THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF PIVOTING MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS DURING GLOBAL EMERGENCIES

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to elaborate on the pivoting of the industrial manufacturing system during global emergencies. The study determines the challenges and opportunities of pivoting of manufacturing systems during COVID-19 which are experienced by UK and KSA manufacturing industries. This research study is based on primary data obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews with manufacturers from different manufacturing companies in order to capture the insights from the experience of the management of manufacturing process to meet the demand of customers and markets during COVID-19. The collected data were analysed by developing a heuristic roadmap to the notion of pivoting manufacturing activities—and were validated with the aid of expert judgements and feedback. The findings of the study reveal that there are certain challenges during pivoting; however, opportunities also exist in terms of investment in flexible manufacturing and varied distribution channels of manufacturing. The unsettled supply chains could be strengthened by the increased adoption of contract manufacturing and by the deployment of integrated digital systems in manufacturing processes. Keywords: COVID-19, Supply chain, agile manufacturing, industry 4.0, pandemics, United Kingdom, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.