Complete Supply Chain Research Articles

Analyzing Investment Regions in Mainland China for Taiwanese Firms by Association Rule Mining

Mainland China has the largest production capacity for printed circuit board (PCB) globally, as well as the most complete supply chain. Taiwanese businesses are the main supplier in the Chinese PCB supply chain. Based on the existing investment data, this study aims to explore and forecast the areas which are worth developing for Taiwanese PCB businesses. Through the association rules to explore data, this research intends to identify the association among the PCB industrial areas in which Taiwanese businesses are invested. Data for this study are obtained from the Taiwan Economic Journal to analyze Taiwan Stock Exchange Companies and over-the-counter-listed firms on PCB investment by Taiwanese businesses in Mainland China. The main findings include that Kunshan, Suzhou, and Shenzhen are the investment focus for the upstream and mid-stream manufacturers, and the investment level in Shanghai is higher than in the other places for the downstream manufacturers. For the upstream and mid-stream manufacturers, Changshu is another area worthy of investment for firms. Changshu and Dongguan can be the choice for the midstream manufacturers. The research results can serve as a valuable reference for Taiwanese businesses.

Establishing The Principles In Halal Logistics

This research paper aims to establish the principles of halal logistics. This exploratory research paper is based on a large discussion group held in Malaysia to define the scope of halal logistics, its principles and foundation for Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Halallogistics covers warehousing, transportation and terminal operations. The establishment of these principles serves as a guide for the creation of a global halal logistics system; minimising hardship for the halal industry; define cross-contamination between halal and haramand how to avoid it; create an evolution of a complete halal value chain and supply chain; and benchmark with existing standards and best practices. For Muslim countries, halal logistics is based on avoiding direct contact with haram, addressing the risk of contamination, and perception of the Muslim consumer. For non-Muslim countries, halal logistics is only based on avoiding direct contact with haram and addressing the risk of contamination. Since this paper is an exploratory study, it provides some insights into the minimum and preferred level of halal logistics in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. However, quantitative research is needed to confirm this difference in consumer perception between Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Integrated imperfect production inventory model under permissible delay in payments depending on the order quantity

The aim of this paper is to develop an improved inventory modelwhich helps the enterprises to advance their profit increasing and costreduction in a single vendor-single buyer environment with permissible delayin payments depending on the ordering quantity and imperfect production.Through this study, some numerical examples available in the literature areprovided herein to apply the permissible delay in payments depending on theordering quantity strategy. Furthermore, imperfect products will cause thecost and increase number of lots through the whole model. Therefore, formore closely conforming to the actual inventories and responding to thefactors that contribute to inventory costs, our proposed model can be thereferences to the business applications. Finally, results of this studyshowed applying the permissible delay in payments can promote the costreduction; and also showed a longer trade credit term can decrease costs forthe complete supply chain.

Information System Costs of Utilizing Electronic Product Codes in Achieving Global Data Synchronization within the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Network

Numerous benefits of implementation of global data synchronization (GDSN) in the pharmaceutical supply chain have been identified, including reduced counterfeiting, decreased medication errors, increased supply chain efficiency, and standardized regulatory evolution. For this study, a complete GDSN supply chain framework was developed as a model for the industry to achieve Global Standard (GS1) standards. Each supply chain member must have a strong enterprise resource planning (ERP) information system to accommodate the initial electronic product code information services (EPCIS). A web-based Datapool—which connects the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer—will assist in reaching the data synchronization stage. The most important step is to have an open standard of GS1 global registry to enable the Epedigree to be traced through the supply chain system. When combined with EPCIS, as well as electronic product code global (EPCglobal) standardization and GS1 Global Registry, the supply chain can achieve global data synchronization and traceability. The comprehensive GDSN framework provided in this study provides the pharmaceutical industry an estimate of the total costs of attaining a global data synchronization network.

