The database management system for Sakarya automotive suppliers and supply chain

This paper describes a database management system which was the result of a study carried out by Sakarya University and Adapazari Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The aim of the study was to increase the competitiveness of automotive companies in national and global markets by providing financial, economical and technological information regarding product design, supply chain, quality and job satisfaction. The results indicated that it is of vital importance to generate a supply-chain database management system for better selection of suppliers. Due to the huge number of data to be considered in decision-making, computer support seems to be inevitable.     

Green supply chain performance measurement using fuzzy ANP-based balanced scorecard: a collaborative decision-making approach

The purpose of this paper is to delineate a green supply chain (GSC) performance measurement framework using an intra-organisational collaborative decision-making (CDM) approach. A fuzzy analytic network process (ANP)-based green-balanced scorecard (GrBSc) has been used within the CDM approach to assist in arriving at a consistent, accurate and timely data flow across all cross-functional areas of a business. A green causal relationship is established and linked to the fuzzy ANP approach. The causal relationship involves organisational commitment, eco-design, GSC process, social performance and sustainable performance constructs. Sub-constructs and sub-sub-constructs are also identified and linked to the causal relationship to form a network. The fuzzy ANP approach suitably handles the vagueness of the linguistics information of the CDM approach. The CDM approach is implemented in a UK-based carpet-manufacturing firm. The performance measurement approach, in addition to the traditional financial performance and accounting measures, aids in firm’s decision-making with regard to the overall organisational goals. The implemented approach assists the firm in identifying further requirements of the collaborative data across the supply-cain and information about customers and markets. Overall, the CDM-based GrBSc approach assists managers in deciding if the suppliers’ performances meet the industry and environment standards with effective human resource.     

供应链应收账款融资的决策分析与价值研究

根据供应链应收账款融资交易模型,建立了包含供应商、下游厂商和金融机构的多阶段供应链决策模型,研究了包含和不包含融资情况下相关企业的决策问题,得到供应链中各参与方在各阶段的期望收益,并通过数值分析研究了供应链应收账款融资对供应链成员和整个供应链的价值.分析发现:没有其他融资的情况下,中小供应商有可能出现生产不连续的情况,而供应链应收账款融资能够使其进行连续生产,并在快速增长的市场中能在较短的周期内达到最优产量;应收账款融资也能使厂商得到连续供货,收益持续增长,供应商的初始现金越多,厂商的期望收益越高;当供应商的实力较弱时,金融机构能够得到较大融资总收益,当供应商的实力达到一定程度后,金融机构得到的总收益呈下降趋势.供应链应收账款融资对中小供应商、厂商和金融机构都具有很大的应用价值.     

A model-driven DSS architecture for delivery management in collaborative supply chains with lack of homogeneity in products

Uniform product deliveries are required in the ceramic, horticulture and leather sectors because customers require product homogeneity to use, present or consume them together. Some industries cannot prevent the lack of homogeneity in products in their manufacturing processes; hence, they cannot avoid non-uniform finished products arriving at their warehouses and, consequently, fragmentation of their stocks. Therefore, final uniform product amounts do not match planned production ones, which frequently makes serving previous committed orders with homogeneous quantities impossible. This paper proposes a model-driven decision support system (DSS) to help the person in charge of delivery management to reallocate the available real inventory to orders to satisfy homogenous customer requirements in a collaborative supply chain (SC). The DSS has been validated in a ceramic tile collaborative SC.     

A decision support system for a third-party coordinator managing supply chain with demand uncertainty

Global supply chains reduce cost but increase lead times, complexities and uncertainties. Retailers in consumer products industry are getting shorter lead time to respond to market demand. To meet this challenge, many rely on third party supply chain managers (SCMs) for economically supplying required quantities of finished products quickly. However, due to shorter ‘time to market’, the SCM has to procure raw materials and start production process based on expected demand. Since SCM absorbs financial penalties associated with under- and over-estimation of demand from retailer, finding an optimal production lot size and product customisation strategy are essential to an SCM's operation. We develop a profit maximisation model and provide a close-form solution that allows an SCM to calculate optimal production lot size. The model is used to examine profitability of postponing product customisation. Finally, the effect of demand variation on SCM's profitability is explored.     

