A Mixed-Methods Study of Disruption Response Capabilities Across Auto Ancillary, Pharmaceutical, and FMCG Sectors Post-COVID-19
Author(s): Ravi Shankar Mishra, Arun Babu
Affiliation: Department of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Page No: 31-34-
Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 3, 2026/03/08
Journal: International Journal of Modern Engineering and Management | IJMEM
ISSN NO: 3048-8230
DOI:
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed systemic fragility in Indian manufacturing supply chains: automobile plants in Chennai and Pune suspended production for 6-12 weeks due to semiconductor and wiring harness shortages from East Asian suppliers; pharmaceutical API shortages for 47 essential medicines were declared by NPPA in April 2020 as China’s API supply chains shut down; and FMCG distributors reported stockout rates of 34-67% across urban kirana channels during the April-May 2020 lockdown. These disruptions — unprecedented in breadth and simultaneity — revealed that supply chain resilience had been systematically sacrificed in the pursuit of lean inventory optimisation and single-source global sourcing efficiency during the preceding decade of growth.
This paper employs an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design: Phase 1 quantitatively surveys supply chain resilience capabilities across 96 firms (auto ancillary: 34, pharmaceutical: 31, FMCG: 31) using the validated Supply Chain Resilience Assessment Tool (SCRAT-India) across four dimensions — demand visibility, supplier diversity, digital systems integration, and cross-firm collaboration — measuring resilience maturity at three time points (2019, 2021, 2023). Phase 2 conducts in-depth case interviews with supply chain directors at eight purposively selected firms to explain the quantitative patterns.
Keywords:
supply chain resilience, COVID-19 disruption, mixed methods, auto ancillary, pharmaceutical, FMCG, resilience maturity, supplier diversification, demand visibility, SCRAT, India, manufacturing, disruption recovery
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