Impact of Digitalisation in Developing Procurement and Supply Chain Resilience in the Post Pandemic Era—A Study of the Global Manufacturing Sector

This study aims to investigate the impact of digitalisation in developing procurement and supply chain resilience in the post pandemic era within the context of global manufacturing sector. A systematic literature review identifies 63 conceptual and empirical studies while focusing on five global manufacturing sectors including: automotive, electronics, food & beverages, apparel, and pharmaceutical sectors. The primary elements that affected the impact of pandemics on procurement and supply chain resilience are: policy management, globalisation, and geographical characteristics. Pandemics create substantial risks and hazards in terms of demand variations (surges and dips) and price increases, depending on the sector. Other risks and hazards differ across industries, such as supply shortages, financial difficulties for suppliers, declining working capital, and worker health issues. Good practises for mitigating the impact of pandemics on procurement and supply chain resilience primarily include: boosting agility, adopting staff safety measures, and expanding E-commerce. Manufacturing firms can adopt a range of digital technologies to diversify their supply chains and to pro-actively engage in more collaborative relationships with stakeholders throughout their supply chains in order to develop more resilient supply chains in the post pandemic era. This study provides a practical set of recommendations regarding how to successfully develop supply chain resilience in the post pandemic era by employing a range of digital technologies including: Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain Technology, Augmented and Virtual Reality; Additive Manufacturing; Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics etc. in addressing risk and resilience challenges across a range of global manufacturing sectors.