Integrated Supply Chain Management Research Articles

Supply Chain Management: The Logic of Supply Chains and Networks

A major assumption in the supply chain management literature is that there is an economic rationale to the integration of processes across firm boundaries. In essence, it is assumed that there is a benefit in adapting and coordinating the activities carried out in sequence by the actors in the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to further develop and evaluate this fundamental assumption. Based on a theoretical framework regarding interdependencies and the analysis of five different supply chains, it is proposed that there are theoretical as well as empirical reasons for enhancing the underlying logic of process integration in supply chain management to capture pooled and reciprocal interdependencies. It is argued, that by enhancing the logic, one might better understand how managers prioritize their firms' strategic actions and therefore also actual organizational behavior.

Streamlining the supply chain information system of the semiconductor industry using multi-XML schema

This study develops a supply chain informational infrastructure that streamlines message exchange among partners in the semiconductor industry to enhance the performance of the semiconductor industry's supply chain system, from the upstream IC design partner, through the midstream IC manufacturer, to the downstream end customers. Although the Electronic Commerce (EC) environment has slowly matured toward integrated supply chain management, diverse standards makes integrating various information systems on the information infrastructure system-level and the middleware level architecture, difficult. This study presents a model that uses a multi-XML schema to construct an XML system framework used for exchanging data on the Internet or an Intranet. The model can overcome the weakness of traditional object-oriented languages, by information sharing through a complete hierarchical tree structure definition of inner elements. The model can also eliminate the constraints of storage and management of heterogeneous metadata while processing other metadata.

Achieving information integration in supply chain management through B2B e‐hubs: concepts and analyses

While supply chain integration is measured at three levels: information, resources and organization, the emphasis of the paper is placed on how information integration can be achieved through B2B e‐hubs. After reviewing the concept of supply chain integration and the evolution of e‐hubs, we examine two groups of e‐hubs classified by supply chain processes, namely procurement and transportation, along with two case studies of each. A value‐gap analysis is performed from the perspectives of facilitating supply chain activities and connecting chain partners, revealing that gaps and limitations do exist in existing e‐hubs. Finally, we present a framework for integrating existing e‐hubs into other advanced information technologies, such as ERP and CRM, to bridge the gaps and to expand their functionality to provide better solutions to supply chain integration.

TQM is suppy chain management

Outlines the principles of total quality management (TQM) and theorizes whether they apply in supply chain management (SCM). Associates SCM with materials management, but observes that SCM, in assocation with other initiatives such as enterprise resource planning and electronic commerce, has been driving towards fully integrated supply chain management across organizational value chains, with cross‐boundary focus on transaction cost reduction. Sees the TQM challenge as getting culturally diverse workforces to collaborate in related continuous improvement. Believes appropriate performance measurements and metrics might assist this, but states firms need to adopt a balanced approach to goals, quality and management methods to maximize relationship capital. Asserts research is needed here, as in the SCM dimensions (partnership, information technology, operational flexibility, performance measurement, management commitment, and demand characterization) in relation to TQM application, and in other TQM/SCM areas (management role, influence of organizational structure, education and training, and cultural and behavioural issues).

Electronic Supply Chain Partnerships

This study is focused on discovering important trading partner selection criteria that are relevant in electronic data interchange (EDI)-enabled relationships. Increasing implementation of integrated supply chain management (SCM) and collaborative commerce initiatives call for the cultivation and maintenance of long-term strategic partnerships such as those engendered by EDI. There is a body of evidence showing that hub firms (i.e., firms that initiate technology-enabled partnership networks) are, in fact, getting more selective about their trading partners. However, there is a need to understand specific trading partner attributes that are more likely to ensure successful long-term relationships. Using the survey technique, this study elicited respondents from customer and supplier firms engaged in EDI applications; the final respondent sample ended up with a pool of firms primarily in the manufacturing sector. Factor analysis uncovered six trading partner selection factors which both customer and supplier firms thought were critical in selecting partners: strategic commitment of top management; readiness for high-level EDI; joint partnering; trading partner flexibility; communications; and EDI infrastructure.

