How Manufacturing Industry’s Supply Chain has Impacted During Coving-19 Pandemics (March to June) in Turkish Manufacturing Industry.

Abstract

This study aim is determining how the manufacturing industry has been impacted during COVID pandemic (March to June) in Turkey. The Turkish manufacturing industry has significant importance on Turkey’s economy and has been contributing Turkey’s %22 per cent of Gross Domestic Products. (Koç, Şenel and Kaya, 2018) These products have been contributing by 95% of Turkey’s income from exports. According to the latest report of the Turkish Statistics Institute, the Turkish manufacturing industry has experienced a decreasing by 30%, illustrated in Figure 21. (TUIK, 2020) The data collected by interviewing varies industry professionals who are working or has knowledge about supply chain processes as well as have experiences. The data is collected by using “in-depth interview” technique. The interview questions are designed semi-structured to queries. The data were collected from 6 manufacturing companies through online communications tools such as Zoom, Skype. As a result of the interviews, it is determined that the first, Coronavirus pandemic has increased the importance of domestic suppliers because companies have face problems due to regions such as Asian suppliers’ common issue for industries. The second, the products, which have alternative suppliers, have impacted less than other products. The third, the companies, which have a variety of customer ranges (not a single type of product buyers) has affected less than other companies. Besides, the non-compulsory product has faced critically demand to decrease; in contrast, compulsory products have faced with high demand (Automotive pharmacy, hygiene products). This paper has revealed similar results with some other international research companies results.