Quick Response Production Research Articles

Requirement-driven evolution and strategy-enabled service design for new customized quick-response product order fulfillment process

• A novel design method based on the Kano model and TRIZ evolution trends is proposed. • Customized order fulfillment requirements in terms of laptop production are investigated and analysed. • Three design strategies namely, precise diffraction, regenerative chain, and flexible accommodation strategies are generated by the Kano-TRIZ design model. • These strategies are applied to the design of “Customized product order fulfillment System.” Under the digital transformation era, technologies such as Cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, and Artificial Intelligence are increasingly mature, making it possible to transform from traditional factories to smart factories. During the transformation, building a communication channel between customer requirements and production capacity to realize customized order services with low volume and high-mix production is critical. This study proposes a novel requirement-driven and strategy-based model to achieve the quick response order placement and production configuration services through three phases, that is, (1) requirement-based service diagnosis, (2) design strategy generation, and (3) service system conceptualization and evaluation. Firstly, a statistical kano analysis method was proposed to mining customer requirements considering industry contexts. Then, TRIZ evolution trends were modified to design concepts for digital transformation based on key enterprise processes. Finally, a novel service development maturity model was constructed to evaluate the new digital system design. A comprehensive empirical case study of designing “Customized Product Order Fulfillment System” for the laptop production process is conducted to demonstrate this approach. The proposed novel requirement-driven and strategy-based model is expected to provide valuable insights for suggestions on technological trends and forecasting, future diverse and innovative applications in customized order fulfillment scenarios.

The Effect of QRM on the Production Planning of Ready-Made Garments Factories in Saudi Arabia

The industrial entities has been facing challenges in the external environment, such as competition, globalization, and the high costs of raw materials needed for production, which has led to higher production costs and consequently high unit costs per product as well as the apparent scarcity of most resources and the difficulty in obtaining them. This has led to the inevitable introduction of systems with the aim to keep pace with such rapid developments, such as the rapid response manufacturing system, which is a Japanese-originated system that was introduced by Toyota, which has already employed the application of this system to meet customers’ demands and the rapid response to the technological developments and competition pressures. The factories are obliged to deliver products to their customers as fast as they can, which means gaining a competitive advantage and increasing their market share. The standard of delivery is defined as the ability of operations to deliver the contracted product to the customer on time and specified avenue .It is an effective solution for factories that cannot achieve a competitive advantage in the field of cost reduction or the quality field as they can inevitably achieve this by reducing Lead Time in its operations and then work to reduce delivery times and this is the basis on which the modern production system is represented (the rapid response manufacturing system), which urges factories to compete on the basis of the fastest date for delivering the product to customers. The problem: 1. What are the problems of production planning facing the ready-made garment factories in Medina Al-Menorah? 2. What is the relationship between QRM and production planning? 3. What is the applicability of the QRM system? 4. What is the effect of applying the QRM system on production planning in the study sample ready-made garments factories? Objectives: 1. Determining the problems of production planning facing the ready-made garment factories in Medina Al-Menorah. 2. Studying the relationship between the quick response manufacturing (QRM) and production planning. 3. Applying the quick response manufacturing system (QRM) in the sample study factories. 4. Measuring the effect of applying the quick response manufacturing (QRM) system on production planning in the study sample factories.

DIFFERENCES IN THE BRANDING STRATEGY OF THE BIG 3 SPA BRANDS ZARA UNIQLO AND H&M

Effective branding strategy requires systematic management of brand identity and brand image. Brand identity refers to the company’s plan with regard to what associations consumers hold for the brand, whereas brand image refers to the associations consumers actually hold for the brand. According to Aaker (1996), brand identity consists of brand essence, core identity, and extended identity. Brand image, on the other hand, consists of attributes, benefits, and attitudes (Keller, 1993). Given the nature of brand identity and brand image, branding strategy aims to strengthen congruence, but lessen discrepancy among the components. The strategy can be either manipulative or reflective, i.e., changing brand image to correspond with brand identity or changing brand identity to adopt brand image, respectively. Branding strategy of SPA (Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel: i.e., fast fashion) brands is not an exception. However, SPA brands are characterized as quick response production capabilities with enhanced design capabilities to produce hot products that capture the latest consumer trends and exploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand (Cachon & Swinney, 2011). Consequently, branding strategy of SPA brands is expected to be more reflective than manipulative. The primary purpose of this study is to verify the expectation, analyzing the branding strategy of the big 3 SPA brands: ZARA, Uniqlo, and H&M. All being SPA brands, the big 3 brands still need to differentiate from the competitors. From the perspective of this study, the differentiation strategy is expected to be manifested in the components of brand image to reflect, i.e., more emphasis on the reflection of attributes, benefits, or attitudes. Accordingly, this study also examines how the details of branding strategy differ among the big 3 SPA brands in this regard.

