The COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable damage to various industries worldwide. Availability and supply of a wide range of raw materials, intermediate goods, and finished products have been seriously disrupted. Global Supply Chains (GSCs), which had shown a high level of efficiency and robustness against several disruptions in recent decades, are genuinely compromised. Using a critical reading and a causal analysis of figures and facts, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the efficient and responsive operations of GSCs and to propose reconfigurations for GSCs in the futureas a remedy to enhance resilience

Background: the advent of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) innovations has revolutionized supply chain management through technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrated into procurement processes. Methods: this study addresses a critical knowledge gap by conducting a comprehensive review of 111 papers sourced from the Scopus database. These papers are classified into seven sub-themes encompassing I4.0 or procurement 4.0 (P4.0), big data, IoT, additive manufacturing, blockchain, e-procurement, and AI. Results: the investigation reveals that I4.0 technologies, particularly e-procurement and blockchain, have garnered substantial attention. Such technologies offer diverse value propositions, encompassing streamlined supplier evaluation, lead time reduction, cost optimization, and enhanced data security. Conclusion: the paper underscores pivotal trends and insights for the evolution of Procurement 4.0, illuminating a path toward more efficient supply chain management.

An earlier version of this paper was accepted for publication in Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Production Operation Management (POMS), Tokyo, Japan.

Food supply chains are considered to be more complex systems than other types of supply chains. This complexity is due to the continuous changes taking place, particularly in ensuring the quality of food products throughout the entire supply chain, from growing, procurement of resources, production, and management of stock, to distribution to the final consumers. For that, food supply chain markets have become more highly developed in the use of modern technologies, and have begun to implement them in their logistical systems to satisfy their customers’ needs. The main objectives of this review are to identify the different technological implementations in different phases of the food supply chain processes and point out the key factors for using technologies to improve the characteristics of the perishable food supply chain. A total number of 137 articles were analyzed in this research to achieve these review objectives. Some of the various technologies found in different phases of the food supply chain were radio frequency identification (RFID), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, three-dimensional printing (3DP), autonomous vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These technologies were found in different phases of the food supply chain and improved the efficiency of supplying perishable foods. The review identified different characteristics of the perishable food supply chain. The main finding indicated that technological implementation enhances the efficiency and sustainability of the food supply chains and helps to retain perishable food characteristics.