Operation and project management

Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Sustainable Operations and Computers

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/susoc

COVID-19 impact on sustainable production and operations management

Aalok Kumar a , ∗ , Sunil Luthra b , Sachin Kumar Mangla c , Yi ğit Kazanço ğlu d

a Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee, 247667, India b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Polytechnic, Jhajjar 124104, Haryana, India c Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK d Department of International Logistics Management, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords:

COVID-19

Digital technologies

Supply chain and operations management

Essential products and services

Sustainable development

a b s t r a c t

The global production and supply chain system is mostly disrupted due to widespread of the coronavirus pan-

demic (COVID-19). Most of the industrial managers and policymakers are searching for adequate strategies and

policies for revamping production patterns and meet consumer demand. Form global supply chain perspectives,

the majority of raw materials are imported from China and other Asian developing nations. The COVID-19 pan-

demic has broken the most of transportation links and distribution mechanisms between suppliers, production

facilities and customers. Therefore, it is imperative to discuss sustainable production and consumption pattern in

the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. Most of the prominent economies around the world enforced a total lockdown,

and the focus has since shifted to surge in demand for essential products and services. This has led to a decline

in demand for some nonessential products and services. The production and operations management challenges

of the pandemic situations are discussed and adequately proposes policy strategies for improving the resilience

and sustainability of the system. This paper also discusses the different operations and supply chain perspectives

for handling such disruptions in the future.

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. Introduction

The United Nations (UN) launched the sustainable development

genda for 2030, which addresses the various on-going challenges

elated to environmental degradation, climate change, zero hunger,

nd other negative consequences of the different production processes

13] . The Goal-3 of UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development dis-

usses the “development of healthy life and promoting wellbeing for

ll ages”. This situation of a pandemic would open new dimensions

or the social sustainability of people and manufacturing organisations.

urrently, most of the manufacturing and supply chain organisations

re struggling to anticipate the negative consequences of COVID-19.

ost of the global markets are shrinking, and industrial managers are

earching for new materials and process methods to maintain produc-

ion [2] . Notably, the COVID-19 outbreak significantly improves or-

anisational environmental sustainability, albeit downsizing the con-

umer economy and raising challenges for the industrial workforce

anagement.

Amidst COVID-19, global supply chain and manufacturing network

oving through a very distressing stage. The Emerging Infectious Dis-

ases (EIDs) such as Ebola, influenza, SARS, MERS, and most recently,

oronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) cause enormous disruption in

∗ Corresponding author.

E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kumar).

ttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.susoc.2020.06.001

eceived 17 May 2020; Received in revised form 30 May 2020; Accepted 1 June 202

vailable online 2 July 2020

666-4127/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Com

icense. ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

oods production, people life, transportation, and stimulate civil unrest

10 , 13] .

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named this

cute disease as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-

oV-2) . SARS-CoV-2 is originated in Wuhan city of China in Decem-

er 2019 and soon spreads over the globe [16] . The World Health

rganisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic and global

ealth emergency in March 2020 [24] . The global spreading of COVID-

9 causes numerous impacts on the sustainability of worldwide pro-

uction and consumption of various commodities. The number of

OVID-19 patients are increasing exponentially, now reaches a toll

f more than 4 million and causes 2,82,244 death globally on 11th

ay 2020 ( www.worldmeters.info ). This resulted in national and global

roader closure, shut down of many manufacturing units, markets, and

ther activities of the supply chain. In Asia, most infected countries

re listed as Turkey, Iran, China, India, And Saudi Arabia (Source:

ttps://www.ecdc.europa.eu/ ). The Fortune 2020 report claimed that

4% of the Fortune 1000 companies had been affected by COVID-19

riven supply chain disruption. After the normalisation of the COVID-

9 situation, the manufacturing and transportation industry would find

n opportunity for a sustainable transition and development in business

rocesses [2] .

