Freight News, IT, Logistics

Xmas won’t be the same without eggs, warns logistics IT expert

[ November 23, 2022   //   Chris Lewis ]

Christmas 2022 could be hit by a shortage of eggs – an essential of eggnog and plum puddings – warns supply chain platform E2open.
Vice president Lori Harner said: “Eggs and finished goods could be off the table this festive season. Energy and feed price inflation, coupled with an outbreak of bird flu, has caused disruption in the UK poultry supply chain. Despite limiting stock of eggs at supermarkets, we could be heading towards empty shelves across the country. However, this isn’t an isolated problem, similar issues are currently happening in tandem globally.
“Just as we saw with the Covid rush for toilet paper, the media publicity focusing on supply issues of eggs and poultry products is set to exacerbate the issue, as panic buying ensues. For brands and manufacturers to be responsive to such near-term demand fluctuations, they must use a supply chain business network to achieve greater connectivity and visibility of their end-to-end supply ecosystem. ‘What if’ scenarios can then be run to predict how expected inventory can be allocated to meet demand where it is needed.
“Without visibility, supply chain operators are asleep at the wheel and disruptions such as bird flu will continue to result in empty shelves. To avoid this, the use of real-time data, artificial intelligence, and lead time variances must be used to allow firms to predict and plan for supply crunches.”

Tags: E2open