Modelling the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on a Hardware Retail Supply Chain

Abstract

Due to the current COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, supply chains have been severely disrupted in long term globally. In this paper, we present the results of a simulation study conducted on a case of the global supply chain. We have discussed the impact of COVID19 on the supply chains by citing some recent examples in the retail sector in Australia. We demonstrate the use of simulation modelling to quickly and reliably model and analyze supply chain disruptions through the use of anyLogistix simulation software. In this paper, we have simulated a case of an Australian hardware retail supply chain that has a global supply network. We have investigated the impact of COVID19 disruptions on the supply chain performance. Our results highlighted the importance of waiting order cancellation strategy in the recovery period for reducing supply chain costs and maintaining service level. We also discussed the negative effect of distance between supplier and customer on the resiliency of delivery systems. This initial work was a proof of concept to simulate COVID19 disruptions on a retail supply chain.