It’s no surprise that 2021 was a year of supply chain disruptions. From labor shortages to rising COVID-19 cases, to extreme weather events, we saw many events that contributed to growing port congestions and manufacturing delays. This resulted in a lot of out-of-stock, long lead times, and inflated prices as supply could not keep up with the rising demand.According to the data released from Resilinc, the world’s leading supply chain risk monitoring and mapping solutions, supply chain disruptions were up 88% in 2021. The data also revealed that disruptions due to supply shortages increased 452% from the previous year.
So what does that mean for 2022? Will the Supply chain recover this year? While many supply chain disruptions we faced last year were unpredictable, there’s no guarantee. However, there is a chance that supply chains could start to slowly recover toward the second half of this year as companies have had time to adapt their business models. There have also been several proposals put into place by the current administration to address the disruptions—some of which are aimed at providing immediate relief, and others aimed to improve supply chain resilience in the future.
In June of last year, a “disruptions task force” was announced, which is led by the Secretaries of the Department of Transportation, Commerce, and Agriculture. They created an agreement to operate the Port of Los Angeles and enlisted help to finally move goods off of the docks. In addition to this, Congress also passed an extensive infrastructure bill in November to upgrade America’s Ports and Waterways.
With nearly two years of experience dealing with the pandemic, companies have also had the chance to rethink and strategize how they move their goods around the world. Many businesses have started adopting better ways to weather future disruptions, such as moving away from the just-in-time model, increasing inventories, and diversifying their supply chains.
As we look ahead to this year, there is a lot to consider, but 2021 equipped us with the knowledge and experience to maintain operational efficiency throughout constant disruption. With this knowledge, we can navigate 2022 with confidence as we work to create a sustainable workforce and technology-driven strategies.
The Shippers Group is a leading national third-party logistics company headquartered in Dallas, Texas with distribution facilities in Texas, Georgia, California, Florida, and Virginia totaling 13 locations and over 5.5 million square feet of space. In addition to warehousing and transportation services, the company provides contract packaging and e-commerce fulfillment to the food, consumer goods and automotive industries. The Shippers Group was founded in 1901 and today employs over 1,500 associates nationwide.