Supply chain management in Australian manufacturing—two case studies

In order to promote further understanding of the adoption and integration of supply chain management techniques in Australian manufacturing industry, it was decided to conduct two case studies. The organisations chosen for these cases were companies involved in the supply of goods to a major Australian retail chain. Both companies were involved to some extent in the use of the EAN barcoding system, as well as (in some cases) use of EDI and other enabling technologies. The purpose of the case studies was to identify (and compare) how the companies had approached implementation of Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM), what benefits had been experienced and where the points of leverage for each company lay. The evidence indicates that there are benefits from execution of ISCM practices when they are implemented in a ‘Strategic’ fashion, and that companies that implement with a ‘Reactive’ mindset perceive few (if any) benefits. What also emerges is that it may not always be possible (or indeed appropriate) to implement at a fully Strategic level, and the appropriate level of implementation may be moderated by factors such as the nature of the product, competitive environment, size of the company, culture of the company and strategic posture.

Hybrid stockless: a case study

Due to the diversity of its players, the American healthcare sector has experimented with different types of integrated supply chain management systems for medical supplies. In the 1980s, US distributors were offering customers the so‐called stockless replenishment method, whereby the distributor picks and packs products according to the particular needs of each patient care unit and, in most cases, delivers them directly. By the late 1990s, stockless agreements had run out of steam, as distributors sought to optimize the balance between their efforts expended in hospital replenishment and the hospitals’ inventory savings. Among the various reflections and initiatives aimed at finding such a new balance, we focused on the experience of a Quebec (Canada) hospital adopting a hybrid version of the stockless system, under which the distributor supplied high‐volume products for the patient care unit in case quantities, leaving the institution’s central stores to break down bulk purchases of low‐volume products into point‐of‐use format (eaches). The study reveals marginal benefits from the hybrid method for both the institution and the distributor. However, it also reveals the importance of the manufacturer’s role with respect to packing formats, and demonstrates that the rearrangement of storage areas can generate substantial savings, opening the way to means for improving the healthcare sector supply chain.

Integrated supply chain management from the wholesaler’s perspective

Documents two case studies conducted in Australian companies from the wholesaling sector. Both companies are importers and wholesalers supplying into the retail sector. The aim of the case studies was to establish to what extent each had adopted and implemented new technologies for the management of supply chain activities. Although both companies have approached implementation of established technologies such as barcoding and EDI from different perspectives some common themes emerge. The picture that emerges from the two cases is that although new technology may be adopted at varying levels, and with different objectives, the right technologies provide opportunities for all players. In both cases the services provided for retailers (either large or small) were important, and it was hard to see that they could be easily and efficiently replaced solely by applying new technology. At the same time, both companies saw technology as providing opportunities to grow their businesses, and to add value to the total supply chain.

Integrated supply chain management and B2B e-commerce practices in Australia - a retailers perspective in implementing the EAN system

The efficient management of the supply chain has become a major issue for retailers, driven by the need to be responsive and effective in the context of changing business rules and facilitated by a dynamic technological environment. Mass merchants have been actively promoting the use of standard numbering, bar codes and EDI across their supplier base to facilitate these practices and are beginning to venture into the brave new world of internet trading. This paper focuses on the position of the mass merchant in the retail supply chain. As the result of a case study conducted in a major Australian retail conglomerate, it is apparent that there are both challenges and opportunities for companies trying to promote improvement in supply chain processes. Small suppliers often struggle to comply with basic requirements for electronic trading and at times struggle to see the full potential of implementation of integrated supply chain management techniques. For the retailer, buyer involvement, computer literacy and the need to find new ways of measuring true channel cost are issues that require attention for a system based on integration and cooperation to flourish. Though the benefits of using new technology for the further integration of supply chains are known and understood by retailers, there are significant organisational issues that need to be addressed. The implication is that the promotion of an integrated supply chain management methodology backward along a retail supply chain creates the need for change in both the retailers' and suppliers' systems.