Reference model for collaborative management in the automotive industry

Changes in the competitive environment require corporate restructuring, strengthening the relationship between the participants in a supply chain, implementing inter-organisational collaborative actions. Different strategies for collaborative actions render the subject relevant to researchers and managers. Integration, cooperation and partnership are essential to the success of this restructuring; the practices in this subject will be treated as Collaborative Management. The main objective is to analyse and synthesise the requirements of Collaborative Management in the automotive industry. The multicase study begins with an exploratory study to identify the theoretical elements that involve collaborative activity between companies, followed by a multiple case study in order to analyse the collaborative strategies used by companies. With the data collected a reference model will be produced using the Enterprise Knowledge Development methodology under a collaborative management approach. The data will enable the systematic and consistent representation of the collaboration between companies, helping to clarify the Collaborative role, and the integration relationship with the inter-organisational managing strategies.     

Business process re-engineering the supply chain

Common foundations which underlie thinking in the supply chain management (SCM), Business process re-engineering (BPR) and business process improvement (BPI) philosophies are highlighted. The view that BPR is a new concept is argued against by highlighting die work performed in other fields, namely SCM from the systems perspective. It is argued that those who have already implemented the SCM philosophy will have already travelled the same path as BPR and indeed re-engineered their own processes. Once businesses have integrated their supply chain the greatest benefits will have already been achieved, however system dynamics analysis does show significant on-cost differences dependent on the redesign strategy implemented. A generic structured model for SCM is enhanced through this comparison with BPR with the following characteristics being added; do not be afraid to be radical with respect to internal integration and continually search for step change improvement ideas which can be strategically phased in to positively impact the marketplace.     

A hybrid solution to collaborative decision-making in a decentralized supply-chain

This paper considers a decentralized supply chain, where multiple independent manufacturing facilities manage some capital-intensive equipments or resources shared among them. In particular, these manufacturing facilities operate somewhat in isolation to serve their own customers, but coordinate closely with each other to ensure the shared resources are effectively utilized. Such cross-facility capacity management problems are common in high-tech industries, they are typical examples of collaborative decision-making in supply chain integration, and are critical to create a competitive edge in a more interconnected business environment. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm that integrates Lagrangian relaxation and immunity-inspired coordination scheme, known as LR-ICI, is proposed and investigated by extensive numerical experiments, and is shown to be competitive compared to similar algorithms.     

基于时变需求的一对一供应链库存决策研究

随着竞争日趋激烈,需求变化节奏加快,需求时变性越加明显.在需求时变的环境下探讨了等周期补货情形下缺货时点优化以及非等周期补货情形下缺货时点与补货时点优化问题,特别着重研究了补货时点局部优化与整体优化的决策模型,并对非等周期补货与等周期补货、补货时点整体优化与补货时点局部优化作对比分析,并发现,在时变需求环境下非等周期补货与补货时点整体优化在降低库存成本方面具有明显优势.同时,分析了补货时点优化的效果与供需双方补货次数、需求时变性的关系.     

Causal factor relations of supply chain competitiveness via fuzzy DEMATEL method for Thai automotive industry

Abstract

The automotive industry is complex and global. An automotive supply chain involves multiple manufacturers and service providers in different parts of the chain across different countries. Diffusion of the global production system creates both opportunities and challenges for the supply chain itself as well as production base countries. Thailand is a production base for over 15 automotive brands. The industry contributes significantly to the Thai economy and employs approximately half a million people. To address competitiveness of the Thai automotive industry, its supply chain is studied in this paper. Ten factors affecting the competitiveness of the Thai automotive supply chain are analysed through the fuzzy DEMATEL method. The method forms a structural model that categorises the causal or effect roles of the factors, and the degree at which they impact the supply chain. This study focuses on Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturers of the supply chain. The results reveal that there are three common causal factors and four common effects in both tiers. The other four factors play different roles in different tiers. Managerial implications relating to these factors are also discussed and certain recommendations proposed in order to enhance the competitiveness of the Thai automotive supply chain.     