0

munications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND

A. Kumar, S. Luthra, S.K. Mangla et al. Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

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At the beginning of April 2020, the US federal government imposed

he Defence Production Act of 1950 (DPA of 1950) 1 in the backdrop

f such a demanding situation. Aim of the imposition of this act was

o ramp up the production of essential goods instead of allowing the

egular production schedules of factories in the USA. Such legislative

easures forced companies to have a relook at and re-orientation of

heir commercial models. 2 The traditional production processes have

een shifted to producing only the essential equipment under the DPA

f 1950. This re-orientation is not only tedious but also costly for most

f the business organisations.

As mentioned earlier, the post-COVID-19 period would push organ-

sations to shift production and supply chain systems in a more sustain-

ble way. Therefore, it is required to formulate adequate institutional

nd operational policies for overcoming the production losses and im-

roving the consumption pattern, which would further boost the econ-

my.

The implications of COVID pandemic on sustainable production and

onsumption trends would be worthy to note, and hence, a considerable

hange is likely to be seen in the coming months and years. Haleem

t al. (2020) highlighted the various academic research areas to com-

at the COVID-19 pandemic; the role of sustainable manufacturing is

mong one of them. The present COVID-19 outbreak affects the global

nd national production systems and trade on a larger scale. The avail-

bility and production of many essential items such as food, grocery,

nd pharmaceutical products are drastically reduced, and a huge mis-

atch between supply and demand is observed. In the meantime, the

oronavirus pandemic is having a positive impact on the environmental

ide of production, due to shut down of many manufacturing units and

ignificant reductions in logistics and distribution operations. However,

he supply chain network showed poor resilience to this pandemic, and

early 35% of the manufacturer reported its supply chain network fail-

re due to global coronavirus pandemic (NAM, 2020). Fig. 1 shows the

orldwide infection spread of the COVID-19.

Taking a cue from the CMIE’s (Centre for Monitoring Indian Econ-

my) estimates 3 about India’s unemployment rate in the first week of

ay, which is around 27% (shot up from 8%); it can be inferred clearly

hat the lockdowns have put a tremendous strain on employment op-

ortunities and job security in the country. It is worthy to analyses the

rogress of the Indian economy in the global context because, so far,

ndia has been the fastest-growing emerging economy of the world. Un-

mployment figures here can indicate the grimness of the scenario else-

here. Considering the case of developed economies like in the USA, the

nemployment rate shot up to nearly 15% for April 2020. 4 The EU-27

ountries are having imposing the varying degree of social distancing

andates owing to COVID-19. More than 230 million people are di-

ectly or indirectly affected due to the closing of nonessential shops,

ancellation of various events, travel restrictions, and reduction in pro-

uction in EU-27 and the United Kingdom. 5 The job crisis also impacts

he economic viability of the nation.

1 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-order-

efense-production-act-regarding-3m-company/ . 2 https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-

nsights/rapidly-forecasting-demand-and-adapting-commercial-plans-in-a-

andemic?cid = other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid&c93338622c1d49f6ac15c68e0d fefba&hctky = 11555736&hdpid = 8cdeaa7b-203f-4a53-8bda-b4a19877f22e . 3 https://www.thehindu.com/business/indias-unemployment-rate-rises-to-

711-amid-covid-19-crisiscmie/article31511006.ece . 4 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/10/unemployment-

ue-to-covid-19-is-surely-worth-more-than-a-footnote . 5 www.mckinsey.com/ ∼/media/McKinsey/Industries/Public%20Sector/ ur%20Insights/Safeguarding%20Europes%20livelihoods%20Mitigating%20

he%20employment%20impact%20of%20COVID%2019/Safeguarding-

uropes-livelihoods-Mitigating-the-employment-impact-of-COVID-19-F.ashx .

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.1. The objective and research contribution

The global production and supply chain network widely affected due

o COVID-19 spread. The manufacturing plants are shut down or work-

ng with reduced capacities. In addition to this supply chain of raw and

nished goods is also disrupted due to trade and transport restrictions.

ost of the COVID-19 is focuses on the perspective of medical science,

hereas a clear production and operations management perspective of

OVID-19 is absent. To address the above challenges and put forward

o manage the production and operations of the supply chain networks.

he main objective of this opinion paper is to identify the challenges

aced by manufacturing and service organizations, and prospective re-

earch dimensions for handling post-pandemic situation.

