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The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics asked two leaders, Lynn Torrel, the chief procurement officer and supply chain officer at Flex, and Dave Wheeler, the chief operating officer at New Balance, to relate their pandemic experiences. The executives learned much about managing supply chains in extreme adversity, and how such a crisis requires companies to be innovative.

Despite the shaky circumstances upon which many industries find themselves in 2021, the window on North America’s economy given by the petrochemical industry is showing a positive picture, even as companies experience both cyclical and structural shifts. The business of this critical sector, which touches 96% of all manufactured goods and in the US accounts for a quarter of GDP, is having to adapt its supply lines to the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic while at the same time dealing with forces from both end-markets and its raw materials

The largest mass vaccination campaign in U.S. history is underway after the Food And Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine on December 11...Close to a week after the first emergency authorization, the FDA is nearing an approval on a separate shot from Moderna as well. (previously published information in WSJ)

The FDA officially granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, writing that “in making this determination, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that it has conducted a thorough evaluation of the available safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality information.

Extreme lockdown measure in Germany are coming up. In the US, hospitalizations keep breaking records. The good news is Pfizer begins shipping its vaccine.

Mobilization involves factory workers, truck drivers, pilots, dry ice, ultracold freezers and plenty of needles. A lot can go wrong. To work, every one of the many and complicated links of the chain has to hold.

When Pfizer Inc. said last month it expected to ship half the Covid-19 vaccines it had originally planned for this year, the decision highlighted the challenges drug makers face in rapidly building supply chains to meet the high demand.

Whether it’s appliances, groceries, electronics, toys, or hardware supplies, most retailers have been affected in some way by COVID-19′s disruption to the global supply chain... Dr. Yossi Sheffi, an MIT professor who specializes in supply chain management, said reduced air travel is going to impact items imported from overseas, like iPhones and computer chips.

Supply chains have been in the spotlight like never before over the last eight months. That hasn’t always been a good thing. The perception, reinforced by shortages of products essential to our daily lives, is that supply chains were not up to the task and failed. 

The Trump administration’s aggressive stance toward China has compounded uncertainty on U.S.-China trade relations. In considering how the presidential elections may affect the flow of international trade, companies should avoid the accepted wisdom. (Previously Published in the WSJ)