New data reveals top 10 global supply chain disruptions and most impacted industries.

 

Resilinc – the global leader in supply chain mapping and risk monitoring – has shared exclusive new data highlighting the top drivers of supply chain disruptions for 2022. Compiled by Resilinc’s EventWatchAI  monitoring database, the data reveals that global supply chain disruptions were up 32 per cent year-on-year, with Europe seeing a 38-per-cent increase in disruptions during the past 12 months.

Top 10 global supply chain disruptions

 

Globally, the top 10 global supply chain disruptions for 2022 were: 

1. Factory Fire 

2. Mergers & Acquisition 

3. Business Sale 

4. Leadership Transition 

5. Factory Disruption 

6. Labour Disruption 

7. Legal Action 

8. Cyber Attack 

9. Recall 

10. Port Disruption 

 

Disruption drivers

With 3,609 alerts and an 85-per-cent year-on-year increase, 2022 trumped previous years when it came to factory fires, with the most ever recorded in a single year. Much of this trend was driven by gaps in regulatory and process execution, as well as a shortage of skilled labour in warehouses. 

 

Last year also saw a large increase in labour disruptions around the globe, marking a 92-per-cent year-on-year increase. Clear examples of this are the protests at the Foxconn iPhone factory in China and the Felixstowe port strike in the UK.

 

Leadership transitions – like the appointment of new CEOs at shipping company Maersk or multinational healthcare company Roche – also saw a big jump in 2022, with a 77-per-cent increase over 2021. Such a rise is potentially significant, given that top-level management changes can often lead to modifications in corporate strategy. 

 

Despite not making the top 10 list, Resilinc's data shows that geopolitical disruptions saw a 378-per-cent increase from 2021 figures, predominantly stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Beyond that, airport disruptions jumped 189 per cent and economic instability caused bankruptcies to climb over 270 per cent last year.

Impacted industries and regions

 

The five most disrupted industries included Life Sciences, Healthcare, General Manufacturing, High Tech, and Automotive, marking it the second year in a row these particular industries have been the most impacted.  

 

Of all the 15,354 EventWatchAI notifications sent, more than half (56 per cent) were impactful enough to trigger the creation of a WarRoom – virtual platforms in the Resilinc dashboard where customers and their suppliers communicate and collaborate to assess and resolve disruptions.  

 

Geographically, North America experienced the most disruptions, accounting for just over half (51 per cent) of the total alerts issued, followed by Europe and then Asia.  

 

Resilinc’s data is gathered by its 24/7 global event monitoring Artificial Intelligence, EventWatch AI, which collects information and monitors news on 400 different types of disruptions across 104 million sources – including traditional news sources, social media platforms, wire services, videos, and government reports. Annually, the AI contextualises and analyses nearly five billion data feeds across 100 languages and countries, making EventWatchAI the industry’s largest, most comprehensive supply chain risk monitoring portfolio.