Current Supply Chain Research Articles

Significance of brief interventions in the healthcare supply chain of eating disorders: a narrative review

So far there is no comprehensive overview on brief outpatient interventions in eating disorders. The specific relevance of psychotherapeutic brief interventions for Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder is presented against the background of current healthcare supply chains. This review is based on a literature search that evaluated relevant publications in applicable literature databases. The articles were excerpted and are presented in a narrative overview. In summary, the literature shows a marginal expansion of healthcare provision towards personnel-efficient and cost economic therapeutic solutions for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder, while the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa is currently determined by more in- and extensive approaches.

Product quality and return policy in a supply chain under risk aversion of a supplier

This study aims to identify the relationship between return policy and product quality decisions in a decentralized system. We consider a supply chain situation, as in a retail or OEM supply chain system, where a buyer decides a return policy for consumers and delegates the product quality decision to a supplier. We consider the supplier׳s different risk attitudes, whether risk averse or risk neutral. A penalty contract is introduced to control the supplier׳s hidden action, conveying external failures due to returns to the supplier. We show the conditions for supply chain coordination and demonstrate that product quality enhancement needs to precede a generous return policy setting in view of the prevalent business environment and current supply chain management practices. Moreover, we indicate the optimal conditions for a generous return policy setting without quality enhancement.

Toward a cloud-based manufacturing execution system for distributed manufacturing

This paper illustrates the needs and challenges for the management of distributed manufacturing in a multi-company supply chain and processes these further as features of new IT systems. Requirements are collected from manufacturing companies and combined with insights from literature in the field of current ERP/MES system drawbacks, advantages, needs and challenges. The findings show that the needs and challenges in data integration inside SME networks are closely related to the limitations of current supply chain solutions. Current ERP-solutions lack extended enterprise support and a shared cloud-based approach. On the other hand, current MES solutions can operate the manufacturing process, but not for distributed manufacturing. As an answer to the requirements, we made a proposal for the core of architecture for next generation of MES solution in this position paper. Moreover, a pilot software tool has been developed to support the needs related to real time, cloud-based, light weight operation.

Medicine Donations: Matching Demand with Supply in Broken Supply Chains

The continuing economic downturn, which impacts health systems around the globe, will lead to more requests for medicine donations in the future. This discussion paper analyses the context in which cross-sector partners (pharmaceutical manufacturers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local health institutions) can work together to give beneficiaries access to medicines donated by manufacturers in emergencies and non-emergencies. These cross-sector partners need to be aware of all stakeholders and ethical dilemmas that a medicine donation may pose. In an effort to address medicine donations under a holistic approach for the first time, we identify four factors that hinder supply chain performance: problematic assessment of demand, opaque supplies for donations, lack of funds for medicine distribution, and fuzzy communication among partners. We describe how partners in supply chains of medicine donations can tackle these issues by (a) setting up new or managing existing partnerships, (b) mapping current supply chains in emergencies and non-emergencies, and (c) managing a harmonized supply chain through transparent end-to-end flows. Once partners apply these design elements, they will make a step forward in ensuring that donations are needs-driven and based on an understanding of local cultures.

Tactical management for coordinated supply chains

Current supply chain (SC) optimization models deal with material and information flows along few echelons of the SC (“own SC”), minimizing the role of the complex behavior of third parties (raw materials and utilities suppliers, clients, waste and recovery systems, etc.) in the decision-making process of this SC of interest. Third parties are just represented by simplified parameters (capacity, cost, etc.) usually considered constant, but the decisions based on this picture are not adequate when the third parties’ behavior is significantly affected by these decisions or other circumstances, especially when global coordination is attained. In this work, the role of these third parties, which might face different objectives, has been integrated and a solution based on the full SC management problem is proposed. This results on a generic model which may be used to optimize the planning decisions of the multi-product multi-site SC of interest (production/distribution echelons), taking into account the production vs. demand coherence among this SC and the third parties. The features of the proposed model are illustrated using a case study which considers the coordination of a series of resource (energy) generation SCs linked to a production/distribution SC (“SC of interest”). The results show how the behavior of the considered SCs determines the best planning decisions of each organization, which will depend on the way used to coordinated them (e.g. toward less total or individual costs), adding to the PSE science a new point of view which allows all involved organizations to share responsibilities in the system.

