SCM

Instructions for Commenting 

Please comment on at least two articles posted by your classmates. To earn full credit, you must do more than reiterate points the original author made. 

1. Find an original post or a comment to a post that you find interesting and address the author by name. 

2. Address the points that the original poster (or a commenter makes) and do more than simply agree with the points made. To do so, you can either a) extend the post by calling upon other sources (either assigned readings from this course or elsewhere), your personal experience, or previous posts or b) disagree with a previous post and offer compelling evidence. If you are going to disagree, you MUST do it in a civil manner AND cite sources. Opinions are fine; however, opinions NOT supported by data are just that. 

3. Repeat this process once more. You must have at two substantial comments to earn full credit. Substantial comments meet the above criteria. Simply writing longer posts does NOT ensure full credit. There is no minimum word requirement, but it would be difficult (but probably not impossible) to meet the requirements in 1-2 sentences.

Answer this one please:

BLUF: 

The US baby formula shortage has been an active crisis affecting families with infants since February of 2022 – almost an entire year. The effects of this have highlighted critical dependencies the US has on an inadequate number of producers and numerous problems with formula product distribution (Jones, 2022).

Details: 

Abbott’s Nutrition factory in Sturgis, Michigan, has been at the center of the baby formula shortage crisis. After several reports of infants who had consumed various formula products from the factory were diagnosed with infections, the factory was shut down. We later learned the infections were caused by a bacterium called cronobacter (Jones, 2022).

Abbott is one of only four companies that produce baby formula in the US. Before the bacteria issues started, Abbott controlled more than 40% of the baby formula market (Leroy & Khandekar, 2022). This relates to the course material as an example of a potential safety inventory miscalculation. Abbott didn’t have the inventory to respond to a factory shutdown. The downstream impacts also relate to the course material emphasizing the importance of information, along with the strategic component of supply chain management. With the announcement that Abbott stopped production, competitors like Reckett and Nestle can respond by quickly claiming additional market share.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently investigated the factors contributing to the nation’s formula shortage and found over a dozen individual items (Jones, 2022). These factors have been categorized into five key areas:

•    Necessary IT upgrades specifically to transmit data during emergency situations •    Appropriate staffing levels, training and education, and updated equipment •    Properly maintained emergency response systems •    Evaluation of the baby formula industry altogether •    Additional scientific research on the bacteria which initially caused the shortage, cronobacter

The FDA’s investigative lead, Steven M. Solomon, states that he recognized several additional issues that entities outside of the FDA must address. Solomon recommends the federal government intervene to address the small number of formula manufacturers, inconsistencies with the supply chain for the ingredients in the formula, and product delivery methods overall. The FDA doesn’t have the authority or resources to establish guidelines for these particular issues.

This topic/article is current and relevant as the baby formula shortage crisis continues. Abbott had to shut down the Sturgis factory again in July 2022 after a flood damaged the building. An incident at Abbott’s Ohio facility was just reported the other day, on October 14, 2022. Abbott Labs distributed a recall on certain formula products with bottle cap issues that could cause the product to spoil (Christensen, 2022). The production element of the supply chain for baby formula requires significant improvement. Additional producers and distributors may curb the downstream impacts (on retailers and consumers) of issues occurring at baby formula factories. 

Primary Article: Jones, D. (2022, September). Here’s What the FDA Says Contributed to the Baby Formula Shortage Crisis – NPR.  https://www.npr.org/2022/09/23/1124558475/baby-formula-shortage-crisis-fda-internal-review

Answer this one please:

Article Link:  https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/10/11/a-looming-beer-shortage-highlights-our-supply-chain-issues/

BLUF: CO2 shortages are threatening the food industry with massive consequences as the byproduct becomes scarcer. Focusing specifically on the beer industry, CO2 shortages suggest delays in the creation and sale of brews. 

SUMMARY:  Carbon dioxide is a vital ingredient in the beer making process, as it keeps the beverage frothy and thwarts expiration. Without CO2, the brewing process is at a standstill. Following an outbreak of contaminant at the largest natural source east of the Mississippi River, American beer makers are scrambling to identify their next source. That being said, carbon dioxide is has become significant more expense as the resource has gotten sparser. 

As carbon dioxide is used in more than just beer, this shortage will see effects across the food industry. "CO2 is used in multiple applications in the food and beverage industry: carbonation, food, processing, freezing, storage, transportation and packing" (Handfield, 2022). With smaller breweries not having the resources of a massive operation, they are already seeing a difference in access to the resource. By not being able to obtain the necessary amount of carbon dioxide, these small businesses are experiencing the brunt of the impact coming off of this undersupply.    

In this particular instance, those being affected are avid alcohol consumers. However, as previously stated, carbon dioxide shortages are impacting the consumers of any product that is carbonated, processed frozen, or transported; in short, everyone is suffering from the CO2 unavailability. I do not see anyone benefitting from this shortage. Similarly, I do not see these predictions going unfulfilled; the country is already seeing these issues come to light. "Beer companies are getting hammered by the lack of supply, paying as much as $1,000 per ton for CO2 just to stay in production" (Handfield, 2022). 

COURSE CONTENT: This article highlights the production and distribution issues associated with the ongoing CO2 shortage.

SOURCE: The article I primarily utilized for this review was the Dallas Morning News, a well-known news provider out of Texas. My supplementary source, NewsNation, further supported the claims made by Robert Handfield. In focusing on my primary article, I found the source to be credible:

· Currency: The article was written last week on October 11, 2022. 

· Relevancy:  There is immediate relevance to supply chain management as the production and transportation is being affected, in turn impacting the consumers.

· Authoritative: The author is the Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative and a professor of supply chain management at North Carolina State University.  

· Accurate:  The article references public knowledge on an ongoing carbon dioxide shortage. The article further supports their claims by citing an expert in the field of supply chain management.

· Purpose:  The purpose of this article is to highlight on ongoing resource shortage and the upcoming impact consumers are going to experience. 

Work Cited:

Glass, S. (2022, August 10). Shortage of CO2 Could Threaten Nation's Beer Supply. NewsNation. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from  https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/shortage-of-co2-could-threaten-nations-beer-supply/#:~:text=Shortages%20of%20CO2%20began%20to%20appear%20in%202020%2C,strikes%20across%20the%20Midwest%20are%20further%20threatening%20supply. (Supplementary Article)

Handfield, R. (2022, October 11). A Looming Beer Shortage Highlights Our Supply Chain Issues. Dallas News. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from  https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/10/11/a-looming-beer-shortage-highlights-our-supply-chain-issues/(Primary Article)