Supply Chain Issues: A Critical Analysis

Evidence of the supply chain crisis we are facing is hard to miss. Right now, off the coast of Los Angeles, over 80 large container ships are sitting idle waiting to dock and offload their cargo. The ramifications of this and other bottlenecks in our global supply chain system have caused a backlog of nearly $3 billion in goods that have been ordered but not yet shipped, according to U.S. Census data.1 What caused this to happen, what happens next, and when will it be over? This report will answer these questions and explain the causes behind our current predicament.

WHAT CAUSED THE CURRENT SUPPLY CHAIN BACKLOG?

The crisis began when the pandemic led to temporary plant closures to contain the outbreak, workers calling out sick, and international borders being closed. Many companies assumed consumers wouldn’t want to spend money during a crisis, so they scaled down production and furloughed and laid-off employees.