Supply Chain Resources Research Articles

Outsourcing vs insourcing in the human resource supply chain: a comparison of five generic models

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of human resource supply chain (HRSC) models that enable comparison of different models for making more informed strategic HR outsourcing decisions.Design/methodology/approachIn the paper interviews and company documents were used to construct multiple comparative case studies.FindingsThe paper finds that five generic HRSC models were identified in two broad categories – two in‐sourcing models (local contracting and HR centralizing) and three outsourcing models (purchasing HR, non‐staffing HR, and staffing HR). Additional findings relate to the redistribution of power and competencies for managing HR within and between organizations.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that future research should account for different HRSC models to address various dependent variables, especially distribution of power and HR competencies in managing HR supply chains and contribution to firm performance. Future studies on strategic alliances can benefit from building on the HRSC models in building different types of partnerships.Practical implicationsIn this paper it is found that managers have a means for comparison of different HRSC models to make more fully informed strategic outsourcing decisions and to develop related HR competencies related to each one of the generic models.Originality/valueThis paper clarifies critical differences in five different generic HRSC models that must be accounted for in research on strategic HR and outsourcing. Without understanding the differences in HRSCs, managers often unwittingly relinquish power and control over critical HR functions to other organizational units or vendor organizations.

An RFID-based remote monitoring system for enterprise internal production management

The disconnected flow of inventory and information will lead to a lack of real-time information and a build-up of excess inventory to buffer uncertainties in supply and demand. In this paper, a radio frequency identification (RFID) based remote monitoring system over the Internet is proposed to provide a transparent and visible information flow for supply chain and enterprise internal resource management. RFID technology has been a hot technology to replace barcodes in supply chain management in recent years. Actually, it has been successfully applied by the US Army in military logistics in 1991. Recently, the superman of the supermarket, Wal-Mart, mandates that its top 100 suppliers must equip RFID tags on their supplied items. However, RFID technology is still not a standard form acceptable for global use. The first big problem is to select a global universal radio frequency (RF) for active and passive RFID systems, but because of the advantages of RFID technology, it is unassailable that it will be popularly used in various fields very soon, such as supply chain management, enterprise resources planning (ERP), sales management, and so on. In this paper, the RFID-based monitoring system for enterprise internal production management is introduced. The RFID technology, Bluetooth, and Internet technology are employed to form a remote system for the monitoring of the production status of a factory. Based on this system, the management department can transparently master and control the status of the production line and supply chain, including raw materials and outsourcing supply/consumption status, production status of parts and components, production status of the finished products, etc. This system will be of benefit to greatly improve the productivity and reduce the cost for the enterprise.

Developing a Resource Supply Chain Planning System for Construction Projects

The high variability of construction environments results in high construction-cost variation, especially in material costs. Inadequate planning may cause material shortages that delay the project schedule or, alternatively, a substantial increase in inventory costs by producing or supplying materials earlier than they are needed at the construction site. In order to solve these problems, this paper studies steel rebar production and supply operations and establishes an optimal model that minimizes the integrated inventory cost of the supply chain. Based on the optimal model, this paper develops a decision-support system to generate a production and supply plan for a supplier and buyers of steel rebar. After utilizing the decision-support system to create the supply and production plan, this paper analyzes the results to study the influence of transaction constraints on inventory cost. This paper also discusses cases of global optimization of the inventory cost for the entire supply chain and compares them with cases of local optimization for individual members.

