According to the World Health Organization, the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 300,000 globally. The impact has been felt on a personal, city, state, country and macro level worldwide and leading experts are unpacking what effect this virus will have on the economy and for businesses. Jim Kilpatrick, Global Supply Chain & Network Operations Leader at Deloitte recently wrote a report outlining the impact COVID-19 may have on the global supply chain.
In the report, Kilpatrick writes about the adversity major industries like pharmaceuticals, engineering, modern manufacturing, and high tech may face specifically those who rely on China for manufacturing and a global supply chain. According to the report, “over 200 of the Fortune Global 500 firms have a presence directly in Wuhan. A new Dun & Bradstreet study also estimates that 163 of the Fortune 1000 have Tier 1 suppliers (those they do direct business with) in the impacted area, and 938 have one or more Tier 2 suppliers (which feed the first tier) in this same impacted area.” Some companies are better prepared than others to mitigate the impact and respond to the event based on their supply chain risk management, business strategies and relationships with suppliers.
The report provides guidance and recommendations for companies that do the following types of business in/ with impacted geographies:
- operate or have business relationships
- produce, distribute or source from suppliers
- or sell industrial products, commodities, or consumer products
Kilpatrick also outlines how having robust supply chain technologies like IoT, cloud computing, 5G, AI, 3D printing and robotics can dramatically improve visibility and support across an end-to-end supply chain and help mitigate risk.
Read the full report to better understand how your industry may be impacted by COVID-19 and how you can take immediate actions if you have business with/ in impacted geographies as a short term solution, and turn to digitizing your supply chain and manufacturing processes in the long term.
