Supply Chain Management Tools Research Articles

Supply chain management applications for forest fuel procurement – cost or benefit?

It is commonly agreed that logistics is very demanding in forest fuel business. Even though logistics and supply chain management (SCM) tools already have found their way into forestry business, for example, in roundwood operations, they are not yet very widespread in the field of forest fuel procurement. The present study investigates if modern supply chain management applications are capable of increasing the profitability of forest fuel procurement operations. Since margins are low, decreasing the provision costs could boost wood-based bioenergy business. The study is based on the investigation of two Finnish forest owners associations (FOA) involved in forest fuel procurement using a modern SCM tool. The investigation is done by cost-benefit analysis (CBA) using the net present value (NPV) methodology to determine the profitability. According to the estimates made by the staff, which are based on data such as work time records and delivery notes from before and after introduction of the new system, in both FOAs, the benefits far outweigh the costs over a considered timespan of ten years. However, the amount of the NPV varied significantly. For FOA1, with an annual chip production of 150 000 loose m3, the NPV is 212 739 euro, while for FOA2, with an annual chip production of 37 000 loose m3, the NPV is 969 841 euro. Even if the NPV of FOA2 seems to be very high, the profitability of SCM tools in forest fuel procurement is clearly demonstrated. Additionally, the results indicate that a considerable cost saving potential in forest fuel procurement is attainable through improving work flows and thus reduce the work input.

Understanding the key success factors of RFID use in Supply Chain Management: a Delphi study

As Information Technology (IT) plays a pivotal role in Supply Chain Management (SCM), not only do modern companies leverage it as a tool in SCM, they also actively seek its assistance in enhancing their competitive advantages. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has emerged as a new technology that has attracted much attention because of its major technological contribution to the changing business environment. This paper contributes by referring to the theory of Diffusion of Innovation, and reviews all the relevant literature on the introduction of RFID and its success factors. This paper seeks to collate opinions from experts from industries, academics, and governments on the RFID using two rounds of experts' questionnaires. The results show that there are 21 key success factors within six dimensions, namely, organisation, environment, organisation decision-makers, system, tasks, and project management. The findings from this research can serve as a reference in introducing RFID systems to organisations as a means to reduce the high failure rates of large-scale projects.

Not‐for‐profit supply chains in interrupted environments

PurposeThis paper primarily aims to address the following research question: Are techniques and practices developed for uninterrupted, for‐profit supply chains adaptable to the not‐for‐profit (NFP), interrupted context? In other words, can the managerial tools of business logistics be used in humanitarian relief logistics?Design/methodology/approachA combination of grounded research and case‐based research methods is used. Grounded research methods involve coding interview data to enable constant comparison of the data with emerging categories. Three managerial representatives of a single case organisation, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), are interviewed.FindingsMCC is a small NFP organisation operating in interrupted environments. As a matter of strategy, it pursues economic and social objectives. Strategic partnerships with “like‐minded” organisations are critical to achieve these objectives. To assess its achievements, MCC needs a wide range of performance measures.Research limitations/implicationsSince the paper is based on a single case, it is difficult to generalise the results beyond MCC, a small, faith‐based NFP providing humanitarian assistance. There are future research opportunities to study more cases and search for additional themes.Practical implicationsPartnerships and performance measurement are important elements of supply chain management (SCM) in humanitarian relief, characterised by NFP operations in interrupted environments. SCM tools and techniques created in the for‐profit or business context, for partnership formation (e.g. “how to commit”) and performance measurement (e.g. balanced scorecard), should be adapted for the humanitarian context.Originality/valueThere is a growing literature on supply chain interruptions, but very little research on NFP sector supply chains, despite pressing needs for effective SCM within the NFP context. Also, there are relatively few studies on adapting business logistics practices for the humanitarian logistics context. The paper addresses these issues.