Coaching: The missing ingredient in blended learning strategy

Performance ImprovementVolume 44, Issue 8 p. 8-13 Article Coaching: The missing ingredient in blended learning strategy George H. Stevens, George H. Stevens Gary W. Frazer, CPT, EdD, is an experienced senior executive with more than 25 years of success in helping companies develop and deploy learning environments ranging from project-specific training to launching and managing training and career coaching activities for multiple companies. Gary has managed multimillion dollar projects with large cross-functional teams across multiple industries, including health care, aerospace, insurance, oil and gas, entertainment, technology, telecommunications, and financial services. As a program manager, Gary has managed and developed performance solutions for multi-site locations in supply chain, shared services, and enterprise resource planning environments. Learning solutions that Gary has managed and developed include web-enabled learning and traditional instructor-led materials in provider, long-term care, and life sciences. He may be reached at gfrazer@interactivealchemy.com.Search for more papers by this authorGary W. Frazer CPT, EdD, Gary W. Frazer CPT, EdD George H. Stevens leads enterprise learning and performance improvement initiatives for organizations as diverse as Catholic Healthcare West, Bank of America, Coca Cola Bottling, and the National War College. He is currently completing work leading change, blended learning, electronic performance support systems, and knowledge management organizations required for AT&T's creation of a unified global CFO function. George has successfully led numerous multimillion dollar learning and performance improvement initiatives for organizations facing regulatory compliance, technology-driven change, startup, merger, acquisitions, and right sizing. He is responsible for leading more than two dozen organizations in blending technology-based learning, virtual collaboration, knowledge management, and electronic performance support with traditional classroom training, coaching, and action learning. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and coauthored the award-winning text Designing Electronic Performance Support Systems: Improving Workplace Performance with Hypertext, Hypermedia and Multimedia. He may be reached at gstevens@carolina.rr.com.Search for more papers by this author George H. Stevens, George H. Stevens Gary W. Frazer, CPT, EdD, is an experienced senior executive with more than 25 years of success in helping companies develop and deploy learning environments ranging from project-specific training to launching and managing training and career coaching activities for multiple companies. Gary has managed multimillion dollar projects with large cross-functional teams across multiple industries, including health care, aerospace, insurance, oil and gas, entertainment, technology, telecommunications, and financial services. As a program manager, Gary has managed and developed performance solutions for multi-site locations in supply chain, shared services, and enterprise resource planning environments. Learning solutions that Gary has managed and developed include web-enabled learning and traditional instructor-led materials in provider, long-term care, and life sciences. He may be reached at gfrazer@interactivealchemy.com.Search for more papers by this authorGary W. Frazer CPT, EdD, Gary W. Frazer CPT, EdD George H. Stevens leads enterprise learning and performance improvement initiatives for organizations as diverse as Catholic Healthcare West, Bank of America, Coca Cola Bottling, and the National War College. He is currently completing work leading change, blended learning, electronic performance support systems, and knowledge management organizations required for AT&T's creation of a unified global CFO function. George has successfully led numerous multimillion dollar learning and performance improvement initiatives for organizations facing regulatory compliance, technology-driven change, startup, merger, acquisitions, and right sizing. He is responsible for leading more than two dozen organizations in blending technology-based learning, virtual collaboration, knowledge management, and electronic performance support with traditional classroom training, coaching, and action learning. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and coauthored the award-winning text Designing Electronic Performance Support Systems: Improving Workplace Performance with Hypertext, Hypermedia and Multimedia. He may be reached at gstevens@carolina.rr.com.Search for more papers by this author First published: 09 February 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4140440804Citations: 6 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume44, Issue8September 2005Pages 8-13 RelatedInformation

