Supply Chain Operations Management Research Articles

Quality and Operations Management in Food Supply Chains: A Literature Review

We present a literature review on quality and operations management problems in food supply chains. In food industry, the quality of the food products declines over time and should be addressed in the supply chain operations management. Managing food supply chains with operations management methods not only generates economic benefit, but also contributes to environmental and social benefits. The literature on this topic has been burgeoning in the past few years. Since 2005, more than 100 articles have been published on this topic in major operations research and management science journals. In this literature review, we concentrate on the quantitative models in this research field and classify the related articles into four categories, that is, storage problems, distribution problems, marketing problems, and food traceability and safety problems. We hope that this review serves as a reference for interested researchers and a starting point for those who wish to explore it further.

Institutional forces on Australian halal meat supply chain (AHMSC) operations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of institutional forces in shaping the operations of halal meat supply chain in Australia, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of halal meat. This research examines how the halal meat production requirements are fulfilled and maintained throughout the supply chain in a non-Muslim-majority country.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a single-case study approach and uses semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection. It considers the perspectives of various stakeholder groups in the Australian halal meat supply chain (AHMSC). In all, 31 participants have participated in this research.FindingsThe findings show that institutional forces, especially which come through coercive forces, do affect and shape the overall operations of the AHMSC in particularly the way the stakeholders act within the supply chain, particularly in their role in ensuring the protection of halal status or halal integrity of the meat.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that the integrity of halal meat supply chain management operations in a non-Muslim-majority environment can be protected with heavy involvement from the relevant authorities, i.e. the federal government agency and the halal certifiers. With the implementation of specific halal meat production policy, i.e. Australian Government Authorised Halal Program, all parties dealing with the halal meat production for export purpose are obliged to fulfil the religious and food safety requirements, thus providing the necessary assurance for halal meat consumers, especially from the Muslim communities.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first to provide insights of halal meat supply chain operations in a non-Muslim-majority environment. This paper also took in account various stakeholder groups that were involved directly with halal meat supply chain operations in Australia rather than focusing on a single stakeholder group which gives a better understanding of the whole supply chain operations.

A Bibliometric Study on RFID and Supply Chain Management

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been identified as a crucial technology for the present knowledge-based economy though Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as an emerging technology has not been studied well from a supply chain perspective in a quantitative way. Some businesses have realized benefits of RFID adoption through improvements in operational efficiency, yet RFID research in supply chain management operations has been studied less, than in other domains. The present bibliometric study covers the 645 articles from 1999 to 2016(May). In present study, the authors attempted to reveal the year wise distribution of articles, authorship pattern of articles, citation pattern, country wise distribution of articles etc. The findings of this study showed that, in the year 2009, highest 86(13.3%) articles were published out of 645 articles in 18 years. Triple author contribution has predominant with 18.6%. In geographical distribution of articles, USA has contributed highest 28.83% of articles while Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong is the highest contributed institute with 31(4.80%) articles. In the end the limitations and future research scope of the study is presented.

Turning Industrial Visit Into Rich Learning Experiences

Industrial visit is able to provide a graduate with added advantage of gaining the better understanding of the key elements implicitly emphasized in the production and operations management course. It enables the student to relate their theoretical knowledge with practical aspects of their study covering the curriculum related to operations management of competitive industrial operations, capacity, process technology, design concepts, supply chain, and other operations management aspects of safety, health, environment, society, and its relations with operations performance. This research is in the assessment and evaluation of student’s experiences and learning gains from their industrial visit. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this research. Assessment of the students learning experience and different skills they gained throughout industrial visit were analyzed. The result shows that the levels of learning experiences, learning gains and student satisfaction with their study visit were all rated high. Exposure of students to study visit equips them with relevant industry knowledge, skills and conceptual learning. With enough insights and awareness of an actual working setting upon graduated to work in an industrial environment, students will be able to quickly adjust to real situation upon joining the workforce.

Internet-of-things Paradigm in Food Supply Chains Control and Management

Starting from the definition of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm, this paper discusses goals and strategies for the design and building of an IoT architecture aiding the planning, management and control of the Food Supply Chain (FSC) operations. A comprehensive architecture of the entities, the physical-objects, the physical and informative flows, the stages and the processes to be sensed, tracked, controlled and interconnected is given to illustrate the interdependencies between the observed supply chain and the exogenous environment.A simulation gaming tool embedding the IoT paradigm for the FSC management is also proposed and illustrated to showcase the potential benefits and opportunities for more direct integration of the physical food ecosystems into virtual computer-aided control environment.

