Building Supply Chain Research Articles

Building the Manufacturing R&D Infrastructure for the UK’S Nuclear New Build

Rolls-Royce has been the principal catalyst in the creation of a global network of Advanced Manufacturing Research Centres (AxRCs). The AxRCs are centres of excellence for the development and demonstration of high-value, advanced manufacturing technologies. The Nuclear AMRC has been established to help UK companies to enter the Nuclear New Build supply chain. The paper describes the background and operation of the Nuclear AMRC and describes some of the tools and work programmes being carried out.

Building humanitarian supply chain relationships: lessons from leading practitioners

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance thought and practice on supply chain relationship building, in the context of humanitarian logistics, drawing on lessons from leading practitioners.Design/methodology/approachThe presentations were treated like data, enabling grounded research concerning practitioners. The presentations were recorded, transcribed, vetted, and imported into qualitative software (NVivo8) to facilitate further analysis, which led to testable propositions.FindingsThree themes emerged, centered around relationship benefits, challenges, and advice on relationship building. Advice from the practitioners led to 11 propositions.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the presentations were treated as interview data, there was no opportunity to probe statements made by the speakers. Also, speakers were the sole representatives for their organizations. Finally, the findings cannot be generalized beyond the types of situations and organizations represented at the conference.Practical implicationsThe propositions represent advice from experienced humanitarian practitioners on building supply chain relationships.Social implicationsSupply chains are economic entities. They are also social entities. Humanitarian supply chains involve people working together to help other people in need.Originality/valueThere are few published articles on supply chain relationship building, and only several pieces on humanitarian partnerships or relationships. This paper contributes to the literature in a novel way, by drawing on expert speakers at a humanitarian conference.

AN INTERACTIVE ALLOCATION FOR DEPOT-CUSTOMER-DEPOT IN A MULTI ASPECT SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK

Supply chain excellence has a real huge impact on business strategy. Building supply chains (SCs) as flexible system represents one of the most exciting opportunities to create value. This requires integrated decision making amongst autonomous chain partners with effective decision knowledge sharing among them. The key to success lies in knowing which decision has more impact on the supply chains performance. Here, we propose a supply chain which considers multiple depots, multiple vehicles, multiple products, multiple customers, and different time periods. This paper presents a mathematical model for selecting the appropriate depots among candidate depots, the allocation of orders to depots and vehicles, also the allocation of the returning vehicles to depots, to minimize the total costs.

Building supply chain capabilities: a case study of Korean Hyundai-Kia Motor Company

With increasing levels of global competition, Korean large firms have been working for the development of overall capabilities of their suppliers. In addition to supportive government policy initiatives, Korean large enterprises have actively pursued a strategic priority of building their healthy supplier base. This paper shows how the Hyundai-Kia Motor Company (HKMC) has strengthened its suppliers by developing product development capabilities, thus enhancing its overall supply chain capabilities. Details of business practices and the implications are discussed.

Illustrating limitations of energy studies of buildings with LCA and actor analysis

