PurposeThe Covid-19 pandemic has created an environment of high uncertainty and caused major disruptions in supply chains. The new normal that has emerged during the pandemic is leading to a need to identify new solutions to improve supply chain crisis management in the future. Practitioners require adapted recommendations for solutions to implement. These recommendations are laid out in this paper.Design/methodology/approachA combination of a systematic literature review (SLR), qualitative semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey of supply chain practitioners is applied. The interviews provide insights into supply chain practitioners' views of their approaches and, together with the solutions proposed in the literature, provide future recommendations for action for supply chain managers.FindingsDuring the pandemic, companies experienced disruptions in supply, production and demand, as well as interruptions in transportation and distribution. The majority of the solutions proposed in the literature, coincide with the opinions of practitioners. These include collaborative risk management, real-time monitoring and information sharing, supply network management, scenario planning and “what-if” simulations.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the number of interviews conducted and questionnaires completed is limited, they still serve to supplement the SLR with important practical insights and recommendations.Originality/valueThis paper presents a review of recent academic literature focusing on the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and the existing solutions to mitigate that impact and manage future crises. It has been expanded to include industry perspectives and experiences. The findings of this study present recommended practices and strategies for better managing supply chains during a crisis.
Supply Chain (SC) uncertainty perspectives must now be translated into practice. SC entities must accept crises and catastrophes as normal situations and increase significantly their culture of SC risk management. They should adapt their decision-support systems to be able considering disruptions as regular inputs, whether small, large or huge. Collaboration should not be limited to few entities of a SC, but to the whole SC. Concrete tools allowing entities to share vital information to give visibility, ensure synchronization of the material flows, align management of emergencies and use of critical resources must be developed and used. That is the purpose of this paper. Practically, a framework for SC risk and opportunity management and a Collaborative and Open Supply Chain Management Operating Services (COSMOS) platform are presented. An illustrative case is developed to highlight the potential benefits of the proposal on one service example.
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