Design and manufacture of discrete components

The use of computers in product design and manufacturing today is accepted as normal working practice, the benefits are very clear, as the present study will show, but often the solutions available have a high degree of fragmentation, and are often described as being 'vertically fragmented'. These systems are often supplied from many sources, with poor infrastructure for sharing information which contributes to the fragmentation. The present study presents a vision that provides solutions to design, process and production optimisation, and also provides a high level of integration that has often been the missing link between existing systems. This integration takes the form of sharing technology and information, thus enabling the decision process to be carried out in a well informed manner. Product conceptualisation, product design, component design and component manufacture are key stages in product development that should be considered as part of a product lifecycle management (PLM) plan. During these stages, it is important to consider the whole product life cycle: (i) customers, who will have to spend the most time with a product; (ii) manufacturing, people who have to fabricate and assemble the product, so 'design for assembly' is very important; (iii) maintenance, these people will be involved in preventive maintenance or repair work, either at the point of sales or on location, so ensure their processes and tasks are as easy as possible, avoid any obstacles; and (iv) recycle-ability, this is an important consideration; how a product can be re-used needs to evaluated in the design process, to meet the increasing demands of legislation. Competitive pressures, rising labour and material costs continuously force manufacturers to reduce time to market, decrease part cost, maximise capacity utilisation and production efficiencies while maintaining and improving product quality. These are just the facts of life in today's economy. The plastics industry faces the same constraints that impact all manufacturers. What differentiates companies now is how they respond to these constraints. The manufacturing process involves more than the immediate factory; the full supply chain management and resource management have to be considered. Automation and optimisation is the way forward. The present study will show that the manufacture of discrete components should be considered as a function of product development and not in isolation; there are many factors and people to consider in the design process. The technologies outlined in the present study are linked by a common vision and philosophy that is to facilitate the ability to manufacture products that are friendly to use, meet the economic factors, and are made by manufacturing processes that are easy to control. This is an approach towards product development that promotes and stimulates success.

Maximizing supply chain profits with effective order management: integration of activity-based costing and theory of constraints with mixed-integer modelling

The development of a profitable-to-promise order management model in a make-to-order manufacturing environment is presented. The primary objective is to maximize profitability while ensuring that the firm has adequate resources to satisfy demand. The effectiveness of Activity-Based Costing and Theory of Constraints-based approaches is compared to assess order profitability. This order management model uses a mixed-integer program to consider simultaneously capacity, the relevant costs of supply chain resources and profitability. The results suggest that a close examination of cost structures is necessary for choosing an effective framework for a profitable-to-promise application. In manufacturing environments where direct manufacturing costs constitute a relatively small percentage of the total manufacturing cost, it would be beneficial to consider an Activity-Based Costing approach. On the other hand, in environments where direct costs are large, a Theory of Constraints-based approach would suffice.

The development and empirical validation of an e‐based supply chain strategy optimization model

Examines the formulation of supply chain strategies in complex environments. Argues that current state‐of‐the‐art e‐business and supply chain management, combined into the concept of e‐SCM, as well as the use of transaction cost theory, network theory and resource‐based theory, altogether can be used to form a model for analyzing supply chains with the purpose of reducing the uncertainty of formulating supply chain strategies. Presents e‐supply chain strategy optimization model (e‐SOM) as a way to analyze supply chains in a structured manner as regards strategic preferences for supply chain design, relations and resources in the chains with the ultimate purpose of enabling the formulation of optimal, executable strategies for specific supply chains. Uses research results for a specific supply chain to validate the usefulness of the model.

Can creative destruction be destroyed? Military IR&D and destruction along the value-added chain

We elaborate a supply chain innovation matrix that can be applied to both commercial and military supply chains. By shifting the analysis from a focal firm to industry structure, we argue that the market structure of the entire supply chain functions as a major moderating variable in determining both the timing and adoption of innovations, both for commercial and military markets. We extend work on supply chain resource dependency by drawing a distinction between market-structure-induced resource dependency and supplier over-reliance on a customer in a competitive market. This has policy implications for the organization of military industrial research and development (IR&D). Joint service research and development (Jointness) will certainly bring about innovation, but it will be incremental, reinforcing established military hierarchies. Policy makers may need to add this probable consequence when comparing Jointness and inter-service rivalry. The cost savings inherent in Jointness may unwittingly sustain a military force unready for fighting the next war.

