https://techmonitor.ai/leadership/strategy/can-digital-technology-prevent-supply-chain-disruptions

Sometimes, the best way to understand how a system works is to observe how it breaks. The inner workings of the UK’s supply chains are currently on full display: a shortage of heavy-goods vehicle drivers has triggered queues at petrol pumps, while rising fuel prices have sparked a CO2 shortage that threatens the country’s food supply. This, experts warn, is a sign of things to come, as international supply chains are increasingly vulnerable to disruption by geopolitics and climate change. Technology, from AI to blockchain, can help companies understand and diversify their supply chains, but not without collaboration across organisational and national borders.

The UK’s supply chains are in the eye of a perfect storm. Jens Roehrich, professor of supply chain innovation at the University of Bath, has studied a CO2 shortage back in 2018, tracing its impact to a decision by fast-food chain KFC to switch its logistics provider. The resulting disruption led to shortages of beer, Coca Cola, chicken and frozen food – all of which require CO2 in their production – on supermarket shelves.