The main contribution of this paper is to give a path-breaking idea

o management researchers to deal with the pandemic situation in the

urrent business setting as well as to make a contingency plan to con-

rol and revamp in such future events. This paper also recommended

arious pandemic control systems to improve the resilience and sustain-

bility of the production system. This paper also discusses the sustain-

bility perspective of the production and consumption of various goods

nd services during and post-pandemic situation. In the following sec-

ion, pandemic control and the need for a production system is discussed

long with the various stages of a pandemic.

. Pandemic control and production system

The pandemic situation arises the demand for rare production items

uch as ventilators, gloves, face shields, masks, and sanitizers at a high

ate. During this pandemic era, some of the manufacturing giants such as

eneral Motors and Ford Motors turn their production system to support

he need of society in terms of manufacturing ventilators. Therefore,

flexible manufacturing system is required to fulfil the requirement

or such necessary items. National government institutions, manufac-

uring organisations, health institutions should be prepared in advance

o tackle the pandemic situation to control the production of essential

nd nonessential items during a pandemic. This means that they should

ave sufficient buffer plans to address the availability of life saver stocks

uch as ventilators, vaccines, sanitizers, masks, and face shields.

The post COVID era opens an opportunity window for the sustainable

usiness transition [2] , and need to make supply and production system

ore resilient [19] . The COVID-19 situation creates a space for devel-

ping a flexible and resilient manufacturing system to maintaining the

conomic and social sustainability of the production process. Tan et al.

22] discuss the various decision support systems for developing a re-

ilient production system. Ivanov [7] proposed a prediction model for

easuring the impact of a pandemic on supply chain network and man-

facturing resilience. The firm’s supply chain network resilience and

anufacturing resilience is required to tackle the epidemic or such dis-

uptive events [6] . Due to such disruptive events, material shortage and

elivery delays are seen in the downstream supply chain, causing the rip-

le effect and resulting in reduced performance in terms of service level,

evenue, and process productivity [8 , 3] . Table 1 presents a snapshot of

he leading worlds manufacturing companies’ resilience and business

upport to overcome COVID-19 impact.

Most of the global manufacturing leaders are relatively resilient

nough to shift their production strategy to pandemic based require-

ents —the Indian government proposing various financial incentives

or developing MSMEs in the post COVID era. The COVID-19 contagion

an be reduced by promoting and following the social distancing at sites,

ygiene, and use digital platforms for business meetings [16] .

The next significant challenge among nations is related to the

cheduling of the trained medical personnel, work allocation, and ve-

icle scheduling for the medical personnel as well as infected peoples.

n the real world, it is quite challenging to produce the necessary items

efore a pandemic outbreak [25] . Thus, an event like COVID-19 also

uts a strain on the workforce to adjust to the new regime of a man-

A. Kumar, S. Luthra, S.K. Mangla et al. Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

Fig. 1. Geographical distribution of COVID-19 cases over the globe, as on 11th May 2020

( Source: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases , accessed on 11th May 2020).

Table 1

World’s leading manufacturing companies before and during COVID-19.

Companies Industry Before COVID-19 manufacturing During COVID-19 manufacturing

Ford Automobile manufacturing Vehicles Respirator and ventilators

Tesla Automobile manufacturing PV Cells and vehicles Ventilators

Airbus Aircraft manufacturing Aircraft Ventilators

Zara Fashion Apparel Surgical masks

Bacardi Alcohol Rum Hand Sanitizers

Gucci Apparel Clothing Masks

Indian Ordnance Factory Defence Defence equipment Ventilators

Source: World Economic Forum, 2020b; [11] .

