Status : Verified
Personal Name Maristela, Candy Mae, M.
Resource Title The Future of Digital Technologies in Protective Wear Manufacturing for Pandemic and Catastrophic Response in the Philippines: A Scenario-Driven Analysis
Date Issued 17 March 2023
Abstract Protective wear manufacturing in the Philippines, as an offshoot of the garments industry, is still in its early stages. At the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, mobility and health restrictions forced garment manufacturers producing non-essential goods to shut down temporarily, leading to an unintentional transition to the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Initially, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the garment industry temporarily shifted to PPE manufacturing as a contingency measure to augment their revenue from cancelled orders and eventually contribute to addressing the shortage of PPE supply in the healthcare sector.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) saw an opportunity to assist PPE manufacturers and suppliers in reducing supply chain coordination gaps by creating and deploying a digital matchmaking platform, EMPOWER PH. The platform is a supply chain management tool that connects manufacturers and suppliers with potential buyers of protective wear and community face coverings. The study focused on using scenario-driven foresight to assess the potential impact of digital technologies, using EMPOWER PH as the main case, on PPE manufacturing in the Philippines.

This foresight study determined the major driving forces attributed to three different future scenarios surrounding PPE manufacturing. Results also indicated the need to empower MSMEs and large manufacturing enterprises in four key areas: access to resources, workforce upskilling, technology learning, and business continuity and resilience. From a technology management perspective, the strategies ideal for each scenario were centralized on the effective deployment and diffusion of digital technologies on a national scale.
Degree Course Master of Technology Management
Language English
Keyword Digital Technologies, COVID-19, Garment Manufacturing, PPE Development, Crisis Response, Capacity Building
Material Type Thesis/Dissertation
Preliminary Pages
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