National oil companies: business models, challenges, and emerging trends

This paper provides an assessment and a review of the national oil companies’ (NOCs) business models, challenges and opportunities, their strategies and emerging trends. The role of the national oil company (NOC) continues to evolve as the global energy landscape changes to reflect variations in demand, discovery of new ultra-deep water oil deposits, and national and geopolitical developments. NOCs, traditionally viewed as the custodians of their country’s natural resources, have generally owned and managed the complete national oil and gas supply chain from upstream to downstream activities. In recent years, NOCs have emerged not only as joint venture partners globally with the major oil companies, but increasingly as competitors to the International Oil Companies (IOCs). Many NOCs are now more active in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), thereby increasing the number of NOCs seeking international upstream and downstream acquisition and asset targets

Supply Chain Management as the Company Engine in Automotive Manufacturing

The objective of this paper is to define how to create a supply chain management (SCM) organizational structure with roles and responsibilities in a multinational company with a big part of the supply chain inside of the company. SCM means having under control the complete supply chain to decide the global optimal instead of summing up the optimal of each node independently. We propose, based on the systems thinking concept, how to develop an organizational structure where the SCM acts as the engine of the organization. There must be a strategy to create this structure starting from the bottom to the top of an organization. An illustration example is given in a first tier supplier of an automotive supply chain.

BOM based supply chain risk management

Although the application of supply chain management to reduce various losses increases the efficiency of supply chains, it decreases their robustness. Nowadays, supply chains involve risks such as natural disasters and system failures. Therefore, it is essential to both evaluate the risk and devise countermeasures as supply chain risk management (SCRM). However, manufacturers have difficulty identifying the complete supply chain structure, and this interferes with the implementation of SCRM. This paper proposes a method to evaluate the potential risks associated with the parts of products on the basis of the bill of material (BOM) without identifying suppliers. We applied this method to hard disk drive manufacturing to determine its effectiveness.

Importância da Aquicultura na Saúde Pública

A aquicultura é uma importante cadeia produtiva brasileira, que vem se tornando cada vez mais notável no mercado internacional.Entretanto, causa impactos ambientais e riscos para a saúdepública, decorrentes de falhas técnicas e sanitárias que podemser observadas ao longo de toda cadeia produtiva. Nessa revisão,serão abordados importantes temas relacionados à aquicultura esuas interfaces na preservação ambiental e da saúde das populações,abrangendo importantes zoonoses que vem se tornandoemergentes e outros aspectos como a resistência a antibióticosdecorrentes da utilização inapropriada pelos produtores.

Investigation of the complete supply chain management for potatoes in Northern Ireland

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is an integral approach of management where lots of beneficiaries work together with their professional interest. Potatoes supply chain like other agricultural products in developed country like the United Kingdom included some important beneficiaries. Interests are not same due to the nature of the professional activity. In distribution systems in developed country always have problems to organise all beneficiaries. Some beneficiaries are discriminated some are not their status as profitable either company or sole trader. In the study, potato farmers of Northern Ireland produce potatoes and these potatoes supposed to be distributed directly to the consumers. As the work in the capitalist society divided in many ways with profit motive, therefore there were many intermediaries between producers and consumers who worked for distributing NI potato to the consumers. They were related together with their own interest and goal. One beneficiary was not thinking about another beneficiary with any kind of interest sacrifice. Finally farmers who were the main producers became discriminated with the price. This is the main problem found in the study. Consumers also have no intention to know the life of farmers. If farmers’ societyis not survived in sustainable development way then the potatoes will not be cultivated. Therefore in potatoes farming everybody in the society needs to make their attention for the right of the potatoes farmers of NI. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbau.v10i1.12104 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 10(1): 125–132, 2012

