Guest Blogger: This piece was contributed by Lizzette Perez Lespier, PhD & Saba Pourreza, PhD of the Congdon School of Supply Chain, Business Analytics, and Information Systems at The University of North Carolina, Wilmington (this post originally appeared on WilmingtonBiz.com on December 15, 2020). (This photo was taken before COVID).
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unexpected stresses on many systems, creating immediate challenges, and specially having a major impact on the exchange of goods throughout the world. It is a common practice for people to either visit their local stores or to order products online every day, but most don’t think about what happens behind the scenes to get that product ordered, manufactured, and delivered right to your local store or to your doorstep. The explanation behind this “magic”, that allows consumers to be able to get what we want and when we want it, is a very efficient supply chain.