Guest editorial

Assessment of challenges and problems in supply chain among retailers during COVID-19 epidemic through AHP-TOPSIS hybrid MCDM technique

Framework and objectives

COVID-19 epidemic has sparked concern and has elevated the need for therapeutic tools, health equipment's, and day-to-day necessities for healthcare workers' well-being. The goal of this study is to uncover the operational problems that suppliers encounter when it comes to offering effective services. The research also intends to offer an Industry 4.0 strategy for reducing COVID-19's effect. The problems are weighed and priority is assigned by multi-criteria decision making to identify the most essential parameter which impacts the suppliers.

Methods

A comprehensive literature assessment on the rampant eruption of COVID 19 and supply chain is conducted with the aid of literatures available on SCOPUS, Science Direct, and Google Scholar using appropriate keywords. To get further insights, certain pertinent and applicable industry reports and blogs are also used. Problems were analysed with AHP method and priority was assigned by technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Weights are calculated by AHP method and assigned to each criteria attribute.

Results

We recognized eleven key problems that serve as an operational obstacle in the retail industry and proposed the use of Industry 4.0 technology to address them. The contemporary study is accomplished by using hybrid combination of two Multi Criteria Estimators methods- Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Further, the most significant problem comes out to be Maintenance of an appropriate balance among supply and demand followed by Lack of Viability.

Key findings

Prioritization of supply chain problems are arranged in descending order Maintenance of an appropriate balance among supply and demand ​> ​Lack of Viability ​> ​Absence of government funding ​> ​Lack of access ​> ​Absence of Confidence ​> ​Scarcity of work force ​> ​Lack of security and safety ​> ​Deficiency of surplus medical amenities ​> ​Consumer attitude ​> Absence of Supply Chain flexibility ​> ​Communication problems.

Conclusion

In order to combat the pandemic, Industry 4.0 can play a key role in lowering the effect of identified issues on retailers. For the successful administration of healthcare basics, trust and openness are required. To enhance services, suppliers, distributors and policy makers should make informed decisions during COVID-19 and other comparable events. Therefore, suggested guidelines and framework will offer upcoming directions for research in fields of pandemic check, business logistics management, and catastrophe administration. Balance in supply and demand is the most significant attribute as its percentage contribution is the maximum (27.52%) followed by Safety of employees (26.51%). Furthermore, the research then ranks these models on the basis of their attributes with the aid of TOPSIS. Among all these problems, Maintenance of an appropriate balance among supply and demand and lack of viability are identified as the prime most and common concern for retailers in supply chain management during the COVID-19 pandemic.