Drivers of retail on-shelf availability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to: first, provide a systematic review of the drivers of retail on-shelf availability (OSA) that have been scrutinized in the literature; second, identify areas where further scrutiny is needed; and third, critically reflect on current conceptualizations of OSA and suggest alternative perspectives that may help guide future investigations. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic approach is adopted wherein nine leading journals in logistics, supply chain management, operations management, and retailing are systematically scanned for articles discussing OSA drivers. The respective journals’ websites are used as the primary platform for scanning, with Google Scholar serving as a secondary platform for completeness. Journal articles are carefully read and their respective relevance assessed. A final set of 73 articles is retained and thoroughly reviewed for the purpose of this research. The systematic nature of the review minimizes researcher bias, ensures reasonable completeness, maximizes reliability, and enables replicability. Findings – Five categories of drivers of OSA are identified. The first four – i.e., operational, behavioral, managerial, and coordination drivers – stem from failures at the planning or execution stages of retail operations. The fifth category – systemic drivers – encompasses contingency factors that amplify the effect of supply chain failures on OSA. The review also indicates that most non-systemic OOS could be traced back to incentive misalignments within and across supply chain partners. Originality/value – This research consolidates past findings on the drivers of OSA and provides valuable insights as to areas where further research may be needed. It also offers forward-looking perspectives that could help advance research on the drivers of OSA. For example, the authors invite the research community to revisit the pervasive underlying assumption that OSA is an absolute imperative and question the unidirectional relationship that higher OSA is necessarily better. The authors initiate an open dialogue to approach OSA as a service-level parameter, rather than a maximizable outcome, as indicated by inventory theory.

NEW INTEGRATION OF MCDM METHODS AND QFD IN THE SELECTION OF GREEN SUPPLIERS

Currently, topics of operations management and supply chain systems have been gaining more interest of researchers. Efficiency in supply chain activities and operations management firstly benefit organisations. One of the main operations in supply chain systems is the collaboration with selected suppliers. Various models have been proposed in terms of supplier evaluation and selection studies. The invention of a new integrated frame for the building of an effective supplier evaluation system is a multi-attribute task that consists of several factors as external and internal variables. This paper delivers a creative integrated model of supplier selection problem using SWARA, QFD and a new MCDM tool called WASPAS. This work considers customer attitudes in the process of supplier evaluation. To give more weight to customer requirements, a new SWARA method has been designed; additionally, QFD and the house of quality matrix have been used to transform customer requirements into the supplier evaluation index. Finally, WASPAS has been used to rate the performance of suppliers and present supplier ranking scores. Application of initiative ways to propose a systematic supplier selection problem has always been encouraged by supply chain managers. This topic has been addressed in this paper as well.

Research on Service Supply Chain: Opportunity and Challenge of China

In recent years, with the developing of service-oriented economy and the emerging of the new services, the reaserch on service supply chain accepts extensive attention. In this paper, we analyzed the background of the rise and development of the service supply chain research and explained the characteristics of the service supply chain; then we reviewed the development of theory and practice of service supply chain and revealed the difficulties and challenges service supply chain operation management faces. At last we outlined the research status of service supply chain and put forward the future study direction. Through the literature review and carding the research situation, we hope to promote the further service supply chain research and development.

Shortage of sustainable supply chain talent: an industrial training framework

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify sustainable supply chain skill and propose a conceptual training framework for sustainable supply chain talent.Design/methodology/approach– The authors have used exhaustive literature review of extant literature published in academic journals, reputable reports, trade magazines, books and monographs. The authors further consulted leading experts from reputable bodies to further finalize the sustainable supply chain skills matrix and check the content validity of the constructs of our proposed conceptual framework.Findings– The sustainable supply chain skill matrix has been identified and a conceptual framework has been proposed. The authors further outlined the future research directions.Research limitations/implications– This is a conceptual paper based on the literature review and analysis. This offers opportunities for empirical research.Practical implications– This paper will alert companies to focus on developing talents that would help to achieve sustainable supply chain.Social implications– Better talents lead to better support for sustainable supply chains.Originality/value– The present study is unique in terms of scope and its contribution to theory of supply chain management and operations management and human resource management practice. The study has identified the sustainable supply chain skill matrix and proposed a conceptual training framework for sustainable supply chain talent.

The Business Value of Supply Chain Visibility and Monitoring

In recent decades, freight transport and supply chains have made sophisticated state-of-the-art applications of information and communication technologies that have made visible the whole transportation and supply chain and have increased the ability for collection, analysis, and use of data to improve performance. This approach involves both the demand side—data about items being sold, inventories, order, and receipt of goods—and the supply side—data about available capacities for packing, shipping, and transporting freight. Dynamic, reliable, and relevant information and data are essential to improving the whole freight transportation process through such factors as security information (e.g., theft, tampering), location and condition of cargo (e.g., temperature variations, humidity), and routing optimization. Technologies that make this information available to enterprises have several benefits, including the financial advantages of more efficient management of stock and supply chain operations. This paper identi-fies and quantifies these benefits according to research results based on the monitoring specific supply chains through the development and use of container monitoring devices. This quantification of benefits is possible because of specific practical tests and experience gained through field research at enterprises that apply the systems and through participation in international research projects funded under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme.

Supplier relations and sustainable operations: the roles of codes of conduct and human resource development

Although significant research has been undertaken on sustainable and green supply chain management, the investigation of the roles of two important sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices - codes of conduct and human resource management practices - in improving a buyer's and a supplier's sustainability performance is almost absent in the sustainability literature. Using multiple theories and drawing from the literature on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, supply chain management, operations management, and human resource management, this study offers a research model and relevant propositions that show how the implementation of these practices can result in sustainability performance for both suppliers and buyers. The paper concludes with further research implications of the study.

Robust design of critical factors of multi-stage supply chain operations management

Robust design of critical factors of multi-stage supply chain operations management

Using e-learning to advance advocacy and leadership in supply chain management

Background Higher education programmes preparing health system managers for their jobs seldom include supply chain management (SCM) in the curriculum. However, SCM knowledge and skills are necessary not only for health workers, but also for managers and policy makers. Indeed, SCM awareness at decision-making level is essential to facilitate the establishment of policy frameworks giving SCM a place within health systems priorities and enabling the allocation of sufficient resources for SCM staffing and operations.

Antecedents of SCM practices in ASEAN automotive industry

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate entrepreneurship, social capital and resources contribute to the implementation of supply chain management (SCM) practices in Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) automotive industry.Design/methodology/approach– A conceptual framework of antecedents of SCM practices and several research hypotheses were proposed. Hypotheses were tested with data from original equipment manufacturers suppliers in the ASEAN automotive manufacturing industry. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were used to test the hypotheses.Findings– The analysis of survey data suggests that corporate entrepreneurship theory and social capital theory play a key role in motivating and preceding SCM practices. However, traditional resource-based explanations of SCM decisions by western manufacturing firms do not always apply to ASEAN automotive suppliers.Research limitations/implications– This paper may have excluded some crucial constructs that affect SCM practices. This study also suffers from the common limitations of empirical research, including the reliance on a single respondent. Prior studies suggest that firms with better resources are likely to create more effective SCM operations. This study contributes to the literature by adding behavioral explanations to the research stream. That is, drawing on corporate entrepreneurship and social capital theories, the authors’ link firm behavioral factors to their resources and thus help explains SCM practices.Practical implications– This study provides some notable managerial implications. The study shows that to implement successful SCM practices, emerging ASEAN automotive suppliers should exploit both the internal and external antecedents of SCM. Internal antecedent in the form of corporate entrepreneurship that measures a firm's innovativeness and proactiveness, and external antecedent in the form of social capital that measures a firm's relationships with its supply chain members are important factors that affect SCM practices. Also, these factors are important in counteracting the adverse forces of the environmental uncertainty to improve performance.Originality/value– These findings extend prior research by establishing the importance of the relationships between SCM practices and its antecedents. Also, this is one of the few studies that specifically examined the ASEAN automotive industry.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Possible Causes of the Inverse Audit Outcomes: Case of Supply Chain Management of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Determining the most quantitative possible root causes of the inverse audit reports, will discover whether inadequate training and compliance enforcement are among the top possible determinants of the inverse audit reports received by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Provincial Administration for the financial year 2007/2008. It is recommended that management consider building professional networking opportunities, identify opportunities for country-level networking and mentoring, as well as communities of practice related to procurement through supply chain management (SCM); engage existing professional associations (private and public sector) for example Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. It is also recommended that segregation of duties among SCM practitioners will bring about efficiency in procurement practices. This implies that employees understand and see the need for the segregation of duties, as one of the elements with which to curb fraud and bring about efficiency in SCM operations, this was strongly agreed by 63 percent of the respondents. It is further recommended that there must be a review of current legislation that regulates Public Sector procurement. This infers that Public Sector procurement legislation does not address the needs of public procurement ultimately service delivery, a collective 59 percent of the respondents strongly agreed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n16p82

Distribution network design under demand uncertainty using genetic algorithm and Monte Carlo simulation approach: a case study in pharmaceutical industry

Distribution network design as a strategic decision has long-term effect on tactical and operational supply chain management. In this research, the location–allocation problem is studied under demand uncertainty. The purposes of this study were to specify the optimal number and location of distribution centers and to determine the allocation of customer demands to distribution centers. The main feature of this research is solving the model with unknown demand function which is suitable with the real-world problems. To consider the uncertainty, a set of possible scenarios for customer demands is created based on the Monte Carlo simulation. The coefficient of variation of costs is mentioned as a measure of risk and the most stable structure for firm’s distribution network is defined based on the concept of robust optimization. The best structure is identified using genetic algorithms and 14 % reduction in total supply chain costs is the outcome. Moreover, it imposes the least cost variation created by fluctuation in customer demands (such as epidemic diseases outbreak in some areas of the country) to the logistical system. It is noteworthy that this research is done in one of the largest pharmaceutical distribution firms in Iran.