Near‐sourcing UK apparel: value chain restructuring, productivity and the informal economy

AbstractFast fashion's emphasis on quick response production and supply chain management is at the basis of renewed growth in UK apparel manufacturing. This article shows how increasing pressure from lead firms has resulted in manufacturers maintaining profit levels, mainly, through informal subcontracting and informal employment, as opposed to increasing productivity.

Selling to strategic consumers when product value is uncertain: the value of matching supply and demand

We address the value of quick response production practices when selling to a forward-looking consumer population with uncertain, heterogeneous valuations for a product. Consumers have the option of purchasing the product early, before its value has been learned, or delaying the purchase decision until a time at which valuation uncertainty has been resolved. Whereas individual consumer valuations are uncertain ex ante, the market size is uncertain to the firm. The firm may either commit to a single production run at a low unit cost prior to learning demand, or commit to a quick response strategy that allows additional production after learning additional demand information. We find that the value of quick response is generally lower with strategic (forward-looking) customers than with nonstrategic (myopic) customers in this setting. Indeed, it is possible for a quick response strategy to decrease the profit of the firm, though whether this occurs depends on various characteristics of the market; specifically, we identify conditions under which quick response increases profit (when prices are increasing, when dissatisfied consumers can return the product at a cost to the firm) and conditions under which quick response may decrease profit (when prices are constant or when consumer returns are not allowed). This paper was accepted by Martin Lariviere, operations and supply chain management.

Supply chain networks with global outsourcing and quick-response production under demand and cost uncertainty

This paper develops a modeling and computational framework for supply chain networks with global outsourcing and quick-response production under demand and cost uncertainty. Our model considers multiple off-shore suppliers, multiple manufacturers, and multiple demand markets. Using variational inequality theory, we formulate the governing equilibrium conditions of the competing decision-makers (the manufacturers) who are faced with two-stage stochastic programming problems but who also have to cooperate with the other decision-makers (the off-shore suppliers). Our theoretical and analytical results shed light on the value of outsourcing from novel real option perspectives. Moreover, our simulation studies reveal important managerial insights regarding how demand and cost uncertainty affects the profits, the risks, as well as the global outsourcing and quick-production decisions of supply chain firms under competition.

Selling to Strategic Consumers When Product Value Is Uncertain: The Value of Matching Supply and Demand

We address the value of quick response production practices when selling to a forward-looking consumer population with uncertain, heterogeneous valuations for a product. Consumers have the option of purchasing the product early, before its value has been learned, or delaying the purchase decision until a time at which valuation uncertainty has been resolved. Whereas individual consumer valuations are uncertain ex ante, the market size is uncertain to the firm. The firm may either commit to a single production run at a low unit cost prior to learning demand, or commit to a quick response strategy that allows additional production after learning additional demand information. We find that the value of quick response is generally lower with strategic (forward-looking) customers than with nonstrategic (myopic) customers in this setting. Indeed, it is possible for a quick response strategy to decrease the profit of the firm, though whether this occurs depends on various characteristics of the market; specifically, we identify conditions under which quick response increases profit (when prices are increasing, when dissatisfied consumers can return the product at a cost to the firm) and conditions under which quick response may decrease profit (when prices are constant or when consumer returns are not allowed). This paper was accepted by Martin Lariviere, operations and supply chain management.