Supply Chain Partners Selection Criterion in United Arab Emirates: A Study of Packaged Food Products Supply Chain

Application of supply chain management tools and techniques may not lead us very far in implementing them and yielding the benefits of relationship without understanding the partner's selection criterion. While there is plenty of published literature that explains or espouses benefits of partnering relationship there is a relative lack of empirical studies examining the partner selection practices in the context of different countries. The purpose of this paper is to understand the supply chain partner selection criterion of supply chain members of United Arab Emirates for successful collaboration, alignment and integration of the businesses. In order to study the partner selection criterion various perspectives of supply chain management practices and criterion of partner selection are grouped under five perspectives of partnership as characteristics, economics, dynamic capabilities, technology, and institutions and a survey instrument was developed to evaluate the criterion of the partner selection. The study results suggest that customer and suppliers do not appear willing to embrace the long-term relationship concept readily. The business environment such as market dynamics, globalization process and economy of the specific country or region has a bigger impact on partner selection process. The research results provide a rich basis for further theory development in the areas of supply chain practices in transition economic environment and the global supply chain management practices beyond the United Arab Emirates market.

An advanced supply chain management tool based on modeling and simulation

The paper presents an advanced modeling approach and a simulation model for supporting supply chain management. The first objective is to develop a flexible, time-efficient and parametric supply chain simulator starting from a discrete event simulation package. To this end we propose and advanced modeling approach. The second objective is to provide a decision making tool for supply chain management. The simulator is a decision making tool capable of analyzing different supply chain scenarios by using an approach based on multiple performance measures and user-defined set of input parameters. Our simulator capabilities as decision making tool are strongly amplified if Design of Experiment (DOE) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) are respectively used for experiments planning and simulation results analysis. With regard to supply chain decision making process, we propose an application example for a better understanding of tool potentials. The application example considers a specific supply chain scenario and analyzes the effects of inventory control policies, lead times, customers’ demand intensity and variability, on three different supply chain performance measures.

Non-invasive spectrophotometric sensing of carrot quality from harvest to consumption

The impact of different storage conditions and minimal processing on quality changes of freshly harvested carrots were recorded by means of non-invasive spectrophotometric techniques. Methods were adapted and evaluated with conventional chromatographic methods to test their feasibility for non-invasive monitoring of compounds determining the product quality. Sugar contents, which are a major component of carrot taste, were non-invasively monitored by means of diffuse reflectance readings (800–1700 nm) applying partial-least squares regression with a percentage standard error of cross validation (SECV) of 15.4, 4.6, and 2.3% for sucrose, glucose, and fructose, respectively. Using spectrophotometry in the visible wavelength range, non-invasive analyses of α- and β-carotenes, as important contributors to the nutritional value of carrots, were obtained with an SECV <1%. An inter-cultivar validation highlighted the need for re-calibration in sugar analysis, while carotenes were measured with an SEP <18% and a coefficient of determination in the validation of R P 2 > 0.9 . Application of non-invasive product monitoring shows that storage at high temperature (16 °C) as well as a break in the cooling chain can cause decreases in carotene contents. Under these conditions, in comparison with cool storage (3 °C), reducing sugars contents remained stable or were slightly enhanced, while sucrose contents decreased. After minimal processing all nutrients decreased. A loss was inhibited when the oxygen partial pressure was reduced. Monitoring such quality changes with rapid spectrophotometric methods can provide a quality control tool in modern supply chain management.

The Utilization of Modeling and Simulation as a Supply Chain Management Tool for a Recapitalization Program

:Modeling and simulation (M&S) has been described as one of the key enabling technologies of the 21st century. M&S has been applied to a wide range of operational problems. Supply chain management is an important aspect of operations for some organizations, and it is not surprising that M&S is being applied increasingly to solve supply problems. This article presents a case study of using M&S as a supply chain management tool for a military recapitalization program. It details the model development process, identifies the model's functionality and verification method, and demonstrates an application of an M&S tool to aid in the supply chain management of an Army aviation recapitalization program.