Does passive housing really have better environmental performance than conventional housing? Three passive houses and four conventional houses were compared using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison also provided an actor analysis for the building supply chain and building inhabitants. Results are presented for two scenarios: ‘conventional choices’ and ‘green choices’ by the actors. The comparison confirms that passive houses have lower energy use than conventional houses, but when the environmental impact of energy production is taken into consideration, the outcome is less clear. Conventional houses can be equally good environmentally in terms of global warming, acidification, or radioactive waste as typical passive houses with electrical heating depending on the actors' choices. Actor analysis shows that inhabitants' and material producers' electricity choice are very important, while other choices (e.g. green transport) are less important. The findings highlight the importance of environmentally responsible decisions throughout the whole life cycle and the need for appropriate behaviours and actions, along with implications for improved communication. Les logements passifs ont-ils un rendement environnemental vraiment meilleur que les logements classiques ? Trois maisons passives et quatre maisons classiques ont été comparées en utilisant une méthodologie faisant appel à l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV). Cette comparaison a également fourni une analyse des acteurs concernant la chaîne logistique dans le bâtiment et les habitants des immeubles. Les résultats sont présentés pour deux scénarios, les acteurs opérant dans l'un des « choix classiques » et dans l'autre des « choix verts ». La comparaison confirme que les maisons passives ont une consommation énergétique moindre que les maisons classiques, mais lorsque l'impact environnemental de la production d'énergie est pris en compte, le résultat est moins clair. Selon les choix opérés par les acteurs, les maisons classiques peuvent être aussi bonnes en termes de réchauffement climatique, d'acidification ou de déchets radioactifs que les maisons passives types équipées de chauffage électrique. L'analyse des acteurs montre que les choix faits en matière d'électricité par les habitants et les fabricants de matériaux ont beaucoup d'importance, tandis que les autres choix (par ex. transport vert) sont moins importants. Ces constatations mettent en évidence l'importance de la prise de décisions environnementalement responsables tout au long du cycle de vie, la nécessité de comportements et de mesures adaptés, ainsi que les implications qui en découlent en termes d'amélioration de la communication. Mots clés: analyse des acteurs, évaluation environnementale, logement, comportement des habitants, analyse du cycle de vie (ACV), bâtiment bas carbone, maison passive

Flexible configuration for seamless supply chains: Directions towards decision knowledge sharing

Supply chain excellence has a real huge impact on business strategy. Building supply chains (SC s) as flexible system represents one of the most exciting opportunities to create value (e.g., seamless SC s). This requires integrated decision making amongst autonomous chain partners with effective decision knowledge sharing among them. The key to success lies in knowing which decision has more impact on the supply chains performance. Knowledge sharing has immense potential to create expedient opportunities and thus retain greater value for supply chains. In this context, knowledge management (KM) can be used as an effective approach to achieve knowledge sharing and decision synchronization among supply chain partners. To maximize competitive advantage, concept of seamless supply chains is emerging with KM as key enabler. Thus, there is a need to develop demo models that can encourage chain members towards collaborative-knowledge sharing in the SC s. This paper depicts the application of one such model based on decision knowledge sharing (DKS) for improved supply chains management. We study the impact of DKS (both partial and full DKS configuration in SC) and then compare the performance with information sharing (IS) and forecasting. By exploiting DKS and flexibility in supply chains structures better performance can be achieved. The paper develops the demo models on various supply chains scenario like (1st, 2nd and 3rd stage SC s, forecasting, IS and DKS (full and partial). The partial and full DKS based flexibility configurations of SC s are considered for simulation experimentation. A simulation model of a supply chains based on flexible framework is developed for demo purposes. The key results are highlighted along with the respective industry implications. Our research is continuing in this direction.

Building supply chain collaboration: a typology of collaborative approaches

PurposeThis research aims to examine the characteristics, requirements, benefits, and barriers to various collaborative relationships and proposes a typology of collaborative approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe research discusses insights and observations from exploratory interviews with 21 managers from ten different manufacturers and retailers.FindingsA typology of three types of collaborative approaches (collaborative transaction management; collaborative event management; and collaborative process management) is proposed. The three collaborative approaches are compared and contrasted. Benefits and limitations associated with each type of collaboration are discussed.Practical implicationsManagers can use the typology to assess current collaborations and seek ways to improve current collaborative efforts. Managers can also use the typology to develop collaborative strategies across a broad spectrum of relationships in order to determine which type of collaboration best fits each individual business relationship.Originality/valueThis research extends previous relationship typologies by focusing specifically on collaborative relationships. The research examines various types of collaborative relationships in order to categorize collaborative approaches in a manner useful to academicians and practitioners.

