MANUFACTURING TIDBITS
CORONAVIRUS: SUPPLY CHAIN MONITORING AND MITIGATION SOLUTIONS by Thomas R. Cutler
CNBC reported that the impact of the Coronavirus is greater as it coincides with an already slowing Chinese economy. It comes at a time when American companies were already shifting supply chains from China to elsewhere due to new tariffs and trade tensions. The virus will serve as another reminder for companies to rapidly diversify supply chains. Following “phase one” of the trade deal with the United States, the Coronavirus undermines the
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Manufacturing Outlook / February 2020
bilateral trade optimism that had buoyed markets. It has quickly changed the narrative and increased the odds of a global market downturn in 2020. First quarter growth figures in China could fall to 2% yearon-year – which would be the lowest in decades, and down from 6% in the last quarter of 2019. Nearly 300 supplier sites within the area of Wuhan, China, have been impacted by the government’s