Solving Supply Crisis for Self-Care Essentials Amid Pandemic

Can we solve a multi-brand distributor’s supply crisis dilemma for self-care essentials during pandemic concerns? – Research by Dr Ankur Chauhan from Jaipuria Noida

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic posed an enormous challenge to ensure the availability of self-care essentials (SCEs) in front of healthcare departments across the world. When we investigated the source of the problem, we found that it was because of stressed, broken, and disrupted supply chains during multiple lockdowns in China and other global economies. In fact, disrupted supply chains which led to a deficiency in pharmaceutical supplies of SCEs, also fuelled social and ethical issues for selecting suppliers across countries like India.

In our study, we proposed a framework for selecting suppliers based on multiple factors such as cost, quality, lead time, social conscience, response to panic buying, logistics, and distribution network, usage of disinfected and sanitized vehicles, and the public image of a pharma company. We found that lead time, quality, and availability of disinfected vehicles for supplies were some of the most vital concerns in selecting suppliers during the pandemic.

The inclusion of factors such as response to panic buying behaviour, disinfection and sanitization of vehicles, and social conscience in the literature on supplier selection is a unique contribution of this study. Additionally, developing a probabilistic Bayesian hierarchical model of the identified supplier selection criteria and proposing a hybrid Bayesian BWM and Socio-technological decision-making framework MABAC-enabled decision-making framework for selecting suppliers in the emergency situation of the pandemic COVID-19 is a novel contribution of this study. Moreover, nurturing and strengthening a socio-entrepreneurial fabric between distributors – suppliers, and regulatory bodies and assisting government policymakers with a quick response plan to ensure the availability of SCEs in the market have been noted as an important contribution of this study for effectively managing the healthcare crisis during COVID-19.

Our proposed decision-making framework helped the multi-brand distributor Alpha (name changed for anonymity) maintain the fitting availability of SCEs while ensuring various important parameters simultaneously. The consideration of various social and economic criteria helped in rational and sustainable decision-making amidst the pandemic. The selection of the best suppliers and flexibility in choosing suppliers based on their scores result in higher fulfillment and a low risk of stock-outs. Hence, to tackle the lack and disproportionate distribution of SCEs, policymakers, and regulators can use our proposed framework and implement it nationwide to tighten the grip on the spread of COVID-19.

Full research paper can be accessed here Chauhan, A., Jakhar, S. K., & Mangla, S. K. (2022). Socio-technological framework for selecting suppliers of pharmaceuticals in a pandemic environment. Journal of Enterprise Information Management. DOI 10.1108/JEIM-02-2021-0081.