Modelling supply chain viability during COVID-19 disruption: A case of an Indian automobile manufacturing supply chain

Abstract

In recent years, supply chains seem to be moving more towards reconfiguring their networks to become more profitable. In the times of COVID-19, where the whole supply chains have been disrupted, suppliers are unable to supply, and manufacturers are unable to manufacture because of lockdowns in the various regions around the world. This pandemic can be compared to past earthquakes and tsunamis, as the coronavirus is also a natural disaster. Due to these past disruptions, organizations have taken many precautions and developed risk mitigation strategies to manage them. Because the COVID-19 outbreak shows the importance of new business perspectives like repurposing a viability strategy, that comes with sustainability and reconfigurability. Where reconfiguration focuses on adaptation, which directly means changes in resources and capabilities and repurposing focuses on a quick response solution to address the shortage. In this paper, a study has been done in two phases to model viability in an automobile supply chain during the COVID-19 times. In the first phase, a hybrid Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach is used to get the best criteria and alternatives with sustainability and reconfigurability under consideration. The multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming (MOMILP) model has been developed in the second phase. Suppliers' weight that is obtained will be used to get the optimal order and allocation. This model will help develop supply chain strategies to cope with situations that hinder the firm's competitiveness. A case study of an Indian automobile manufacturer has been taken to show the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed methodology using GAMS/CPLEX solver.