b'THE WORLD ISSUPPLY CHAINS FACEdisruptions from different sides of our global society. In North America, most consumers would think supply chain disruptions initially started with the pandemic, but in reality, supply chains have been affected GETTING USEDby more than COVID-19.From an economic perspective, we would say that theres a misalignmentwe have too many of some TO ABNORMALinputs and not enough demand, and too much of other inputs, says Michelle Klieger, owner of Stratagerm Consulting. Were just not aligned with what is needed. SUPPLY CHAINS How did this happen?Klieger says that one of the key factors starting disrup-tions began with the U.S.-China trade war in 2018, which caused an initial shock to supply chains by stopping the flow of goods in some directions. Not only did that slow As transportation and unexpected events turntrade down, but prices got higher, and it created uncer-supply chains upside down, consumers aretainty around sourcing to avoid backlash from tariffs. Then the pandemic hit the globe. getting used to the wait.Alex Martin The pandemic led to lockdowns, which suddenly killed supply and demand, she says. As global lock downs eased, we saw that demand come back and some of the supply come back. Weve really realized that our goal with globalization has been to have an extremely efficient supply chain.Consumers have been used to the Amazon Effectthe desire for goods to be shipped at an increasingly fast rate with two-day shipping or even two-hour pick up. Consumers are returning more to traditional pat-terns of consumption, but the real story has been one of congestion, says Barry Prentice, professor of supply chain management, at the I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba. Weve just simply overwhelmed the railways, the trucking industryeverything moving goods.28GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2022'