Track: Operations Management

Abstract

After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in late December 2019, many supply chains (SCs) and industries around the world have been greatly affected by the impacts of the virus. Measures such as closure of international airports, seaports, land borders, nationwide lockdown, social distancing, quarantine measures, and work-from-home has impacted many production firms and consumers around the globe. The overall objective of the research aimed at assessing the impact of the covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures on the SC of the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL) located in Sierra Leone, West Africa. The study gives insights into the understanding of SC in relation to the covid-19 pandemic by uncovering key issues of the covid-19 measures to the normal operations of the company that provides a baseline for the company in decision making should there be such an unforeseen disruption to its SC. The research adopted a case study qualitative research method, administering open-ended questionnaires to identify the key problems caused by the covid-19 measures. The research identified six (6) key problems from the responses of participants and proposes improvement initiatives by the use of quality function deployment (QFD) framework.