Supply chain design dimensions for supply chain resilience in the South African fast-moving consumer goods retail industry

ABSTRACT

This paper intends to empirically establish the supply chain design dimensions that influence the ability of retailers in South Africa’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry to perform effectively with resilience. It further examines the extent of supply chain design dimensions impacting the variance on resilience in this industry. The study surveyed managers and supervisors of major South African supermarkets within the FMCG industry and employed univariate and multivariate methods to analyze the data collected. The paper established that technology advancement, economic influence, environmental changes, desired supply chain outcomes, and transport networks are the supply chain design dimensions with the most impact on the capability of the retail industry to perform efficiently and effectively with resilience. Furthermore, the paper revealed that transport networks, as an integral part of retail industry, impact the most on the variance of resilience for product availability. The findings imply that, despite the susceptibility to external and internal disruptions, performance and operations with resilience resonate with proper investments in technology, the available capacity under turbulent economic behavior, and a transport network for better customer experience. The paper further acknowledges the disruptive environmental changes, desired supply chain outcomes, and the need for a supply chain design for resilience in the retail industry.

KEYWORDS:

• fast-moving consumer goods
• product availability
• supply chain design
• supply chain resilience
• retailers

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nkechi D. Neboh

Nkechi Neboh received a PhD in Supply Chain Management from the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). She is currently a post-doctoral Fellow at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa). Her research interests include retailing, supply chain resilience, and operations management.

Thokozani P. Mbhele

Thokozani Mbhele is a committed qualified academic lecturer at the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). He received a PhD in Supply Chain Management (SCM) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Management from the University of Natal (South Africa). His research interests are in SCM sustainability, resiliency, concepts of industry 4.0 in SCM and experience economy. He is a member of APICS and SAPICS.