Advanced technologies are being deployed to tackle mounting global disruptions in the urgent battle for resilience

Catastrophic weather events, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, trade conflicts, global pandemics—the forces disrupting supply chains are multiplying at a rate few could have anticipated. Since Covid-19 swept the globe, risks have spiraled, forcing governments, industry groups, nongovernmental organizations, and corporate CEOs and CFOs to rethink supply networks from the ground up. And the current threats show no sign of slowing. As global supply chains brace for escalating tariffs, rising shipping costs, and an expanding regulatory landscape, companies are scrambling to adapt to demands for greener, more-resilient networks. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are bringing new tools to bear, but the fundamental challenges and growing fragility of globalization will remain, experts tell Global Finance. “We’re certainly in a new era of global supply chains, but it’s not that today’s risks were entirely unseen before,” says Tinglong Dai, professor of Operations Management and Business Analytics at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School. Extreme weather has always been a threat, but its frequency and intensity are now unparalleled, Dai says. Similarly, risks such as the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping have increased. “The real shift,” Dai explains, “is in our recognition that the global supply chain model of the past 30 years is no longer sustainable, especially in light of new geopolitical realities. The US can no longer count on a China-centric supply chain structure to operate smoothly. We’re moving toward what I would call a ‘Supply Chain Iron Curtain.’” “The world has very much changed, and the risks of global manufacturing and transportation have increased tremendously,” says Zach Zacharia, associate professor of supply chain management and director of the Center for Supply Chain Research at Lehigh University’s College of Business. “The large shipping lines are all not going through the Red Sea, and again that has changed the cost and time required to transport goods.” Events have forced companies to look more closely at shipping costs. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dealt a blow to globalization, Zacharia continues. Before, it made sense to produce something at the lowest cost and then efficiently transport it. “However, once Ukraine was attacked and Covid happened, you had to look at not just producing it cheaply but transporting it back safely at a low cost, which became much more critical,” he says. “We do see more volatility in maritime supply chains,”