Decision knowledge sharing: flexible supply chains in KM context

Supply chain excellence has a real impact on business strategy. Building supply chains as flexible systems represents one of the most exciting opportunities to create value and one of the most challenging tasks for the policy makers. It requires integrated decision making amongst autonomous chain partners with effective decision knowledge sharing between them. The key to success lies in knowing which decision has more impact on the overall performance and this can be achieved by appropriate knowledge sharing. In this context, knowledge management (KM) can be used as an effective approach to achieve knowledge sharing and decision synchronisation in supply chains. Flexible supply chains (FSCs) are more complex and involve multiple autonomous players with varying technical cultures (affects knowledge mindsets), managerial background (affects decision knowledge) and supply chain management (SCM) exposures (affects knowledge sharing attitudes). Thus there is a need to develop demo models that can encourage chain managers towards collaborative knowledge sharing in the supply chains. This paper presents the application of one such model based on decision knowledge sharing (DKS) for improved supply chain management. A simulation model of a flexible supply chain based on DKS framework is developed for demo purposes. The key results are highlighted along with industry implications. The cost based performance of DKS at different levels of flexibility is studied. Thus a careful analysis of the chain with a focus on collaborative decisions is useful to ensure success. This paper addresses this interesting and challenging domain.

Ever consider a supply chain as a “community of practice”? Embracing a learning perspective to build supply chain integration

PurposeThis article introduces a conceptual view of supply chains from a situated learning and “community of practice” perspective. This non‐conventional “soft systems” view places an emphasis on the social and practical dimensions of learning within a context as a means to improve supply chain integration and performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual and introduces a learning theory that offers practical relevance to practitioners in the supply chain field.FindingsThe findings presented in this paper are conceptual. However, the perspective offered draws upon recent successful research into the dynamics of situated learning activity in a project team environment.Practical implicationsBy embracing this humanistic and social learning perspective, practitioners have opportunities to initiate a “community of practice” condition in which they systematically focus on and collaboratively develop their learning skills and their supply chain interactions and integration.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is to invite the reader to consider supply chain scenarios as “situated learning opportunities involving communities of practice” which, if appropriately engaged, can contribute towards learning and innovation and the development of inter‐organizational integration along a supply chain.

Building supply chain communication systems: a review of methods and techniques

The CODATA Data Science Journal is a peer-reviewed, open access, electronic journal, publishing papers on the management, dissemination, use and reuse of research data and databases across all research domains, including science, technology, the humanities and the arts. The scope of the journal includes descriptions of data systems, their implementations and their publication, applications, infrastructures, software, legal, reproducibility and transparency issues, the availability and usability of complex datasets, and with a particular focus on the principles, policies and practices for open data.All data is in scope, whether born digital or converted from other sources.

Building Supply Chains: A Key To Enhancing Manufacturing Performance

Supply chain management is becoming critical as firms recognize that competition is shifting from company versus company to supply chain versus supply chain. Two important factors in building successful supplier relations are (1) defining criteria to select and evaluate suppliers and (2) involving suppliers in important, inter‐company decisions. This research describes the relationships between these factors and supplier performance and between supplier performance and manufacturing performance. It develops and administers a large‐sample survey and uses factor analysis to develop measures for the importance of supplier‐selection criteria, supplier involvement, supplier performance, and manufacturing performance. The results indicate that importance of supplier‐selection criteria and the use of supplier involvement have direct and significant impacts on supplier performance and that supplier performance has a direct and significant impact on manufacturing performance.

The terrain scanning methodology, Assessing and improving construction supply chains

The terrain scanning methodology (TSM) can be used to provide an insight into supply chain proficiency. Taking a holistic viewpoint, it assesses individual business processes and whole supply chains. Building on previous research in a variety of market sectors the TSM aims to minimise the resources needed in undertaking a diagnostic while allowing a high degree of scope. The application of the methodology to a house building supply chain is described. Critical analysis of the method is undertaken. From the benefits realised the TSM is a vital initial step before embarking on a long term supply chain engineering programme.