Transport integration tools for supply chain management

Over the last 3 years, research carried out by Cardiff University has studied the opportunities to integrate freight transport better into supply chains. The paper stems from this work. After asserting the principal reasons why better transport integration is important, it charts a range of diagnostic tools that were deployed. The tools represent a menu of instruments that aim to aid understanding, which can be selected from depending on need and circumstance. They can be utilised by transport and supply chain managers to assess what is happening within their supply chains, how well they are performing and the degree of integration, especially of the transport function with related supply chain echelons. It is hoped that by codifying this element of the research a contribution will have been made to the effective dissemination of the research to industry and thought leaders, which in turn will lead to practical exploitation, resulting in more integrated transport and supply chain management practice.

A performance comparison tool for supply chain management

Increasing globalisation, diversity of the product range and increasing customer awareness are making markets highly competitive, forcing different supply chains to adapt to different stimuli on a continuous basis. The necessary level of 'compatibility' among all the upstream and downstream players in a supply chain must be achieved to meet the strategic objectives of the supply chain. A mismatch between the objectives and capabilities of different players not only leads to the inefficient use of scarce resources but also affects the successful attainment of the strategic objectives for the supply chain. This paper briefly reviews some of the technical papers published to evaluate the performance of a single player or a supply chain over a chosen set of performance metrics. The paper then proposes a spreadsheet-based tool to address the issue of 'strategic fit' for a supply chain. The spreadsheet identifies the bottleneck areas in achieving the strategic fit between the supply chain's goals and the different players' capabilities. The spreadsheet also gives information regarding the time and monetary resources required to remove and/or reduce the mismatch, thereby serving as a valuable aid for strategic decision making.

RFID APPLICATION IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

This paper analyses the possibilities and ways of utilizingRFID as a tool for more effective supply and logistics chainmanagement. It focuses on RFID technology used within andacross logistics processes and it looks to RFID as one of thepossibilities for automating logistics processes. The benefitsand implications of RFID technology implementation in thesupply chain are illumined.

Modem Information Communication Technologies and Tools for Supply Chain Management

The paper presents the most important supply chain technologies,including the latest applications and software toolsused by companies that operate in the transportation and logisticsfields. The primary goals of these technologies are informationexchanges within and between organizations and/or managingsupply chain related data and activities. New electroniclogistics applications are increasingly being moved off proprietarysystems and private networks onto the intemet. With thee-commerce market exploding, portals are becoming a key elementin bringing together an enterprise's employees, businesspartners, and customers - the principle actors of every supplychain - through one interface, accessible via the intemet. Becauseof this capacity they are sometimes called e-supply chainmega portals.

E-Procurement: an emerging tool for the hotel supply chain management

In the hotel business, the flow of goods, services, and information should be designed to efficiently transform raw materials into finished products/services with values. Lodging services regularly purchase a large quantity of supplies for which procurement systems play a crucial role in maintaining daily operations and quality. Today, a major goal of a hotel's supply chain management is to efficiently apply information technology to its procurement systems. This research examined Philadelphia area hotel purchasing managers’ views about e-Procurement. Perceived costs and benefits of e-Procurement are identified and the strategic role of IT in procurement is described.

A Use of Analytic Network Process for Supply Chain Management

Strategic decision analysis on Supply Chain Management (SCM) involves tangible and intangible factors and it needs to be evaluated by interdependent multiple criteria. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a practical and popular decision-making tool for SCM. Interdependency among criteria becomes a source of difficulty in directly applying AHP to various SCM decision problems. Hence, the managerial issue is examined by Analytic Network Process (ANP), the general form of AHP. This study addresses a new use of ANP on SCM strategic decision analysis such as a supplier selection and improvement of supply chain performance.

