Dear Friends,
As I write this, the news is filled with admonishments to “do your holiday shopping early” and beware of supply chain issues. In the last two years, people (many for the first time) have considered the supply chain and how it impacts them, and that even if they cannot see every link, they are not exempt from the impacts of disturbances in the chain. Last March, all eyes turned to the Suez Canal, where the Ever Given ship ran aground diagonally during high winds and a dust storm. It blocked the canal for 6 days, leading to a traffic jam of over 200 ships going both directions. It also gave a distinct visual of how one small break in the chain could cause a massive ripple effect throughout the world.