Changing risk preferences in supply chain inventory decisions

The risk preferences of managers may cause their inventory ordering decisions to deviate from the optimal policy. Past studies in operations management have produced mixed results. This study examines this proposition using decision data collected from a supply chain experiment. This article finds that changing the risk preferences of managers with respect to demand changes and supplier failures is a significant behavioural factor in explaining deviations in ordering decisions. This result provides an additional behavioural cause in explaining the bullwhip effect in supply chains. It also provides insights on the challenges for reducing the bullwhip effect in supply chains.     

Firm-level correlates of emergent green supply chain management practices in the Chinese context

Greening the supply chain is increasingly a concern for many business enterprises and a challenge for logistics management in the 21st century. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational environmental awareness and put environmental activities into practice in the logistics activities of their supply chains. This paper investigates the correlation of two major factors, organizational learning and management support, with the extent of adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, where their inbound and outbound logistics activities are potential polluters to the environment. Organizational and operational learning was derived from the firm's experience with programs such as total quality management and environmental management systems. Management support included support for GSCM ideas and practices from top and middle-level management and cooperation across organizational functions. We find significant positive relationships between organizational learning mechanisms, organizational support and the adoption of GSCM practices, after controlling for a number of other influences including regulations, marketing, supplier, cost pressures, industry levels of the relevant practice and organizational size. Implications of our findings on logistics management are discussed.     

Development and validation of a lean supply chain management measurement instrument

It is widely argued that to be competitive, a company not only needs to focus on internal aspects but on the entire supply chain. Lean supply chain management has become a means of enhancing competitiveness by improving efficiency and increasing flexibility at all stages of the supply chain. This research develops and validates a lean supply chain management measurement instrument. A two-phase approach is used for scale development and refinement. In the first phase, a literature review is conducted to identify definitions of lean supply chain management and agile supply chain management and their corresponding measurement items. In the second phase, the lean supply chain management measurement instrument is validated using survey data based on scales developed in the first phase by 59 scholars with experience in lean management and/or supply chain management. The results provide a structured and comprehensive measure of lean supply chain management indicating that there are two differentiated dimensions in the measurement instrument: one related to the operational aspects of lean supply chain strategy implementation and the second related to lean supply chain planning.     

Disruptions in tightly coupled supply chain networks: the case of the US offshore oil industry

Managers have paid increasing attention to the exposure of their supply chains to disruptions and seek ways to mitigate supply chain vulnerability. The interconnectedness of tightly coupled supply chain networks makes this a challenging task, because interconnectedness and tight coupling of nodes in the network lead to an amplification of the actual risk exposure. This phenomenon can be attributed to the propagation of losses through the network, which exhibits certain dynamics. In order to investigate this mechanism, we studied the complex supply chain network of the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Our results provide an estimate of the economic impact of eventual random and hurricane-related disruptions and can be used as a decision support tool for risk management of supply disruptions in interconnected supply chain networks.     

Electronic markets in support of procurement processes along the automotive supply chain

Since the introduction of the internet, firms have continued to seek ways to use these public networks to gain competitive advantage. The procurement function is beginning to take on greater strategic importance as these networks started providing firms wider opportunities such as choices of suppliers. This aims not only to reduce procurement costs, but also to build stronger relationships with suppliers to improve quality and flexibility in meeting customer demand. This type of linkage of firms with their suppliers when the product manufactured is complex and supply-chain is heavily tiered, such as the case of the automobile industry, creates challenges to any electronic market or exchange that is aiming to support such a system. Based on discussions with some key individuals in an automotive supply chain and an in-depth analysis of a supply-chain segment, this paper explores the role electronic markets may have to play, if they are to support the procurement processes of various agents along the supply chain.     

