This contributed story by Terence Leung, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Blue Yonder, originally appeared in Logistics Viewpoints on June 25, 2024. Excerpts from the story below. To read the full article visit logisticsviewpoints.com.

As we kick off the summer of 2024, four years past the emergence of COVID-19, we are still seeing the effects of the pandemic on the world’s supply chains.

As supply chain professionals, COVID-19 made us recognize that disruption is a given. From production shutdowns and material shortages to blocked shipping lanes, we now accept supply chain uncertainty as an everyday fact. We also know that supply chain uncertainty extends beyond logistics surprises. It also encompasses increasing customer expectations and omnichannel demand shifts, exacerbated by the pandemic as consumers fundamentally changed their shopping behaviors. Supply chain uncertainty has also increased due to the crippling labor shortages that followed the pandemic, as workforce preferences and values also changed radically.