Christmas is cancelled this year!!! Or, so some are saying. Turns out Santa Claus might have some delivery troubles this year due to a broken global supply chain. These issues will likely impact gift giving at the holiday season.
What’s causing the bottleneck in the global supply chain? Why are there so many boats simply sitting out in the ocean, waiting to unload their cargo?
And if Christmas lacks a little bit of it’s materialistic luster this year, what are some practical alternatives that we can do to better celebrate the birth of Christ this year?
In this week’s podcast, I explain the reason behind the global supply chain shortage that’s impacting Christmas, and provide 7 practical tips for celebrating Christmas this year.
Articles Explaining The Global Supply Chain Shortage
- No End In Sight For The COVID-Led Global Supply Chain Disruption
- Supply chain chaos is already hitting global growth. And it’s about to get worse
An excerpt from “No End In Sight For the COVID-Led Global Supply Chain Disruption”
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so the saying goes. When it comes to the current state of the global supply chain, weakness is everywhere. Massive dislocations are present in the container market, shipping routes, ports, air cargo, trucking lines, railways and even warehouses. The result has created shortages of key manufacturing components, order backlogs, delivery delays and a spike in transportation costs and consumer prices. Unless the situation is resolved soon, the consequences for the global economy may be dire.
What created this logistical nightmare and when will it normalize?
Stress in the supply chain pre-dates COVID. Trade tensions, particularly between the U.S. and China, escalated under President Trump with the introduction of unprecedented tariffs and sanctions on Chinese companies. Beijing retaliated, targeting U.S. agriculture exporters. This created volatility in supply and demand as companies on both sides of the globe rushed to stock inventories ahead of the implementation of tariffs. The unexpected shift in trade put the initial stress on global logistics.
Then came COVID.
During the first half of 2020, demand for most goods cratered as economies worldwide went into lockdown. Sailings by ocean carriers were canceled, manufacturing capacity was cut, and workers everywhere were displaced.
But beginning in the summer of 2020, thanks to massive fiscal stimulus, imports to the U.S. surged. Consumers flooded online retailers with new orders. Manufacturing restarted and international trade resumed. The global economic machine was turned back on.
By late 2020, real cracks in the supply chain started to emerge. From a logistics perspective, restarting the manufacturing machine after the lockdown turned out to be quite difficult. The complex system that moves raw materials and finished products around the globe requires predictability and precision. Both had been lost.
A shortage of shipping containers emerged, shipping rates for certain routes skyrocketed, congestion developed at international ports that then spread to railroads and inland rail terminals, exasperating the trucking and chassis shortage that was already in place. U.S. importers experienced delays in receiving key manufacturing components and exporters faced challenges accessing containers and getting bookings on shipping vessels. The chain had broken.
As the holiday season approaches, the logistics industry is bracing for another jump in demand that could further cripple the supply chain. Every link in the chain needs to operate effectively to restore order in the system, yet each component has its own unique challenges to overcome.”
7 Ways To Celebrate Christmas In 2021
Be sure to listen to the podcast in full to hear me further elaborate each of the the following 7 different ways to better celebrate Christmas in 2021 due to global supply chain being broken.
- Actually go to church.
- Spend more time with family.
- Bake extra cookies and cakes to send to people.
- Find a way to serve your community.
- Adopt a single person and invite them to participate in your holiday festivities.
- Watch the Christmas movies you haven’t seen yet. Don’t just stick to your family favorites.
- Take a Christmas vacation!