Systemic approach to supply chain management through the viable system model and the theory of constraints

In today’s environment, Supply Chain Management (SCM) takes a key role in business strategy. A major challenge is achieving high customer service level under a reasonable operating expense and investment. The traditional approach to SCM, based on local optimisation, is a proven cause of meaningful inefficiencies – e.g. the Bullwhip Effect – that obstruct the throughput. The systemic (holistic) approach, based on global optimisation, has been shown to perform significantly better. Nevertheless, it is not widely expanded, since the implementation of an efficient solution requires a suitable scheme. Under these circumstances, this paper proposes an integrative framework for supply chain collaboration aimed at increasing its efficiency. This is based on the combined application of the Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) and the Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC). VSM defines the systemic structure of the supply chain and orchestrates the collaboration, while TOC implements the systemic behaviour – i.e. integrate processes – and define performance measures. To support this proposal, we detail its application to the widely used Beer Game scenario. In addition, we discuss its implementation in real supply chains, highlighting the key points that must be considered.     

Mathematical modelling to improve Rolled Throughput Yield in a supply chain

The outspread of supply chains competition entails inevitable application of quality improvement methods, such as Six Sigma. It is less than a decade that Six Sigma methodology has entered the supply chain scope; however, researches undertaken in this field have massively increased. Most of these research works have been done towards the application of the Six Sigma method for supply chain improvement, yet nothing has been done about suitable entity selection in supply chain for improvement. The purpose of this article is to propose a method for individual entity selection in the supply chain. Accordingly, a mixed integer non-linear programming model is presented that shows which supply chain entity should be selected, and how much to improve, in order to maximise financial benefit. This article also presents new comprehensive criteria based on the previous approach, which can measure the performance of the supply chain. Moreover, the ability of the proposed criteria is shown through a numerical example. Finally, the optimisation model was applied for selecting individual entity in tweedy supply chain in order to illustrate the capability of the model. In addition, sensitivity analysis is carried out on the parameters of the model.     

Implementation of customisation strategies in collaborative networks through an innovative Reference Framework

Consumer needs and expectations of specific target groups – such as elderly, obese, disabled or diabetic persons – are arising as challenging opportunities for European companies which are asked to supply innovative customised goods of high quality at affordable price. This is particularly true in the fashion as well as in the orthopaedic sector where there are many different competences to conjugate to offer dedicated products to the mentioned target groups. This paper aims at proposing a reference model to support companies in defining collaborative supply networks for customised production. In particular, this work describes the implementation of the developed model in a real case highlighting the changes implied at network level to address the need for fashionable and healthy products.     

具备提供服务的供应链博弈分析

考虑在只包含一个供应商和一个零售商的供应链中,用提供给顾客的服务来提升实际需求,以提高供应链的局部或整体效益.但是服务的提供或者由其中一个成员提供,或者由他们共同提供.基于服务提供者的不同,分别研究了在Stackelberg和Nash博弈中供应商和零售商的决策.研究表明,当供应链中有提供给顾客的服务时,在Stackelberg博弈下,供销双方都能从中得到更多的利润;但是在Nash博弈下,服务提供方只有在一定的条件下才能从中受益.当只有一个成员提供服务时,文中给出了一个成员愿意由自己提供服务或愿意让对方提供的条件.得到了两个主要结果:在Stackelberg博弈中,由供应商和零售商共同提供服务对他们来说都是最好的选择;在Nash博弈中,并没有类似的结果,在某些条件下零售商更愿意作Stackel-berg跟从者.     

供应链风险管理中的几个重要问题

供应链风险管理是供应链管理领域一个新的热点研究方向,吸引了来自于运作管理、财务管理和战略管理等领域的研究人员和企业管理人员的极大关注.文章对有关供应链风险管理定量分析的一些主要工作进行评述,并讨论这一领域的几个重要研究方向,希望引起国内学术界的重视.