ABSTRACT
To survive the emergency caused by COVID-19, organisations need to change. In particular, many small firms will need to transform their business model. In some cases the crisis is an opportunity to move towards activities with greater added value. This attitude has been called antifragility. In this study three SMEs from southern Italy were investigated which, as a response to the current crisis, transformed their business and shifted their production to new products. The paper identifies the dynamic capabilities implemented by the three companies and the levers used to develop these capabilities. In particular research and innovation processes, implemented through collaboration with research institutions, have proved to be of great importance in building antifragility. The COVID-19 pandemic is an exceptional crisis but emergencies in general are not uncommon. The results of this study are useful for researchers interested in antifragility in innovative small businesses and their ability to survive.
ABSTRACT
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (also known as COVID-19), workforce downsizing needs, safety requirements, supply chain breaks and inventory shortages affected manufacturing systems' and supply chain's responsiveness and resilience. Companies wandered in a disrupted scenario because recommended actions/strategies to survive - and thrive - were not available an improvised actions to keep their operations up and running. This paper analyzes the COVID-19 impacts on the workforce and supply resilience in a holistic manner. The following research questions are discussed: (i) how can manufacturing firms cope with urgent staff deficiencies while sustaining at the same time a healthy and safe workforce in the perspective of socially sustainable and human-centric cyber-physical production systems?; (ii) is remote working (cf. smart working) applicable to shop-floor workers?; (iii) is it possible to overcome supply chain breaks without stopping production? In the first part, we propose three Industry 4.0-driven solutions that would increase the workforce resilience, namely: (i) the Plug-and-Play worker; (ii) the Remote Operator 4.0; (iii) the Predictive Health of the Operational Staff. In the second part, the concepts of (i) Digital & Unconventional Sourcing, i.e. Additive Manufacturing, and (ii) Product/Process Innovation are investigated from a novel business continuity and integration perspective. We ultimately argue that forward-looking manufacturing companies should turn a disruptive event like a pandemic in an opportunity for digital and technological innovation of the workplace inspired by the principles of harmonic digital innovation (that places the human well-being at the center). These aspects are discussed with use cases, system prototypes and results from research projects carried out by the authors and real-world examples arising lessons learned and insights useful for scientists, researchers and managers.