An investigation of output flow control, bottleneck flow control and dynamic flow control mechanisms in various simple lines scenarios

Flow control mechanisms have been a topic of academic research for several years. With the growth of business-wide information systems such as enterprise resource planning and supply chain, better planning, scheduling and control of the business transformation process is required in order to achieve increased throughput, reduced inventories, shorter lead times and reduced tardiness. This research compares two new approaches to flow control, output flow control and bottleneck flow control to a real-time flow control system, dynamic flow control. Both output and bottleneck flow control mechanisms are much simpler to implement and manage than dynamic flow control in that they do not require continual feedback and rescheduling. Line characteristics, such as location of breakdowns with respect to the bottleneck, the location of the bottleneck when breakdowns occur, and the impact of variability of processing times on the performance measures (output, WIP level, lateness, and number of tardy jobs) for these three flow control mechanisms are compared. Both output and bottleneck flow control mechanisms perform favourably (particularly bottleneck) under different scenarios and warrant further study across a wider range of scenarios (mixed models, job shops, etc.).

A model of computerization of manufacturing systems: an international study

This paper introduces a model of best practice in the computerization of manufacturing systems, by drawing on the practical experience of senior managers of both manufacturing and information management in Taiwan and the UK. The design used both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques to examine the implementation and integration of information systems support for manufacturing (ISSM). The investigation was conducted in three main phases. A series of qualitative case studies was conducted on the use of ISSM in 21 Taiwanese companies and 3 government organizations. Within-case and cross-case analysis showed that the six most important elements of ISSM implementation and integration are: the nature of manufacturing systems, ISSM and related software subsystems, barriers to ISSM, facilitators to ISSM, measured benefits from ISSM investment, and the level of ISSM integration. A preliminary development of a model of ISSM was then used to design a questionnaire for case studies analysis to examine ISSM in Taiwan and the UK. A comparison of ISSM in the two countries suggests that Taiwanese manufacturers have created platforms on which to build advanced manufacturing systems, are aware of the problems, and have plans to overcome them. UK firms had more experience with ISSM, and more organizations had achieved highly integrated manufacturing systems. Both countries appear to be moving toward similar designs for their enterprise resource planning and supply chain management systems.

A conceptual framework of vulnerability in firms’ inbound and outbound logistics flows

The reason for this research originates from the time‐ and functional dependencies between firms’ activities and resources in supply chains. These dependencies cause vulnerability. The principal objective of this research is to conceptualize the construct of vulnerability in firms’ inbound and outbound logistics flows. The vulnerability construct of this research consists of two components: disturbance and the negative consequence of disturbance. This research is based upon a two‐phase process utilizing sequential triangulation. It is proposed that the vulnerability in the inbound logistics flows from sub‐contractors, and the vulnerability in the outbound logistics flows to customers, may be measured and evaluated by four principal dimensions, namely: service level, deviation, consequence and trend. In addition, a model of inbound and outbound vulnerability scenarios in supply chains is introduced for teaching and training purposes, as well as to position and compare the outcome of replication studies of vulnerability in firms’ inbound and outbound logistics flows.

Design and implementing a web-based customer relationship management prototyping system

Due to the effect of maturity and rapid evolution of information technology (IT), global business raises much greater competition then ever. As researches aim at the cost phase in which systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) are now reaching their maturity, enterprises now turn to revenue related researches. Among them, customer relationship management (CRM) draws the most attention. In the heavily competitive business environment, enterprises walk from mass production and mass marketing to one-to-one marketing environment. CRM thus aims at that very topic and makes enterprises to put their customer at the top of their consideration lists. In this paper, the flexibility of the script language and web-based architecture is used to build a simplified CRM prototyping framework. Thus small- or medium-sized- enterprises (SMEs) can adapt their needed functions using this framework after realising CRM. The result of this research can help enterprises to understand the essence and content of CRM system. It can build an economical and effective CRM prototyping system for SMEs. The developed CRM prototyping system can be applied widely among networking, service, hi-tech, manufacturing, sales and distribution businesses.

