Practices to achieve resilience in supply chains: a perspective from Brazilian chains

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore different types of disruption risk found in Brazilian manufacturing industries and identify the practices used to build resilience, as well as the challenges to achieve it. A multiple case study was conducted in 12 companies embedded in four different supply chains: drinks, chocolate, home appliance and seeds. As a result, 30 types of disruption risks were identified, but only 6 demonstrated commonalities: transportation issues, pests, meteorological factors, supplier financial weakness, trucker strikes and demand vulnerability. To overcome them, intenal and external practices was raised. Nevertheless, a set of challenges to apply those practices were also identified, which could prevent the development of organizational and, consequently, supply chain resilience. Findings from this study can help managers not only in Brazil but also in different locations (such as Central America) to face critical flowbreaks and still increase competitiveness and survival of the company.