Abstract
In recent years, the e-commerce market has grown significantly, and the online retail market has become very competitive. Online retailers strive to improve their supply chain operations to reduce costs and to improve customer satisfaction. Value stream mapping (VSM), a tool created by the lean production movement to identify and reduce errors, losses, and lead time and to improve value-added activities, has been proven to be effective in many manufacturing processes. In this study, we investigate the application of value stream mapping (VSM) in the supply chain of an e-commerce retailer on Amazon. By visualizing the entire supply chain with VSM, the waste that is produced during the delivery process from the retailer to the customer was identified. The five whys method was then applied to find the root cause of the waste. Furthermore, a scoring method was developed to evaluate and compare two different supply chain logistic models to identify a strategy for improvement. This study provides a systematic methodology to understand, evaluate, and improve the entire e-commerce supply chain process utilizing VSM. It was demonstrated that the methodology could improve supply chain management efficiency, customer satisfaction, and cost reduction.
Highlights
E-commerce has been the fastest-growing channel in the retail industry over the last decade, and online buying and selling have become increasingly prevalent [1,2]
The delivery time is usually long, customer service is difficult since there is no direct interaction with the customer, and the product, information, and fund transactions heavily rely on e-marketplace platforms and third-party logistics
As the core idea of lean production is maximizing customer value while minimizing waste, which is the same as supply chain management in terms of its philosophical and operational goals and perspectives, we propose to investigate the application of Value stream mapping (VSM) in the analysis of supply chain in e-commerce
Summary
E-commerce has been the fastest-growing channel in the retail industry over the last decade, and online buying and selling have become increasingly prevalent [1,2]. With e-commerce, can buyers enjoy the convenience of buying items anytime, anywhere, but online channels offer great opportunities for the retailers to sell their products directly to customers all over the world without the need for a physical store [5,6]. E-commerce has increased competition, as more businesses choose to sell their products online [7,8,9]. To remain competitive in the market, it is important for online retailers to understand their supply chain issues and to manage their supply chain effectively in order to reduce costs and to improve customer satisfaction [10,11]
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