"The Chain" is a docuseries that unravels the complexities of the global supply chain. Produced by ASCM and Wag Entertainment, this series explores the intricate global supply chain and its profound impact on our modern world. It highlights the often-unseen work of supply chain and logistics professionals, revealing the innovative solutions they use to ensure essential goods reach us daily. The series also examines critical disruptions and groundbreaking innovations shaping the future of these networks, emphasizing the urgent need for ethical, efficient, and economical supply chains for a sustainable future.
Examine the unique challenges, emerging trends, and pioneering solutions faced by critical sectors—including food, transportation, sports, apparel and communications.
Dive into the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion, a system producing 100 billion garments annually by rapidly bringing low-cost clothing to market. The global supply chain for these items relies on inexpensive overseas manufacturing, particularly in Bangladesh, where low wages enable the production of clothes that travel thousands of miles to consumers. This unsustainable fashion supply chain leads to massive textile waste, as cheap, often synthetic, garments are quickly discarded and end up polluting landfills and oceans, highlighting the critical need for consumer-driven change to promote a more sustainable fast fashion supply chain. Show More
Putting on a professional sporting event, like an American football game, involves an intricate supply chain that largely goes unnoticed by fans. A critical component is the ball itself, with the NFL supply chain relying on sole sourcing from Wilson, which has produced all official American footballs, since 1941. While sole sourcing carries risks, it's a common practice in sporting event supply chains. These concentrated manufacturing hubs benefit from specialized expertise and scale, enabling the efficient distribution of sports equipment worldwide, highlighting the supply chain orchestration necessary for successful professional sporting events. Show More
The variety and year-round availability of fresh produce in supermarkets is testament to a complex global food supply chain. This intricate system allows consumers to access items that aren't locally or seasonally available. A critical element for perishable goods is the cold chain. A specialized logistics network using refrigerated containers to maintain temperatures during transportation. This entire process, from agriculture to your refrigerator, requires immense supply chain orchestration, with countless individuals working behind the scenes to deliver food safely and efficiently, a feat largely taken for granted by the average consumer. Show More
Raw materials for medications like morphine are surprisingly concentrated. This "morphine chain" is tightly regulated and tracked using RFID sensors to ensure supply chain safety and prevent diversion. Despite global healthcare logistics, a significant disparity exists in medication availability. This imbalance of medication access and excess highlights a critical challenge within the healthcare supply chain, emphasizing the need for global conversations and improved distribution to ensure equitable access to essential medicine. Show More
While companies like Apple, Samsung, and Lenovo may design their devices in the United States, their production is outsourced, with China assembling the vast majority. To achieve this, China's manufacturers rely on importing over 400 separate parts from dozens of countries, demonstrating layers of suppliers involved. Once assembled, they are transported by air cargo, flying thousands of miles before reaching the consumer. This intricate web, from raw materials through multiple tiers of production and rapid transportation, underscores the remarkable supply chain infrastructure that brings this essential technology into our hands. Show More
The global supply chain for electric vehicles hinges on the lithium battery supply chain. While EVs offer environmental benefits on the road, the electric vehicle production process, particularly lithium extraction, carries substantial environmental costs. The lithium mining process is highly water-intensive, requiring half a million gallons of water per ton of lithium, and has raised concerns regarding environmental and safety sustainability. Addressing this increased demand and mitigating environmental impacts necessitates developing a more sustainable lithium battery supply chain through collaboration with suppliers and the establishment of a circular supply chain. Show More
The Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) is the global pacesetter of organizational transformation, talent development and supply chain innovation. As the largest association for supply chain, ASCM members and worldwide alliances fuel innovation and inspire accountability for resilient, dynamic and sustainable operations. ASCM is built on a foundation of worldclass APICS education, certification and career resources, which encompass award-winning workforce development, relevant content, groundbreaking industry standards and a diverse community of professionals to create a better world through supply chain. To learn more, visit ascm.org
Wag Entertainment is a leading international producer of TV shows. We produce and distribute high-quality, high-rating returnable series for many of the world’s major broadcasters. Wag has been listed among REAL SCREEN's global top 100 media companies, based on a survey of the top 70 broadcasters world-wide, and was listed among Britain's top ten TV production companies in an industry poll conducted by REAL SCREEN magazine. Wag Entertainment is the largest single supplier of programs to Discovery Networks International. To learn more, visit wagentertainment.com
