Abstract:
The complexity of supply chains is a dynamic puzzle amidst the ever-changing risks of
disruptions that create uncertainties in forecasting and decision-making, thus posing immense
challenges to supply chain professionals across several industries globally. This study aims to
explore the types of industry 4.0 technologies adopted by firms in the food product manufacturing
industry in Ghana and their supply chain resilience during the COVID-19 era. Primary data was
collected from 195 top supply chain managers in 20 category 1 food product manufacturing firms
in Ghana and analyzed using descriptive statistics measures, relative importance index analysis,
Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. It was found that Big Data
Analytics, Cloud Computing, and Industrial iInternet of Things are the top three adopted industry
4.0 technologies in Ghana’s food product manufacturing industry. It was also found that cyber
attacks and security threats, export restriction affecting price and sales, reduced consumer
demand, and limited access to food products were the key disruptions experienced in the food
product manufacturing industry of Ghana. Furthermore, the study found that the adoption and
implementation of IIoT, Cyber Security, Autonomous Robots Augmented Reality and Additive
Manufacturing technologies had significant effect on the Supply Chain Resilience of food
product manufacturing firms in Ghana during the early periods of COVID-19 pandemic. Future
researchers can consider conducting a pre-test post-test analysis to ascertain the supply chain
resilience of the food product manufacturing industry before and after COVID as the current
study considered resilience during COVID. Moreover, future studies can analyze the effect of
industry 4.0 technology adoption and implementation on each aspect of supply chain resilience:
survival, recovery, and rebuilding.
