Many Factors Are Contributing To the Growing Supply Chain Crisis

Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice and director of Executive Education in the Whitman School, was interviewed by NBC 4 Washington, PolitiFact, and CNY Central for stories about the continued issues facing the global supply chain.

In the PolitiFact interview, Penfield discussed the continuing issue among supply chains and the longer lead times for receiving goods. He said, ‘there is a shortage of base materials, such as chemicals and semiconductor chips, and lead times are getting longer. For example, shipping goods from China used to take 30 or 35 days, and now takes 73 days. Those delays are compounded by congestion at the ports, ships waiting to be unloaded, a lack of warehouse space, and a worker shortage.’