Green automotive supply chain for an emerging market

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-97).Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) within the automotive industry is largely based on combining lean manufacturing with mandated supplier adoption of ISO 14001-compliant Environmental Management Systems (EMS). This approach evolved from automotive manufacturers seeking to expediently expand green practices within existing lean supply chains. However, a new automotive enterprise, without the legacy issues of an existing supply chain, has the opportunity to customize its supply chain from scratch, to comprehensively achieve both financial and green objectives. This thesis investigated a more holistic approach to creating a financially-viable green automotive supply chain for the MIT Vehicle Design Summit (VDS) - a start-up enterprise planning to enter the Indian emerging market with a new type of eco-friendly automobile. First, a hypothetical VDS supply chain was postulated by analyzing the contextual challenges of the Indian emerging economy, so as to optimize the location, supplier selection and manufacturing models within its business context. To ensure that the capital investments needed to fulfill the supply chain's green objectives do not compromise its primary purpose of value creation, a Triple Bottom Line technique called Environmental Cost Accounting was used as a managerial decision tool, which demonstrated the financial viability of GSCM for VDS. Next, green solutions for each supply chain function were identified for integration into the hypothetical supply chain. It was found that many important green solutions for an automotive supply chain like supplier selection, concurrent engineering, cascading of lean production best practices to the extended supply chain, fuel-efficient transport practices and green infrastructure design, have already been developed by various governmental and non-governmental agencies.(cont.) Also, product recovery through End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) processing was identified as a vital green supply chain function required for closing the loop between sales and sourcing. The key issue was integrating these disparate solutions into a holistic environmental management framework for VDS to implement and sustain. This was accomplished using an IS014001-based EMS as the master plan. The developed EMS Manual is a pioneering document that leverages chain-wide participation in existing green initiatives like the Green Suppliers Network, SmartWay Transport Partnership and LEED Green Building Rating, to realize a green supply chain by ensuring continuous monitoring and improvement of the implemented initiatives.by Gene Fisch, Jr. [and] Tien Song Paul Neo.M.Eng.in Logistic

How supplier selection criteria affects business performance? A study of UK automotive sector

According to KPMG international (2015), global sales of automobiles are forecasted to reach 73.9 million vehicles and expected to hit 100 million units in the next two years. This shows that automotive sector has a tremendous growth potential and UK automotive sector is no different. However, in recent years the growing environmental awareness has become a major concern for automotive sector as they are faced with pressure of reducing carbon emissions as well as the costs. Suppliers play a significant role in achieving environmental goals set by organisations. Under these circumstances it is worth exploring the criteria that are used in assessing suppliers including the green aspects and how that affects the business performance. Design/methodology/approach: This research adopts a mixed method research approach. In order to collect the quantitative data a survey questionnaire was constructed and sent to automotive businesses listed in the FAME database. In order to triangulate the findings of this study, survey was complemented with in-depth interviews. Around 100 automotive manufacturers were invited for the survey however only 38 usable responses were received. In total seven semi-structured interviews were also conducted with people from different backgrounds and work experiences in the automotive sector. Findings: Literature identified delivery, cost, quality and technology as the supplier assessment criteria commonly used in assessing suppliers in automotive industries. Yet the issue of culture and green supply chain practices (GSP) were also widely concerned in several studies. The data analysis showed that delivery, quality, cost, technology, culture are correlated with exception of green supply chain practices. GSP was only found to be correlated with technology and cultural criteria. Semi-structured interviews suggest delivery and quality as the most important criteria when assessing supplier because of their greater impact toward business performance and reputation. Findings from all respondents also showed that most automotive manufacturers have already adopted environmental competency in their criteria. However, interviewees mentioned that this criterion does not take a major role in assessment compared with other criteria. The results also indicate that all factors studied do affect the business performance of automotive organisations. Value: This study contributes to the limited literature focused on assessing supplier selection criteria and business performance linkage in the UK automotive organisations. In addition, most studies on supplier selection and business performance ignore the green practices as important criteria which this study aims to address. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on the findings from a limited survey responses and semi-structured interviews. Having larger sample population would certainly improve the validity of the findings. The perspective of SMEs and large businesses with regard to each supplier selection criterion may be different hence the future research in this domain would also provide some valuable contributions. Practical implications: The survey responses indicate green supply practices as one of the important criteria in supplier selection. This suggests that automotive manufacturers should realize the importance of green practices while selecting their suppliers. This will help them to meet their own green goals while simultaneously meeting the government environmental.Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan ▪ Economic Development Bureau, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ▪ National Kaohsiung First University of Science & Tech, Taiwan ▪ National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan ▪ Taiwan International Ports Corp. Ltd. ▪ Jade Yachts Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. ▪ International Academy for Marine Economy and Technology, The University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus, China ▪ The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, The University of Nottingham, U