Integrating business processes for global alignment and supply chain management

This paper presents a qualitative study of the integration of supply chain management and business process management activities. It reviews published literature in both fields and a number of supporting areas, revealing a minimal overlap in the research. A number of case studies of progressive organisations are examined, including an in‐depth study of Nortel Networks Corporation’s recent market repositioning and current supply chain integration activities. The study concludes that, while there is little evidence of research exploring the integration of processes extending throughout supply chains, some businesses are gaining competitive advantage by maximising the efficiency of their “global” supply chains or “virtual” organisations. A conceptual model of an integrated business process, derived from the case study, is presented, which highlights the importance of communication between processes and between partners in the supply chain.

Subregimes of Power and Integrated Supply Chain Management

Subregimes of Power and Integrated Supply Chain Management

Views on inter-enterprise relationships

The paper gives an overview of major scientific approaches to inter-enterprise relationships. A distinction is made between approaches that focus on business process integration (Supply Chain Management, Costing approaches), approaches that focus on organizational collaboration (Transaction Cost Theory, Agency Theory), and approaches that focus on the business environment (Strategic Management, Network Theory, Resource Dependency Theory). Although these approaches are different with regard to their perspectives on collaboration, variables and methods, the paper shows that they are complementary tools in the analysis and design of inter-enterprise relationships.

The New Spectrum of the Cross-Enterprise Solution: The Integration of Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Resources Planning Systems

Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of optimizing a company's internal practices and improving the interaction with its suppliers and customers. The philosophy of SCM is to have the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time, and in the right condition. The major business value of an enterprise resources planning (ERP) system lies in its ability to integrate information across an organization and to model and automate its fundamental processes. ERP systems improve the efficiency of management decisions and operation plans and increase the flexibility with adjustments of functionality to react to changes in business needs. This research aims to compare SCR with ERP in terms of their evolution, application and functionality, investigate their relationship, and explore their potential system integration. This study is concluded with the future implications of SCM and EPR systems and the industrial trend toward their integration.

Role of obligations in multiagent coordination

Carrying out distributed business processes over networks is rapidly shifting the nature of application architectures from the simple command and control client-server model to complex peer-to-peer models supporting dynamic patterns of social interaction and behavior among autonomous, proactive, goal oriented agents. Trusting agents to autonomously make decisions and execute actions on behalf of humans, as part of global business processes, requires both understanding and modeling of the social laws that govern collective behavior and a practically useful operationalization of the models into agent programming tools. In this article we present a solution to these problems based on a representation of obliged and forbidden behavior in an organizational framework, together with an inference method that also decides which obligations to break in conflicting situations. These are integrated into an operational, practically useful agent development language that covers the spectrum from the definition of organizations, roles, agents, obligations, goals, and conversations to inferring and executing coordinated agent behaviors in multiagent applications. The major strength of the approach is the way it supports coordination by exchanging constraints about obliged and forbidden behavior among agents. We illustrate this and the entire system with solution examples to the feature interaction problem in the telecommunications industry and to integrated supply chain management.

Networks and Logistics: Managing Supply Chain Relationships

The emergence of the ‘network organisation’ is a recent phenomenon that has given rise to much comment and analysis. These ‘virtual’ organisations are characterised by a confederation of specialist skills or capabilities provided by the network members. It is argued that such collaborative arrangements provide a more effective means of satisfying customer needs at a profit than do single forms of organisation undertaking multiple value-creating activities. The implications of the network organisation for marketing management are considerable and, in particular, the challenges to logistics management are profound. This paper seeks to examine the bases upon which the effectiveness of network organisations can be enhanced through integrated supply chain management.

Integrating information from global systems: Dealing with the “on‐ and off‐ramps”; of the information superhighway

The notion of an “information superhighway”; has attracted considerable attention. It offers the possibility to access information from around the world in support of many important applications in areas such as finance, manufacturing, and transportation (e.g., global risk management, integrated supply chain management, and global in‐transit visibility). Unfortunately, there are significant challenges to be overcome. One particular problem is context interchange which can be thought of as dealing with the “on‐ and off‐ramps”; of the information superhighway. Each source of information and potential receiver of that information may operate with a different context. A context is the collection of implicit assumptions about the context definition (i.e., meaning) and context characteristics (i.e., quality) of the information. When the information moves from one context to another, it may be misinterpreted (e.g., sender expressed the price in French francs; receiver assumed that it meant U.S. dollars). This ar...