Impact of the Covid-19 on the Supply Chain in France

Abstract

Supply Chain Management (SCM) refers to the coordinated management of all the activities involved in the flow of goods and services from their production stage to the delivery to ultimate customer. The Covid-19 crisis, started, in Europe, in May 2020, has disrupted global supply chains, exposing the vulnerabilities of countries that depend heavily on global interactions. This study aimed to show how Covid-19 crisis has affected the strategy and the organization of French SCM industry from 2020 to 2022 and to understand how French organizations managed to face these difficulties. The method used in this research is qualitative analysis through archival research based on secondary data from relevant publications. The analysis is based on a comprehensive review of academic and non-academic sources such as research papers, case studies, reports and journal articles. The results proved that French SCM industry has been strongly affected the Covid-19 pandemic especially by severe disruption in the SCM processes, notably sourcing, transportation and demand patterns, resulting from decisions of French and foreign governments such as lockdown, temporary shutdown of businesses and trade restrictions and their consequences on the population and the companies. Results also showed emerging best practices for overcoming the impact of Covid-19 on the SCM industry some of which will have lasting consequences on SCM such as the use of digital technologies and the development of use of Internet of Things (IoT). Besides many mechanisms and assistance measures implemented by the French Government to help companies and other business organizations, stakeholders also developed resilient good practices to face the Crisis. International collaboration of SCM stakeholders has enabled the production and distribution of vaccines. Besides, facing the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), a collaboration, in the Hauts-de-France region, was set up to produce visors, involving various makers such as engineers and entrepreneurs. Facilitated by online platforms and fab labs, this mobilization enabled global coordination. Makers used Riot messaging to communicate despite the confinement, developing open-source innovations and sharing knowledge. Using technologies such as 3D printing, they quickly produced visors. The crisis prompted makers to structure their methods and collaborate with institutions, demonstrating the potential of open-source practices for innovation and resilience. Their efforts responded to the PPE shortage and opened up new perspectives for innovation in times of crisis. Cross-functional and cross-sector collaboration also enabled to implement the supplying and the distribution of farm product thanks to the important role of a crisis cell created by the French National Interprofessional Center for Dairy Economy (CNIEL) which organized the communication between farmers, transporters and distributors. In this specific case, the SCM demonstrated (i) agility with a high capacity to quickly adapt to disruptions (ie hiring of retired drivers to compensate staff absences and reorganization of deliveries to avoid saturated logistic platforms), (ii) visibility (ie ability to monitor product flows and stock levels in real time has enabled supply chains to react quickly to changes in demand and maintain stable supply), and flexibility (ie adjustments of product range to focus on the most popular basic products, such as milk, cream, butter and plain yoghurt. SCM also demonstrated a capacity of adaptation to implement an efficient organization of the stakeholders, including the local government, the transporters and the distributors, for the distribution of food in Paris to mitigate the effect of the shutdown of restaurants. The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a rethink of supply chain management, and this movement is being significantly encouraged by the French and European governments. Based on the results of the study, several areas could benefit from further research into the impact of Covid-19 on supply chain management (SCM) in France. These proposals aim to enrich existing research while exploring new avenues of research. A series of longitudinal studies on the long-term effects of the epidemic on the supply chain industry in France could prove useful.