Analizando el impacto disruptivo del COVID-19 en las cadenas de suministro de Montevideo

Globally, COVID-19 reached unprecedented levels of contagion, affecting the social meetings, public spaces, and many everyday aspects. During the first days of the pandemic, supply chains were severely impacted by a great uncertainty in socio-economic terms, causing irrational variations and the inability to forecast demand. In this paper, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the behaviour of different companies is analysed based on the variation in supply and demand of consumer-packaged goods. The pandemic outbreak disruption, the bullwhip effect caused by demand fluctuations, and the resilience of different companies were studied. A multiple case study methodology is used to analyse the decision-making process of fourteen different companies, from diverse sectors in Uruguay, affronting the pandemic. The paper’s main findings include the identification of disruption and operation risks along with coordination in supply chain management during the first four months of the pandemic. Moreover, due to the necessity of sanitation and comestibles, and the fear of stockout, consumers’ demand was uncertain, and the bullwhip effect was observed in critical channels of some products. Finally, the resiliency and robustness of the affected companies were studied and good practices for a resilient and robust response to the pandemic were identified and analysed.Mundialmente, el COVID-19 generó niveles de contagio sin precedentes, afectando reuniones sociales, espacios públicos, y muchos aspectos de la vida diaria. Durante los primeros días de pandemia, cadenas de suministros fueron afectadas debido a una gran incertidumbre de factores socioeconómicos, causando una alta volatilidad en la demanda resultándola impredecible. Este artículo analiza el efecto que tuvo la pandemia en el comportamiento de diferentes empresas considerando las variaciones en la oferta y demanda de bienes de consumo envasados. Las perturbaciones generadas por la pandemia, el efecto látigo causado por fluctuaciones en la demanda, y la resiliencia de diferentes empresas son estudiadas. Se utilizan múltiples estudios de caso para analizar el proceso de toma de decisiones de catorce empresas uruguayas, de diversos sectores, enfrentándose a la pandemia. Entre las observaciones realizadas se destacan la identificación de riesgos operacionales y disrupciones, y una alta coordinación en la administración de cadenas de suministro durante los primeros meses de pandemia. Asimismo, necesidades sanitarias y alimenticias, y el miedo al agote de stock, causaron demandas inciertas, ocasionando un efecto látigo en ciertos canales de productos. Finalmente, la resiliencia y solidez de las empresas es estudiada, y se identifican y analizan buenas prácticas para afrontar la pandemia