The COVID-19 Impact on Supply Chain Operations of Automotive Industry: A Case Study of Sustainability 4.0 Based on Sense–Adapt–Transform Framework

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of global manufacturing companies to their supply chains and operating activities as one of the significant disruption events of the past two decades. It has demonstrated that major companies underestimate the need for sustainable and resilient operations. The pandemic has resulted in significant disruptions especially in the automotive industry. The goal of the study is to determine impact of the COVID-19 on supply chain operations in a Turkish automotive manufacturer and to develop a framework for improving operational activities to survive in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) environment. The study identifies how the case study company has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and what challenges the company faced during the pandemic. A diagnostic survey and semi-structured interviews were used as data sources with qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results showed that the pandemic led to significant disruptions through various factors explained by shortage of raw materials/spare parts, availability of transportation, availability of labors, demand fluctuations, increase in sick leaves, new health and safety regulations. Findings also show the necessity to re-design resilience supply chain management by providing recovery plans (forecasting, supplier selection, simulation, monitoring) which consider different measures in different stages. In addition, the best practices were recommended for the case study by considering internal, external, and technological challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the given targeted guidelines and improvement for the automotive company might be applicable in the industrial practices for other organizations. The article concludes with future research directions and managerial implications for successful applications.