The water footprint of soy milk and soy burger and equivalent animal products

As all human water use is ultimately linked to final consumption, it is interesting to know the specific water consumption and pollution behind various consumer goods, particularly for goods that are water-intensive, such as foodstuffs. The objective of this study is to quantify the water footprints of soy milk and soy burger and compare them with the water footprints of equivalent animal products (cow's milk and beef burger). The study focuses on the assessment of the water footprint of soy milk produced in a specific factory in Belgium and soy burger produced in another factory in the Netherlands. The ingredients used in the products are same as real products and taken from real case studies. We analysed organic and non-organic soybean farms in three different countries from where the soybeans are imported (Canada, China, and France). Organic production reduces soil evaporation and diminishes the grey water footprint, ultimately reducing the total water footprint. The water footprint of 1l soy milk is 297l, of which 99.7% refers to the supply chain. The water footprint of a 150g soy burger is 158l, of which 99.9% refers to the supply chain. Although most companies focus on just their own operational performance, this study shows that it is important to consider the complete supply chain. The major part of the total water footprint stems from ingredients that are based on agricultural products. In the case of soy milk, 62% of the total water footprint is due to the soybean content in the product; in the case of soy burger, this is 74%. Thus, a detailed assessment of soybean cultivation is essential to understand the claim that each product makes on freshwater resources. This study shows that shifting from non-organic to organic farming can reduce the grey water footprint related to soybean cultivation by 98%. Cow's milk and beef burger have much larger water footprints than their soy equivalents. The global average water footprint of a 150g beef burger is 2350l and the water footprint of 1l of cow's milk is 1050l.

Inventory control for the supply chain: An adaptive control approach based on the identification of the lead-time

In this paper, an Internal Model Control (IMC) scheme is incorporated in production inventory control systems in a complete supply chain. This control scheme presents a good target inventory tracking under the perfect knowledge of the system. Furthermore, the inventory tracking and load disturbance rejection control problems can be tackled separately. However, the closed-loop performance of the IMC scheme may be degraded due to a mismatch between the modelled and actual delay or to the fact that delays may be time-varying. Thus, the IMC control scheme is enhanced in this work with a novel method for the online identification of lead times based on a multimodel scheme. In this way, all benefits of the IMC scheme can be exploited. A detailed discussion of the proposed production inventory system is provided including a stability and performance analysis as well as the identification capabilities of the algorithm. Several simulation examples illustrate the efficiency of the approach.

Indicators of energy efficiency of supply chains

Energy issues have become increasingly important in supply chain management (SCM). Traditionally, the focus of the environmental impacts of SCM has been on transport chains, which are key functions in logistics. Therefore, many of the relevant measures to evaluate the energy efficiency of supply chains are related to transport chains and mileage. In order to affect transport demand and total energy consumption, the focus should be shifted from single shipments to the analysis of complete supply chains, including raw material procurement, inbound logistics, production and outbound logistics. This paper presents examples of system boundaries and different types of indicators utilised in the measurement of the energy efficiency of supply chains. The case studies analyse the supply chains relating to the paper and metal industries. The results of these case study examples show that even in energy-intensive heavy industry, supply chain decisions can affect energy consumption significantly, although production phase dominates the overall energy consumption.

Performance measurement for sustainable supply chain in automotive industry: a conceptual framework

Many automobile organisations need to establish suitable measures for effective green supply chain performance measurement because they have failed in supply chain management due to their inability to develop the performance measures and metrics required for complete supply chain integration and performance measurement. This paper discusses how these challenges may be addressed through the application of a systems approach to sustainable performance measurement of automotive supply chain management. This paper briefly reviews some of papers published to evaluate and develop performance measurement of automotive supply chain as a hybrid concept.

An efficient distributed discovery service for EPCglobal network in nested package scenarios

Today, obtaining and managing all the information about supply chains are key tasks for the improvement and progress of business and commercial strategies. Ubiquitous information technologies, like RFID, can be used for tracking and tracing of materials and items as they move through the supply chain. In this scenario, EPCglobal consortium provides an architecture framework for collecting, sharing and accessing information about EPC-tagged objects. One of the key components of EPCglobal architecture required to implement track and trace capabilities is the discovery service (DS). Although DS is still under development, it is expected that DS will be implemented by a centralized architecture. Another key component is the object name service (ONS), which is used to resolve the Internet addresses of the EPC information services (EPCISs). According to EPCglobal specification, ONS is based on the traditional Internet DNS. In this work, an alternative solution to implement ONS and DS services is presented. Both services are based on a distributed architecture, which eliminates the disadvantages and weaknesses of the centralized implementations of ONS and DS. In addition, the proposed distributed EPCglobal network architecture allows item level track and trace capabilities even if item visibility along the complete supply chain is not possible. In previous works, other authors always assume complete item visibility. However, in many industrial fields where items are packaged to facilitate the transport and distribution, this supposition is not true. Both EPCglobal network solutions are analytically compared, concluding with the benefits of using the distribution solution.

