Research on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Personal Protection Equipment and Food Supply Chains - A Vulnerability-Oriented Discussion

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, global supply chains were hit, particularly in the personal protective equipment and food industries. This paper focuses on the vulnerability factors of the two industries and the manifestations of vulnerability highlighted in the face of the pandemic shock. The vulnerability of the PPE supply chain is mainly reflected in external disaster shocks, geographical concentration and corporate reputation, while the food supply chain has, in addition to similar points for PPE, fluctuations in the input price of food raw materials and rising labour and material costs for processing. At the same time, in the face of pandemic shocks, the paper presents vulnerability factors on the supply and demand side, and explains cost fluctuations in particular periods with a bullwhip effect. Finally, the paper reviews the relevant literature on ways of coping with vulnerability, such as automated supply chain reform, improved predictive demand models, decentralized supply chains, guaranteed labour, appropriate shortening of supply chains, seeking external financial support, and electronic supply chains, in order to prepare theoretically for possible future shocks.