Impacts of Covid-19 on personal protective equipment supply chain: an Italian survey

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply chain (SC) was seriously affected by disruptions consequent to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, due to the primary role of these products to limit the virus diffusion and the consequent large increase in demand that was experienced. Literature addresses the effects of Covid-19 on the PPE SC of items like masks, visors, and gloves from different perspectives, such as the impacts on vulnerability and the associated need for resilience, the solutions to improve the value chain of these products, as well as the SC performances experienced by the actors involved, particularly the healthcare end users. However, few studies focus on PPE producers and traders operating in the Italian market. The present work discusses a survey aimed at capturing how stock levels, demand rates, and lead times in the PPE SC were impacted by the onset of the pandemic. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 994 firms selected from the official lists of PPE authorized producers and traders in Italy. The application of the Kruskal-Wallis statistical test highlighted an increase in delivery lead times affecting all the respondents, regardless their SC role. Importers and distributors reported a larger number of customer orders than Italian manufacturers, with consequent higher stock levels, both during and after the first lockdown period. The outcomes of the study might help deepening the causes and effects of the reported criticalities in the PPE SC.