of Health and Human Services says as many as 300 million
N95 masks will be required for healthcare workers.”
Whether the global supply chain in general – and the
medical supply chain in specific – is broken, is being debated by
experts as the world watches the COVID-19 pandemic play out.
Ednilson Bernardes, professor and program coordinator of
global supply chain management at West Virginia University’s
John Chambers College of Business and Economics, says that
despite panic-buying and hoarding of certain products, the
food and retail supply chain is still viable. However, the global
supply chain overall, especially with medical and healthcare
supplies, is under great stress.
From medical equipment shortages to panic-buying, the
links in supply chains are breaking but will serve as valuable
learning lessons for the future, says Bernardes.
“The new pandemic has stressed supply chains worldwide
and we are seeing shutdowns unheard of in modern peacetime
history,” he says. “The modern supply chain has
become incredibly vulnerable to a threat like the
COVID-19 pandemic. I am certain that there will
be changes to the way we design and operate
global supply chains once we emerge from the
aftershocks.”
Larry Giunipero, a professor at Florida State
The modern University’s College of Business and an expert in
supply chain purchasing and supply chain management, says
has spoken with numerous companies that
has become he
source from and manufacture in China and many
incredibly are watching closely how the U.S. government
vulnerable to a responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. “People are
that parts of the supply chain will be and are
threat like the saying
already broken,” he reports. “It can’t work without
COVID-19 functioning inventory and supply end-to-end, and
pandemic.” there is always going to be a weak spot; you may not
— Ednilson source in China but your suppliers’ suppliers might.”
Giunipero continues, “For the manufacturers
Bernardes
who have put a lot of their sourcing eggs in China,
it’s going to break there and has already broken
to some extent. However, now China is back to work and
open for business. Interestingly, they now will face order
cancelations or extensions in many sectors, given that the
global spread of the epidemic has shut down domestic demand
in other countries. The medical supply chain is a different
story, there demand will be robust. The key question here is
how long it will take to get to full production in their medical
industries? In addition, how will they allocate this supply
domestically and internationally. Is it to
the highest bidder, the nations they want
to help politically, or some other allocation
system? The other part of the equation will
be transportation, given the shortages of
these supplies premium freight should not
be an issue. Will the commercial airlines,
People are
Fed Ex or UPS come forward to bring the
goods home. Whereas as medical device saying that the parts
organizations who stayed more domestic
of the supply chain
with their supply base, will not encounter
as many of these problems. However, they will be and are
still need to trace their supply chains. For already broken.”
example, the interwoven layer that traps
— Larry Giunipero
harmful vapors in the N95 masks is mostly
sourced in China. People have been saying
for years that sourcing in China exclusively
is a big problem, but the savings trumped
risk diversification. The challenge now is
that, companies can’t change suppliers
overnight, it takes time. Manufacturers with
other product lines need to convert over
So far, the
and help ramp up production so we can
return to normal faster.” “The only thing global effects on
we know for certain is that conditions are
supply chains have
changing rapidly with this epidemic. No
one knows how long it will take for supply resulted mostly from
chains to get back to normal and what that the most serious
new normal will look like.’"
situation in China.”
“So far, the global effects on supply
— Goker Aydin
chains have resulted mostly from the most
serious situation in China,” says professor
Goker Aydin from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business
School, who points to the impact it is having on the supply of
inputs for many manufacturers and retailers globally. “China
is a huge source of components and finished goods. The
longer plants in China sit idle, the emptier the global pipeline
of parts and components circling the globe, which is meant
to feed manufacturers and retailers all over the world. So, if
the disruption lasts longer, we may see many manufacturers,
and maybe even retailers, suspending their operations, as they
run out of the key inputs they need.”
As we will see, that is currently happening, as manufacturers
retrofit their production capabilities to address the shortage
of critical equipment and supplies for healthcare providers
and patients.
Blood Products Impacted by COVID-19
W
hile ventilators and PPE are the focus of
shortages triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic,
blood-product inventory is affected as well.
Mike Schiller, senior director of supply chain for
AHRMM, observes, “A reduction in the level of
manufacturing and production of personal protective
equipment (PPE) coupled together with a global demand
has led to severe shortages of N95 masks, surgical,
ear loop, and face shield masks, gowns and gloves.
However, blood-product inventory levels have been
drastically impacted as a result of COVID-19. Across the
www.healthcarehygienemagazine.com • april 2020
blood industry, AABB has seen more than 4,000 blood
drives cancelled, resulting in some 130,000 fewer blood
donations due to coronavirus concerns.”
As Schiller explains, the 4,000 number represents
cancelled drives last week as well as the remainder
of this month, and into April and May; the 130,000
number includes projections based on the number of
cancelled drives and appointments.
“Right now, inventories are down an estimated 30
percent to 40 percent depending on blood type from
this same time last year, he says.”
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