Management Insights

Management Insights

The Value of Fast Fashion: Quick Response, Enhanced Design, and Strategic Consumer Behavior

A fast fashion system combines quick response production capabilities with enhanced product design capabilities to both design “hot” products that capture the latest consumer trends and exploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand. We develop a model of such a system and compare its performance to three alternative systems: quick-response-only systems, enhanced-design-only systems, and traditional systems (which lack both enhanced design and quick response capabilities). In particular, we focus on the impact of each of the four systems on “strategic” or forward-looking consumer purchasing behavior, i.e., the intentional delay in purchasing an item at the full price to obtain it during an end-of-season clearance. We find that enhanced design helps to mitigate strategic behavior by offering consumers a product they value more, making them less willing to risk waiting for a clearance sale and possibly experiencing a stockout. Quick response mitigates strategic behavior through a different mechanism: by better matching supply to demand, it reduces the chance of a clearance sale. Most importantly, we find that although it is possible for quick response and enhanced design to be either complements or substitutes, the complementarity effect tends to dominate. Hence, when both quick response and enhanced design are combined in a fast fashion system, the firm typically enjoys a greater incremental increase in profit than the sum of the increases resulting from employing either system in isolation. Furthermore, complementarity is strongest when customers are very strategic. We conclude that fast fashion systems can be of significant value, particularly when consumers exhibit strategic behavior. This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.

RETRACTED: Coordinating ordering, pricing and advertising policies for a supply chain with random demand and two production modes

This paper discusses production and order as well as advertising coordination issues for a single-manufacturer single-buyer supply chain. In the two-echelon system, the manufacturer sells a newsvendor-type product through the buyer who faces a random demand depending on advertising expenditure and selling price. Before the start of the selling period, the buyer needs to determine how much she should invest in advertising, how many units of products she should order from the manufacturer and at what price she should sell the ordered products. At the end of the selling period, when the revealed demand exceeds stock on hand, all the superfluous demand is met by a second order from the manufacturer, if unfilled customers are offered a discount in selling price. Based on the buyer's first order, the manufacturer needs to select his initial production quantity under a relatively cheap but long lead-time production mode, and responds to the buyer's second order with an expensive but quick-response production mode (if necessary). Under both the centralized and decentralized setting, we formulate mathematical models of how two members make their decisions, respectively, and provide the closed-form solution to each model. In order to achieve perfect coordination of the supply chain, we propose an improved sales rebate contract, which can arbitrarily allocate the profit between two parties. Finally, we implement a numerical study to illustrate the models.

Research on Modularized Quick Response Production Mode of Garment Enterprises

This text mainly introduces the connotation and function of modularized quick response production mode of garment enterprise, explores into the meaning of application of quick response production mode in garment enterprise, expounds on the key technology of quick response production mode of garment enterprise, analyses the application of quick response production mode, and brings forward the research direction of quick response production mode of garment field in the future.

A quick response production strategy to market demand

The reason for considering the quick response production strategy to market demand is due to the rapid technology change, which results in decreasing market price and obsolescence. This study considers a production strategy of locating final production line in response to the changes in market demand and the continuous deterioration in stock. The demand rate is assumed to decrease exponentially with time while the price is assumed to decrease linearly with time. The purpose of this study is to derive the most economical site of final-production line that assembles products with short life cycle. The model considered in this research takes into account the sales revenue, the deteriorating cost, the carrying cost, the variable cost and the fixed cost of production. Although there is a higher labour and material cost when the production site is located near market point, the total profit increases due to quicker responsive time, smaller import tax, lower inventory and lesser deteriorating cost.

General structure and characteristics of quick response production system

The diversification and shorter production cycles urge manufacturers to shift their production systems from “make to stock” to “make to order” or an intermediate production system between them. The present paper deals with a production system developed by some manufacturers to meet requirements in the last decade. The system, which we call “Quick response to orders production system” or in brief “quick response production system (QRPS)”, is characterized by two key factors, i.e., “acceptable response time” and “semifinished product.” An acceptable response time is decided through the explicit or implicit approval of customers beforehand and manufacturers guarantee to ship products within an acceptable response time in a stochastic sense by processing the semifinished product according to customer order. As a result, manufacturers are able to reduce the inventory of finished products, while customers are able to enjoy the diversification of products and a stable supply from manufacturers. The general structure and characteristics of QRPS are discussed primarily from a quantitative point of view and a numerical example is shown to assist in understanding the design and operation of QRPS.