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facturing process. This has been complemented by numerous changes

uch as changes in production process and methods, and standard op-

rating procedures to maintain social distancing at the workplace. This

uts an additional strain on achieving productivity targets of employees,

s extra time is needed in order to follow the new regime. Therefore, an

ptimal and real inventory and work allocation is required for the dif-

erent phases of the pandemic. The previous researchers classified EID

andemic phases as follows [14 , 18] ;

• Preparedness to tackle a pandemic • Nature and impact of a pandemic • Response measures to pandemic • Evaluation of the pandemic

The above steps need further focus to develop a more resilient pro-

uction and supply chain system. Each phase of pandemic control is

xplained as follows;

.1. Preparedness to tackle a pandemic

Many production and service organisations are establishing pre-

aredness plans to deal with the pandemic situation. The stocking of

3

ecessary items and raw materials are required to fulfil customer de-

and during the pandemic. The organisations should focus more on es-

ential items production and ensure their supply to meet the unexpected

isruption. The WHO also released the various preparedness guidelines,

uring COVID-19 spread in China. The WHO developed a framework

or COVID-19 preparedness and responses, which emphasis more on

ivelihood potential and reduced the morbidity and mortality rate of

OVID-19. The stocking of personal and protective equipment (PPE) is

equired, and most of the countries are facing a shortage of PPE during

andemic outbreaks [17] . Swaminathan et al. [21] reported that the ap-

earance, transmissibility, and attack rate of an influences pandemic is

ncertain.

During the early infection spread of the pandemic, suspects are re-

erred to the hospitals for isolation, diagnosis, and to measure the infec-

ion rate of the epidemic. Key production strategies are required to pro-

ure the adequate amount of PPE, ventilators, and other surgical equip-

ent for sufficiently handling the pandemic situation [24] . Also, a liable

ransportation and logistics infrastructure is required to meet consumer

emand. Hale and Moberg [5] recommended that reconsideration of

olicies related to sourcing, inventory planning, transport planning, and

roduction planning to reduce the impact of such pandemic are crucial.

he various mitigation strategies such as postponement, strategic stock,

A. Kumar, S. Luthra, S.K. Mangla et al. Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

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6 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/impact-of-covid-19-on-the-

global-manufacturing-industry-2020-301042150.html . 7 https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-impacts-

industrial-manufacturing.html .

exible supply base, flexible transportation, and dynamic assortment

lanning of disaster responses are discussed by [23] .

.2. Nature and impact of pandemic

The spread of COVID-19 has already been disrupted supply chains

lobally in several ways, including:

1. Weakening demand for several types of products (Automobile prod-

ucts, public transport, and textile products)

2. Skyrocketing demand for select companies or their product (thermal

scanners, ventilators, face masks, sanitizers, PPE, and essential food

items)

3. Failure of supplies and uncertainty in raw material supply

4. Impacting ability to ship and receive products on time due to short-

ages and logistics bottlenecks

5. Ensuring workforce capacity to assemble and ship products

To deal with above-mentioned issues, a smooth production plan is re-

uired for the pandemic period. This involves that manufacturing firms

hould be more resilient and flexible to produce the essential items to

eet customer demand. Artificial intelligence (AI) based production

echnologies are recommended to produce granular COVID-19 maps

hat enable individuals to decide what places to avoid, companies to

anage risk, and governments to deploy resources. AI-based manufac-

uring is an excellent option to promote digital production during pan-

emic [9] .

Partnering with government agencies is required to develop drugs

o reduce the severity of COVID-19 illness and treat infections, possibly

eading to a vaccine. Application of advanced technologies such as AI,

D printing, Data analytics, Robots, Cyber-physical systems can help in

eveloping a decentralising production system. Digital manufacturing

ould help to maintain social distancing during the production process,

nd consequently controls the worker’s movement. For instance, Kiva

obots are used for warehousing to keep the items in the palace and

elp in loading and unloading. Even, many of the hospitals are using

obots for delivering drugs and monitoring COVID-19 patients.

Similarly, the food and essential items delivered in cities can be reg-

lated using technology such as drones, consequently, prevent direct

ontact in the delivery of the products.

