The novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has introduced new terms like social distancing and shelter-in-place orders into many American’s everyday vocabulary. Supply chain is another such term, one used to help explain product shortages caused by the pandemic, shortages of products as diverse as ventilators, meat, and hand sanitizer. The NEIU Libraries subscribe to IBISWorld, an online business information resource that allows for the exploration of complex industry supply chains.
IBISWorld uses an industry classification system created by the federal government for the purpose of gathering statistical information. IBISWorld has reports on over 700 industries, and each report shows the supply chain for that industry. IBISWorld can be searched by keyword or company name or five-digit industry classification code. For example, the pandemic has generated numerous news stories about toilet paper shortages. An IBISWorld search using the term “Charmin” or “toilet paper” would return the industry report on Sanitary Paper Product Manufacturing in the US (NAICS 32229a). The report contains a graph of the industry’s supply chain (with links to its components shown in red):
IBISWorld reports, with their chapter and sub-chapter links on the left side, are easy to navigate and can be downloaded as printable PDFs. Access IBISWorld, from off campus, but logging in with your NEIU NetID and password.
by Henry Owen III, NEIU Business Librarian