When the COVID-19 pandemic led to a global economic "shutdown" in March 2020, our supply chains began to fail, and out-of-stocks and delivery delays became the new norm. Contrary to public perception, the pandemic strain did not break the current system of supply chains; it merely exposed weaknesses and fault lines that were decades in the making, and which were already acutely felt in deindustrialized cities and depopulated rural towns throughout the United States.
Reinventing the Supply Chain explores the historical role of supply chains in the global economy, outlines where the system went wrong and what needs to be done to fix it, and demonstrates how a retooled supply chain can lead to the revitalization of American communities. Jack Buffington proposes a transformation of the global supply chain system into a community-based value chain, led by the communities themselves and driven by digital platforms for raising capital and blockchain technology.
Buffington proposes new solutions to problems that have been decades in the making. With clear analysis and profound insight, Buffington provides a clear roadmap to a more durable and efficient system.
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“Buffington’s proposed solutions to the problems faced by the deindustrialization of rural and inner-city America are creative and original. Budding manufacturing and information technologies, harnessed through infrastructure and educational improvements may well lead, in time, to the rise of the community-based initiatives he anticipates.”
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Alan J. Stenger, PhD, professor emeritus of supply chain management, Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University