chains amid the coronavirus pandemic.

At a time when healthcare leaders are trying to work out a huge range of issues around preparations for the COVID-19 pandemic, one area of endeavor that is coming into further focus is the operations management field. Operations management professionals work in many industries, focusing on ensuring the orderly and organized functioning of supply management and of operational processes. Their professional association, the Catonsville, Md.-based  Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, or INFORMS, has been active in helping its members who are working in the healthcare industry to help their organizations prepare for what’s coming next.

In states and cities across the U.S., government officials have ordered residents to stay home, shelter in place and otherwise put their familiar routines "on pause" to help quell the spread of COVID-19.