This fireside chat recap is from Day 1 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week. Day 1 focuses on the military, aerospace and manufacturing.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Overview of the industrial and manufacturing landscape.
DETAILS: A wide-ranging look at the biggest topics of the industry, including ways in which the private sector can make COVID-19 vaccinations more efficient.
SPEAKER: Brooke Sutherland, Bloomberg columnist. (The chat was conducted by FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller.)
BIO: Sutherland is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News.
KEY QUOTES FROM SUTHERLAND
“A mass vaccination event is really like an assembly line. You’re trying to move people in and out as quickly as possible. There are very distinct steps. You need to have people registered. You need to actually give them the shot .… You can’t have pileups. It really helps if you think about this like it’s a manufacturing process.”
On Honeywell helping with the vaccination process in North Carolina:
“It just seems like a huge missed opportunity if some of these other states don’t reach out to their local manufacturers and say, ‘How can we do this better? What can you do for us? How can you make this process more convenient and also more productive?’”
On the Biden administration’s desire to utilize the private sector:
“It’s interesting that we’re having all these conversations now and not six months ago when it might’ve been more helpful. But I do think there are a lot of companies thinking about this. I do think you’re seeing more of that attitude from the Biden administration.”
