Supply Chain Resilience Improvement in SMEs: The Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies

PurposeThis systematic literature review analyzes the academic literature to understand SC risk and resilience across different organizational sizes and industries. The academic literature has well discussed the causes of supply chain (SC) risk events, the impact of SC disruptions, and associated plans for SC resilience. However, the literature remains fragmented on the role of two fundamental elements in achieving SC resilience: the firm's size and the firm's industry as firms' contingent factors. Therefore, it is important to investigate and highlight SC resilience differences by size and industry type to establish more resilient firms.Design/methodology/approachBuilding upon the contingent resource-based view of the firm, the authors posit that organizational factors such as size and industry sector have important roles in developing organizational resilience capabilities. This systematic literature review and analysis is based on the structural and systematic analysis of high-ranked peer-reviewed journal papers from January 2000 to June 2021 collected through three global scientific databases (i.e. ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) using relevant keywords.FindingsThis systematic literature review of 230 high-quality articles shows that SC risk events can be categorized into demand, supply, organizational, operational, environmental, and network/control risk events. This study suggests that the SC resilience plans developed by startups, small and mdium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large organizations are not necessarily the same as those of large enterprises. While collaboration and networking and risk management are the most crucial resilience capabilities for all firms, applying lean and quality management principles and utilizing information technology are more crucial for SMEs. For large firms, knowledge management and contingency planning are more important.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on SC resilience plans across different organizational sizes and industries, offering new insights into the nature and dynamics of startups', SMEs', and large enterprises' SC resilience in different industries. The study highlights the need for further investigation of SC risk and resilience for startups, SMEs, and different industries on a more detailed level using empirical data. This study’s findings have important implications for researchers and practitioners and guide the development of effective SC resilience strategies for different types of firms.

PurposeThis study aims to analyse whether the presence of supply chain complexity (SCC) influences firms to improve their supply chain (SC) resilience and SC robustness capability. This study also examines an important paradox: whether investing in both exploitation and exploration practices is conflicting or complementary to enabling SC resilience and robustness in the presence of SCC.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a survey-based approach to collect 242 useful responses from SC professionals of Pakistani firms, an important emerging economy context. The data were analysed with covariance-based structural equation modelling to statistically validate the model.FindingsThe analysis reveals several key findings: the presence of SCC has a direct, positive influence on SC resilience and SC robustness; while exploitation practices only partially mediate the nexus between SCC and SC resilience, they fully mediate the relationship between SCC and SC robustness; while exploration practices partially mediate the nexus between SCC and SC resilience, they do not mediate the relationship between SCC and SC robustness and SCC has a significant influence on SC resilience and SC robustness sequentially through exploitation and exploration (i.e. one after the other).Practical implicationsThese findings help to reconcile the exploitation versus exploration paradox in cultivating SC resilience and SC robustness in the presence of SCC. The findings assist SC managers in determining how to deploy their limited resources most effectively to enhance SC resilience and SC robustness while facing SCC.Originality/valueThe authors devise and empirically validate a unique framework that demonstrates how the presence of SCC works as a stimulus to build SC resilience and SC robustness.

Building responsive and resilient supply chains: Lessons from the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 disruption

Building resilience or maintaining robustness: Insights from relational view and information processing perspective

Purpose This paper aims to investigate current trends in sustainability and resilience in supply chains post the COVID-19 pandemic. With an increase in the number of pandemic-led supply chain disruptions in the past years, supply chain resilience has become a necessity in almost all global supply chains. At the same time, supply chains are being mandated to meet the sustainable development goals by considering all three pillars of sustainability, that is, people, planet and profits. The challenge faced by most supply chains is to incorporate both sustainability and resilience in their supply chains since the two have some conflicting objectives. The review investigated research on the integration of sustainability and resilience in closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs). CLSCs have become an important circular business model that contributes greatly to environmental sustainability. The disruption of CLSCs affects not only business as usual (forward chain) but also environmental and net zero initiatives. For this reason, it is necessary to study their resilience. Design/methodology/approach When conducting the review, the systematic method was used. In the systematic method, a research question was defined and studies on the topic were located and screened based on their contents. At the end of the screening, 56 publications were found to be relevant to the topic at hand. A content analysis was carried on the selected publications to come up with research gaps, recommendations and managerial implications for the integration of sustainability and resilience in CLSCs. The review investigated the levels of decision-making where resilience and sustainability can be integrated in CLSCs, the interrelationships between sustainability and resilience from the perspective of CLSCs and other supply chain issues that can be integrated with resilience and sustainability in CLSCs. Findings For CLSCs, the integration of sustainability and resilience was carried out mostly in the strategic level (mostly network design focusing on facility location and allocation). Most studies investigated the two principles separately, although there is a growing increase in literature investigating both principles simultaneously. In CLSCs, resilience has been investigated as a tool for achieving sustainability, as most research focused on the impact of resilience on sustainability dimensions. In addition, sustainability and resilience cannot co-exist without some trade-offs. It was also discovered that sustainability and resilience can be combined with other principles such as robustness, responsiveness, efficiency and reliability among other principles to improve supply chain networks. Originality/value The paper focused on simultaneous consideration of resilience and sustainability in CLSCs specifically. It also explored other supply chain issues associated with sustainability and resilience in CLSCs. The aim of the paper was to reveal interrelationships between resilience and sustainability in closed-loop supply chains. It has not been clear as to the relationship between resilience and sustainability from a CLSC perspective.

