Best Practices for Contingency Planning after COVID-19: An Application in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Industry
Open Access
- Author:
- Ackerman, Jeffrey
- Area of Honors:
- Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Robert Alexander Novack, Thesis Supervisor
John C Spychalski, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Best Practices
Supply Chain
PPE Industry
Stockpiling
COVID-19
Contingency Planning - Abstract:
- In March of 2020, the world was forever changed when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic due to the emergence of a disease called COVID-19. During a time of global pandemic, society attempted to slow the spread of disease before vaccinations were developed through techniques such as social distancing and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As a result, the demand for PPE surged to historical records, and supply was not able to meet demand. This resulted in worldwide shortages for all different types of PPE, and even healthcare providers struggled to obtain the necessary PPE to protect themselves while treating COVID-19 patients. Therefore, the intent of this research is to provide a list of best practices and recommendations for contingency planning after COVID-19, specifically for the PPE industry. Current literature was reviewed and analyzed, and best practices were garnered from the literature. Three industry executives were also interviewed about their thoughts and experiences with PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their opinions and recommendations were compared and contrasted with the best practices from literature, and ultimately a list of holistic best practices was developed and recommended for contingency planning. Best practices for contingency planning include enhancing the Strategic National Stockpile infrastructure, bringing more PPE manufacturing onshore in the U.S., improving end-to-end PPE inventory monitoring, filtering out misinformation on social media platforms, establishing clear guidelines on the reuse of PPE, and developing innovative ways for consumers to dispose of masks in order to mitigate environmental damage.