Title: COVID-19 and industrial resilience in the Global South. A case study on the auto parts sector in Mexico

Authors: Jorge Carrillo; Bertha Vallejo; Redi Gomis

Addresses: Department of Social Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), Tijuana, Mexico ' SARChI-TRCTI the 4IR and Sustainable Development, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, the Netherlands ' Department of Social Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), Tijuana, Mexico

Abstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the low level of resilience of supply chains and the fragility of employment in most economic sectors. This research, which is based on two independent online surveys, explores the level of readiness of automotive firms in Mexico to adopt I4.0 technologies, as well as the mitigation strategies adopted by such firms to overcome the economic effects of COVID-19. The results indicate a low level of readiness and understanding of I4.0 technologies in the automotive parts sector in Mexico and that most of the COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been focused on workforce management strategies, rather than on technological solutions.

Keywords: Industry 4.0; I4.0; automobile industry; supply chain; industrial resilience; COVID-19; Mexico.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2022.122115

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2022 Vol.22 No.1, pp.82 - 105

Received: 09 Mar 2021
Accepted: 28 Jul 2021
Published online: 08 Apr 2022 *

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