Reconfigurable Manufacturing: Lesson Learnt from the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

To compete in the current volatile and unpredictable context, manufacturing firms increasingly need reconfigurability, i.e. the capability to adapt the production capacities and functionalities of their manufacturing systems according to evolving product families. To be attractive for practitioners, reconfigurability should require a reasonably low effort. In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak has quickly twisted market requirements: in an unexpected market context, many firms have been reconfiguring their plants and networks to satisfy, with low efforts, the surge in the demand for very specific products. This paper analyses the reaction upheld by specific Italian manufacturing firms to the outbreak, to derive practical insights on possible ways to achieve reconfigurability in manufacturing. As for results, four insights are provided, regarding: the pre-existing know how held by firms; their network configuration; the modularity of products; and the use of smart and digital technologies. Additionally, remarking the relevance of collaboration between different firms, this paper sows the seeds for linking the reconfigurability theory with the dynamic capabilities theory.

Heading for Tomorrow: Resilience Strategies for Post-COVID-19 Grocery Supply Chains

“…In this broad landscape we selected the Italian grocery industry. Italy was the first country to be hit by the pandemic in Europe, and grocery firms experienced wide SC disruption impacts primarily driven by end customers' panic buying [23][24][25]. On top of this, the Italian grocery industry also represents an appropriate context to be investigated given its international relevance: it is included among the top five markets in Europe for logistics flows and turnover generated, and is the fastest growing market in terms of volume and nominal value across Europe [53].…”

“…In fact, besides also often being the object of studies on supply chain risk management in the form of food supply chains, grocery SCs have been severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic [22]. Moreover, Italy was one of the first European countries to be hit by the pandemic [23,24] and experience major SC issues because of it (e.g., plant shutdowns or truck driver shortages) [25]. Ultimately, manufacturers were considered as they have been struggling with wide SC challenges, with significant impacts due to inventory levels soaring or dropping, as well as replenishment and fulfilment issues in the wake of governments' lockdowns.…”

Fostering the Reuse of Manufacturing Resources for Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chains

“…Supply chains need resilience, i.e., the adaptive capability to prepare for unexpected events, respond to disruptions and recover from them [1]. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the closing of most of the European borders forced supply chains to reconfigure their networks and manage the emergency by reusing locally available manufacturing resources [2]. Supply chains also aim to enhance network sustainability while ensuring adequate profitability.…”

“…In this study, the reusability index ɣ i (Xi, Zi) calculated through the similarity Si(Xi, Zi) and reco It shows that company Alpha has the lowest distance from LN; it also shows that company Gamma has the highest reusability index. After the addition of (5), company Gamma is still in the admissible domain, and it is selected by the algorithm as it maximizes (2). Then, a more detailed analysis of the needed reconfiguration effort should follow; this might eventually lead to the modification of the parameters of the algorithm and/or the removal of specific candidates in order to re-run the algorithm so as to explore new solutions.…”

Capability components of supply chain resilience for readymade garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh during COVID-19

“…There's a have to be use innovation and advancement to adjust existing nearby fabricating capabilities in Cambodia amid the widespread crisis toward much-needed medical hardware and personal protective equipment for household utilization and trade (Banga and te Velde, 2020). Manufacturing firms require modifying the settings to compete within the current unstable and eccentric setting (Napoleone and Prataviera, 2020).…”