The ever-rising customer demand is disrupting all sectors of the economy, leading to innovation among those who are in the supply chain and manufacturing sectors. Unlike a decade ago when customers would place an order and wait for a week or even a month, customers today are impatient. They place an order that should be delivered as fast as possible. This has been occasioned by the increased competition in the manufacturing industry and supply chain, as well as increased customer awareness. For example, with the rising number of companies such as Alibaba and Amazon, customers have become choosy and tend to purchase their products based on the time it takes for them to receive their item. For these customers to be satisfied and stay competitive in the current marketplace, companies are now investing in 3D printing technologies to come up with products fast and ship it to the customer at an acceptable time.

One of the leading topics of discussion that has emerged in almost every circle during the COVID-19 pandemic is the supply chain and the need to rethink this industry in general. The disruption of operations in this industry has also reiterated the need to deploy digitization and use virtual inventories. Using the approaches will encourage organizations to rethink their approach to supply chain and enhance their efficiency even during the time of difficulty as it is the case currently.

Several countries are trying to come up with different solutions to fight the rising cases of coronavirus pandemic. It is for this reason that technologies are now being combined to counter the impact of the virus. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the latest technology that has made a comeback in many areas, including retail, supply chain, and logistics, as well as in healthcare. Now the technology is being used to fight COVID-19. With the help of microchips that are embedded in RFID tags, the journey of vaccines can now be tracked and authenticated from the manufacturer’s site to the testing site. The same technology can also be used to track personal protective equipment (PPEs), high-value COVID-19 treatment drugs, and antibody testing kits, among others.