A public-private collaboration model of supply chain resilience to unpredictable disruptions: an exploratory empirical case study of medical mask production and distribution

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued unabatedly, many global supply chains involved in manufacturing and distributing personal protective equipment often failed to meet surge demand due to production capacity limits. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing medical mask supply chain in Taiwan was decentralized, but immediately following the outbreak in 2020, the government of Taiwan established a centralized virtual company that integrated production, distribution, and sales. We use an exploratory empirical case study to gain insights into Taiwan’s innovative public-private collaboration and the relationship between collaborative activities and supply chain resilience. This paper examines how a ten-fold growth, from 1.88 million to 20 million, in the daily production of medical masks, and their equitable distribution was achieved within four months of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that the public-private collaboration through a government-led centralized supply chain mitigated the impacts of unpredictable disruptions, built supply chain resilience, and ensured mask availability to the public.

Keywords:

• Public-private collaboration
• supply chain resilience
• medical mask production
• COVID-19 pandemic
• decentralized vs. centralized supply chain

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the efforts and expertise of the reviewers and editor and thank them for their comments and thoughtful reading. We thank industry experts their suggestions and guidance, Ann Stewart, for editorial services.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan, under Grants MOST 108-2926-I-002-002-MY4 and MOST 111-2221-E-002-114-MY3.

Notes on contributors

Yung-Yi Li

Yung-Yi Li is currently a PhD candidate in the Institute of Industrial Engineering at National Taiwan University. He received his Bachelor and Master’s degree from Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.  His research interests include logistics and supply chain management.

I-Hsuan Hong

I-Hsuan Hong (PhD) is a Professor in the Institute of Industrial Engineering at National Taiwan University. His research interests include modelling and analysis of problems and algorithms in closed-loop supply chain management, sustainability and economic decision analysis, and game theory and optimization applications. He has published articles in international journals, including Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Production Planning and Control, Journal of Operational Research Society, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Production Economics and Computers and Industrial Engineering. He has editorial assignments in several international journals.

Shu-Jung Sunny Yang

Shu-Jung Sunny Yang received the M.S. degree in industrial engineering from the National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree in management from the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of Sydney and University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia, in 2008. He is currently a Professor of Business Administration with the College of Management and is affiliated with the graduate field of Statistics, National Taiwan University. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Melbourne, University of Essex, University of Oslo, and University of Southampton. His research has been published in journals, including the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Retailing, European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of the Operational Research Society, and Production Planning and Control. His research interests include operations strategy, supply chain management, and operations interfaces. Dr. Yang was a recipient of several national and international awards and grants for his research.