Designing Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chains in an Era of Disruption

The contemporary industrial environment is characterized by an increasing frequency and intensity of disruptions, whether geopolitical, economic, technological, or sanitary in origin (such as the COVID-19 crisis). These unforeseen events fundamentally challenge operational models and strategic planning. The Supply Chain is particularly vulnerable, as the failure or delay of a single link can rapidly provoke a cascade of impacts across the entire global logistics network. This fragility highlights the crucial imperative of developing supply chains that are not only efficient but, above all, highly resilient and inherently sustainable. Resilience is defined as the capacity to absorb shocks, adapt, and quickly recover; however, for true long-term viability, this recovery must also meet environmental and social standards. This Research Topic therefore aims to gather high-quality work to explore the conceptual, methodological, and applied contributions essential for the effective integration of resilience and sustainability in supply chain management against disruptions.

The central problem this Research Topic seeks to address is the growing mismatch between the increasing complexity and uncertainty of global ecosystems and the traditional approaches to supply chain management. Existing frameworks often struggle to proactively account for the unpredictability of both major and minor disruptions, and fail to concurrently integrate the imperatives of environmental and social sustainability. Therefore, advancing research on integrated strategies, digital tools, and organizational models that can transform supply chains from fragile systems into resilient and sustainable ones is essential. This requires holistic consideration of preparedness, adaptation, and recovery. To achieve this goal, we aim to gather interdisciplinary contributions across multiple levels of analysis focusing on how to achieve this integration. This includes improving forecasting and risk-analysis methods; developing more flexible and agile collaboration and governance models among stakeholders; and revising strategic planning in sourcing, production, and distribution. Advanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and big data, are critical enablers that can support this transformation by offering innovative, predictive, and practical solutions across the entire supply chain.

This Research Topic, "Designing Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chains in an Era of Disruption," aims to assemble high-quality research that explores conceptual, methodological, and application-oriented contributions in this critical domain. We invite authors to submit manuscripts offering novel insights into the modeling, assessment, and strategic enhancement of integrated supply chain resilience and sustainability. The scope encompasses, but is not limited to, the following themes: 

• Integrated measurement, risk, and sustainability analysis: Frameworks for quantifying and evaluating resilience and sustainability performance simultaneously, identifying key risk drivers, and developing proactive risk mitigation strategies that are environmentally and socially responsible.
• Design and strategy: Novel design frameworks and models supporting strategies for combined resilience and sustainability improvement, including network reconfigurability, redundancy, and flexibility.
• Leveraging technology for integrated resilience and sustainability: Research exploring the integration of digitalization, automation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the context of Industry 4.0 (focused on automation, IoT, and data-driven optimization) and the emerging Industry 5.0 (which emphasizes human-centricity, resilience, and circular economy principles) to achieve robust and sustainable supply chains.
• Empirical studies : In-depth case studies, practical applications, and validation of proposed integrated resilience and sustainability approaches across different industrial sectors.

We welcome submissions of original research articles and review articles that contribute significantly to theory and practice.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: supply chain, logistics, resilience, agility, sustainability, industry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.