Designing supply chain systems to cope with catastrophes

Abstract

This paper asks whether technology supported business processes currently used in supply chain management systems (SCMS) are equipped for maintaining business activity in times of crisis. It considers how SCMS accommodate the attempts of Western governments to introduce initiatives for preserving the food supply during pandemics or any other catastrophic event when there is an actual or potential impact on supply or demand. When such events occur, food manufacture and distribution is interrupted, and demand patterns are suddenly altered to become less stable and less predictable. It finds that SCMS which emphasise low buffer stock, enabled by better information sharing among parties in the s..