Supply chain and systemic crises: the contribution of modeling and simulation methods to improve resilience -case of the covid-19 pandemic-

Abstract

Systemic crises, whether natural or man-made, are starting to become recurrent, including epidemics / pandemics like the one we are currently experiencing, COVID-19. The occurrence of an epidemic, always in an unpredictable and brutal manner, poses serious challenges to decision-makers, like the managers of Supply Chain (S.C), especially, of global dimension. In normal times, the management of S.C is designed with a logic of optimization, but, in times of uncertainty, born of a turnaround, it is necessary to acquire new know-how in the management of epidemic crises. This is why, the use of modeling and simulation approaches, it is presented as decision support tools, which are able to mitigate risks and predict the future of a CS with more than lucidity and efficiency. The academic literature on the subject and the good practices identified, show that thanks to simulation methods, S.Cs impacted by systemic (pandemic) crises can quickly recover and come back in force on the market, in short, strengthen their resilience. Therefore, simulation algorithms constitute robust decision-making artefacts, both for public and private decision-makers.