Companies doing business overseas have long understood the importance of a dependable supply chain. But for everyone else, this holiday shopping season has provided a crash course on the subject and the weak links in that now-broken chain for consumer goods of all types.
Many businesses have adapted to the health-related challenges created by COVID-19. But their economic recovery has been slowed by delays and rising costs associated with the delivery of everything from car and computer parts to appliances, paper goods, fabric and food.
As this week’s cover story reports, nearly every local industry has been affected by the disruptions that began with worldwide factory shutdowns last year.
Providence’s Cleverhood LLC is among the local companies poised to strongly rebound next year – if it could just get enough rain capes from overseas suppliers to meet growing demand.
The French Confection bakery in Middletown has taken to ordering the same supplies from multiple vendors, hoping that at least one delivers. The result is shortages of some products and an oversupply of others.
And automobile imports at Quonset Point in North Kingstown have slowed dramatically.
Global supply chain issues are expected to linger well into the new year. The silver lining in this latest COVID-19-related crisis is that it may finally lead to increased government and private investment in domestic manufacturing.
Trans-Tex LLC CEO Michael Woody says a return of just 10% of overseas manufacturing to the U.S. would be significant.
“That would be a huge amount of business,” he said.