Supply Chain System Research Articles

How SMEs Develop International Markets

With the acceleration of the globalization process and the intensification of market competition, SMEs are gradually realizing that the development of international markets is crucial to their future development. However, due to their relatively limited capabilities, SMEs face many challenges in the process of international market development, including financial and resource constraints, asymmetric market information, legal and policy barriers, cultural differences and language barriers. In response to these challenges, SMEs' internationalization requires identifying suitable international markets, customizing product and marketing strategies, ensuring product quality and compliance, cross-border cooperation and resource integration, and establishing reliable logistics and supply chain systems.

Reverse Supply Chain Modeling at XYZ Recycling Company

Attention to the reverse supply chain is increasing due to the increasing value of products and technologies at the end of the supply chain as well as the direct impact of new environmental legislation. Design strategies for reverse supply chains remain relatively unexplored and underdeveloped. Meanwhile, measuring supply chain performance has also become important as understanding, collaboration and integration have increased among supply chain members. It also helps companies to target profitable market segments or identify areas for improvement. Reverse supply chains are seen as one way to increase profits for companies. Company XYZ is a company that operates in recycling products from surrounding shops. This paper will focus on measuring reverse supply chain performance at XYZ recycling company. A simple general framework of the company will be presented as well as its mathematical model. This simple general model is considered applicable by small and medium businesses to optimize their reverse supply chain systems

Stability analysis of supply chain members time delay decisions considering corporate social responsibility

The strategic decisions of the manufacturer and the retailer directly affect the stability of the supply chain system. The delay and incompleteness of the market information greatly increase the complexity and variability of the decision-making process. In order to solve this problem, by using the nonlinear dynamics theory, this paper constructs a discrete dynamic model with a time delay. The sufficient conditions for the existence and the local asymptotic stability are obtained. The delayed threshold provides a helpful judgment basis for the supply chain members’ decisions and the system stability. In addition, the manufacturer’s quality strategy is divided into the static and dynamic cases. Based on these cases, the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and decision-making adjustment speed on system stability is discussed. The results show that when a dynamic quality strategy is adopted, the increase in CSR preference can effectively restrain the destabilized system and improve the benefits of supply chain members.

Supply Chain Resilience as Endotherm Resilience: Theorizing Through Metaphorical Transfer

This study explores the application of formal metaphorical transfer to construct theory regarding supply chain resilience, a topic of increased significance due to rising supply chain disruptions. We propose an ecological resilience perspective to illuminate the complex, dynamic nature of supply chain systems. Our research pivots around two questions: (1) Can the resilience of endotherms (warm-blooded animals) serve as a conceptually robust source phenomenon for metaphorical transfer to the study of supply chain resilience? (2) What theory-based principles can be derived from this metaphor to enhance our understanding of supply chain resilience? After rigorously establishing the conceptual equivalence between endotherm resilience and supply chain resilience, we identify a set of theory-based principles that provide insights into the evolving field of supply chain resilience. These principles help illuminate the adaptive and predictive dimensions of supply chain resilience. This paper contributes to theory building in operations management and supply chain management while suggesting new avenues for future research.

Safety and Quality Within the Healthcare Supply Chain: A Great Unknown.

Quality and safety in healthcare have emerged as key factors impacting on both clinical effectiveness and clinical outcomes. While improving the healthcare supply chain has been extensively researched, the impact of the healthcare supply chain on clinical safety has received little attention in the literature, largely due to the complexity of such studies and the involvement of multiple stakeholders. This research proposes an evaluation model using key performance measurements for an electronic procurement system that enables digital transformation of the healthcare supply chain. The model will be tested before and after the introduction of an electronic procurement system in the healthcare supply chain for small and medium sized healthcare providers to provide evidence of both the usefulness of the model itself within industry and to further contribute to the knowledge base. Future use of the model may provide benchmarking and important data and insights to enable enhanced clinical safety in the healthcare supply chain.

The Influence of Sustainable Captured Fish Supply Chain Management on the Quality of Sea-Caught Fish Exports

A report from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries explains that Indonesia's total fishery exports in September 2023 will reach US$ 4.1 billion (Rp. 64.1 trillion). This figure is still far from the target to be achieved, namely US$ 7.8 billion in 2023. The aim of this research is to accelerate the development of the National Fisheries Industry which is at the forefront. Take the example of the fisheries supply chain in Cilacap Regency which is the largest producer of caught fish on the island of Java. By using the Soft System Research Methodology (SSM), the efforts made are to outline solutions to unstructured problems, understand the actual problem situation and take action to improve it. From the survey results, there are six problems in the supply chain of capture fisheries industry activities in Cilacap Regency, namely lack of facilities and infrastructure, lack of understanding and knowledge of fishermen, limited capital for capture fisheries businesses, excessive fishing, fishing community culture and weak supervision/law. Meanwhile, the research results show that in an ideal marine fisheries industry supply chain system, Cilacap Regency must carry out coordination and communication activities between caught fish supply chain actors, provide facilities and infrastructure, build logistics networks, standardize production, control storage methods, build systems monitoring, quality assurance of fisheries, and building a capture fisheries trading system. The implications include providing education to fishermen regarding marketing, collecting information about consumers and their needs, developing and developing fishermen's competence, government supervision, building local fishermen's cooperatives and maintaining traditional values.

Changes in health facility readiness for obstetric and neonatal care services in Nepal: an analysis of cross-sectional health facility survey data in 2015 and 2021

BackgroundNepal is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030 target 3.1 of reducing the maternal mortality ratio to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Along with increasing access to health facility (HF)-based delivery services, improving HF readiness is critically important. The majority of births in Nepal are normal low-risk births and most of them take place in public HFs, as does the majority of maternal deaths. This study aims to assess changes in HF readiness in Nepal between 2015 and 2021, notably, if HF readiness for providing high-quality services for normal low-risk deliveries improved; if the functionality of basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care (BEmONC) services increased; and if infection prevention and control improved.MethodsCross-sectional data from two nationally representative HF-based surveys in 2015 and 2021 were analyzed. This included 457 HFs in 2015 and 804 HFs in 2021, providing normal low-risk delivery services. Indices for HF readiness for normal low-risk delivery services, BEmONC service functionality, and infection prevention and control were computed. Independent sample T-test was used to measure changes over time. The results were stratified by public versus private HFs.ResultsDespite a statistically significant increase in the overall HF readiness index for normal low-risk delivery services, from 37.9% in 2015 to 43.7%, in 2021, HF readiness in 2021 remained inadequate. The availability of trained providers, essential medicines for mothers, and basic equipment and supplies was high, while that of essential medicines for newborns was moderate; availability of delivery care guidelines was low. BEmONC service functionality did not improve and remained below five percent facility coverage at both time points. In private HFs, readiness for good quality obstetrical care was higher than in public HFs at both time points. The infection prevention and control index improved over time; however, facility coverage in 2021 remained below ten percent.ConclusionsThe slow progress and sub-optimal readiness for normal, low-risk deliveries and infection prevention and control, along with declining and low BEmONC service functionality in 2021 is reflective of poor quality of care and provides some proximate explanation for the moderately high maternal mortality and the stagnation of neonatal mortality in Nepal. To reach the SDG 2030 target of reducing maternal deaths, Nepal must hasten its efforts to strengthen supply chain systems to enhance the availability and utilization of essential medicines, equipment, and supplies, along with guidelines, to bolster the human resource capacity, and to implement mechanisms to monitor quality of care. In general, the capacity of local governments to deliver basic healthcare services needs to be increased.

Research on the Innovation Strategy of Regional Logistics Supply Chain System Under the Background of Digital Economy

Based on the continuous application and development of digital information technology, the digital economy has gradually become an important growth pole of China's economic development. Digital development has also provided new opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of logistics and supply chains, and the coordinated development of the digital economy and regional logistics supply chains has achieved remarkable results. However, in the process of promoting the development of the logistics supply chain, the digital economy has problems such as the imbalance in the digitization of the logistics supply chain system, the lag in the global response speed, and the lack of trust mechanism, so it is necessary to optimize the logistics supply chain management process, strengthen the information interaction and integration between the upstream and downstream node enterprises of the logistics supply chain, and connect up and down, strengthen the elasticity and resilience of the logistics supply chain, and establish and improve the trust mechanism of the logistics supply chain system, so as to accelerate the development of the digital economy and the logistics supply chain.

Optimal carbon quota allocation for a capital-constrained e-commerce supply chain under the carbon rights buyback policy

This paper examines the optimal choices of carbon quota allocation methods for members of a capital-constrained e-commerce supply chain that obtains financing through carbon rights buyback. Considering two carbon quota allocation methods, namely the grandfathering system and the benchmarking system, this paper constructs and solves a game model with two cycles in which an e-commerce platform dominates a manufacturer that produces ordinary products and low-carbon products in the two cycles, respectively, examines the impacts of the carbon emissions reduction coefficient, carbon emissions benchmark coefficient, carbon price, and carbon saving on e-commerce supply chain decisions, derives the optimal carbon quota allocation method for each supply chain member under different carbon savings, and finally conducts numerical studies to verify the analytical findings. The study shows that: (1) The grandfathering system is more suitable for manufacturers with low carbon savings, and the benchmarking system is more suitable for manufacturers with high carbon savings. (2) The supply chain system and members prefer different quota allocation methods under different conditions. The e-commerce platform prefers the benchmarking system when the carbon emissions benchmark coefficient is high; otherwise, it chooses the grandfathering system. The manufacturer and the e-commerce supply chain prefer the benchmarking system when the carbon saving is high; otherwise, they prefer the grandfathering system. (3) The grandfathering carbon quota allocation method can more effectively facilitate capital financing for capital-constrained manufacturers.

Carbon emission oriented life cycle assessment and optimization strategy for meat supply chain

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions is imperative to achieve sustainable meat production and supply. Few previous studies have assessed the carbon emissions of the whole meat supply chain from the sheep fattening stage to the meat distribution stage. Therefore, this study established a boundary model of the carbon emission system of the mutton supply chain and adopted the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to comprehensively analyze the carbon emissions during breeding, transportation, processing, and distribution, and then assessed the overall carbon emissions, and optimized the route planning of the supply chain subsystems using improved genetic algorithms (GA) in order to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The results show (1) The fattening sheep process generates a relatively large share of carbon emissions, but the unit emissions are stable. The carbon emissions from the transportation and marketing phases are lower than those from the fattening phase, but their carbon emissions are uncertain, which is the focus of optimization. (2) By optimizing the routes of the subsystems in the life cycle analysis model, carbon emissions due to changes in route planning can be reduced by 24.19%. Therefore, life cycle analysis can comprehensively assess the carbon emissions and total carbon emissions of each link in the mutton supply chain, and the optimization strategy plays an important role in energy consumption and carbon emissions.

BLOCKCHAIN IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW: EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPLY CHAINS

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the implementation, challenges, and future prospects of blockchain technology in supply chain management (SCM). Amidst the evolving landscape of global supply chains, the integration of blockchain technology has emerged as a pivotal innovation, offering transformative potential in enhancing transparency, efficiency, and security. The advent of blockchain technology has revolutionized traditional supply chain systems, introducing new paradigms of operation and management. This study explores the historical evolution of SCM systems and the comparative effectiveness of blockchain-based models against traditional systems. The primary aim is to systematically review and synthesize current research on blockchain in SCM, focusing on its implementation, inherent challenges, and future development prospects. The paper delves into various aspects of blockchain in SCM, including its current state of implementation across industries, the challenges and solutions in adoption, comparative performance analysis with non-blockchain systems, emerging trends, stakeholder perspectives, and geographical variations in adoption. Strategic implications for businesses, pathways for effective implementation, and policy recommendations are also thoroughly examined.The study identifies blockchain's significant impact on enhancing supply chain transparency and efficiency. Key challenges include technological barriers, regulatory uncertainties, and the need for stakeholder collaboration. The research highlights the strategic advantage of blockchain in supply chains, particularly in terms of cost reduction, operational effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. The study concludes with a call for a multi-faceted approach to blockchain integration in SCM, emphasizing collaborative efforts, educational advancements, infrastructural support, and policy development. Recommendations are geared towards leveraging blockchain's potential for competitive advantage and sustainable supply chain practices.
 Keywords: Blockchain, Supply Chain Management, Technology Adoption, Strategic Implications, Innovation, Sustainability.

Assessing and selecting sustainable refrigerated road vehicles in food logistics using a novel multi-criteria group decision-making model

In recent years, food loss and waste (FLW) have become an essential issue at the top of the international community's agenda. Since more people are afflicted by this problem every day, the global population would be forced into poverty and starvation without finding an immediate solution. Therefore, in order to decrease FLW, well-designed and sustainable food and cold supply chains (FCSCs) are needed. Additionally, refrigerated transportation systems can be crucial in developing sustainable supply chains. According to some empirical research, the technological capabilities of reefer vehicles or trailers differ significantly. Thus, selecting the reefer vehicle is a complex decision-making problem and selecting appropriate reefer vehicles may have a critical role in constructing successful supply chain systems and reducing food waste and loss. The current research proposes an efficient, robust and practical decision-making framework that can overcome uncertainties to tackle this decision-making problem. The managerial and strategic implications of the study also aid in decreasing FLW and restructuring FSC for industrial context and support to the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs). Later, an exhaustive sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the developed model's validity and application, confirming the model's robustness and dependability.

Research on Supply Chain Coordination Decision Making under the Influence of Lead Time Based on System Dynamics

Supply chain coordination has been a research hot spot in supply chain management. This paper constructs a secondary supply chain system. Taking the abatement of the bullwhip effect and the double marginal effect as the coordination objective, a simulation study of supply chain decision coordination was conducted using system dynamics. First, by controlling the lead time, it was found that in the decentralized decision-making model, the profit of the supplier and the whole supply chain increases with the shortening of the lead time, and vice versa for the retailer. In the centralized decision-making model with the addition of information sharing and contract, it was found that the retailer’s profit is consistent with the trend of the supplier and the supply chain as a whole, and the supplier’s profit is lower than that of decentralized decision making in the pre-cooperation period. In addition, it is also found that adjusting the contract parameters can effectively improve the situation. Finally, the above models were analyzed for supply chain coordination decisions based on two scenarios: “cooperative stability” or “balance of effects”.

Production disruption in supply chain systems: impacts on consumers, supply chain agents and the society

Production disruption in supply chain systems: impacts on consumers, supply chain agents and the society

Breaking the cycle of inertia in food supply chains: a systems thinking approach for innovation and sustainability

PurposeAmidst compounding crises and increasing global population’s nutritional needs, food supply chains are called to address the “diet–environment–health” trilemma in a sustainable and resilient manner. However, food system stakeholders are reluctant to act upon established protein sources such as meat to avoid potential public and industry-driven repercussions. To this effect, this study aims to understand the meat supply chain (SC) through systems thinking and propose innovative interventions to break this “cycle of inertia”.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the meat supply network system. Data was gathered through a critical literature synthesis, domain-expert interviews and a focus group engagement to understand the system’s underlying structure and inspire innovative interventions for sustainability.FindingsThe analysis revealed that six main sub-systems dictate the “cycle of inertia” in the meat food SC system, namely: (i) cultural, (ii) social, (iii) institutional, (iv) economic, (v) value chain and (vi) environmental. The Internet of Things and innovative strategies help promote sustainability and resilience across all the sub-systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings demystify the structure of the meat food SC system and unveil the root causes of the “cycle of inertia” to suggest pertinent, innovative intervention strategies.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the SC management field by capitalising on interdisciplinary scientific evidence to address a food system challenge with significant socioeconomic and environmental implications.

Freshness-keeping effort vs. sustainability: an efficient approach for perishable supply chain system

Last few decades, unwanted climate change and global warming have forced us to think about the world environment. This paper investigates a perishable supply chain system consisting of one manufacturer, one third-party logistics service provider, and multiple retailers. The logistics provider and retailers use cooling technologies to maintain the product's freshness. Here, consumers' demand is evaluated from the utility function based on price, freshness, and sustainability level. The environmental impacts of the system are measured from the amount of energy consumption and carbon emission. Also, the supply chain members are taking their decisions in cooperation, non-cooperation, and coordination decision scenarios to maximise their profit and reduce total environmental impacts. We develop a general model and a particular model under different decision scenarios. The optimal sustainability level, price, and freshness-keeping-effort (FKE) are derived using the Stackelberg game theory. A numerical experiment as well as sensitivity analyses of various important parameters are conducted. It explores that (i) FKEs have more impact than the sustainability level for the consumption of perishable products. (ii) The retailer-leadership scenario is the most effective for reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption whereas the cooperative decision scenario is better for maintaining the freshness level.

Cybersecurity in Supply Chain Systems: The Farm-to-Fork Use Case

Modern supply chains comprise an increasing number of actors which deploy different information technology systems that capture information of a diverse nature and diverse sources (from sensors to order information). While the benefits of the automatic exchange of information between these systems have been recognized and have led to their interconnection, protecting the whole supply chain from potential attacks is a challenging issue given the attack proliferation reported in the literature. In this paper, we present the FISHY platform, which anticipates protecting the whole supply chain from potential attacks by (a) adopting novel technologies and approaches including machine learning-based tools to detect security threats and recommend mitigation policies and (b) employing blockchain-based tools to provide evidence of the captured events and suggested policies. This platform is also easily expandable to protect against additional attacks in the future. We experiment with this platform in the farm-to-fork supply chain to prove its operation and capabilities. The results show that the FISHY platform can effectively be used to protect the supply chain and offers high flexibility to its users.

