How COVID-19 has Exposed the Risk of Single Sources

March 2020, COVID-19 became a talking point on the nightly news. The American people and companies were still not sure how COVID-19 would affect them and to what extent. As March gave way to April, the American people started to prepare for the uncertainties of a pandemic. Demand for common everyday products spiked. The risk of single sources led to stops in production. Companies tried to keep up with production, but unfortunately, raw material shortages and difficulties in supply chains affected, delayed, or halted the production of goods.

The next obstacle companies faced was procuring packaging for their products. Many products that were in high demand used common materials. It sounds like a good thing, but without a forecast, this put an extraordinary amount of stress on the material supply chain. During the COVID-19 pandemic the risk of single sources are hardest hit when companies do not have qualified backup materials. Due to the increased demand for products like hand sanitizers, cleaners, OTC medications, home goods, and food products, readily available common label stocks became increasingly more difficult to procure. As we have learned from shopping in our local markets, the spike in demand for goods was not a one -month event. For certain product categories, store shelves have stayed bare well into the summer and even to present day.