The Colombian biofuel supply chains: The assessment of current and promising scenarios based on environmental goals

The Colombian biofuels are used in the transportation sector at low-percentage blends of biofuel–fossil fuel (until 8:92, volume basis). Since energy policies encourage the increment of Bioenergy percentage in energy matrix, the biofuels production and use should be increased during the next years. In this work, the environmental assessment of several scenarios involving current and promising biofuel supply chains was made. The aim of this paper was the assessment of several possible alternatives to increase the biofuels production from current agricultural supply chains. Sugarcane, cassava, oil-palm and jatropha were considered as feedstocks for the analysis. The environmental assessment included calculations of the greenhouse gas emissions and the potential environmental impacts, using the life cycle assessment approach. The results indicated that the current biofuels production mitigates environmental impacts in comparison to fossil fuels production and use. Additionally, biofuels production using promising feedstocks could be environmentally competitive if the production processes are improved.

Strengthening supply chain risk management for business continuity: a case study approach

This research is undertaken to determine the current business supply chain risk management (SCRM) practices in Malaysia's electronics industry after the Japan earthquake and tsunami through assessment of robustness, resilience, flexibility and agility of the supply chain. In this study, findings of the case studies of buyer-seller (dyadic) relationships conducted on SCRM practices are reported. Three interviews were conducted with senior managers from one of the top Japanese electronics manufacturers as well as its component parts supplier. We observed that while successful SCRM greatly enhances business continuity, securing the supply chain requires a full collaboration among supply network partners, a well-aligned structure and a more dynamic and innovative approach for catastrophic risks management. We also proposed a conceptual framework that can be used in future study for examining the relationship of robustness, resilience, flexibility, agility of a supply chain and firm's sustainability.

Agile Supply Chain Performance Evaluation of Automobile Manufacturing Based on Regression Analysis

Considering the current agile supply chain performance evaluation methods of automobile manufacturing has defects such as low accuracy, complex computing. This paper proposes the agile supply chain performance evaluation of automobile manufacturing based on regression analysis. Firstly, the index system of agile supply chain performance evaluation of automobile manufacturing is established. Secondly, the agile supply chain performance evaluation model is build based on regression analysis. Finally, the feasibility and availability of this model are verified combined with the numerical examples.

Supply chain challenges and their implications for business strategies : a small and medium sized enterprises perspective in Lithuania

The purpose of the article is to find out patterns of interdependency, in terms of opportunities targeted and strategies deployed, between current supply chain challenges and business strategies of small and medium sized enterprises in Lithuania. The research starts with the theoretical analysis of the problem, then the results of an empirical study on supply chain challenges faced and business strategies undertaken by small and medium sized enterprises in Lithuania are presented. At the end of the article conclusions and further research suggestions are formulated.

Opportunities for Local for Local Food Production. A Case in the Dutch Fruit and Vegetables

This paper investigates the opportunities for farmers to produce for local consumers, based on a case study in the Dutch horticulture sector. Main requirements for the set-up of a local chain of supply chain actors are investigated. Producer requirements are added value, availability of time, infrastructure and training. Retailer requirements are quality of food, purchasing volumes, food safety, communication to consumers and traceability of products. For consumers taste/freshness, sustainability, health benefits and authenticity are important attributes of local foods. Based on literature review and interviews with stakeholders four possible strategies for local food chains are defined. The ‘keep it local’ strategy means that the local food supply chains will not make use of the current infrastructure of the marketing coop that acts as chain coordinator. Deliveries are directly between farmer and retail outlet. The local products - conventional supply chain strategy implies that current (non-local) supply chains are used to distribute local products. The supply chain planning will be more complex since products need to be separated per grower and distributed to several local supermarkets. In the ‘enabling producers’ strategy the marketing coop/chain coordinator is going to enable its member producers to sell their products locally. The marketing coop can support producers in for instance, billing and payments, marketing, logistics. The fourth strategy aims at strengthening current consumer communication strategies. It is argued that connecting producers and consumers, regardless of where they live is advantageous. Conclusion is that strategy 3; ‘Enabling producers’, in combination with strategy 4; ‘Strengthening current consumer communication strategies’ are the most promising options in setting up local food supply chains. Strategies 1 and 2, where the marketing coop/chain coordinator itself takes on the challenge of setting up local food supply chains meets too much resistance from the retail companies (head-office level) and offers too little opportunities for providing added value to both producers and retailers.

The Role of Food Hubs in Food Supply Chains

The dramatic rise of the foods market and the need for sustainable local food value chains has correspondingly led to innovative solutions designed to meet this burgeoning demand. Food hubs are just one of the local entities increasing in number across the U.S. and being used to facilitate a closer connection between producers and consumers. Despite their popularity and increasing numbers, there exists comparatively little systematic research regarding food hubs; for example, investigation into the primary impetus for the formation of food hubs and local food chains, best practices, demonstrated impacts on the community, coexistence with current food supply chains, food safety, and the long-term viability of such entities have been explored only minimally in current literature. This commentary provides a brief context to present relevant questions for further research in the emerging trend of food hubs.

