Change of Plans: The year in logistics 2021

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the December 2021 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

December 2021

Each December, the focus of the issue is our annual Executive Guide to Supply Chain Resources. This is a comprehensive guide to services, products and educational opportunities targeted specifically to supply chain professionals. But, as with years past, we’re also featuring several articles we trust will give you something to think about in the coming year.

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For logisticians accustomed to taking volatility and change in stride, the COVID-wracked year of 2020 was a massive escalation. And 2021? Conditions essentially worsened all year as interrupted supply chains sought to restart amid ever-shifting capacity bottlenecks and demand swings.

As the pandemic lingered, morphed and gained new strength in unexpected places, it continued to stretch supply chains worldwide, halting production lines and leaving shelves empty from Baltimore to Bangkok. The protean durability of the coronavirus was a core source of continued instability across the global economy, driving an unprecedented bullwhip effect that kept chaos constant.

The year has been characterized by a K-shaped recovery, with some sectors (such as grocery, retail, e-commerce and home furnishings) rallying smartly, while others (looking at you, hospitality, restaurants and airlines) continue to reel from reductions in travel and tourism.

This theme of wildly divergent outcomes extended to the logistics industry, where some modes of transport enjoyed significant growth while others stagnated. But it wasn’t an easy year for anybody; as consumers shifted spending from entertainment and other service-oriented spending to at-home consumption, shippers faced huge demand to restock inventory—and often struggled to find capacity in any transit channel, at any price.

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