Economics

A New Tool Emerges to Untangle Complexity of Medical Supply Chains

A cargo plane with medical supplies lands in Toronto on Saturday.

Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg

If there’s any certainty in an uncertain world economy right now, it’s that the coronavirus crisis is shaking up the way global businesses think about their supply chains.

That's because the complexity of manufacturing in the era of globalization has been exposed by the pandemic, with the problems most acute in health care as governments and companies struggle to obtain critical medical equipment, prompting calls for production to be brought home.