For Industry Week
The second quarter of 2022 has been a time of both new and continued disruption. The world remains a turbulent place and these five ongoing trends will impact global manufacturing, and result in a re-engineering of most companies’ supply chains.
1. China reopening cities after the expected post-Olympic COVID lockdowns
As China continues to reopen, recovery is in sight. China’s announced plans to ease COVID restrictions in Shanghai and Beijing are signs of progress and hope; however, the zero-COVID policy still presents a significant and unmitigated risk of further economic closures. The months-long shutdowns of Shanghai and Beijing had a significant impact on both manufacturing and supply chains domestically in China and across the entire world. China remains the world’s manufacturer, but we see increasing signs of regionalization and localization as manufacturers move away from the large Center of Excellence plants to a more distributed manufacturing model. When China is hit with the next wave of COVID, we see the official zero-COVID policy driving additional disruptions in global manufacturing, supply chains and logistics.