SFS Minute 986: Supply Chains

This week, we are talking about how the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz and the blocking of oil tankers could affect your businesses here in the United States. We're not going to get political at all. We're just talking about business impact. Today, I want to talk about how supply chains will be affected by oil prices and political uncertainty. The Strait of Hormuz situation will not break our supply chains, but they will tighten. Supply chains usually do not collapse overnight. They tighten slowly. At first, most disruptions begin quietly. A shipment gets delayed. A supplier asks for more time. Costs increase slightly, then another delay appears somewhere else. Over time, these small disruptions compound. What to do now: this is the time to identify single points of failure that could disrupt you. What if one supplier that you rely on disappeared? How would you respond?