.3. Response measures to pandemic

The control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) outbreak is based

n the proposed measures adopted at global, national, regional, or

ven community level. Reducing the infection and reproduction rate

f spread, mortality rate, and improving the immunisation capacity is

he main focus of any containment effort. The spread of the COVID-

9 can be controlled by imposing countrywide lockdown or quarantine

rograms.

The immediate response to any pandemic requires a robust and re-

ilient medical supply chain. The medical and pharmaceutical man-

facturers should focus on developing vaccines, antiretroviral drugs,

nd complementary medical supplies. The supply of drugs and medi-

al equipment also needs resilient cold chain management.

The pandemic situation created infectious healthcare waste and need

roper disposal [12] . The transportation and disposal site selection is a

ypical problem in the post-pandemic situation. The reverse logistics

ompanies should handle the dangerous medical waste carefully and

ispose of in a way that they do not pose a risk of infection to waste

andling personnel. The disposal of medical waste needs the proper

andling and disposal system to reduce the chances of infection and

mprove the social sustainability of the pandemic outbreak [15] .

.4. Evaluation of the pandemic

The evaluation phase of a pandemic is the most critical and needs

roper mitigation strategies [23] . The evaluation of any epidemic can

4

e viewed from the perspective of future manufacturing strategies adop-

ion, contract policies, and network design to support the industry vi-

bility. Due to the COVID-19, most of the global or local manufactur-

ng industries (automobile, transport, pharmaceutical, food, etc.) need

o revive their production capacity and raw material sourcing. The re-

amping of the industry also needs further support from national and

egional governments. For instance, the Indian government is aiming to

oost their self-reliance in the manufacturing sector and extending their

upport to the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through

arious financial and nonfinancial incentives. The COVID-19 is signif-

cantly slowing down the global trade (including transport and manu-

acturing) of the various countries because most of the trade routes are

isruptive or diverted due to the pandemic. Fig. 2 shows the impact of

OVID-19 on the global trade of the top 15 affected countries.

In view of such impacts, this is the right time for industries to adopt

nd implement industry 4.0 and digital technologies in manufacturing.

he deployment of robots in the medical system can reduce the risk of

OVID-19 spread and ensures better monitoring of patients.

The service supply chain is highly impacted due to the spread of

OVID-19. Most of the service industries, such as logistics, hospitality,

estaurants, and tourism, observed a reduction in demand. Service or-

anisations should use digital technologies for handling customer ser-

ices. The digital technologies implementation in the service industry

elps to reduce the chances of the contagion of the COVID-19. Table 2

ighlighted the seminal works focused on various production, logistics,

nd coordination systems to overcome the impact of COVID-19.

The workforce requirement and their planning are also a crucial part

f the post-pandemic era. 6 The PwC report highlighted some practical

easures to improve the worker’s sustainability in the manufacturing

ndustry. 7 The PwC report also highlighted the proactive application

f automation technologies such as autonomous materials movement,

ndustrial internet of things, collaborative robotics helps to reduce the

orker density throughout their operations.

The pandemic situation is significantly improving the carbon emis-

ion, environmental pollution; while at the same time posing significant

hallenges for the social and economic viability of business activities.

herefore, it is required to assess the environmental, social, and eco-

omic impact of a pandemic on business processes. The pandemic situa-

ion impact on the development of human capital is discussed as follows;

.4.1. Impact of COVID-19 on organisational workforce management for

etter sustainability

The COVID-19 is having a crucial impact on the re-joining of the in-

ustrial workers. The manufacturing and service organisations should

repare for the long-haul impact of the COVID-19. The pandemic sit-

ation forces working with a reduced workforce or limited workforce,

hich reduces the productivity of the manufacturing process. There-

ore, to improve the human side of the manufacturing process, adequate

afety measures are required. The post-pandemic production system re-

uires considering the social distancing at the workplace and adopts

egular health monitoring for the workforce.

.4.2. Adopt virtual capability building programs

Improving the virtual capability of the workforce could lead to the

igital fitness of the work pattern. The organisations whether manufac-

uring or in service should focus on the training and coaching for the

taff to become resilient.

