A network-of-networks adaptation for cross-industry manufacturing repurposing

Abstract

During a crisis, manufacturing processes in supply chains of different industries may network with each other as an adaptation response. We propose and examine a “network-of-networks” mechanism of such a cross-industry adaptation to learn about the value of reducing uncertainty through collaborative crisis preparedness and response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study allows revelation of the underlying trade-offs between the manufacturing capacity conversion time and effort required to adapt and the gains from collaborative preparedness to uncertainty. Through a real-life data-based analysis with the help of mathematical optimization, we connect the networks-of-networks coordination design and the outcomes of scenario modeling demonstrating a superiority of the coordinated capacity repurposing when compared to ad-hoc adaptation. We conclude that an appropriate collaboration of governmental agencies, healthcare, and industry is crucial for a prompt capacity conversion to healthcare production in a pandemic. Concrete implementation ways are visibility, healthcare inventory monitoring, technology backup plans, and repurposing contingency plans at the preparedness stage. At the response stage, a correct adaptation start time determines success. The results obtained can be instructive to develop technological and managerial plans for a cross-industry adaptation. The proposed “network-of-networks” perspective contributes to theory of supply chain viability and adaptation under disruptions using intertwined supply networks.

Keywords:

• Manufacturing adaptation
• supply chain coordination
• industry-healthcare collaboration
• pandemic

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data is available from the authors and will be provided upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexandre Dolgui

Professor Alexandre Dolgui is a Fellow of IISE, a Distinguished Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and the Head of the Automation, Production, and Computer Sciences Department at IMT Atlantique, campus in Nantes, France. His research focuses on manufacturing line design, production planning, scheduling, and supply chain engineering. His main results are based on exact mathematical programming methods and their intelligent coupling with automatic control techniques, heuristics and metaheuristics algorithms. He has contributed to the theory of assembly line balancing, combinatorial design of machining lines, process planning, supply chain scheduling, lot sizing and replenishment planning under uncertainties as well as to the theory of resilience and risk analysis in supply networks. He is the author of over 800 publications and communications, numerous books and articles, the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Production Research, an area editor of Computers & Industrial Engineering, a member of the editorial boards for several other journals, including the International Journal of Production Economics, Fellow of the European Academy for Industrial Management, Member of the Board of the International Foundation for Production Research, former Chair of IFAC TC 5.2 Manufacturing Modelling for Management and Control, and Member of IFIP WG 5.7 Advances in Production Management Systems.

Oleg Gusikhin

Dr. Oleg Gusikhin is a Senior Manager of Supply Chain Analytics at Ford Global Data Insight and Analytics and a Lecturer at the University of Michigan Industrial & Operations Engineering. He has over 30 years of experience in application of advanced technology and operations research in the automotive industry. For over 20 years, he has been working at Ford Motor Company in different functional areas. Dr. Gusikhin delivered many high-impact contributions to production scheduling, assembly line balancing, supply chain risk management, and connected vehicles technology and services. He is a recipient of three Henry Ford Technology Awards, the 2014 INFORMS Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in the Practice of Advanced Analytics and Operations Research, and the 2009 Institute of Industrial Engineers Transactions Best Application Paper Prize in Scheduling and Logistics. Dr. Gusikhin is a Fellow of INFORMS and a Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Control by the Association for Supply Chain Management.

Dmitry Ivanov

Professor Dmitry Ivanov teaches supply chain and operations management at Berlin School of Economics and Law. He serves at the school as an Academic director of MA Global Supply Chain and Operations Management and BSc International Sustainability Management as well as a Deputy Director of Institute for Logistics. His publication list includes around 400 publications, including over 140 papers in international academic journals and leading textbooks Global Supply Chain and Operations Management and Introduction to Supply Chain Resilience. His main research interests and results span resilience, viability and ripple effect in supply chains, risk analytics, and digital twins. Author of the Viable Supply Chain Model and founder of the ripple effect research in supply chains. Recipient of IISE Transactions Best Paper Award 2021, Best Paper and Most Cited Paper Awards of IJPR (2018,2019, 2020, 2021), OMEGA Best Paper Award 2022, Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher Award (2021, 2022). He co-edits IJISM and is an associate editor of the IJPR and OMEGA. He is Chairman of IFAC CC 5 “Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Enterprise”.

Xingyu Li

Dr. Xingyu Li is currently an Assistant Adjunct Research Scientist at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a Research Scientist at Research and Consulting Center, Ford Motor Company. Dr. Li received his PhD degree in mechanical engineering from University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2018. His research interests include manufacturing systems, human-machine interactions, reliability engineering, operation research, deep learning, artificial intelligence, and optimization. He is currently involved in many research projects focusing on human-centric manufacturing, smart manufacturing, sustainable manufacturing, system diagnostics and prognostics, and digital supply chain. He currently holds the position of Research Affiliate within the CIRP network and maintains active memberships in professional organizations including INFORMS, ASME, and SME. Notably, he has taken on leadership roles, serving as a workshop co-chair for the 2020-2023 IEEE International Conference on Transdisciplinary AI, a session chair at the INFORMS 2023 and NSFC-RGC conference, as well as a member of the scientific committee at CIRPe 2023. Dr. Li's commitment to academia is further exemplified through his comprehensive peer review contributions to over 100 research articles in academic journals, coupled with his designation as a recognized corresponding expert in Engineering.

Kathryn Stecke

Professor Kathryn E. Stecke teaches in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at University of Texas at Dallas as the Naveen Jindal School Advisory Council Chair. She received an MS in applied mathematics and MS and PhD in industrial engineering from Purdue University. She is an INFORMS Fellow, POMS Fellow, and DSI Fellow. She is founding Editor-in-Chief of both the International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems and Operations Management Education Review. She was on the POMS Board of Directors (April 2006 - April 2008 and April 2014 - April 2016). She served on the INFORMS Board of Directors as Vice President from January 2003 to December 2004 and from January 1999 to December 2001. She has served as General Chair, Program Chair, and Plenary Chair of POMS, INFORMS, and DSI conferences. In February 2004, INFORMS compiled a list of all 475 papers that have 50 or more citations from all papers published in Management Science over the last 50 years. All of her Management Science papers are on this list. INFORMS selected 50 of these as those papers that “represented the most significant research published in Management Science over the last half century”. One of her papers is on this select list.