Addressing the unaddressed: a review of future research directions for post-pandemic supply chains

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented disruptions across global supply chains, revealing significant vulnerabilities in production, distribution, healthcare logistics, and service systems. These disruptions highlighted the importance of analytical and operations research (OR) approaches in supporting timely and effective decision-making during large-scale health crises. This editorial introduces Annals of Operations Research special issue “Operations Research and Management Science Approaches for Fighting Against Epidemic Outbreaks Such as COVID-19,” which focuses on the application of OR methods to epidemic and pandemic-related challenges. This editorial first discusses the broader research landscape on epidemic logistics, healthcare operations, and supply chain disruptions resulting from infectious disease outbreaks. It then provides an overview of the contributions of the accepted papers included in this special issue, which address diverse topics such as testing strategies, healthcare resource allocation, vaccine distribution, supply chain risk management, policy evaluation, and the use of artificial intelligence and data-driven technologies in pandemic response. Because the special issue was developed while the COVID-19 pandemic was still unfolding, many of the contributions reflect real-time challenges faced by supply chains and public health systems. Building on these insights, this editorial also discusses emerging challenges and potential opportunities for supply chain management in the post-pandemic environment. Finally, several research questions and directions are proposed to support future studies aimed at strengthening resilience, improving preparedness, and enhancing decision-making capabilities for managing future epidemic and pandemic disruptions.