Supply chain resilience practices in FMCG sector: evidence of an empirical study

In the dynamic business environment characterized by frequent and simultaneous disruptions, companies are compelled to enhance their adaptability, particularly focusing on reinforcing supply chain resilience. This research specifically investigates supply chain resilience within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, a critical area given that consumer goods are integral to daily life and their continuous availability is essential. Using a case-based method, this study engaged in structured interviews with supply chain managers and practitioners from multinational FMCG companies known for their extensive global operations in manufacturing and product sales. Although limited to two cases, deliberately selected to represent contrasting supply chain configurations (centralized versus decentralized), the design enabled the identification of both shared and divergent practices. The findings show that both firms fully implement planning-level strategies such as digitalization, collaborative planning, and redundancy trade-offs, which emerge as universally adopted resilience measures. By contrast, the decentralized case emphasizes local supplier diversification and collaborative logistics, while the centralized case relies on strategic stocks, supplier integration, and production standardization. These results highlight that resilience practices depend on supply chain configuration. The study acknowledges the restricted sample size as a boundary condition and points to future research on hybrid or transitional strategies.