.4.3. Urgently review of human resources policies for social sustainability

The manufacturing and service organisations should focus on the re-

iew of HR policies for retaining existing workforce, hiring new work-

A. Kumar, S. Luthra, S.K. Mangla et al. Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

Fig. 2. Impact of COVID-19 on global trade on the top 15 countries

( Source: https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID = 2297 ).

Table 2

Key studies focusing on COVID-19 impact on production and supply chain management.

Author (s) The objective of the study Nature of paper Industry

Govindan et al. [4] Develop a decision support tool for

demand management in the healthcare

supply chain in COVID-19 pandemic

Analytical Healthcare

Shokrani et al. [20] Development of alternative supply chain

and distributed manufacturing in

response to COVID-19

Case Study Medical face shields

Yu et al. [26] How pharmaceutical supply chain sustains

in the COVID-19 crisis?

Perspective Pharmaceutical supply chain

Ivanov [7] Predicting the impact of COVID-19 on

global supply chain

Analytical Global supply chain

Sarkis et al. [19] COVID-19 role in the transition to

sustainable supply chain production

Viewpoint Production and supply chain

Cappelli and Cini [1] COVID-19 impact on short food supply

chain

Perspective Food supply chain

Madurai Elavarasan and Pugazhendhi [11] Technological strategies to support society

and environment from COVID-19

Conceptual Healthcare

Javaid et al. [9] Application of industry 4.0 to handle the

COVID-19 pandemic situation

Viewpoint Manufacturing industry

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orce, compensation & benefits, and learning and development policies

o support the current situation as well as reduce the impact of pandemic

n future workforce training and development patterns.

.4.4. Employee health and wellbeing

Organisations should focus on workforce wellbeing, mental health,

nd health monitoring practices. A regular temperature scanning and

egular health check-up reduce the impact of COVID-19 impact on im-

lant operations.

.4.5. Knowledge sharing

The organisations should continuously communicate the organi-

ational measures and actions taken against COVID-19. Organisation

5

hould also create a digital workplace for the future. The knowledge

anagement about the social distancing, personal hygiene, and use of

asks at sites reduces the impact of COVID.

. Learning’s

The management of sustainable production and consumption of the

ssential and nonessential goods and services is a complex decision prob-

em for industry managers and policymakers during the pandemic sit-

ation. Authors of this manuscript put their opinion in a way to im-

rove the sustainable production and consumption trends of products

nd services in a supply-chain context. The policymakers and industrial

anagers would be benefited from the below recommendations.

A. Kumar, S. Luthra, S.K. Mangla et al. Sustainable Operations and Computers 1 (2020) 1–7

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.1. Recommendations for the policy makers and practitioners

.1.1. In production domain

• The global and national production policies should be revised. The government needs to support the production system by providing

adequate incentives in future policies.

• Current production facilities should shift to digital manufacturing (or industry 4.0 based manufacturing), and promote the digital tech-

nologies such as AI, 3D printing, Robots, Cyber-physical systems,

Digital manufacturing, Blockchain, etc. for production of goods.

• A strong coordination mechanism is required among and between stakeholders such as government, manufacturers, medical institu-

tions, NGOs, and possibly military agencies to better control the in-

fection rate of such pandemic.

• The present pandemic situation would boost the application of dig- ital manufacturing in the healthcare and FMCG sector.

• The pandemic control can be handled with the adoption of a robust information technology management system to share the real-time

production and consumption patterns.

.1.2. Consumption domain

• The COVID-19 situation creates large variation in the consumption of essential items. Therefore industry managers should consider the

demand for essential items during the pandemic.

• The lockdown in various parts of the world triggers the demand for online deliveries of products, especially food and grocery items,

which is becoming an additional cause of food waste in such pan-

demic. This calls for the need to evaluate policies for waste manage-

ment.

• Due to restricted movements, the consumption of fossil fuels is re- duced significantly. This results in improving environmental sustain-

ability.

