Supply Chain

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains became mainstream news when the Suez Canal was blocked by the Ever Given, and ports were clogged with countless vessels waiting to dock, resulting in the idling of 10% of the world’s container capacity. While most disruptions have dissipated, continued challenges led to the White House giving supply chains another bump in the news cycle with its inaugural meeting of the Council on Supply Chain Resilience.

Holiday shopping has begun, as stores and online retailers used Black Friday and Cyber Monday to launch the most lucrative time of the year for their businesses. Given that Thanksgiving was early this year, this holiday shopping season is longer than in most seasons.

On more than one occasion during the past year and a half, University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Professor Anna Nagurney has found herself sitting in her office in the picturesque Massachusetts town on Zoom calls mentoring researchers and scholars affiliated with the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) who were sheltering from Russian missiles in the university’s bomb shelter.

Ten years ago, USAID unveiled the largest contract in its history, aimed at transforming health supply chains in lower-income countries. It has not gone according to plan.

Over the course of this year, several analysts have reported that online retailers are coming down off of their peak sales seen during the pandemic. So, what does this mean to the supply chain, and shopping habits going into the busy 2023 holiday shopping season?

North Carolina State University Professor of Supply Chain Management Robert Hanfield and Architecture & Tech Oklahoma State University Assoc Dean for Academic Affairs - College of Engineering Sunderesh Heragu discuss Black Friday shopping and the supply chain troubles.

With the arrival of Thanksgiving comes the holiday that shoppers look forward to every year: Black Friday.

One of the most recognizable images of the supply chain crisis is that of nearly 100 container ships waiting to unload in October 2021.

What experts expect regarding spending, sales, deliveries and making returns this year.

Today’s Global Conflicts & U.S. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities