Configuring Multi-Stage Global Supply Chains with Uncertain Demand

Abstract

Global outsourcing has emerged as one of the major approaches for many industries to gain competitive edge. The movement of the domestic supply chains towards globalization involves the company’s worldwide interests and necessitates a unified way of managing and coordinating activities all across the globe. As the result of globalization, research in global supply chains is receiving more and more attention and many studies have been conducted to tackle various features associated with global networks. In this chapter we focus on the configuration of the global supply chains facing uncertain demand. We specifically intend to coordinate the supplier selection with global production-distribution decisions such as the determination of the capacity of each manufacturing facility and the material flow between different facilities. Based on the literature review an issue that has not received enough attention in this research area is the uncertainty factor. Schmidt & Wilhelm (2000) and Santoso et al. (2004) mention that few studies have addressed the uncertainties associated with global networks. Uncertainties are integral parts of global companies and failing to incorporate these factors in any model trying to tackle global supply chain problems might result in great financial losses or even failure of the business. The policy for selecting suppliers is one of the most crucial decisions which affects both the quality and cost of the products, especially in IT and manufacturing industries. There are a vast number of emerging small and medium-sized enterprises especially in Asia which are selected everyday to serve as major outsourcing targets due to their lower labor and material costs. Only a few researches in the global context focus on the capacitated supplier selection issues under demand uncertainty and combining the supplier selection issue with global production-distribution decisions is an important feature of our model, Qi (2007). In global supply chain management it is very important to consider the overall costs of the network. While labor and production costs may be significantly lower across the border companies must also consider other factors such as exchange and tariff rates, costs of space, governmental considerations and global trade issues. The proposed model considers the