The Structure of the World’s Supply Chains is Changing

Supply chains are the fibers out of which the past decades’ globalization is woven. Time and again they have allowed intrepid outward-looking manufacturers to undercut their stay-at-home competitors and component-makers to find roles in new markets.

Networks of aircraft, email and container ships, not to mention railways and pipelines, have tied together businesses in Guangdong and Oregon, Durban and Dubai, Rennes and Punta Arenas. Masters of their use, such as Airbus or Apple, can create technological marvels from components provided in dozens of different countries using raw materials brought in from yet farther afield.