Concurrent commercialization and new‐product adoption for construction products

PurposeThis paper aims to report on data from case studies of development process, and a survey of use patterns over ten years, for 13 highly innovative products. While the paper does not claim concurrent commercialization (CC) as a universal solution, it aims to highlight significant correlates between management best practice, concurrent commercialization and builder use rates for these 13 highly innovative products in the USA residential construction industry.Design/methodology/approachTo study the effect of CC on new‐product adoption rates by installers, the authors assembled data from the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Builders' Practices Survey (BPS) for the years 1996 through 2005. The data collection was executed in three phases. Best practices were collected from literature. Explanatory variables regarding best practice and presence of CC were collected and measured through case studies. The measure of market penetration, based on the concept of innovativeness, was obtained from the BPS survey data.FindingsData analysis of 13 highly innovative products indicates that CC is consistent with accepted best practice in product development. These products suggest that some organizations might contain 100 percent CC with varying degrees of best practice management ideals, and also include equilibrium.Research limitations/implicationsThe extent to which products, with varying CC percentage, are affected by individual steps within CC is a direction for future research. The authors also did not have the ability to look at the entry year for other products strongly rooted in CC; there could be other explanations for a product entering the market strongly.Practical implicationsCC is essentially directed at designing a commercialization process, as opposed to designing a product, which benefits the product development from exposure to all members along the construction supply chain. CC, drawing on concurrent engineering, expands the definition of the market to include all supply‐chain participants, not just the installers and advocates the establishment of a complete supply chain, possible only if every member of the chain foresees net benefits to joining. In strengthening the commercialization process, the product might experience better probability of success.Originality/valueThe paper places reason upon product failure, in the residential construction industry, through further investigation of sound commercialization process.

Evolutionary variational inequalities and applications to complex dynamic multi-level models

In this paper we consider a supply chain network model with three tiers of decision-makers (manufacturers, retailers, and consumers) in the case when prices and shipments are evolving on time. Moreover, we assume that excesses of production and excesses of demand of the commodity are present. For such a framework we furnish, using the infinite dimensional duality theory, the equilibrium conditions for the representatives of each tier of the supernetwork, the time-dependent variational formulation governing the complete supply chain supernetwork, and we provide some existence theorems and a numerical example.

Islamic structured trade finance: a case of cotton production in West Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show a creative way to fulfill financing needs of entities involved in pre‐ and post‐harvest production activities in extreme cases while mitigating inherent risks by Islamic structured trade finance from the real‐life case of cotton production in Burkina Faso.Design/methodology/approachThe existing Islamic structured finance design for SOFITEX was analyzed in details so as to provide clear understanding of the subject matter. This structure was evaluated and a new design is proposed to better accommodate the financing need of SOFITEX.FindingsThere are some inherent drawbacks, explained in details, of the existing Islamic finance structure. Salam contract for pre‐harvest input financing in favor of farmers can, unlike existing structure, accommodate the complete supply chain financing solution, hence, support the whole production cycle from input procurement to the exports of cotton fiber. That is, it fits better for financing the agricultural sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe case and the structure studied in depth are limited to the cotton sector. This could be widened in subsequent researches.Practical implicationsIslamic finance instruments provide us enough room to fulfill financing needs in extreme cases as a better alternative to conventional financing tools. A method of mark‐up calculation for structured cotton trade finance is developed for Murabaha and Salam contracts.Originality/valueThe paper sheds new light on how to finance the agricultural sector starting from input procurement to the sale/export by Islamic finance instruments. It also shows how to get guarantees in the form of commodities in warehouse rather than bank guarantees, mortgage, sovereign guarantees, etc.

