Chapter 1

Introduction

Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells.

—Thomas Friedman

The array of products readily available to consumers today is astonishing. Yet most of us take for granted the supply chains that make and deliver these products. When we shop for goods, whether online or in stores, we expect to find products available. Although occasionally we need to wait longer than we’d like or have to accept another product as a substitute, we usually find what we are looking for. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is a minor miracle that the product—any ...

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