Linking ERP and SCM systems

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply chain management (SCM) systems have been growing in popularity across various segments of the electronic industry over the past few years. New initiatives in resources planning, electronic commerce and extended supply chain are fuelling the trend among corporations toward integrating strategic business applications. ERP systems assist enterprises in automating and integrating corporate cross-functions. SCM systems support information flow from various players in the supply side, reducing transaction cost and facilitating supplier-customer interactions. Given the popularity and importance of ERP and SCM systems, this research aims to examine and compare these two systems from the standpoint of organisational and technological implementation and explores the trend and opportunity of their system integration. Furthermore, the authors present and analyse two potential approaches to linking ERP and SCM systems, which indeed promote their integration. This article is concluded with the challenges and implications of the ERP and SCM system integration.

CHALLENGES FACING AGRIBUSINESS SUPPLY CHAINS IN SOUTH AFRICA BEYOND 2000

The managers of agribusiness supply chains in South Africa face three key challenges beyond 2000—namely the need to manage the drivers of change, to build core competencies to form and manage supply chains, and to overcome barriers to successful supply chains management. Appropriate actions to meet these challenges include having shared visions and compatible goals, flexible market response, cost controls, effective logistics and risk management, information sharing and, critically, building trust and incentives so that playas will invest resources in supply chains, Creative solutions are also needed to handle the potential impacts of HIV/AIDS on market growth and business costs, and to viably integrate communities that were previously denied access to economic opportunities into existing and new supply chains, These issues are likely to create business opportunities for firms that are competent coordinators and customizers. Learning from the “best practices” used by non-agribusiness firms ill South Africa and other countries to successfully perform supply chain activities will also improve cost competitiveness.

Linking Operations Management Students Directly to the Real World

AboutSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Go to Section HomeInterfacesVol. 31, No. 5 Linking Operations Management Students Directly to the Real WorldSanjay L. AhireSanjay L. AhirePublished Online:1 Oct 2001https://doi.org/10.1287/inte.31.5.104.9653AbstractLinking business students in operations management (OM) directly to real-world operations improvement experiences in manufacturing and service organizations resulted in 70 OM student field projects during the academic year 1998-1999 at Indiana University South Bend. The projects helped client organizations to identify strategies to improve quality, flexibility, and speed of operations, streamline processes, enhance customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve profits. Students gained valuable professional experience. The supervising faculty member and the institution enhanced their professional and community participation. The shared experiences should stimulate business schools and industries to implement this totally integrative experiential approach to OM course instruction. Previous Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformationCited byAdvising Student-Driven Analytics Projects: A Summary of Experiences and Lessons LearnedAaron Babier, Craig Fernandes, Ian Yihang Zhu26 August 2022 | INFORMS Transactions on Education, Vol. 23, No. 2It's not you, It's me: Can others learn from the challenges of teaching operations and supply chain management?The International Journal of Management Education, Vol. 20, No. 2Determining the causal relationship among the research streams of the operations management course16 October 2018 | Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 94, No. 3Multi-criteria analysis of professional education on supply chain management1 January 2019 | Production, Vol. 29A Survey of Research in Field-Based Education: A Summary of Process, Best Practices, and Lessons LearnedMichael F. Gorman20 November 2017 | INFORMS Transactions on Education, Vol. 18, No. 3Connecting industry and supply chain management education: exploring challenges faced in a SCM consultancy moduleSupply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4Metodología docente y evaluación por competencias: una experiencia en la materia Dirección de ProducciónInvestigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, Vol. 18, No. 3Student Reactions to the Field Consulting Capstone Course in Operations Management at the University of DaytonMichael F. Gorman, 11 July 2011 | Interfaces, Vol. 41, No. 6NC State's Supply Chain Resource Cooperative Educates in the Real WorldRobert B. Handfield, Steven A. Edwards, Jeffrey S. Stonebraker, 1 December 2011 | Interfaces, Vol. 41, No. 6Project-Based ORMS Education15 October 2012Mejorando la formación en Dirección de Operaciones: la visión del estudiante y su respuesta ante diferentes metodologías docentesCuadernos de Economía y Dirección de la Empresa, Vol. 14, No. 1The University of Dayton Operations Management Capstone Course: Undergraduate Student Field Consulting Applies Theory to PracticeMichael F. Gorman, 1 December 2010 | Interfaces, Vol. 40, No. 6Practitioner Perceptions of the A3 Method for Process Improvement in Health CareDecision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Vol. 8, No. 1Graduate Student Project: Operations Management Product PlanJournal of Education for Business, Vol. 83, No. 2Application of POM to e‐business: B2C e‐shoppingInternational Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23, No. 1 Volume 31, Issue 5September-October 2001Pages 1-143 Article Information Metrics Information Published Online:October 01, 2001 © 2001 INFORMSCite asSanjay L. Ahire, (2001) Linking Operations Management Students Directly to the Real World. Interfaces 31(5):104-120. https://doi.org/10.1287/inte.31.5.104.9653 KeywordsPROFESSIONAL—OR/MS EDUCATIONPROFESSIONAL—OR/MS IMPLEMENTATIONPDF download