Contractor practices for managing extended supply chain tiers

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how contractor firms manage their relationships with extended supply chain tiers and investigate the range of ICT technologies used to facilitate such practices.Design/methodology/approach– An on-line questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information about supply chain management operations, supplier relationship management and the ICT technologies used by contractor firms to manage their extended supply chain tiers.Findings– The extended supply chain relationships of contractor firms are primarily composed of contractual, technical and financial entities, but findings suggest that the vision to consider extended supply chain firms when selecting suppliers are still myopic. Majority of ICT technologies are used between Tier 1 supply chain firms and there is an inconsistency in the number of technologies adopted with the extended supply chain tiers. Despite having a high involvement relationship with Tier 2 downstream firms, findings indicate a lack of use of ICT technologies to manage the organisational, personal and technological interactions with these firms.Research limitations/implications– On the basis of different relationship types this study develops an initial framework for management of supply chains that are facilitated by relevant ICT technologies.Originality/value– This paper provides insights into the management of extended supply chain firms by contractor firms from a relationship-centric perspective and develops an initial framework for relationship-centric supply chain management.

Distribution network design under demand uncertainty using genetic algorithm and Monte Carlo simulation approach: a case study in pharmaceutical industry

Distribution network design as a strategic decision has long-term effect on tactical and operational supply chain management. In this research, the location-allocation problem is studied under demand uncertainty. The purposes of this study were to specify the optimal number and location of distribution centers and to determine the allocation of customer demands to distribution centers. The main feature of this research is solving the model with unknown demand function which is suitable with the real-world problems. To consider the uncertainty, a set of possible scenarios for customer demands is created based on the Monte Carlo simulation. The coefficient of variation of costs is mentioned as a measure of risk and the most stable structure for firm's distribution network is defined based on the concept of robust optimization. The best structure is identified using genetic algorithms and 14% reduction in total supply chain costs is the outcome. Moreover, it imposes the least cost variation created by fluctuation in customer demands (such as epidemic diseases outbreak in some areas of the country) to the logistical system. It is noteworthy that this research is done in one of the largest pharmaceutical distribution firms in Iran.

Implementation of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in pharmaceutical company, general principles and case study

Supply Chain Management (SCM) in pharmaceutical industry is defined as a “responsible SCM” and its implementation is according to the principles of: business ethics, rights of labor and principles of healthy and safe working environment. Pharmaceutical companies with implemented “responsible SCM” have to use management systems to facilitate continuous improvement in accordance with their working principles. The main purpose of this management system is to ensure the consistency, reliability and continuous improvement of all workflows within an organization.The analyzed case describes the project of European generic pharmaceutical company, which intends to implement best practice SCM operations for five European manufacturing sites and European logistics organizations (active ingredients supply, distribution centers, affiliate customers and third party manufacturers). The main objectives of the project were the creation of the future improved To-Be situation through implementation of new SCM models to the existing To-Day situation.

The Role of Supply Chain Antecedents on Supply Chain Agility in SMEs: The Conceptual Framework

Firms must be agile for the reason that being responsive is a crucial competency for them in present global economy. Organizations that are agile happen to be more successful. The agility of an organization is dependent on the agility of its supply chain. The main aim of this paper is to give a new dimension in explaining how Trust, Information Technology (IT) and agility can create sustained competitive advantage for firms and develop an integrated framework to facilitate this. For the literature review of the related academic articles for the previous studies has been taken by international journals in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and Operations Management. Achievement of supply chain agility (SCA) is linked to the other organization’s resources, namely trust, IT and firm performance that play mediator role between them. IT is considered as a competitive tool by researchers and practitioners. Therefore, it is crucial for managers to apply their firms' IT and trust as lower-order organizational capabilities to improve agility as a higher-order organizational capability. Hence, the current article gives a conceptual framework to ascertain factors which affect SCA and finally firm performance. The findings of this study will present interesting information and insight about how to improve agility in small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the information presented in this study will be the foundation of future supply chain capability studies. To aid the study, this present study for develop the framework has been used the RBV theory. The paper also proposes the framework for future research in empirical investigation in companies. The study related the gap by developing a framework for measuring SCA, which enables any organization to identify critical success factors for sense and respond to market.