Current economic downturn and supply chain: the significance of demand and inventory smoothing

The aim of this article is to analyse and quantify the effects of demand and inventory smoothing into supply-chain performance, facing the extreme volatility and impetuous alteration of the market produced by the current economic recession. To do so, we model a traditional serial three-stage supply chain and we test five settings of order smoothing under two shocks in the market demand, and we measure effects in terms of internal process benefits and customer service level of all supply chain partners. Results show that the implementation of this inventory strategy should be based on reward schemes; in fact a higher level of smoothing can generally improve the performance of the upstream stages. On the contrary, this approach cannot be always beneficial for the retailer as the decrease in service level can outweigh the decrease in bullwhip.

Security of E-Procurement Transactions in Supply Chain Reengineering

With the rapid rise of Business to Business (B2B) transactions over the internet and the increasing use of e-procurement solutions by large organizations for purchasing, there is a need to reengineer current legacy supply chain management systems in order to integrate them with modern e-procurement systems. Although there is a great deal of research in the area of integration with e-procurement systems, there is little attention for security aspect of this integration that responds to the need for accurate and secure information exchange has become essential to doing business. Security is a consistent and growing problem for e-commerce and procurement solutions. As the number and frequency of security violations continues to rise, there is a corresponding dependence on information technology to drive business value, which in turn increases the importance and criticality of transaction data. The result is an increasing demand for secure e-procurement transactions to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data. Secure transactions are essential if organizations are to fully realize the benefits of e-procurement which include increased productivity, lower purchasing pricing, streamlined processes, reduced order fulfillment time and greater budgetary control; all of which can contribute to increasing an organization’s competitive advantage. This research is a case study which evaluates the security of transactions for the integration of an e-procurement solution in a large organization. It addresses both business and technological issues by examining the current threat model, security policies, system architecture, and security controls that have been implemented to ensure data integrity and confidentiality. Finally, a new model will be proposed for reengineering projects that require the integration of e-procurement systems which includes recommendations for improvements that will be benchmarked against common security designed principles.

Challenges and Opportunities of Health Care Supply Chain Management in the United States

This article explores current supply chain management challenges and initiatives and identifies problems that affect supply chain management success in the U.S. health-care industry. In addition, it investigates the impact of health care supply chain management (SCM) initiatives on the overall organizational effectiveness. The attitudinal results, as well as the performance results presented in this study support the claim of health care proponents that the SCM allows organizations to reduce cost, improve quality, and reduce cycle time, and leads to high performance.

Introduction

In our Spring 2013 issue of the Transportation Journal, we present a variety of transportation and logistics topics. In the United States, the motor carrier industry accounts for a large portion of transportation costs. In their research, Williams, Garver, and Taylor use a novel research method to present new knowledge about selection criteria applied to less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers by different segments of shippers who use LTL services. As nations and regions deal with trying to minimize socioeconomic impacts of transportation, they face dilemmas in allocating limited funds. Ludvigsen, Brechan, and Klæboe analyze the opinions of the European public regarding the European Union's decision to invest public funds in freight railways to achieve an improved balance of transportation environmental impacts. Despite reports to the contrary, international sourcing continues to be strong in current supply chain management. Mejza, Laosirihongthong, and Prajogo compare Japanese and American supplier relationships of automotive suppliers who do business in Thailand. As a multitude of factors have constrained ocean port expansion in many regions, inland ports have often been developed to complement the coastal port operations. Zeng, Maloni, Paul, and Yang present an overview of inland port development in China.In the Industry Notes Section, Harrison, Houm, Thomas, and Craighead propose a flexible optimization approach that balances the benefits of optimization in creating value and reducing cost with the increased risks that can result from the use of optimization. Their results provide both descriptive and prescriptive insights. Also along the lines of risk mitigation and transportation carrier selection criteria, Robinson, Thomas, and Mandrodt suggest transport service provider selection criteria that will aid in reducing risk in food supply chains. Also consistent with the risk theme, in his book review, Young reviewed Introduction to Transportation Security authored by Frances L. Edwards and Daniel C. Goodrich. Please also note that the index that is normally published in the Winter issue of the journal appears at the end of this issue.We continue to incorporate changes to our editorial structure. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Yoshinori Suzuki, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management and Jacobson Companies Fellow in Transportation and Logistics at Iowa State University, will assume the position of Methodology Advisor. While the Transportation Journal has not revised its policies on acceptable methodologies, as the disciplines of transportation, logistics, and supply chain management continue to evolve, we believe it is important we devote attention to refining the scope of acceptable methodologies.As the new editor of Industry Notes, my goal is to support the efforts of Evelyn and Tom in the mission and objectives of the Transportation Journal. To this end, Industry Notes will continue to feature articles with an emphasis on transportation, logistics, and supply chain topics that are managerially relevant and timely to the profession. One of the main goals for Industry Notes is to advance managerial practice through original research that utilizes a variety of methodological approaches. Advancing practice also suggests that this research include an examination of new areas and/or the study of traditional approaches in different perspectives. As a general guideline, a submission to the Industry Notes should be approximately 3,000 words.I look forward to working with you in facilitating the dissemination of your research through Industry Notes. Your contribution to this section of the Transportation Journal is critical in that it ensures that the gap between theory and practice is as small as possible.Mary Holcomb

