The Russian invasion of Ukraine has compounded supply chain troubles in critical sectors, including agriculture, automotive, energy, food and semiconductors. Companies are not only facing congested ports but product-line closures, transport delays, and spiraling costs. It is little wonder then that building supply chain resiliency against a wide range of disruptions was a hot topic at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos May 22-26. Resilinc, a 2022 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, says it can help. Its AI-powered technology aims to predict delivery delays, price movements, and supply constraints for raw materials and commodities before they happen and suggest options. Customers include A&T, Moderna, GM, Flextronics, and Collins Aerospace.
The rapid decay of a decades-old model of supply chain reliability and efficiency is a key feature of CEO agendas worldwide, according to a May 23 post by McKinsey. The semiconductor sector’s supply chain woes are a case in point. Chip manufacturing relies on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) as coolants in the etching process, a crucial step in chip production. 3M accounts for 90% of the global supply of coolant for the chip industry, with 80% of that coming from a single plant in Belgium, In March 3M’s Belgium plant had to stop PFAS production to implement environmental clean-up action demanded by the Belgian government at a cost of €150 million to the company, causing ripple effects along the supply chain.
