There are five big picture topics I’m focused on this year – technology, supply chain, workforce, climate change, and the changing face of America. I’m sharing some of my candid thoughts and predictions for these five topics in a “2022 Trends” blog series – last week, I covered technology, in general, and Big Tech specifically. Today, I want to discuss supply chain.

If there is one thing that the collapse of the global supply chain taught us, it is that we live in an interconnected world. Scarcity of goods and raw materials has put the notion of just-in-time manufacturing at risk. Scarcity of products, higher prices, longer wait times have forced a conversation about reshoring goods that are deemed in the national security interest. At a micro level, the impact of supply chain challenges feel local—when you can’t find products on your grocery shelves, or when gas is one dollar more a gallon at your gas station. At a macro level, however, the impact on productivity and innovation cannot be understated, as businesses seek to explain long lead times, delays in shipment, and increased prices to an increasingly impatient post-pandemic public.

The current word of the day is tests, tests, tests. Amid the Omicron variant COVID surge, we are again searching for tests to keep our children in school and to keep our frail elders safe. While we all hoped that supply chain challenges would improve, that improvement can’t come soon enough, particularly for those of us in healthcare who have now battled COVID for two years.

How has the supply chain collapse impacted you personally and professionally? Are there opportunities for you optimize your organization’s inventory or make changes to your current vendors?