Supply chain delays contribute to broader challenges

ABSTRACT

Systems engineering often contributes to a business' ability to operate effectively through a crisis. However, as the global economy continued to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, recurring systemic failures still ravaged the global supply chain. The supply chain's fragility lingered this year, and the aerospace industry's inability to receive parts when needed may extend beyond 2023. This weakness can be attributed to many issues, including a worker shortage and failure to account for a stressed global transportation system. Systems engineering can often mitigate the longterm effects of a major disruption. However, previous failures to fully model the global supply chain illustrates this problem's complexity. The pandemic demonstrated that the aerospace industry is not immune to global disruptions, even when those disruptions do not appear to involve these products. Aided by better systems modeling, market forces worked to correct failures amplified by the pandemic. Broad and strategic investments are needed to address the long-term workforce shortage.