Analyzing supplier development criteria for an automobile industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an approach to identify and rank the criteria used for the supplier development using interpretative structural modeling (ISM).Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a framework to analyze the interactions among the criteria such as competitive pressure, evaluation and certification system, incentives, supplier development programs, inter‐organizational communication, buyer‐supplier relationship, supplier commitment, supplier performance, asset specificity, joint action, trust, long‐term strategic goals, top management support, purchasing performance, and supplier strategic objective for the supplier development using ISM. The developed framework is illustrated using a case study taken in an automobile firm.FindingsThe paper contributes to research in supply chain management (SCM) and particularly in supplier development. Research in the area of SCM has intensified in recent years for a number of reasons. Managers have now realized that actions taken by one member of the chain can influence the responsiveness, efficiency and profitability of the complete supply chain. Firms are increasingly thinking in terms of competing as part of a supply chain against other supply chains, rather than as a single firm against other individual firms.Research limitations/implicationsSince the proposed framework is applied for only a single company, further studies can be done using the same framework for several companies in India. This will provide a better understanding of how the variables that influence supplier development are affected in different types of industry.Practical implicationsManagers can use the proposed framework to develop better relationships with suppliers and to create management responses that influence and improve their relationships with them.Originality/valueThis paper uses 15 criteria to propose a framework for the supplier development and also finds the interactions between the criteria which influence the most and the least to improve the relationship with the suppliers.

Guest Editorial: Gender and Fisheries

The journal Development is committed to‘the search for alternative paths of social transformation towards a more sustainable and just world’. As you read the articles on gender and fisheries papers, you will find a natural fit with this commitment. Fisheries face daunting ecological sustainability challenges, produce profits from the booming global trade in fish products and yet give livelihoods to millions of poor fishworkers and their communities. The sector is erroneously perceived to be a‘male only’domain, apparently offering little opportunity to women. The articles, which consider complete fish supply chains, show that women’s and sometimes youth contributions are substantial but largely invisible and could be greatly enhanced with suitable assistance.‘Development’ fits in also because developing countries dominate world fish production from natural fish stocks and aquaculture, but women in developing countries are in the labour intensive, poorest paid and least recognized jobs in the fish supply chain, while the better-off people in developed countries benefit from their production. A ‘just world’ is thus relevant in many dimensions, including gender and in the unequal competition between large scale and small-scale enterprises for declining fish stocks and farm spaces. Gender and fisheries studies are overdue for development attention and yet the road to this special focus in Development has been too short. As a reader of Development, accustomed to rich discussions, abundant data and well-developed frameworks for examining development issues, you may find our papers preliminary and tentative. Nevertheless, this selection of research reports, largely from papers presented at the November 2007 Asian Fisheries Society 2nd Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries, seeks to create a solid basis for understanding gender and gender differentiated roles and development needs in fisheries and aquaculture, and for providing improved, just and gender sensitive development policy and practice. Fisheries and aquaculture are usually overlooked in global development statements, often notionally lumped together with agriculture and rural development, with which they have commonalities and significant differences. Yet, despite the lack of visibility

Why Look at Fisheries through a Gender Lens?

Fisheries have long been weak on a gender perspective, focusing mainly on the fish stocks and fish production conducted predominately by men. In terms of gender focus, aquaculture has fared only slightly better. Fortunately the tide of attention to women and, more generally, gender in fisheries and aquaculture is turning, due partly to the Asian Fisheries Society symposia that commenced in 1998. The second Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries, held on 21November 2007 in Kochi, India, was the latest in that series. To set the scene for the selection of symposium papers that follow, I offer the perspective that looking at fisheries and aquaculture through the gender lens ^ that is, with deliberate focus on gender, and age differentiation of roles, responsibilities, access and opportunities ^ makes sense because it provides a better view of the whole industry and social context. As with any good lens, the picture through the gender lens is more complete, better focused and provides the basis for understanding issues and suggesting more appropriate action. The gender lens also reinforces the importance of an integrated and complete supply chain approach to fisheries, a vital factor for a sector that produces a heavily traded commodity. Without the gender lens, fisheries and aquaculture studies and actions tend to value only fish production and fish stocks, and the knowledge and roles directly linked to these. Three case studies, chosen because some suitable gender-based information exists, illustrate the importance of using a ‘gender lens’. First, to illustrate a remote society surprisingly strongly affected by global links, I describe fisheries in the Republic of Palau. Second, to look at the impact of resource degradation on fishing communities, I have chosen the east coast peninsular Malaysia fisheries. And, third, to examine a recent and dramatic fisheries issue, I describe the case of HIV/AIDS in Uganda fishing communities. From these three cases, the view through the gender lens provides the clearer and better focused picture.