A public-private collaboration model of supply chain resilience to unpredictable disruptions: an exploratory empirical case study of medical mask production and distribution
Journal
Production Planning and Control
Date Issued
2023-01-01
Author(s)
Abstract
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued unabatedly, many global supply chains involved in manufacturing and distributing personal protective equipment often failed to meet surge demand due to production capacity limits. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing medical mask supply chain in Taiwan was decentralized, but immediately following the outbreak in 2020, the government of Taiwan established a centralized virtual company that integrated production, distribution, and sales. We use an exploratory empirical case study to gain insights into Taiwan’s innovative public-private collaboration and the relationship between collaborative activities and supply chain resilience. This paper examines how a ten-fold growth, from 1.88 million to 20 million, in the daily production of medical masks, and their equitable distribution was achieved within four months of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that the public-private collaboration through a government-led centralized supply chain mitigated the impacts of unpredictable disruptions, built supply chain resilience, and ensured mask availability to the public.
Subjects
COVID-19 pandemic | decentralized vs. centralized supply chain | medical mask production | Public-private collaboration | supply chain resilience
Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Type
journal article