ABSTRACTSupply chain disruptions have become increasingly frequent due to extreme weather conditions and worsening eco‐pollution, posing challenges to sustainable development. As tools to enhance supply chain resilience in this uncertain environment, the sustainable supply chain and carbon trading policies are receiving heightened attention. This study, therefore, aimed to examine how they synergistically affect supply chain resilience among A‐share listed firms in China. Based on a multi‐period difference‐in‐differences analysis of firm‐level data from 2009 to 2023, the study confirms the positive synergistic impact of the dual policies on supply chain resilience. Firms that adopted the carbon trading policy before the sustainable supply chain policy experienced the most significant improvement in resilience. These effects were found to be mediated by the mechanisms of green innovation and supply chain efficiency. In terms of heterogeneity, the synergistic influence of the dual policies on supply chain resilience is more pronounced in firms that are mature, privately owned, and in the manufacturing sector. These findings offer critical information to guide policymakers in strengthening supply chain resilience.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the relationships among the five components of supply chain (SC) resilience (SCRES): visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration and their impacts on the SC performance under disruption (SCPUD).Design/methodology/approachFive SCRES components are identified from the literature review and data are collected using an web survey from 113 manufacturing companies in Taiwan. The data are analyzed by structured equation modeling with the partial least square solution. Two-stage least-squares (2SLS) regression was used to test the potential endogeneity of SC collaboration (SCC).FindingsThe results reveal that SCC is an exogenous driver of SCRES; it directly affects visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and SCPUD. Furthermore, SC flexibility is the only component of SC agility that directly affects SCPUD; it is influenced directly by SC velocity and indirectly by SC visibility through SC velocity. SC visibility is a vital agility component that positively influences SC velocity and SC robustness.Research limitations/implicationsThe data in this study are cross-sectional and the sample size of 113 is relatively small. The relationship between SC robustness and SCPUD needs a longer observation period to reveal. The logistic issue in the shortage of carriers caused by the pandemic has been overlooked.Practical implicationsA firm should enhance its collaboration and flexibility in the SC as they both are the critical antecedents of SC performance (SCP) during the disruption period.Originality/valueThis study integrates visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration into a complete framework of SCRES. The dependent variable, SCPUD, measures SC performance (SCP) under the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first study to investigate the associations of the six constructs in a research model.

Fresh produce, as a primary source of nutrition, plays a pivotal role in daily life. However, the unique characteristics of fresh produce—such as perishability, widespread production, short shelf life, long distribution cycles, and high volatility in both supply and demand—render the fresh produce supply chain particularly vulnerable to disruptions. These vulnerabilities not only impact daily consumption but also pose significant challenges to the operational efficiency of enterprises. Enhancing the fresh produce supply chain resilience is crucial for businesses to effectively mitigate risks, ensure consistent product quality, and maintain overall supply chain stability. Nevertheless, there remains a lack of clear, process-oriented guidance for developing resilience improvement strategies within the fresh agricultural product sector. Specifically, there is insufficient clarity regarding which elements should be prioritized for investment in resilience strategies, how these strategies should be formulated, and the absence of a theoretically sound framework to guide the strategic development of supply chain resilience improvements. To address the lack of scientific, quantitative, efficient, and specific processes for generating supply chain resilience improvement strategies in fresh agricultural product enterprises, this study adopts the framework of extensible primitive theory. Initially, an evaluation index system for the fresh produce supply chain is constructed, and the extendable evaluation method is employed to assess the resilience level of fresh agricultural product enterprises. This approach facilitates the identification of the key challenges that must be addressed to enhance supply chain resilience and helps generate strategies that reconcile previously incompatible issues. Next, the core objectives and conditions underlying the resilience incompatibilities in fresh agricultural product enterprises are quantitatively analyzed. Finally, the expansion transformation of both target and condition primitives is carried out to derive the optimal strategy for improving supply chain resilience. The study uses company M as a case example, where the evaluation results indicate that the company’s supply chain resilience is rated as “good”. However, several issues were identified, including inefficiencies in product supply, limited financing capacity, low enterprise visibility, and inadequate production and processing equipment. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a series of optimization strategies aimed at improving the fresh produce supply chain resilience through extension transformation.

