{"id":6296,"date":"2022-08-12T16:21:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T20:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=6296"},"modified":"2022-08-12T16:21:37","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T20:21:37","slug":"supply-chain-disruption-is-the-worst-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=6296","title":{"rendered":"Supply chain disruption: is the worst over?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1st Place, News Analysis
<\/strong>2021-22, Division 4, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Maura Sullivan<\/strong>
Newsprint
Mercy HS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cream cheese spread, soccer cleats, automobiles, flour, Mercy uniform shirts, chicken wings, ketchup packets, bed mattresses, coffee and toilet paper. A list of seemingly unrelated items. However, they have one thing in common – all have been in short supply during what has been deemed the Global Supply Chain Crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In simplistic terms, the supply chain crisis is the breakdown of multiple links in the \u201cchain\u201d of the production and transportation of goods from the manufacturer all the way to the end consumer. The root cause of the most recent crisis is the global pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us, as consumers, have been impacted in some way, whether encountering empty shelves in stores or by not being able to purchase our favorite brand or flavor of a product. Many businesses, however, have been even more severely affected by the crisis. Chris Merucci, proprietor of Michigan Lacrosse Company, a locally owned retail sporting goods store, is one such business owner who has experienced the supply chain crisis firsthand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been greatly impacted by the supply chain issue by having many products being delayed weeks, months and even discontinued entirely,\u201d Merucci said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sue Krawczyk, purchasing director of Neapco LLC, an international purchasing organization that supplies component parts to the automobile industry, is facing direct impact from this supply crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe root cause of many of our issues is driven by COVID and the lack of available labor. Many people globally have been sick or quarantined, resulting in significant labor shortages,\u201d Krawczyk said. \u201cThese labor shortages have caused many manufacturing operations to shut down or run at less than their normal capacity. When a company cannot manufacture their goods, there is not enough product to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To complicate matters further, the pandemic created unanticipated changes in consumer demand and purchasing patterns. According to Automotive News, 2021 auto sales came down to one thing: who had vehicles to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in many other sectors, sales in the new car market were forecast to plummet as individuals struggled during the pandemic. However, this was not the case for Krawczyk who saw a spike in sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been scrambling to ensure subcomponents are available to meet our customer [automotive manufacturers] demand despite the customer canceling orders at the last minute due to a microchip shortage,\u201d Krawczyk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, stores base their future purchases largely on the sales from the previous year. However, 2021 was not a typical year for consumer spending due to shutdowns and canceled events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Memorial Day celebrations were halted in 2021, thereby reducing the purchases of essential Memorial Day items such as barbeque sauce by major retail stores for the subsequent year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neil Sobeck, vice president of Chicken Shack, a local chain of chicken restaurants, commented that barbecue sauce has since become an item in short supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The shortage] has made it extremely difficult to get all of our regular items in a timely manner, so we have had to look to alternative suppliers for different goods than we normally would to fulfill the items we need to sell,\u201d Sobeck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purchasing behaviors of end consumers have been difficult to understand due to the constant changes brought on by the shortages. As an end consumer, Kristen Costello, mother of five, notes that the lack of supply in many unexpected markets has brought her difficulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be difficult when you see half empty shelves in the grocery store. You begin to ask yourself, \u2018should I be purchasing more of that item too?\u2019\u201d Costello said. \u201cI know that hoarding does not help the situation, however ever since the beginning of the pandemic I feel I have begun to buy even more than what I need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it is uncertain when the shortages will end since it is difficult to know when the pandemic itself will come to an end. However, Krawczyk is cautiously optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping the supply chain situation will improve within the next year as the vaccine becomes more readily administered globally,\u201d Krawczyk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of whether the crisis will continue or will ease as 2022 progresses, there are measures that can be taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry to plan ahead and have extra inventory on hand. Don\u2019t be surprised if the items are not available,\u201d Sobeck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, consumers must understand that the current situation is not the fault of the workers who are affected just as much, if not more, by the shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone [should] be respectful of each other and show patience. Be supportive of overworked workers such as those in healthcare,\u201d Krawczyk said. \u201cThe sooner Covid is controlled, the sooner it will go away, and the sooner we can return to life as we used to know two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW-05. News Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stories should be interpretive in nature, not straight news stories. The elements \u201cwhy\u201d and \u201chow\u201d should be examined through research, but the writer\u2019s opinions should not be expressed. An analysis covers issues and problems that relate to specific events of a news nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging Criteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscore the why\/how elements of the news<\/li>
  • Clarifies the news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact and prominence<\/li>
  • Clarifies through research the background necessary to understand current news<\/li>
  • Develops an understanding of the issues\/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources<\/li>
  • Avoids personal opinion unless properly attributed<\/li>
  • Sentences, paragraphs of varied length, written clearly, concisely and vividly<\/li>
  • Effective use of facts\/quotes from both primary and secondary sources<\/li>
  • Proper diction\/grammar; use of third person<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    1st Place, News Analysis2021-22, Division 4, News Writing By Maura SullivanNewsprintMercy HS Cream cheese spread, soccer cleats, automobiles, flour, Mercy uniform shirts, chicken wings, ketchup packets, bed mattresses, coffee and toilet paper. A list of seemingly unrelated items. However, they have one thing in common – all have been in short supply during what has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,4],"tags":[182,23],"class_list":["post-6296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsanalysis","category-nw","tag-2021-22","tag-division4","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/news-analysis-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/news-analysis-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Morgan Womack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=12"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/news-analysis-scaled.jpg?fit=2514%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1Dy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}