Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience Through Digital Capabilities

Introduction

The supply chain has proven to be a remarkable management function in recent times and is the glue that binds the producers of goods and services to their consumers in a firm embrace. Remove the supply chain function from the link, the relationship unravels and the system collapses. It is, therefore, necessary to pay special attention to those factors that could potentially and significantly influence the supply chain of an organization and among nations. The emergence of new digital technologies has enabled the supply chain to be managed more efficiently.

The supply chain can be viewed as a sequence of processes and flows of material and information aimed at meeting the final customer requirements and takes place within and between different supply chain stages. It represents the steps that are necessary to deliver a product or service to customer, and includes the manufacturer and its suppliers, as well as transporters, warehouses, retailers, and consumers. It is becoming a subject of interest, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (Reeves & Whitaker, 2020). The supply chain environment contains many uncertainties that create vulnerability, thus the need to activate the supply chain resilience concept. Rapid globalization of supply chains has led to increased exposure to supply chain risks that remain faintly fathomed by practitioners; moreover, without accounting for such risks and proper preparation, supply chain collapse remains an eminent possibility for many companies (Sawik, 2020). Hence, the requirement for resilience.

Supply chain resilience is the ability of a supply chain network to withstand disruption and minimize the effects of upheaval on revenues, costs, and customers. Thus, a system to return to its original state or move to a new, more desirable state after being disturbed (Christopher & Peck, 2004). Not only do resilient supply chains help enterprises respond swiftly and effectively to radical economic, technological, and market changes, but they also help enterprises gain a competitive advantage (Dubey et al., 2021; Tukamuhabwa et al., 2015). Lack of supply chain resilience is a nagging problem, and addressing these challenges requires thinking outside of the box. Deploying digital technologies appear to stand out as a potentially viable candidate. However, taking advantage of these technologies would mean that the entities concerned possessed the digital capabilities to support such deployments.

Technology has always played an important role in business operations ever since mankind established a stable society, and one area of research that has stimulated the interests of scholars has been the role played by digitalization on supply chain management (Bigliardi et al., 2022; Marmolejo-Saucedo, 2020; Seyedghorban et al., 2020). Digitally enabled technology is expected to combat any turbulent situation that causes disruptions in supply chains (Nambisan, 2018), and using digital technology, like big data analytics (BDA) and digital infrastructure capabilities, could successfully predict future emergencies (Pettit et al., 2019Wamba et al., 2019). The Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain; machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics; robots and automation; 3D printing, sensors, the ever-improving internet connectivity, and cloud-based supply chain technologies are examples of digital technologies that could boost supply chain resilience (Dubey et al., 2021; Ju et al., 2021; Zouari et al., 2021). Despite initial efforts to gain new insights about the impact of digital technologies on supply chain resilience, their interplay is not well understood. Thus, some questions on the effect of digital capabilities of an organization on its supply chain resilience remain.