Today's supply chains are influenced in various ways by the global ecosystem of which they are a part. The challenges and risks faced by today's manufacturing supply chains are many and varied, and while not all are new or unexpected, nevertheless, a rapid succession of disruptive events concentrated in such a short period of time is unprecedented in recent history.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events are external shocks that have challenged the global economy and contributed to the acceleration of trends already visible in society and shaping our future.
Among the main megatrends shaping the current scenario, we can see:
Although the manufacturing industry has shown incredible resilience and is now recovering rapidly, in order to maintain momentum, manufacturers must accelerate the pace of industrial transformation and design supply chains suitable for an era of economic, geopolitical and social upheaval.
Over the past 15 years, global economic integration has faltered. While the global financial crisis triggered the process, the rise of nationalist policies and the pandemic of COVID-19 have consolidated it.
China has been the main target of protectionist measures because of its dominance in strategic sectors, ongoing supply chain disruptions and underlying political tensions that have increased the risks of dependence on Chinese suppliers.
The reason China is the main target of protectionist measures is simple: the country enjoys a dominant position in strategic sectors such as semiconductors and the supply of all 16 rare earth metals that are strategically critical because they are needed for the production of technological equipment.
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