As if the global economic downturn weren’t bad enough, U.S. exporters are confronted by a raft of vessel cancellations that hinder their ability to fulfill what overseas sales they’re still able to make.

As consumer demand and buying patterns rapidly undergo changes in a digital economy, the supply chain that supports these emerging needs has to be both responsive and lean — and that’s a difficult balance to achieve.

Ed Barriball, partner in the manufacturing and supply chain practice of McKinsey & Company, explains how the COVID-19 outbreak exposed weaknesses in global supply chains — and what the "next normal" might look like.

Michael Ungar, director of the Resilience Research Center at Dalhousie University, describes how the coronavirus pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the way that companies have been doing business.

Kathleen Iacocca, assistant professor of management and operations at Villanova School of Business, considers what will happen as states begin allowing businesses to reopen with the waning of the coronavirus epidemic.

Thomas O’Connor, senior director analyst with Gartner, relates the lessons that manufacturers and retailers can learn from China, which is just now emerging from lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.