Some Supply Chain Lessons Are Never Learned

Mar 17, 2025

Way back in June 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Boeing’s Nuts-and-Bolts Problem” that highlighted how Boeing was facing a shortage of fasteners at the time to complete its first orders of the 787 Dreamliner.

“The unexpected lack of fasteners marks the sort of test Boeing will face in coming years as it moves to fill a press of orders for the 787 and other aircraft amid an aerospace boom,” the authors wrote.

I highlighted this story in an October 2015 Talking Logistics post titled, “You’re Only As Good As Your Worst Supplier.” The title came from a Wall Street Journal article published at the time about supply issues Pratt & Whitney (a unit of United Technologies) experienced that summer that almost brought its engine production operations to a halt. In the article, United Technologies’ Chief Executive Greg Hayes said the following:

Latest Indago Research Report: Is Visibility a Product or Feature?

A number of real-time visibility solutions have been introduced in the past decade, including Real-time Transportation Visibility Platforms (i.e., software solutions that provide real-time tracking and status updates on shipments across various transportation modes). A longstanding debate is whether real-time transportation visibility solutions provide enough unique value to remain a standalone product or if they should be acquired and integrated into broader supply chain platforms. Do you currently use a real-time transportation visibility solution? Which side of the debate are you on? What are the biggest challenges or limitations with real-time transportation visibility solutions today?

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