When analyzing supply chain risk, logistics managers tend to focus on widespread disruptions such as environmental disasters and pandemics. There are, however, less visible but no less powerful changes that can likewise derail an unprepared supply chain.

Between rising COVID-19 cases and a worse-than-usual hurricane season, the personal protective equipment (PPE) pipeline is more strained than it’s been since the peak of the pandemic.

A lot of factors go into the success or failure of consumer brands, but one of them stands out today: the supply chain.

In the past year, consumers who have tried to buy a pair of shoes, products for the home or back-to-school items have encountered a common problem: They can’t find what they’re looking for.

Patrick Penfield, a professor of practice in supply chain management and director of executive education at the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management, offers a view into supply chain congestion, delays and pricing for the remainder of this year.

In the midst of the worst global supply chain crisis in recent memory, some businesses are finding creative ways to get around severe congestion at seaports and inland freight terminals.