Survivability‐aware design and optimization of distributed supply chain networks in the post COVID‐19 era

Abstract

Pandemic-induced lockdowns, restrictions on commercial activities, and natural disasters can disrupt a supply chain for prolonged time periods. These disruptions significantly impact the consumer demands, which in turn affect the capacity and profitability of a supply chain network. Economic survivability is the ability to maintain a net positive economic worth, or at least keeping it above a certain threshold, in the presence of sudden and prolonged disruptions that drastically reduce the product demands, prices, resource availability or others. We address the economic survivability of geographically distributed interconnected networks under demand disruptions. We formulate and incorporate the necessary conditions for ensuring economic survivability in supply chain design. The overall problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP). Increasing the economic survivability in general also increases the return-on-investment (ROI) and profitability. However, for multi-regional, distributed and interdependent supply chains, a more balanced distribution of investment portfolio is important to improve the local survivability of each region, but it comes at the expense of overall or global profitability.We also observe that the economic survivability is negatively impacted by over-designing a supply chain to meet excess demands (typically from spot markets). Decision-makers should balance the trade-offs between survivability and excess demand satisfaction by thoroughly assessing the probability of positive and negative demand fluctuations.

Barriers to supply chain performance measurement during disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic

“…FB1 barrier “uncertainty in investment” is ranked first. This supports the findings of Tsolas and Hasan (2021) about distributed supply chain networks post-COVID-19. They found that there is a relation between the return-on-investment in a business or a supply chain and its economic survivability.…”

Gene expression dynamics in input-responsive engineered living materials programmed for bioproduction

“…ELMs deployed as portable bioreactors for chemical bioproduction could provide localized, on-demand access to commodity and specialty chemicals needed for health, biodefense and consumer goods manufacturing [ 3 , 4 , 49 ]. This capability would be especially impactful when unpredicted market fluctuations, such as during a pandemic, create acute supply shortages, or when supply chain access is limited, such as during military operations or space exploration.…”

A multi‐period integrated planning and scheduling approach for developing energy systems

“…1 Toward this direction, the interconnected components of energy systems must be designed and operated optimally and resiliently. 2,3 This is a demanding task considering the multi-scale and multi-faceted nature of such energy systems. Due to the extensive interconnections that exist within energy systems, a decision made at one level of the supply chain may ripple across to other levels within the supply chain.…”

“…The goal of the effective supply chain management is the improvement of customers' satisfaction, value, and loyalty, which is then translated into enhanced profit margins, superior profitability and ultimately, corporate growth 1 . Toward this direction, the interconnected components of energy systems must be designed and operated optimally and resiliently 2,3 . This is a demanding task considering the multi‐scale and multi‐faceted nature of such energy systems.…”