This paper estimates the Most Productive Scale Size (MPSS) in the NDEA model to appraise the sustainability and resilience of the supply chains. As the corresponding input and output criteria are not always accurately measurable, we also introduce the fuzzy version of our proposed NDEA model and apply the proposed model in a case study involving 10 Iranian supply chains of Companies Producing Soft Drinks (CPSDs). The considered-three-echelon supply chains include suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. Mathematical analysis proves that the MPSS of the considered supply chain can be decomposed as the sum of the MPSS values of the individual stages. Thus, the supply chain is overall MPSS if and only if it is MPSS in every three stages. The results of this study reveal that the Behnoush supply chain is overall MPSS in all three stages, including supplier, manufacturer, and distributor, for any α ∈ {0.1, 0.5, 1}. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to measure the impact of each criterion on the entire supply chain performance. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the social and resilience criteria significantly impact the performance and ranking of supply chains. Finally, we discuss how to improve the sustainability and resilience of non-MPSS supply chains.

PurposeAs the construction industry transforms towards green and low-carbon development, prefabricated buildings (PBs) have become the mainstream trend of industry development with their significant advantages of environmental protection, high efficiency and resource conservation. However, the prefabricated building supply chain (PBSC) faces many risks and challenges in actual operation, which pose a serious threat to the stability and sustainable development of the supply chain (SC). Taking the PB project of Enterprise J as an example, this paper deeply explores the risk propagation mechanism in its SC and proposes a practical risk control strategy, aiming to enhance the risk resistance and resilience of the SC and ensure its sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachBased on the actual contract data of Enterprise J, this study constructed a four-layer PBSC network model, covering PB contractors, material suppliers, module manufacturers, and PB construction enterprises. By identifying and evaluating the main risk factors in the SC, combined with the improved Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation method and the cloud-matter element evaluation model, the weight and vulnerability of each risk factor were analyzed. MATLAB R2022b software was further used to simulate the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Susceptible (SIRS) model to analyze the impact of different risk control strategies on risk propagation.FindingsThis study analyzed the PBSC network of J Company and found that it has high connectivity and low group characteristics, which promotes the rapid spread of risks. SIRS model analysis shows that the infection rate is most sensitive to risk transmission, and a higher infection rate accelerates the spread, emphasizing the importance of controlling the initial infection rate. The recovery rate significantly affects the speed of risk transmission, while the immune extinction rate affects the long-term stability of the SC. The betweenness centrality strategy based on betweenness centrality performs well in controlling risk transmission, and can effectively reduce the number of infected enterprises and shorten the recovery time. The study also found that PB contractors and material suppliers are key links and are prone to become the source of risk transmission; while module manufacturers and PB construction enterprise show strong risk resistance.Practical implicationsThis study provides a new theoretical framework and practical strategy for risk management of PBSC of enterprise J, helping enterprises to identify key risk nodes and effectively control risk propagation through reasonable immunization strategies, thereby enhancing the stability and resilience of the SC. The research results provide strong support for coping with external uncertainties and technological changes, and promote the healthy development of enterprise J.Originality/valueThis study takes the PBSC network of J Company as an empirical object, deeply analyzes its risk propagation mechanism and control strategy, and has significant academic innovation and practical value. By constructing a four-layer weighted directed network model that conforms to the actual operation of the enterprise, and combining the SIRS model for dynamic simulation analysis, this study reveals the key impact of infection rate, recovery rate and immune extinction rate on SC risk propagation, and provides a new perspective and theoretical basis for J Company’s SC risk management. In particular, the betweenness immunization strategy based on betweenness centrality, as an innovative solution, provides a practical path for enterprises to identify and control key risk nodes. The study also further analyzes the vulnerability and recovery capacity of different levels, and proposes targeted strategies to enhance the resilience and risk resistance of the enterprise SC. This study not only enriches the theoretical framework of J Company’s SC risk management, but also provides an operational practical guide for it to improve the stability of the SC and cope with the challenges of external uncertainty.

Supply chain environmental risks are pivotal situational factors that significantly influence the intricate relationship between a business’s supply chain agility, supply chain resilience, and its ultimate supply chain performance. This study aims to explore the interplay between supply chain agility, supply chain resilience, and supply chain performance, while also investigating the moderating effect of supply chain environmental risks. Data analysis was conducted using hierarchical regression based on a questionnaire survey involving 416 companies in Taiwan’s manufacturing supply chain. The findings reveal several key insights. Firstly, supply chain agility has a positive influence on supply chain resilience, highlighting the importance of a flexible and responsive supply chain to handle challenges effectively. Secondly, supply chain resilience plays a vital role in determining supply chain performance, underscoring its significance in maintaining operational efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, the study identifies that supply chain environmental risks can act as a positive moderator in the relationship between supply chain agility and supply chain resilience. In other words, when faced with environmental risks, companies with higher supply chain agility can leverage this capability to reinforce their supply chain resilience, leading to improved supply chain performance. Additionally, the results shed light on the mediating role of supply chain resilience between supply chain agility and supply chain performance. This suggests that a resilient supply chain acts as an intermediary mechanism through which the positive effects of supply chain agility translate into enhanced overall performance. Given the uncertain and turbulent market environment today, these findings emphasize the importance of adopting supply chain agility and supply chain resilience as indispensable business strategies. Therefore, enterprise leaders and managers should proactively implement measures to enhance these aspects of their supply chain to effectively navigate and overcome environmental risks, ultimately driving supply chain performance.

