Part 6 of "The New Supply Chain" blog series by Mike Loquercio, Vice President of Supply Chain at Greenleaf Foods.

We are starting to see some signs of the economy opening up and supply chains getting some “swings in the cage” before the full season begins.  In many industries, COVID19 demand has stretched the supply chain beyond any reasonable expectations and yet we have found creative ways to make it work.  In other industries, we have been operating with diminished needs and looking for ways to repurpose and pivot to support the health care industry.

No, I am not referring to the classic Johnny Cash song that I often heard my father play in my youth. Although perhaps a few lines of the lyrics are fitting.

No doubt the pandemic crisis and social unrest have shaken many of our companies, our work colleagues, and ourselves to the core. We have had our hands full trying to address challenges amid massive uncertainty. A friend and I were recently lamenting how customer service appears to be at an all-time low. We could cite several examples of carefree and lacking customer service. Seemingly, it is OK to explain away poor service and quality “because of COVID”. Understandably, our companies are challenged to perform. As leaders, we have likely taken our eye off the basics while dealing with the onslaught of uncertainty.

This article is co-authored by Ashley Beaudoin and Lisa Kenney.

COVID-19 continues to disrupt organizations worldwide and uncertainty remains at an all-time high as leaders and members of the workforce begin to rebuild the new normal.

As companies transition back to normalcy, it is important for leaders to gain insight from employees to make sure the workplace and company culture return to a place of stability as quickly as possible.

Spoiler Alert:  This blog will not be about which web-based platform is the best investment or the best digital products in the marketplace.  This blog will be about LEARNING, and how, even though today it may be delivered in different ways than we are accustomed to, learning should not take a back seat in the workplace.  In fact, how workers are trained and upskilled today will require great leaps in creativity, innovation, and change management along with strong practices of human interfacing that you may have left to chance before.  So read on …

The Coronavirus gave businesses two choices when it interrupted life as we knew it: wait and see if the storm passes or lead the charge through the storm. Gold Eagle, among many manufacturers, chose the latter. This 4^th generation family business, built on the manufacturing and marketing of engine additives and surface cleaners, treatments and protectants, has put a whole new spin on the term “hero.”

From time to time, events occur which shine a light on weaknesses as to the flow of data within our existing information systems.  Looking back at my year with IMEC, several of these types of events readily come to mind which to a varying degree affected nearly everyone including Y2K, 9/11 and the Great/Global Recession, while many other events affected certain sectors of the populace, such as regional power or widespread internet outages.  In each of these instances, system shortcomings were exposed and inconveniences were experienced.

When COVID-19 knocked us all off our feet a couple of months ago, Illinois manufacturers quickly pivoted to meet the demands to battle this growing pandemic. It is no surprise that companies like Mighty Hook are going above and beyond their normal operations and procedures to ensure their part in helping our state respond to the crisis effectively.

This is an original article by Steve Cavolick of LRS IT Solutions.

The economic downturn from the Coronavirus has rewritten the rules of business and caused entire verticals to change direction overnight, and manufacturing is one of the industries that has morphed quickly in order to lead the country through the pandemic.

When demand exploded earlier this year for goods that sanitized and machines to help very sick people breathe, facilities that produced consumable alcohol switched to making anti-microbial gels and auto manufacturers stopped producing cars in order to build ventilators.

While the way we get the work done has undoubtedly changed, the business environment is just as demanding, competitive, and perhaps even more complicated than it was before the Coronavirus. It’s up to leaders to guide the workforce through these changing times to continue meeting production goals.