The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a lack of adaptability, flexibility, and resilience in meeting the demand for critical goods, materials, and production equipment in the United States. As it became clear that the United States, over a period of years, had decided to buy, and not build, items that were suddenly critical supplies, equipment builders and manufacturing supply chain management were thrust into public view after having long been in the shadows.

Supply chains have evolved as an efficient way to source raw materials and parts from the most cost-effective global sources for the manufacture of final products. To date, they have not focused on resiliency, visibility, or redundancy; instead, the goal has been to deliver speed and quality at the lowest cost.

The supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 may have appeared unexpected and sudden, but they are the result of decades of decision-making that led to key parts of the North American manufacturing supply chain being offshored. Often, those decisions made sense. It is profitable for American companies to lower their labor costs and decrease their regulatory burden; but in doing so, many became over-reliant on foreign suppliers, and the supply chain buckled under this recent pressure. The weaknesses in the supply chain are likely to widen and threaten the American industrial base unless action is taken.

Tier 1 companies are relying on transformative technologies to get through the pandemic and navigate their future. Familiarize yourself with these accessible assets and learn how to strengthen your own operations and be a part of rebuilding the supply chain.

IMTS is different this year, and not just because of COVID-19 and its impact on supply chains. In the era of standard manufacturing technology, conversations between providers and customers are focused on the classic “Ps” of marketing:  product, price, performance, people, promotion, and place. Digital manufacturing technology changed that paradigm. As the IMTS community comes together through the IMTS Network and IMTS spark, IMTS suggests participants absorb information within the framework of “3 Es.”