Resilient and sustainable supply chains and factories: A workshop-based approach for the analysis of the mutual influencing factors

Climate change and regulatory developments are creating new challenges for companies. Companies have to comply with strict environmental and social standards. In parallel, these companies must deal with various challenges - from natural disasters to geopolitical tensions disrupting their factories and supply chains. It is, therefore, essential for companies to develop and implement resilient structures. These must be implemented both at the factory level to secure their own production and at the supply chain level. To address compliance with sustainability standards and the resilient positioning of the company it is necessary to understand how traditional, economically motivated resilience affects sustainability and how resilience can also contribute to achieve and meet sustainability goals and standards. Against this background, a workshop-based approach was conducted with international experts. Using an illustrative disruption at both the factory and supply chain levels, the possible effects of these disruptions, appropriate countermeasures, and the impact of these countermeasures from an economic, environmental, and social perspective were discussed. The findings are enhanced by a literature review. The outcome shows the importance of such a holistic approach, as the impact of resilience measures often has negative consequences that are not immediately apparent.