"Supply Chain Capability, Organizational Slack and the Subsequent Selection of an Alliance Strategy"

The linkages within a supply chain are increasingly important sources of competitive advantage. Network collaboration can be viewed as a dynamic capability building process that enables the system evolve with its surrounding environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate how supply chain capability and organizational slack impact the choice of alliance strategy. We argue that the selection of different types of alliance strategy is based on the distinct aspects of various shortfalls in performance of a firm¡¦s current supply chain, and that slack resources play a contingent role in influencing this choice. Data on Taiwanese optoelectronics and semiconductor companies was collected from a survey and secondary sources, give a total of 463 cases of linkage formation. The results indicate that the more a firm is seeking network efficiency and flexibility, the more likely a shaping or adapting strategy will be chosen rather than a stabilizing one. In contrast, the more a firm purses network effectiveness, the more likely it is to choose a stabilizing strategy. Organizational slack thus have distinct moderating effects on the relationship between supply chain capability and alliance strategy.

The reality and prospect of fresh agricultural product supply chains in China

In China, the supply and distribution of fresh agricultural products (FAP) can significantly impact the people that depend upon them daily. Weaknesses in Chinese FAP supply chains, combined with the increased consumption of these products, have challenged the production, logistics, management and surveillance of FAP. This paper provides an overview of the status of the current Chinese FAP supply chains and compares the primary models of FAP supply chains. Based on the actual Chinese FAP supply chains, this paper examines consumers, producers, information technology, and food miles to analyse the development of Chinese FAP supply chains, and predicts the future direction of local FAP supply chains.

A framework for the integration and coordination of the construction supply chain

The current construction supply chain is characterised by multiple subcontractors who perform most work on a construction project; provide their own resources, and coordinate between themselves under the general guidance of a main contractor. In fact, subcontractors’ schedules are integrated only at master level within the general contractor’s schedule and can be considered as distributed and heterogeneous. As a result, their coordination and integration can be a very challenging task. Although schedule coordination and integration could provide important benefits to the time and cost of construction projects, it has not attracted much attention from researchers and commercial software providers. This paper outlines the development of a solution for the coordination of schedules in the construction supply chain. While enabling coordination, the solution aims to put minimum constraints on planners; to accommodate planning information coming from different commercial planning tools, and to provide decision making capabilities. In addition, the solution is integrated within a 5D planning environment where the integrated schedules can be visualised and rehearsed.

Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices in Indian Manufacturing Firms a Case Based Research

Purpose: It is a fact that there is a great deal of knowledge gap in the existing supply chain management literature, especially on sustainable practices followed by emerging-markets manufacturing industries. Therefore, this paper aims to study sustainable supply chain practices and its implementation in Indian manufacturing firms through a case-based research. Design/Methodology/Approach: The method that used in this article is ‘case-based research’. In other words, multiple cases are being selected to perform in-depth investigation and to draw conclusions for possible managerial implications. Findings: Using triple bottom line approach of sustainability, it is found that majority of firms considered in this study practice or addressed the following issues: Social responsibility, concept of R’s, minimization of ecological foot print, elimination of waste in packaging, green initiatives, reduction of GHG, reduction of emissions. Research Limitations: It is one of the limitations that this study does not use empirical research methods or sophisticated software-based tools to put forward some holistic views, which should improve current sustainable supply chain practices in emerging-markets. Practical Implications: This article would help new researchers who want to pursue case-based research in operations management and manufacturing systems. Thus, it would be a guide for scholars in Asia and other developing countries. Originality/Value: The originality is that it uses the findings of sustainability reports and other secondary data published by firms, which are a measure of significant contribution while implementing the concept of sustainability.

Research on RFID Application in the Food Supply Chain

With the development of the information technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has become a hot topic in the fields of manufacturing and logistics. Meanwhile, food security becomes a worldwide problem. Food hazards can appear at any stage of global food supply chains, making it essential to define critical control points to capture the data about ingredients, manufacture and dates-certain, and provide it in a transparent manner to supply chain participants and consumers. In this article, I will analyze the current food supply chain situation and promote the literature review of RFID application in the food supply chain. And then the article will explore the questions and future research on RFID application in the food supply chain.