Supply Chain Complexity and Its Impact on Knowledge Transfer: Incorporating Sustainable Supply Chain Practices in Food Supply Chain Networks

Background: The dynamics of supply chain networks have changed due to increasing complexities. Global expansions and knowledge transfer in supply chain networks bring efficiency and effectiveness to companies. However, the probability of supply chain complexity has also been seen increasing. The barriers to sustainable supply chain networks need to be tackled in an effective manner as they impact business operations. Therefore, it is essential to eliminate and reduce the supply chain complexities, as it will facilitate the process of knowledge transfer and increase the implementation of sustainable practises in supply chain networks. In the previous research, four supply chain complexity drivers were identified. Previous research identified four supply chain complexity drivers by conducting a systematic review. This study investigates which of the four complexity drivers impacts knowledge transfer in the context of the food supply chain sector. Methods: In this research, knowledge transfer is therefore examined from the perspective of sustainable food supply chains. Thirty exploratory qualitative interviews were conducted in this study and analysed using Nvivo (v12) software. This study utilised thematic analysis techniques for the evaluation of the interviews to gather results. Results: The results illustrated six main factors classified under broad categories: integration of Knowledge Transfer, incorporation of technological advancements in supply chain networks, supply chain complexity solutions, supply chain complexity drivers, sustainable supply chain networks, and capability to reduce supply chain complexity. The findings of this study highlight that process complexity significantly influences the process of knowledge transfer in food supply chain networks. The research findings contribute to both academic and practical domains. This study contributes to the aggregation of supply chain complexity and its impact on Knowledge Transfer. Additionally, the findings support supply chain networks, which strive to achieve efficient Knowledge Transfer to attain sustainable value in business operations. Conclusion: This study has proven that robust knowledge transfer reduces supply chain complexity as it makes supply chain systems more resilient and well-coordinated in many potential ways.

Digitization of Macro-Logistics Systems in Ukraine

This article delves into the multifaceted realm of digitizing macrologistical systems, scrutinizing their nature, influencing factors, and emerging trends. It intricately explores how the integration of digital technologies empowers transport enterprises to deliver superior logistics services while concurrently curtailing costs. A comparative analysis meticulously dissects various facets of the macrologistical system, elucidating the interplay and correlation of its elements within the realms of commodity-money and contractual relationships. The study accentuates the pivotal role of the macro-logistics system in supply chain management.In scrutinizing Ukraine’s Logistics Performance Index scores vis-à-vis EU countries, the authors attribute the disparity to the enduring conflict. A notable European logistics market trend is identified: a surge in digitization investments by individual companies and the establishment of cohesive online platforms. The paper advocates for the integration of automation in transport logistics, particularly in the backdrop of a wartime economy.European standards for a contemporary transport management system are analyzed, culminating in the selection of the CargoClix logistics platform. The article expounds on the platform’s merits in adeptly digitizing the operations of transport and logistics enterprises, offering real-time tracking crucial for prompt responses amid wartime exigencies.The article concludes by substantiating findings with pertinent diagrams and tables. In essence, the digitization of macrologistical systems entails a holistic amalgamation of digital technologies, data analytics, and decision-making solutions for information management in logistics and supply chain operations. This transformative journey, leveraging technologies such as the Internet of Things, unmanned technologies, identification technologies, blockchain, big data, robotic systems, artificial intelligence, and neural networks, aspires to amplify efficiency, visibility, and coordination throughout the supply chain. This paradigm shift is pivotal for evaluating the efficacy of transport and logistics companies, determining their competitive stance in today’s market. Future research trajectories encompass formulating strategies for national companies operating in the domestic logistics market, identifying and implementing key competitive advantages, and devising measures and tools to ensure efficiency during wartime.

Corporate social responsibility and green supply chain efficiency: conditioning effects based on CEO narcissism

Accelerating the construction of the green supply chain system and improving the efficiency of the green supply chain is the key to promoting the high-quality development of enterprises. In view of this, based on stakeholder theory, higher order theory and expectancy theory, this study focuses on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate green supply chain efficiency (GSCE) and the moderating role of chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism. A regression analysis of the observed sample reveals that CSR significantly enhances GSCE. Further decomposing CSR into internal CSR and external CSR to reveal the impact of different types of CSR on GSCE, we find that internal CSR fulfillment has a significant positive impact on GSCE, and this relationship is strengthened when CEOs are narcissistic. Furthermore, external CSR has a significant negative impact on GSCE, and this relationship is also strengthened by CEO narcissism. The main contribution of this paper is to study the relationship between CSR and green supply chain efficiency, decompose CSR into internal and external CSR, enrich the research on the intrinsic mechanism of value creation of CSR. It also enriches the research in the context of CSR from the perspective of CEO personality traits, providing new ideas and suggestions for manager selection and corporate greening governance in practice.