A multi-agent optimisation model for solving supply network configuration problems

Supply chain literature highlights the increasing importance of effective supply network configuration decisions that take into account such realities as market turbulence and demand volatility, as well as ever-expanding global production networks. These realities have been extensively discussed in the supply network literature under the structural (i.e., physical characteristics), spatial (i.e., geographical positions), and temporal (i.e., changing supply network conditions) dimensions. Supply network configuration decisions that account for these contingencies are expected to meet the evolving needs of consumers while delivering better outcomes for all parties involved and enhancing supply network performance against the key metrics of efficiency, speed and responsiveness. However, making supply network configuration decisions in the situations described above is an ongoing challenge. Taking a systems perspective, supply networks are typically viewed as socio-technical systems where SN entities (e.g., suppliers, manufacturers) are autonomous individuals with distinct goals, practices and policies, physically inter-connected transferring goods (e.g., raw materials, finished products), as well as socially connected with formal and informal interactions and information sharing. Since the structure and behaviour of such social and technical sub-systems of a supply network, as well as the interactions between those subsystems, determine the overall behaviour of the supply network, both systems should be considered in analysing the overall system

Milk Run Design: Definitions, Concepts and Solution Approaches

Efficient inbound networks in the European automotive industry rely on a set of different transport concepts including milk runs - understood as regularly scheduled pickup tours. The complexity of designing such a mixed network makes decision support necessary: In this thesis we provide definitions, mathematical models and a solution method for the Milk Run Design problem and introduce indicators assessing the performance of established milk runs in relation to alternative transport concepts

Milk Run Design: Definitions, Concepts and Solution Approaches

Efficient inbound networks in the European automotive industry rely on a set of different transport concepts including milk runs - understood as regularly scheduled pickup tours. The complexity of designing such a mixed network makes decision support necessary: In this book we provide definitions, mathematical models and a solution method for the Milk Run Design problem and introduce indicators assessing the performance of established milk runs in relation to alternative transport concepts

The impact of outsourcing in the tobacco industry in Malawi (A case of Alliance One Tobacco Malawi Limited)

Outsourcing concept is not very old concept in the Malawi Tobacco Industry, however outsourcing practice was adopted in the late 2000 hence it‟s not fully develop in the Tobacco Industry in Malawi although most of the organizations already embarked on the strategy but not fully fragged. Outsourcing implemented by AOTM as one of their strategic choices in order to concentrate on its core activities which include growing, processing and shipping of tobacco among other activities and this applies to other tobacco companies in the industry who are striving to serve their customers beyond their expectations. AOTM through outsourcing they expected a number of benefits which include cost savings and better quality products and services when it contracted out. Data collected by the researcher was in form of qualitative and quantitative means which was collected through the use of triangulation that‟s questionnaires, interviews, structure and unstructured, observation, AOTM employees and internal reports such as memo and newsletters. Therefore data sources were both from primary and secondary sources. AOTM was the main case study under investigation where most of the data was collected from and also from other four tobacco companies, suppliers and contractors of AOTM. The data collected was qualitative in nature and analyzed through qualitative which was descriptive and in quantitative manner. Thereafter the research had drawn the findings and conclusions whereby it used charts, graphs and tables in order to present the findings in the meaningful manner. The main purpose of conducting this research study was to find out what impact the outsourcing practice had brought to the Malawi Tobacco Industry in Malawi and in particular AOTM since its implementation. The major reasons that caused the organizations to advocate for outsourcing include focusing much on the core competences, saving costs, lack of capacity and to attain expertise services. However the concept had brought some positive implications on the cost savings, effectiveness and efficiency, capacity levels and quality whereby contributes to the profit margins of the organization. The main objectives of this research was to establish whether outsourcing practice has improved effectiveness and efficiency at AOTM and its overall performance as whole. The research objectives also include benefits of outsourcing from the time of its implementation, drivers, challenges and critical success factors, procurement methods used and outsourcing methods adopted when contracting out their activities to the service providers. However, to some extend it has failed to fully achieve these objectives. The significance of this study was that some critical areas have been analyzed concerning outsourcing in relation to the problem investigated which was why there was escalation of costs and poor delivery performance of the outsourced activities

The global apparel value chain, trade and the crisis : challenges and opportunities for developing countries

This paper examines the impact of two crises on the global apparel value chain: the World Trade Organization phase-out of the quota system for textiles and apparel in 2005, which provided access for many poor and small export-oriented economies to the markets of industrialized countries, and the current economic recession that has lowered demand for apparel exports and led to massive unemployment across the industry’s supply chain. An overarching trend has been the process of global consolidation, whereby leading apparel suppliers (countries and firms alike) have strengthened their positions in the industry. On the country side, China has been the big winner, although Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam have also continued to expand their roles in the industry. On the firm side, the quota phase-out and economic recession have accelerated the ongoing shift to more streamlined global supply chains, in which lead firms desire to work with fewer, larger, and more capable suppliers that are strategically located around the world. The paper concludes with recommendations for how developing countries as well as textile and apparel suppliers can adjust to the crisis.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Free Trade,Labor Policies,Access to Markets

Supply Chain Risk Management Study of the Indonesian Seaweed Industry

Die Supply Chain von Algen in Indonesien, insbesondere Karrageen und Agarprodukte, ist mit Störungen innerhalb der Unternehmen und in externen Netzwerken konfrontiert wie z. B. Quantität, Qualität, Preis und Infrastruktur. Sobald eine Störung in einem Teil der Supply Chain auftritt, kann diese die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette beeinflussen. Um eine nachhaltige Algenindustrie sicher zu stellen, bedarf es einer langzeitigen Planung. Hierbei kann das Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) helfen. SCRM umfasst vier kritische Stufen: Identifikation der Algen-Supply Chains, Identifikation und Kategorisierung der Risiken, Einschätzen der Risiken und Vermeidung der Risiken. Um die Algen-Supply Chains zu identifizieren, wurden Feldforschung, Tiefeninterviews und Literaturrecherchen durchgeführt. Die Feldstudie wurde in den Provinzen Süd-Sulawesi, West-Java, Ost-Java, Banten und West-Nusa Tenggara durchgeführt. Anschließend wurden die Algen-Supply Chains mit der Software Umberto NXT Universal 7.0 modelliert, um ein besseres Verständnis von den Material- und Energieflüssen zwischen den Hauptakteuren zu erhalten. Um die Risiken zu identifizieren und zu kategorisieren wurden Literaturrecherchen durchgeführt und die Delphi Methode angewandt, um potentielle Quellen der Risiken, ihre Gründe und ihre Effekte zu analysieren. Zur Einschätzung der Risiken wurde ein semi-quantitativer Ansatz gewählt, welcher auf Face-to-face Interviews zurückgreift. Dementsprechend wurde eine Risikokarte erstellt, welche die Wahrscheinlichkeiten und Effekte von ungünstigen Ereignissen widerspiegelt. Basierend auf den vorherigen Ergebnissen wurde die Intensität der Risiken in die folgenden fünf Kategorien unterteilt: vernachlässigbare, geringe, kritische, sehr kritische und katastrophale Risiken. Drei alternative Strategien zur Vermeidung der Risiken werden vorgeschlagen: der Bau einer kleinen Algen-Fabrik, große Algen-Herstellung und industrielle Algen-Cluster, welche direkt am Algenanbau angegliedert sein müssen. Um die Strategien zu bewerten wurde die Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) angewandt, welche der multikriteriellen Entscheidungsanalyse zuzurechnen ist. Die Vermeidungsstrategien berücksichtigen  Nachhaltigkeitskriterien (Ökologie, Wirtschaft, Soziales) und Risikokriterien. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Algen-Supply Chains mit vertikaler Kooperation, aus Algen-Lieferanten (Farmer, lokale Händler, Großhändler und Exporteure) und Algen-Herstellern (Carrageen- und Agarunternehmen) bestehen. Die meisten Algen-Farmer sind unabhängige Farmer, die die Möglichkeit haben die Algen entweder an lokale Händler oder andere je nach Präferenz verkaufen können. Lokale Händler spielen eine entscheidende Rolle hinsichtlich der finanziellen Unterstützung der Farmer, der technischen Informationen und des Marktzugangs. Indonesische Carrageen- und Agarhersteller weisen ein kontinuierliches Marktwachstum auf, insbesondere als Familienunternehmen. Die Risiken der Algen-Supply Chain werden in zwei Hauptkategorien unterteilt: interne und externe Risiken. Interne Risiken werden weiterhin in zwei Gruppen untergliedert: interne Unternehmensrisiken, welche aus Prozess- und Steuerungsrisiken bestehen, sowie externe Unternehmensrisiken, die Supply- und Nachfragerisiken umfassen. Externe Supply Chain Risiken, die aus externen Netzwerkketten resultieren, sind Risiken hinsichtlich regulatorischer Fragen, der Finanzierung, Infrastruktur als auch soziale und umweltbezogene Risiken. Als kritischstes Risiko für die Carrageen-Supply Chain wurde die mangelnde Qualität von E.cottonii rohgetrockneten Algen identifiziert. Weitere kritische Risiken der Agar-Supply Chain sind Quantitätsunsicherheiten, die Knappheit von Gracilaria roh getrockneten Algen sowie negative Umweltauswirkungen des Abwassers. Aus  der Fallstudie zu halb-raffinierten Karrageen resultierte das Clustern von Algen-Verarbeitungsbetrieben als ist die beste Risikovermeidungsstrategie sowohl für große als auch kleine Unternehmen. Nichtsdestotrotz kann sich das Clustern negativ auf die lokale Umwelt auswirken.

Optimizing the performance of an integrated process planning and scheduling problem: an AIS-FLC based approach

The present market scenario demands an integration of process planning and scheduling to stay competitive with others. In the present work, an integrated process planning and scheduling model encapsulating the salient features of outsourcing strategy has been proposed. The paper emphasizes on the role of outsourcing strategy in optimizing the performance of enterprises in rapidly changing environment. In the present work authors have proposed an artificial immune system based AIS-FLC algorithm embedded with the fuzzy logic controller to solve the complex problem prevailing under such scenario, while simultaneously optimizing the performance. The authors have shown the efficacy of the proposed algorithm by comparing the results with other random search methods

The challenge of standardization for shipyards in developing countries

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105).by Antonius Roni Setyawan.M.S

Workers’ Voices: The situation of women in the Eastern European and Turkish garment industries

05_Workers_Voices.pdf: 256 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020