Strategies to manage product recalls in the COVID-19 pandemic: an exploratory case study of PPE supply chains

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate strategies to manage product recalls where shortages are a critical threat, with impacts such as loss of life. The authors aim to identify key supply chain strategies and opportunities for theoretical advancement by taking a resilience perspective on temporary supply chain design.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors conducted an impact event analysis of product recalls by exploring the RAPEX database and official statements of individual country regulators. Second, the authors conducted an exploratory case study with the Cambridge University Hospitals on Personal Protective Equipment to explore product recall risks, utilising an action research methodology.FindingsAdditional processes, mainly testing, can compensate for the risks that may arise from temporary supply chains, where changes in location and product design are not possible due to the immediate nature of demand caused by COVID-19 pandemic. This finding reflects on the resilience of designing and implementing temporary supply chains from the perspective of product, process and location.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper does not employ an in-depth multiple case study methodology. However, the authors argue that the role of institutional actors in global supply chains and its implications on product safety needs to be empirically studied in order to expand existing supply chain management theories to cover resilience in emerging, mature and temporary supply chain.Practical implicationsManagers can learn from the Cambridge University Hospitals case study that a downstream quality inspection system can be deployed to manage product quality and safety risks where recalls are not an option, such as during critical situations in the COVID-19 pandemic.Social implicationsThe authors’ observations suggest that governments may be socially responsible for implementing rigorous mechanisms to manage product recall risks that compromise consumer safety.Originality/valueThe authors’ study is uniquely designed and studies various specific phenomena of product recalls risks in COVID-19. The unique design features include a dynamic and recent database analysis involving a product, process and location centric perspective complemented with a Cambridge University Hospitals case study.

What Have We Learnt About the Sourcing of Personal Protective Equipment During Pandemics? Leadership and Management in Healthcare Supply Chain Management: A Scoping Review

“…Schumacher et al ( 14 ) suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is an event that has exposed the varied global supply chain vulnerabilities and dependencies. Drawing on the work of Chopra ( 15 ) and Park et al ( 13 ), they summarise these as being: stockpiling, capacity overload, rapid supply configuration, reduced or no visibility of the upstream supply chain; supply shortages, capacity loss in production and warehousing, ad hoc supply to end users without regular conformity checks and surging demand.…”

“…The lack of international standards for PPE was recognised ( 36 ) with calls to develop standard manufacturing protocols (e.g., for 3D printing for PPE) ( 45 ). To mitigate risk Schumacher promotes the need to be aware of what is happening up and down stream of the supply chain, setting up formal inspection processes where required ( 14 ).…”

“…This diversified supply chain could also be taken from a geographic perspective to limit the supply-side risk from one country, which includes the development of local suppliers. However, in the short-term there may well be a need to build robust inventories of PPE to buffer against other supply chain disruptions and longer term to consider regulation of PPE and the PPE supply chain to ensure standardisation ( 14 , 33 ).…”

“…As noted earlier most of the PPE used in Europe is produced offshore and there is a high reliance on a few global suppliers ( 14 ). Medical face masks, which are almost exclusively produced in China, have been in short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic in many industrialised countries which do not produce them ( 15 ).…”

Barriers in repurposing an existing manufacturing plant: a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach

“…Manufacturing plants have to act quickly in sudden emergency to protect and help their employees as well as maintain operations that are critical lifelines for their consumers and communities. To identify problems and research requirements, focus should be made on factors such as dynamic regulations as well as manufacturing specifications while keeping in mind the modification of production process involved (Schumacher et al 2021 ). It is found that development of a resilient system catered to emergency disruptions depends on capital investment as well as on existing rules and regulations.…”