Table 3.

Proposed Challenges of COVID-19 outbreak.

Sr. No.	Identified Challenge	Key elements	Brief Description
C1	Lack of SC flexibility	Increased lead time, slow response to changing market	Many organization has improved the flexibility of their SCs to respond rapidly and effectively in an uncertain environment [52]. However, improving flexibility is costly; the organization has been struggling to find the balance point between flexibility and uncertainty. COVID-19 is a similar kind of situation with many unknown variables, where the organization needs a more flexible and more responsive SC. Lack of required flexibility and responsiveness resulted in increased lead time that further slow down the supply of essentials [53]. suggest that a good relationship with the supplier may solve the problem of responsiveness during rough conditions.
C2	Lack of government support	Provision of incentives, cost-sharing contract	During a pandemic, along with the government, many private agencies are working to provide essentials to consumers or the community. Although both the players were operating independently, the manufacturer has been working under threat of loss due to uncertain demand. For example, during influenza vaccination, many medical organizations went under loss due to a sudden decrease in order. This may be the reason why many parts of the world are facing a lack of necessary medical equipment for COVID-19 [27]. suggested that the provision of incentives from the government and well-balanced cost-sharing contracts may solve this kind of operational issues.
C3	Lack of Trust	Trust between SC players, trust between retailers & consumers,	Trust is an essential factor that will help in fighting against COVID-19. Significant issues that cause trust is the lack of visibility and information excess [54]. [55] suggested that the implementation of blockchain and system integrations in the SC will eliminate the issues of trust and make the SC smoother. Issues like contamination of products can also be verified through online tracing of products based on the hotspot location of coronavirus.
C4	Communication issues	Information exchange between organization and government bodies, miscommunication between central and local authorities, Guidelines to reduce infections, coordination between SC players	During the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in any part of the world due to ineffective communication, it gets spread too quickly. Due to miscommunication of lockdown, the truck carrying goods gets stuck in between somewhere that affected the essential needs of consumers. In India, it was reported that due to a lack of information exchange, police and local authorities are forcing retailers to shut down the stores [56]. mentioned that during the epidemic, effective communication about everything likes symptoms, cause of infections, lockdown periods, the supply of essential goods, etc., is critical for controlling the outbreak. A reported that the use of technology related to Industry 4.0 would help share information effectively among every individual.
C5	Lack of security and safety	Employees physical security and medical safety, consumers safety,	A majority of these critical employees will continue to operate their employment in medical facilities, retail stores, water services, and other workplaces all to ensure that the rest of society will retain a certain sense of a healthy life during this outbreak. As retail staff and medical staffs are at the front line, which puts them under constant risk of infections. Security and safety of workers and organization, working during the epidemic become significant challenges. For example, in Germany, a food delivery company becomes a victim of cyber-attack while in the US, a worker attacked by phishing emails [57]. It is the responsibility of the government to provide them security as they are fighting for nations.
C6	Shortage of manpower	Workers shortage, medical staff shortage, number of experts to deal with situations like this	Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the world is facing a significant reduction in manpower that may break the global SC. After the announcement of lockdown. India is facing the problem of worker shortages that impact the supply of goods [58]. Similarly, according to the report of [59] world is facing the problem of skilled and experienced workers who can deal with these health crises.
C7	Consumers behavior	Buying behavior, stockpiling, behavior with workers at the store & with administrations	In times of uncertainty, consumer behavior changes significantly. They are buying basic needs and essentials. The sudden change in purchasing behavior increases the demand for certain goods. As the manufacturer was not ready for this sudden change, it becomes difficult to fulfill the order in such a short period. Worldwide stockpiling of essentials by consumers is reported [60] due to coronavirus that creates more disruption in the SC. As these essentials are the basic need for survival, consumers may become aggressive, which brings the need for extra security facilities at retail stores and distribution centers.
C8	Lack of Balance in supply and demand	Reduction in supply, delay in supply, increase in demand	This is the major issue faced by retailers due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is because the SC is not able to fill the order due to the sudden increase in demand and supply shortages across the globe. For example [39], reported lack of responsiveness and flexibility are the primary reason behind the supply and demand disruptions while [7] mentioned that an epidemic outbreak always comes with SC disruptions.
C9	Poor infrastructure	Non-flexible storage area, capacity constraints, poor infrastructure for transportations and distribution	Retail stores are generally designed for healthy and stable working conditions with limited resources. After the introduction of concept just in time (JIT), very few retail stores kept extra inventory. The lack of flexible storage capacity is creating more problems, as many distributors are trying to upsurge the supply, but due to capacity constraints, the supply is still limited. One more significant problem with the SC network is the route of transportations is not adjustable. A truck carrying a procurement of goods travels through a fixed route and cannot change in between as per requirement.
C10	Lack of medical facilities	Wearing kits, sanitization facilities, disinfection of goods	During an epidemic outbreak, the availability of medical facilities at the retail store is a big concern. As COVID-19 is spreading through human contact or contaminated things, it is necessary to provide primary medical facilities like face masks and sanitizers for workers at work. As per a report published by Ref. [2]; it was advised to increase the manufacturing of masks and other medical accessories by 40% to meet the global demand.
C11	Lack of Viability	Resilience, adaptability, sustainability	Similar to resilience in the regular [61] gives the concept of viability for the integrated SC. Viability is the combination of resilience, adaptability, and sustainability that will fulfill the requirement of goods and services to the community and markets during the disruption.
C12	Lack of access	Access of transportations during the lockdown, access of extra space for storage, access of real-time information	This challenge is more about government policy, security, and safety of the Nation. To stop the transmission of coronavirus government-imposed lockdown and other constraints in society. For example, during the lockdown, workers and goods movement needs special permission from the administration that creates unnecessary pressure on workers. The manufacturer has limited access to production and limited access to the evolution of goods.