Can digital twins solve our supply chain problems?

If you want to see the fragility of the incredibly complex supply chains which link the world, the ships bobbing off the California coast are pretty indicative. Ships and their shipping containers, carrying everything from Halloween decorations to toys to furniture to electronics, are stuck at loggerheads in Long Beach and other ports. Supply chains, already complex, have been broken by an invisible force: SARS-CoV-2. "There have been events over the years that have impacted supply chains, but the scale at which COVID-19 affected global supply chains and the domino effect of lockdowns was second to none," Vikram Murthi, vice president of industry strategy at Llamasoft, which designs supply chains, told industry publication Supply Chain Magazine. COVID-19 has put incredible strain on the world's supply chains. Future lockdowns and challenges are sure to arise, Murthi says, putting the onus on businesses to shore up their supply chains and figuring out how to respond to threats as quickly as possible.