Real‐Time Revision of Order Quantities with Capacity Constraint: A Single Period Model

Manufacturing firms would like to maximize customer satisfaction by providing them with what they need when they need it. This, however, would mean continual variations in production quantities, and component orders from suppliers. A flexible manufacturing system can help alleviate costs related to modification of production quantities. The capacity of such a system, however, has to be limited because of high investment cost. Further, unless there is a long‐term relationship, suppliers may levy a high surcharge for last minute changes in order size. We model a hybrid control policy comprising an advance (pre‐production) order size agreed upon with suppliers, and a provision for real‐time order revision at a given rate of surcharge. We show that a rank‐order of products can be used for real‐time revisions, and that a strong buyer‐supplier relationship that keeps these surcharges low can actually help increase profits for both parties. We study issues such as compatibility between JIT and flexibility, and the impact of market conditions on overall profitability.     

Rethinking the dynamic of global production networks: Integrate the influence of suppliers and towards a flexible strategy making causal mechanism

The global production network (GPN) 2.0 framework mainly considers the organizational capabilities of lead firms, neglecting the influence of supplier capabilities on the strategic making of lead firms. I argue that the GPN 2.0 framework must integrate the influence of supplier capabilities (both industrial and individual firm levels) to better explain the organization of the global economy. Industrial-level capability determines the possible strategic choices that firms may make under certain dynamic combinations, whereas the individual firm level determines the geographic extension direction of GPNs. Therefore, this study incorporates the influence of suppliers and builds a more flexible strategy-making causal mechanism other than the definitive and limiting causal mechanism in GPN 2.0. I hope this article can promote the further development of GPN 2.0 and convey some valuable concepts to make it perform better in deconstructing the organization of the global economy in the real world.     

供应链环境下供应商关系管理研究

针对21世纪企业管理与信息技术应用的“热点”-供应商关系管理-这一新兴研究领域,考虑到世界经济一体化、企业经营全球化、高度竞争带来的个性化及迅速变化的客户需求,研究了企业与供应商的更加密切和复杂关系,强调在供应链管理模式下,企业采购管理思想中供应商关系管理的重要性。论文探讨了供应商关系管理涵盖的基本内容:供应商的一般选择标准、方法和审核,并在此基础上着重探讨了几种供应链环境下供应商关系管理(SRM)的基本模型。     

The effects of suppliers’ trust on manufacturers’ innovation capability: an analysis of direct versus indirect relationships

The study offers an alternative explanation for the role of trust in economic exchange, answering the critical research questions of how and under what conditions suppliers’ trust affects manufacturers’ innovation capability. The study adopts a transaction value approach suggesting combining strategy and organisational economic literature to fully investigate the processes through which joint value is generated and developed by interacting partners. Using survey data from a sample of 235 supplier–manufacturer relationships, we find broad support for the model hypotheses. The results confirm the mediating role of asset specificity and knowledge sharing as procedural dimensions in the relation between suppliers’ trust and manufacturers’ innovation capability. However, the direct path between trust and innovation capability was not confirmed. The study provides theoretical and practical implications for firms seeking to translate inter-firm trust into innovation-based competitive advantage.     

考虑不同碳排放处理模式的动态供应商选择及采购批量问题研究

不同的碳排放处理模式及不确定的市场需求等因素影响下,如何选择供应商并确定采购批量直接影响企业的运营和效益。本文在多时间周期、多产品种类、多供应商及随机需求情形下,同时考虑不同碳排放处理模式,分析动态供应商选择及采购批量等最优决策问题,构建混合整数非线性规划模型。通过设计变异算子和扰动因子来改进粒子群算法,力求在短时间内求解大规模决策问题。针对不同规模供应商选择及采购批量决策问题,采用精确方法、近似方法和改进粒子群算法求解。数值实验验证了模型及改进粒子群算法的有效性和可行性,分析了碳税、碳交易价格及碳限额对供应链管理的影响,并给出了供应商选择及碳排放处理的决策参考建议。     

Supplier quality assessment to identify depth technical knowledge of component reliability

As a result of global competition, international companies that manufacture photocopiers, printers or car navigation systems have to purchase low-cost electronic components such as semiconductors and hard disk drives by outsourcing production. However, it is often difficult for these companies to evaluate the quality of their suppliers through interviews and technical documentations. This article proposes new measures for supplier assessment and a systematic approach to select suppliers that have in-depth knowledge of component reliability and technology. The measures for selection not only include the physical quality of components but also information disclosures provided by suppliers, which consist of failure analysis, reliability data and details of the design-manufacturing process. The proposed measures are applied to real data of photocopier manufacturing enterprises. Experiments conducted show that a systematic assessment will enable selecting appropriate suppliers with a lower failure rate.     

A Multi‐Supplier Sourcing Problem with a Preference Ordering of Suppliers

We study a sourcing problem faced by a firm that seeks to procure a product or a component from a pool of alternative suppliers. The firm has a preference ordering of the suppliers based on factors such as their past performance, quality, service, geographical location, and financial strength, which are commonly included in a supplier scorecard system. Thus, the firm first uses available inventory from supplier 1, if any, then supplier 2, if any, and so on. The suppliers differ in costs and prices. The buyer firm seeks to determine which suppliers to purchase from and in what quantities to maximize its total expected profit subject to the preference ordering constraint. We present the optimal solution to this problem, and show that it has a portfolio structure. It consists of a sub‐set of suppliers that are ordered by their underage and overage costs. This portfolio achieves a substantial profit gain compared to sourcing from a unique supplier. We present an efficient algorithm to compute the optimal solution. Our model applies to component sourcing problems in manufacturing, merchandizing problems in retailing, and capacity reservation problems in services.     

论产品质量纠纷中供货者的责任

供货者处在产品流通过程的中间环节，不同于流通链条两端的生产者与销售者，在产品质量纠纷中具有特殊法律地位，为避免过多“内部求偿”之诉讼浪费，不必与生产者或销售者就产品缺陷损害承担连带责任，而应采取相对法定责任的模式。现行产品质量法关于供货者与销售者的规定含混不清，不利于消费者群体及各方合法权益的平衡，必须对供货者的责任分担作出具体明晰的规定。     

On the Same Page? How Asymmetric Buyer–Supplier Relationships Affect Opportunism and Performance

Research on buyer–supplier relationships (BSRs) has often focused on only one side of the relationship and, thus, has tended to overlook asymmetries. Yet, a buyer (supplier) may often deal with a bigger supplier (buyer) or one that has higher levels of trust, respect, and reciprocity. Therefore, we examined how two types of asymmetries—size and relational capital—affect perceived opportunism and performance. We used dyadic data from 106 buyers and their matched suppliers gathered from a survey and an archival database. The results demonstrate that the degree and direction of both asymmetries affect the BSR. Our results also reveal that an imbalance of relational capital in a firm's favor may have the opposite effect from that intended. In other words, the firm's counterpart perceives more, rather than less, firm opportunism. The results also suggest that a buyer observes lower benefits in the presence of size asymmetry, whereas the supplier's perception of benefits is unaffected. Thus, our research represents a significant step forward in understanding BSRs and asymmetries by (i) bringing attention to two key asymmetries inherent in BSRs and (ii) showing that these asymmetries are not unidirectional in their influence on perceived opportunism and performance.