The impact of information technology usage on supply chain resilience and performance: An ambidexterous view

In the global marketplace, supply chains are becoming increasingly linked. The risk posed by the ripple effect of uncertainty will damage the normal operation of the entire supply chain, so it is an important issue to enhance the resilience of enterprises that manufacture electronic to reduce the ripple effects of supply chains. Quality function deployment (QFD) has been applied in many areas to solve multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems successfully. However, there is still lack of study has addressed the improvement of supply chain resilience through Industry 4.0 to alleviate the ripple effect, and the application of QFD to integrate and analyze the relationship between Industry 4.0 and supply chain resilience, and between supply chain resilience and the ripple effect. Therefore, this study proposes an integrated QFD-MCDM model to identify the key Industry 4.0 enablers (I4Es) to strengthen supply chain resilience indicators (SCRIs) and mitigate the ripple effect risk factors (RERFs), thus providing an effective method for enterprises to develop a resilient supply chain that can quickly respond to changes and uncertainties. The case study considered China’s largest relay manufacturing enterprise as the object and obtained important management insights, as well as practical significance, from implementing the proposed research framework. The study found the following to be the most urgent I4Es required to strengthen SCRIs and reduce the key RERFs: IT information technology structure and level, enterprise strategic management and new technology coordination, supply chain digitization, analysis and management of big Data, IT Infrastructure and use digital technology for new product innovation, intelligent. When these measures are improved, the SCRIs can be improved, such as risk awareness, efficiency, agility, sustainability, coordination and cooperation, supply chain structure and safety assurance. Finally, RERFs, such as the ripple effect caused by economic collapse, epidemic conditions, natural disasters, political factors, supply chain operation capability caused, can be alleviated or eliminated. With limited resources, enterprises can devote their most important resources to the most critical Industry 4.0 improvement strategies. This framework provides an effective method for electronics manufacturers to formulate I4Es and strengthen SCRIs to mitigate the RERFs, and also provides a reference for enterprises in other fields of supply chain management.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the influence of supply and demand competence on supply chain (SC) resilience and its impact on a firm’s operational and relational performance. While the former competence refers to production and supply management-related activities, the latter refers to distribution and demand management-related activities. Within this framework, process compliance, i.e. how well SC management processes are internally executed by the firm’s employees, is observed as an enabler (moderator) on the relationship between SC competence and SC resilience. Further the model also explores the moderating influence of environmental uncertainty (EU) on the linkage between SC resilience and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a Web-based cross-sectional survey from SC professionals working in different industries at various designations. Further, the collected data were analyzed using partial least squares for hypotheses’ testing.FindingsThe findings suggest a positive influence of demand- and supply-side competences on SC resilience. Supply chain resilience was also found to have a positive influence on operational and relational performance. Further, process compliance was found to positively moderate the relationship between the competences and resilience. Lastly, the relationship between resilience and performance was found to gain momentum in the presence of EU.Research limitations/implicationData were collected from a single respondent per firm. Hence, future research should attempt to collect data from multiple respondents for increased generalization.Originality/valueThe study holds significance for academicians and practitioners, as it investigates the importance of supply- and demand-side competences on the development of SC resilience and its impact on performance. This investigation showed that building resilience in a SC is dependent on the degree to which firms are process-compliant. Further, it was empirically proved that resilience’s positive influence on performance increases more with the presence of uncertainties.

Supply chain (SC) resilience and flexibility are important research topics receiving growing attention. However, the academic literature needs empirical studies on SC resilience capable of investigating the inter-organizational components of flexibility along different tiers. Therefore, this paper analyzes the main lack of flexibilities in three Brazilian automotive SCs that limit their resilience and therefore their capacity to better support and meet the demand changes in the marketplace. A multi-tier case study approach is adopted. Research findings identify lack of flexibilities in different tiers that inhibit the SC resilience as well as manufacturing and SC flexibilities that build SC resilience. The findings also highlight that the same SC may have the flexibility to be resilient for one of its products but not for another product, what sheds new lights on the academic literature. Finally, flexible SCs should be designed to increase SC resilience to cope with mishaps as significant demand changes.