The answers are "yes," "no," and "profoundly...in certain cases." As with many other new technologies, forecasters overly hype the changes while naysayers ignore the potential. Ultimately, we expect to see fundamental shifts in some supply chains but not others. To understand the phenomenon and evade the hysteria, we need only look at the history of a recent disruption: e-commerce. The potential of the Internet was initially overhyped, yet it has had profound – but not overwhelming – effects on most supply chains.
