Assessing strategies to mitigate the impacts of a pandemic in apparel supply chains

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught global businesses that a pandemic can put business dynamics in unforeseeable turbulence. The disruptions created by the pandemic in the apparel industry exposed the vulnerabilities of apparel supply chains (SCs). To recover the supply chain impacts (SCIs) during an unprecedented event such as the COVID-19 pandemic, apparel SCs need a robust framework that can identify, measure, and mitigate the severity of SCIs by assessing effective mitigation strategies. This study identifies 12 critical SCIs in apparel SCs during a pandemic and 17 mitigation strategies. To assess SCIs and mitigation strategies, a modified grey-based bi-level analytical network process (ANP) is proposed to deal with the complex relationship between the SCIs and mitigation strategies. A real-life case study is conducted from an apparel supply chain for validation purposes. The findings suggest that policymakers in apparel SCs should prioritize implementing government policies and financial aid to deal with increased material and operational costs, the sudden surge in the unemployment rate, cancellation of orders and delayed payment, and increased transportation costs during a pandemic. This study also contributes to the literature by providing a robust decision-making framework for practitioners to deal with the complexity of SCs during future pandemics.

An Improved Genetic Algorithm for Location Allocation Problem with Grey Theory in Public Health Emergencies.

The demand for emergency medical facilities (EMFs) has witnessed an explosive growth recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid spread of the virus. To expedite the location of EMFs and the allocation of patients to these facilities at times of disaster, a location-allocation problem (LAP) model that can help EMFs cope with major public health emergencies was proposed in this study. Given the influence of the number of COVID-19-infected persons on the demand for EMFs, a grey forecasting model was also utilized to predict the accumulative COVID-19 cases during the pandemic and to calculate the demand for EMFs. A serial-number-coded genetic algorithm (SNCGA) was proposed, and dynamic variation was used to accelerate the convergence. This algorithm was programmed using MATLAB, and the emergency medical facility LAP (EMFLAP) model was solved using the simple (standard) genetic algorithm (SGA) and SNCGA. Results show that the EMFLAP plan based on SNCGA consumes 8.34% less time than that based on SGA, and the calculation time of SNCGA is 20.25% shorter than that of SGA. Therefore, SNCGA is proven convenient for processing the model constraint conditions, for naturally describing the available solutions to a problem, for improving the complexity of algorithms, and for reducing the total time consumed by EMFLAP plans. The proposed method can guide emergency management personnel in designing an EMFLAP decision scheme.

A Hybrid Grey DEMATEL and PLS-SEM Model to Investigate COVID-19 Vaccination Intention

The main objective of this study is to comprehensively investigate individuals' vaccination intention against COVID-19 during the second wave of COVID-19 spread in Vietnam using a novel hybrid approach. First, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory based on Grey Theory (DEMATEL-G) was employed to explore the critical factors of vaccination intention among individuals. Second, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the hypotheses of individual behavioral intention to get the vaccine to prevent the outbreak of COVID- 19. A panel of 661 valid respondents was collected from June 2021 to July 2021, and confidentiality was maintained for all data obtained. The results identified that perception of COVID-19 vaccination and trust in vaccination strategy directly associated with individuals' COVID-19 immunization. Hence, the perceived severity of COVID-19 has an indirect impact onCOVID- 19 vaccination intentions via the perception of the COVID-19 vaccine. These findings indicated that the government's information about vaccines is necessary for the new phase of vaccination intervention strategies in Vietnam. Therefore, the study suggests that the government needs to give complete information about the role of vaccines prioritizes transparency in official information about COVID-19 vaccines to allay concerns about side effects, allowing for the most appropriate policy formulation and implementation to encourage public vaccination. Future studies can apply PLS-SEM and other MCDMmodels with the fuzzy, hesitant numbers to re-evaluate the feasibility, validity and reliability of this research's proposed model. © 2022 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Selection of Cold Chain Logistics Service Providers Based on a Grey AHP and Grey COPRAS Framework: A Case Study in Vietnam

Choosing the most suitable cold chain logistics service providers (CLPs) is a vital strategic decision for businesses aiming to achieve an effective and sustainable cold supply chain. A sustainable CLP is one that integrates sustainable practices across its whole operation cycle to achieve product quality, on-time deliveries, and satisfied customer requirements, while preventing products from going to waste, which is especially important in the context of a developing country. This study aims to evaluate and select the best CLP regarding their sustainability performance. For this evaluation, a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM)-based framework is proposed that integrates the grey analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP) and grey complex proportional assessment (G-COPRAS) methodologies, in which grey numbers are used to express the linguistic evaluation statements of experts. Initially, the evaluation criteria based on service level, economic, environmental, and social dimensions were determined by means of a literature review and experts’ opinions to employ the MCDM approach. The G-AHP was utilized to identify the criteria weights, and then, G-COPRAS was used to select the best CLP among the alternatives. A case illustration in Vietnam is presented to exhibit the presented approach’s applicability. From the G-AHP findings, product quality, logistics costs, innovation, and effectiveness of cold chain processes, customer experience, and CO emissions of refrigerated vehicle were ranked as the five most important criteria. From the G-COPRAS analysis, Yoshida Saigon Cold Logistic (CPL-05) is the best CLP. The robustness of the applied integrated MCDM approach was also tested by conducting a comparative analysis, in which the priority rankings of the best CLPs were very similar. The assessment in this study is directed towards enabling managers, practitioners, and stakeholders of cold chain businesses to assess the most efficient CLP in the supply chain in the market and also to devise suitable strategies toward sustainable development.

Recognizing critical drivers to mitigate supply chain disruptions in pharmaceutical industry during COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic has significantly interrupted the global production and supply chain operation in all aspects of the consumer market. Along with other domains, the pharmaceutical industry has experienced its outbreaks on supply chain drivers impacting sustainable production and consumption patterns during the post-pandemic era. This motive stimulated the necessity for analyzing supply chain disruptions that severely affected logistics, procurement, production and distribution in the supply chain. Elimination of these disruptions in the supply chain may depend on many critical drivers which can accelerate the implementation of sustainability thus enhancing the performance of the supply chain in the context of an impending environment. In order to improve the resilience and performance of the supply chain, this study identifies and addresses those critical drivers and characterizes them based on their percentage implemented by Pareto analysis. Furthermore, a grey based Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) model is proposed to establish the causal relationships among these critical drivers. The findings of this work will demonstrate the structure and interrelationships between drivers and identify the most critical drivers for a long term sustainability of supply chain to eliminate disruptions in the supply chain. The findings can pave a way to business managers, policymakers and other stakeholders in numerous industries to identify critical drivers in attaining undisrupted business environment in the pandemic context. © IEOM Society International.