THE RESEARCH OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE MODEL AND THE EVALUATION OF INFORMATION VALUE

ABSTRACT The corporations are moving from traditional management into a world of agile and electronic organizations and processes due to the rapid change of the business environments. A successful electronic commerce model must depend on the efficient operation of business core processes that include purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, etc. For this reason, this study tried to focus on the resource integration and introduce an electronic commerce model, which is based on Enterprise Resource Planning and Supply Chain Management. This model intends to integrate the distributed manufacturing resource horizontally, and share the valuable information between partners vertically. A MRP example is used to illustrate the value of information in the electronic commerce model.

REAL OPTION MODELS FOR MANAGING MANUFACTURING SYSTEM CHANGES IN THE NEW ECONOMY

ABSTRACT The manufacturing environment is becoming increasingly dynamic with upsurges in electronic-commerce, supply chain management, forecasting, and procurement and resource planning. It also includes trends toward more process data acquisition and analysis, shorter production runs, and more stringent quality requirements. These drivers lead to an opportunity for companies to collect and use information to identify changes that will affect their manufacturing systems. In conjunction with an industry partner who produces home fashion products, we developed a case-study that highlights four major manufacturing transitions: new product introduction; moving a product from research and development (R&D) to commercialization: new plant location; and starting or restarting production of existing products. These types of changes cross many levels of the operation - including the product level, plant level, and organizational level - and typically present significant operational challenges. We use this case-study to motivate the theoretical and applied research needed to support a real option framework for system changes in manufacturing. The key elements of our framework are to quantify manufacturing changes, develop a real option model for these activities, value the options to identify the best scenarios, and integrate these elements so that we can monitor and manage the overall process. The advantage of this approach is that it allows us to directly incorporate a market driven perspective, tying the manufacturing operations with the organizational economic goals.

An introduction to reverse logistics for environmental management: A new system to support sustainability and profitability

AbstractThe private‐sector marketplace has identified the reengineering of the structure and management of the supply chain as a great untapped business opportunity. In traditional supply chains poorly structured operational and financial decision making institutionalized the poor management of material resources. This nonoptimized management process results in the generation of impaired material resources, which leads to solid and hazardous waste, as well as additional operating costs throughout the supply chain.The way in which the marketplace is addressing the issue of impaired material resources is by transferring the ownership and liability of impaired resources from the customer back to the supplier. The marketplace is also implicitly saying that the supplier must redesign its products to eliminate/minimize waste, or if the supplier fails to accomplish this goal, the supplier will be forced to absorb the costs associated with managing impaired material resources. The ramifications of this change are truly of historical proportions. The utility of a material resource to create wealth has throughout the centuries almost always required its ownership. Ownership has also denoted that the owner accept any liabilities created by the material resource. This is now all about to change.To support this change, a vastly expanded infrastructure and new management systems will have to be developed. This article shows how to manage the supply chain and impaired material resources. The new system that will operationally and financially manage these changes as well as create new organizational decision‐making drivers is Reverse Logistics Management (RLM).