Identify and analyze strategies for supply chain resilience

Several disruptions in the business environment can occur naturally or by unnatural causes. Due to the destructive effects of disasters, crises, natural and unnatural disasters on supply chain performance, organizational experts seek to study the concept of risk in the supply chain as well as how to deal with them. Resilience refers to the system's ability to cope with disruptions and swiftly return to a prior or improved state. If the supply chains are not resilient, they will suffer severe damage with any disruption; as a result, resilience is a critical issue for the supply chain. Given the significance of this issue, the objective of this study is to identify suitable strategies for enhancing resilience in the supply chain.

A metasynthesis approach was employed to identify supply chain resilience strategies. To evaluate the validity and reliability of the research, the quality assessment program (CASP) and the Cohen's kappa formula were utilized. For this purpose, by referring to the valid documents available in the databases "Google Scholar", "Science direct", "Emerald","Springer", "Elm Net", "Magiran" and "Noormagz" in the period 2000-2019 (External) and 80-98 (internal) 577 articles in the field of supply chain resilience identified, and then 66 articles related to the topic of strategies were selected. Of them, eight articles were In Persian, and 58 articles were in Latin.

With a systematic review of the literature, 68 strategies for enhancing supply chain resilience were identified: “Increase backup inventory”, “Considering the bill of materials and substitutes (BOM)”, “Production of semi-finished products”, “Strategic inventory management”, “Postponing”, “Creating flexibility in transportation”, “Channel rerouting and reconfiguration”, “Adaptation of social and environmental issues”, “Creating additional capacity in the structure of the distribution network”, “Create backup capacity”, “Compliance with sustainability”, “Increasing speed”, “Delivery during low traffic hours”, “Create redundancy”, “Achieving a high level of flexibility”, “Ensuring supply chain agility”, “Customer response”, “Demand forecast”, “Creating diversity in the portfolio”, “Product differentiation and customization”, “Building relationships with buyers”, “Smooth replacement of the product”, “Creating appropriate contractual agreements”, “Establishing public and private partnerships”, “Creating relational competencies and social capital”, “Focus on integrity and communication”, “Increase creativity”, “Efficiency and skill development”, “Establishing a relationship with the supplier”, “Use of multiple sources of supply”, “Choosing the right supplier”, “Creating flexibility in supply”, “Providing parts and goods from domestic suppliers instead of foreign suppliers (use of domestic resources)”, “Using incentives for supplier development and improvement”, “Supplier resilience”, “Production outsourcing”, “Strengthening facilities”, “Dispersion of facilities”, “Operations and Supply Chain - Focus on supply chain management”, “Designing the supply chain network (paying attention to the size of the network/structure of the distribution center)”, “Building a strong culture of collaboration”, “Use of employees overseas”, “Human resources management”, “Quality Control”, “Using Six Sigma processes”, “Improve production and process for efficiency and reduce waste”, “Implementation of lean production processes with timely delivery and low inventory”, “Implementation and use of information and communication technology”, “Increased traceability”, “Provide security”, “Improve the security system”, “Creating a risk management culture”, “Safety certificate”, “Classification planning”, “Creating contingency planning”, “Revenue management through dynamic pricing and advertising”, “Economic supply incentives”, “Possible redirection”, “Creating logistics capabilities”, “Superior transportation”, “Use of multiple carriers/ports”, “Accelerate transportation”, “Creating flexibility in transportation” and “Channel rerouting and reconfiguration”. They were grouped in 12 categories including "inventory management", "adaptability", "demand management", "communication management", "knowledge management", "and supply chain management “,” quality management “,” information management “,” risk management, Planning “,” Financial Management and Logistics Management". Finally, according to the time of their use, they were classified into three general categories: preventive strategies, concurrent strategies and reactive strategies. Some categories were placed in only one category of preventive strategies, concurrent strategies and reactive strategies, but some strategies were placed in two or three categories. A review of previous studies in this field has not provided a complete and comprehensive set of supply chain resilience strategies, and this article seeks to identify and present these strategies using a systematic review of the literature. Finally, creating flexibility, creating redundancy, ensuring supply chain agility, increasing visibility and building a strong culture of cooperation were identified as the most important strategies for supply chain resilience.

The supply chain resilience strategies are categorized into those that can be utilized before a disruption, during a disruption, and after a disruption, based on the timing of their application. In the pre-disruption conditions, adopting preventive strategies will help to prevent the occurrence of disruptions. Based on this categorization, it is essential to identify preventive strategies according to the specific conditions and implement them effectively. When a disruption occurs, the supply chain must be prepared for it and be able to respond quickly to that disruption. Consequently, identifying concurrent (current) strategies is crucial here. Thus, by adopting concurrent strategies, the supply chain can be saved from severe damage in the event of a disruption. In situations where supply chain disruption has occurred and led to supply chain disruption, it is crucial to adopt reactive (recovery) strategies to improve the situation and its recovery. In summary, the adoption of appropriate strategies is crucial, considering the specific conditions in which the supply chain operates. Managers should focus on identifying strategies that enhance supply chain resilience.