The COVID-19 outbreak has brought operational resilience into sharp focus, particularly by exposing the fragility of supply chains. The Western reliance on Asian manufacturing has never been more apparent, as companies have had to quickly identify secondary suppliers, preferably local ones, because logistics options were also closed off.

Supply value chains cannot be established overnight — especially complex, globalised material supply chains of the kind required for large-scale capital projects. And the redesign of supply chains is likely not feasible in the current disruptive environment. Yet once the immediate crisis has passed, infrastructure CEOs will need to rethink their supply chains to build in as much resilience to global shocks and disruptions as possible.