Managing Supply Chain and Logistics during Uncertainty: Global Challenges and Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

Both the types and frequencies of business, supply chain, and logistics related uncertainties, risks, and volatility are on the rise, especially due to rise of outsourcing practices and the globalization of supply and demand. Even during normal times, uncertainties and risks are inherent in every aspect of supply chain—procurement, logistics, operations, distributions, and reverse logistics that are experienced unevenly by supply chain members. Uncertainties due to natural disasters, financial hardship, weather-related slowdowns and diversions, labor strikes, maintenance shutdown, political and social unrests, tariff wars, and so on used to be generally a localized and temporary event that had relatively smaller impact on serving supply and demand of products and services.

The severity, scope, and duration of disruptions in a supply chain and logistics processes became clearer immediately after the global shutdown of businesses due to COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 628 businesses, conducted by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), revealed that 75% of the respondents experienced supply chain disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak (Meyer, 2020). Similarly, a 2020 industry report of importers, shippers, logistics and supply chain operators, and customs brokers around the globe analyzed by Descartes reported that 35% of respondents were forced to research alternative suppliers or locations as a result of the pandemic (2020 Global HTS Classification Benchmark Survey, www.descarte.com).

Disruption in business activities caused by COVID-19 and other current events serve as a valuable reminder that even a well-designed, effectively operated, and profitable supply chain process is vulnerable when market conditions become uncertain. Such uncertainties, distorted information and lack of proper coordination and communication have been attributed as the major cause of bullwhip effect (Lee, Padmanabhan, and Whang, 1997) that leads to demand and supply amplification for a business’s product or services. Results of the bullwhip effect can lead to tremendous inefficiencies in inventory management, logistics, capacity utilization and production scheduling, which eventually gets reflected in poor customer service and lost revenues.

Whether it is a global pandemic or any other disruptions, inefficient and poorly designed or coordinated supply chain processes and activities contribute to aggravating uncertainties in supply chain and logistics processes that can have significant impact on a business’s growth and sustainability. Weaknesses in supply chain and logistics are exposed during uncertain times that managers may not have been aware of or simply may have been ignored in the past. At the same time, such uncertainties and disruptions can create new opportunities for business’s and supply chains through supply chain process re-engineering and product and process innovations. This Special Issue of Logistics welcomes original qualitative or quantitative research studies, review articles, and case studies until 30 January 2022 focusing on supply chain and logistics related strategies, tools, techniques, technologies, processes, and policies to combat uncertainty and risks and improve business performance. Submitted papers should contribute to advancing theories and knowledge in dealing with uncertainties and risks for supply chain and logistics.

Manuscripts can be submitted on the following topics:

• Supply chain and operations model to assess impact of uncertainty on performance;
• Strategies, methods, tools, and techniques to reduce supply chain and logistics related uncertainties;
• Critical leadership and management factors to address uncertainty related issues in supply chain and logistics;
• Studies related to management of supply chain and logistics related risks, disruptions, and operational continuity;
• Coordination, collaboration, integration, and communication issues and supply chain uncertainties;
• Decision making and behavioral issues in uncertain environment;
• Technology and information sharing related studies to minimize uncertainty;
• Case studies on supply chain and logistics uncertainty.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of topics. It is designed to highlight the broad areas of issues surrounding uncertainty and supply chain and logistics. Other studies examining uncertainty on business operations and supply chain and are highly welcome as well. I look forward to your submissions.

References

Lee, H.L, Padmanabhan, V. and Whang, S. (1997). The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains. Retrieved from MIT Sloan Management Review: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-bullwhip-effect-in-supply-chains/

Meyer, S. (2020, April). Combatting Ecommerce Supply Chain Disruptions and Steps You Can Take to Minimize Impact. Retrieved from Big Commerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/supply-chain-disruptions/#5-types-of-supply-chain-disruptions

Dr. Rupak Rauniar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Logistics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• uncertainty
• risk
• disruptions
• communication
• information
• coordination
• integration
• supply chain
• logistics