• The COVID-19 period also increases the adoption of social media, which can be crucial for businesses to evaluate the behaviour and

consumption trends of customers.

• Due to uncertainties, consumers are also piling the essential com- modities during a pandemic, which may put additional pressure on

managing customer demand. Therefore, business organisations need

to plan for supply decisions in terms of capacity, workforce, inven-

tory etc. to ensure smooth supply from customer’s perspectives. Fi-

nally, the impact of supply chain disruptions should be analysed

from the perspective of people.

.1.3. Supply chain and logistics domain

• Apart from minimising cost, inventories, and increased asset util- isation, it is an opportunity for managers to transform from sup-

ply chain networks to Digital Supply Networks (DSNs). The DSNs

helps to develop end-to-end visibility, collaboration, responsiveness,

agility, and resilient supply chain and logistics.

• The DSNs inclusion not only limited to any industry or sector but even extended to the company to company with a formulation of

a resilient and flexible strategy. The specific aim of DSNs includes

reducing supply chain risk and preparing organisations to quickly

adjust and recover from such disruptions.

• The distribution centres and warehouses can be equipped with robots and automated guided vehicles for loading and unloading of

the goods, to maintain the social distancing.

• Develop a manufacturing network strategy fit for alternative sourc- ing options for raw material, suppliers and logistics service providers

etc. for mitigating such disruptions.

• Develop more resilient (proactively and reactively) transportation and distribution systems to meet the escalated production and con-

sumption demand.

• The COVID-19 helps in improving the environmental sustainabil- ity of the supply chain. However, environmental sustainability is

6

not enough to address the post-pandemic business scenario. The re-

searchers and policymakers should focus on developing economic-

ecological-social sustainable and resilient supply chains. The re-

silient supply chain should consider social wellbeing (job security)

and health and safety practices during and post COVID-19.

. Concluding remarks

The global world faces a distressing time to combat COVID-19, and

his is to be considered as the most significant disruption in the last three

ndustrial revaluations. The COVID-19 situation has forced the manufac-

uring organisations to pause the production system for a longer time

nd search for sustainable solutions to ensure smooth supply and op-

rations from both the businesses and the customers’ perspectives. The

roduction and services organisations need to be sustainable and re-

ilient to handle the present situation as well as learn for such future

andemic.

This opinion paper discusses various supply chain and logistics, and

roduction and consumption issues during and post COVID era. Among

ajor contributions, one of the observations is how the supply chain and

roduction system deal with a pandemic. The production system needs

o revive and look for the right sourcing of the raw materials. Second,

bservation is relating to how business organisations should deal with

afe and secure workforce management. Third, this work focuses on the

nventory management of the commodities because of the products pro-

uces at a larger scale, but due to the pandemic, there is no demand and

ice versa. Fourth, the authors made a clear recommendation to use of

igitalisation in the pandemic era that improves the social distancing

nd social wellbeing.

The manufacturing plants should shift their manufacturing capabil-

ties to digital manufacturing to reduce the number of workforces and

onsonantly reduces the chances of the pandemic situation. The trans-

ortation industry severely faces a shortage of drivers and vehicle con-

ectivity. Therefore an optimise supply chain network is required to

erve more manufacturing plants. This opinion paper recommended the

arious strategies to improve the resilience and sustainability of the pro-

uction and logistics process.

The pandemic situation reduces global carbon emissions and im-

roves environmental sustainability; however, at the same time, busi-

esses and people all across the globe are struggling in terms of job

ownsizing, workers’ safety and mental health issues, and financial bur-

ens due to production losses and closure of sites. In view of these con-

iderations, this opinion paper aims to address critical aspects of sus-

ainable production and consumption of products and services in the

ontext of COVID-19. This paper also directed to future researchers to

dentify the critical success factors, inhibitors, and drivers to handle the

andemic situation and propose policy frameworks for improving the

esilience of production and operations processes.

eclaration of Competing Interest

For this study no conflict of authorship are found.

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