Understanding and Managing the Services Supply Chain

SUMMARYServices have become increasingly important as the driving force in the U.S. economy. However, there has been little research to date on services supply chains. It is believed that service businesses can benefit by applying some best practices from manufacturing to their processes. However, the inherent differences in services create a need for supply chain management tools specific to the services sector. This article documents the growing importance of the services sector and of services purchasing. Next, it develops a supply chain framework appropriate for a services supply chain by comparing and contrasting the applicability of three product‐based manufacturing models: Global Supply Chain Forum Framework, SCOR and Hewlett‐Packard's Supply Chain Management Model. Finally, this research describes the challenges for procurement professionals managing purchases for a services supply chain and provides suggestions for use of supply chain management theory, and practices for improvement.

O uso da ferramenta gerenciamento por categoria na gestão da cadeia de suprimentos: um estudo multicaso

Diante do atual cenário competitivo, indústria e varejo estão buscando alternativas que garantam sua continuidade no mercado brasileiro. Para tanto, estão buscando atender eficientemente aos seus consumidores finais, oferecendo um mix de produtos adequado ao perfil de cada grupo de clientes. É dentro deste contexto que a ferramenta gerenciamento por categorias (GC), e outras práticas do ECR, estão começando a fazer parte do dia-a-dia, da cultura e das estratégias dessas empresas. Este artigo, visando fornecer subsídios para compreender como o GC pode ser uma ferramenta que otimiza a eficiência na gestão da cadeia de suprimento, apresentará as principais ações a serem desenvolvidas para a implementação dessa ferramenta em pequenos e médios supermercados, suas características facilitadoras e limitadoras, bem como os critérios para a escolha do parceiro.

INFORMATION GAMING IN DEMAND COLLABORATION AND SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE

Demand collaboration has recently been promoted by industry leaders as an important tool for supply chain management. Its greatest significance beyond the sharing of point‐of‐sale and forecast information stems from its potential to allow supply chain partners to extract private market information from each other for more effective planning and better supply chain performance. A simulation framework based on actual business processes is developed to investigate the underlying drivers of demand collaboration and the inherent risks and benefits of such collaboration.

E-management of supply chain: general models taxonomy

The management of Supply Chain Systems is one of the major issues that a firm has to deal with in today's global economy. The purpose of this type of system is to transform incomplete information about the market and available resources into co-ordinated plans for production and replenishment of goods and services in the network formed by co-operating units. One of the goals of Internet-Based Management (e-management) is to facilitate transfer and sharing of data and knowledge in the context of supply chain structures. Knowledge-based modelling tools for supply chain management utilise reusable components and configure knowledge as needed, in order to assist users (agents) in decision-making. This paper discusses a generic development methodology for e-management and conceptual modelling of supply chains. For illustration, applications from the automotive industry have been utilised.

Engineering supply chains to match customer requirements

Modern day market places are highly varied and cannot be serviced effectively by a single supply chain paradigm. Consequently products and services must be provided to the end consumer via tailored supply chain strategies. This article categorises consumer products and details the specific supply chain management tools and techniques required to service each. A comparison of lean and agile strategies is provided along with a detailed explanation of the integration of the two within a Leagile supply chain. The application of such a strategy for electronic products is provided via a four stage case study. A route map for engineering supply chains to match customer requirements is developed in order to avoid costly and ineffective mismatches of supply chain strategy to product characteristics.

Special Session on Models and Tools for Supply Chain Management

The strategic importance of managing a supply chain is the spotlight of this special session. Five papers provided by authors of Universities and R&D Institutes from different countries bring their contributions to this theme. In particular, the need of supply chain management models and tools is the main focus addressed by these authors. Almost all of them consider the current Production Planning and Control (PPC) systems quite inflexible to directly support the complexity of managing a co-operative enterprise network. In addition, they propose alternatives to overcome the difficulties involving planning aspects of a supply chain, and discuss possible directions to improve the supply chain management as a whole.

RAPID RESPONSE VEHICLE

Consumer pressure for fast and efficient delivery systems is driving retailers and distribution companies to develop a new generation of supply chain management tools. The efficient consumer response scorecard combines self‐assessment and benchmarking techniques to kickstart streamlining and improvement programmes.