MLive: John Taylor on consumer demand impacting supply chain
At some grocery stores, bare shelves are continuing into 2022. It brings back memories of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when toilet paper shelves were picked clean and hand sanitizer was hard to find. Retailers are caught in a web of issues, including supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and high COVID-19 cases. From cereal to soup to December’s cream cheese demand, fully stocked shelves can be hit or miss at stores. John Taylor, professor of global supply chain management at Wayne State University, says both supply and changing consumer demand are snarling supply chains. “The demand signal is not clear,” he said. “There’s inadequate communication and information flowing through the supply chain to really understand what the actual demand is.”
