Marketers, manufacturers and even the media have been keeping tabs on all things related to logistics like never before. Coverage of supply chain matters practically doubled in 2020 and media messaging for 2021 spiked towards the end of the year, referring to both bottlenecks and backlogs that created a supply chain crisis that hampered holiday shopping sprees.

The hashtag #emptyshelvesJoe trended on Twitter while Amazon, Target and Walmart rolled out the holiday deals early to curtail any looming delays.

Now, at the start of 2022, it seems concerns are heightened as new problems and new political pressures are bubbling to the surface. Businesses are realising now more than ever just how dependent they are on ensuring supplies and shipments in addition to making sales.

In 2020 and 2021, the concept of just-in-case inventory replaced adherence to the just-in-time mentality, which was popular prior to the pandemic. Just-in-time inventory aimed to limit holding costs while just-in-case approaches promote stockpiling to ensure future access to basic supplies. However, for 2022 and beyond, the approach should perhaps be ‘just-because’ – where those in the supply chain do what they can, when they can, for who they can and by whatever means that they can. And here are a few examples to illustrate this point.

Do what you can –