The role of supply chain integration in achieving competitive advantage: A study of UK automobile manufacturers

The competitive nature of the global automobile industry has resulted in a battle for efficiency and consistency in supply chain management (SCM). For manufacturers, the diversified network of suppliers represents more than just a production system; it is a strategic asset that must be managed, evaluated, and revised in order to attain competitive advantage. One capability that has become an increasingly essential means of alignment and assessment is supply chain integration (SCI). Through such practices, manufacturers create informational capital that is inimitable, yet transferrable, allowing suppliers to participate in a mutually-beneficial system of performance-centred outcomes. From cost reduction to time improvements to quality control, the benefits of SCI extend throughout the supply chain lifecycle, providing firms with improved predictability, flexibility, and responsiveness. Yet in spite of such benefits, key limitations including exposure to risks, supplier failures, or changing competitive conditions may expose manufacturers to a vulnerable position that can severely impact value and performance. The current study summarizes the perspectives and predictions of managers within the automobile industry in the UK, highlighting a dynamic model of interdependency and interpolation that embraces SCI as a strategic resource. Full commitment to integration is critical to achieving improved outcomes and performance; therefore, firms seeking to integrate throughout their extended supply chain must be willing to embrace a less centralized locus of control

End-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling management: improving performance using an ISM approach

With booming of the automobile industry, China has become the country with increasing car ownership all over the world. However, the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling industry is at infancy, and there is little systematic review on ELV recycling management, as well as low adoption amongst domestic automobile industry. This study presents a literature review and an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach is employed to identify the drivers towards Chinese ELV recycling business from government, recycling organizations and consumer’s perspectives, so as to improve the sustainability of automobile supply chain by providing some strategic insights. The results derived from the ISM analysis manifest that regulations on auto-factory, disassembly technique, and value mining of recycling business are the essential ingredients. It is most effective and efficient to promote ELV recycling business by improving these attributes, also the driving and dependence power analysis are deemed to provide guidance on performance improvement of ELV recycling in the Chinese market

A Total Product System Concept - a case study of the smart (tm) automobile

Increasing demand from consumers plus EU legislation has raised awareness within the automotive production sector of the urgent need to reduce the environmental impacts from the three main stages in vehicle life – car manufacture, car use and end-of life vehicle processing. The paper reviews how the originator and manufacturer of the smart automobile has worked directly with its main system partners to address environmental issues in these three stages while optimizing performance across the parameters of commercial viability. This required the creation of strategic relationships within the supply chain. Overall, this innovative approach is viewed in the context of a total product system. The smart car highlights the following critical areas: use of modularity in product design and production facility layout; emphasis on partner participation from product creation to after-sales; and the use of highly customised build-to-order product system to 'green' the entire supply chain. In particular, the case study compares the process characteristics empoyed at the smart car factory, called 'smartville', with more traditional approaches to vehicle manufacture. It exmaines these issues in a preliminary attempt to establish the actual or potential reduction of environmental impact in the three stages of vehicle life, including the role of main suppliers in this process

Absorptive capacity and relationship learning mechanisms as complementary drivers of green innovation performance

This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms\u2019 green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance. This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed. The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance. This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios. Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries. The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations. This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance

A Fuzzy Based Decision Making Approach for Selecting and Evaluating Green Suppliers

In a competitive business environment, green supplier selection approach plays a pivotal role in supply chain management, because, due to growing global concern of environmental protection, green production has become an important factor for almost every manufacturer and will influence the sustainability of a manufacturer in the long run. A performance evaluation system for green suppliers is therefore required to determine the suitability of suppliers to cooperate with the industry. Supplier selection is basically depends on decision makers’ (experts’) assessments. This process inevitably involves various types of uncertainties such as deception, fuzziness and incompleteness due to the shortcomings of the human being’s subjective judgment and it’s variance from one human being to another. However, the existing methods cannot properly integrate uncertainties into the determination of green suppliers and their selection. Nowadays, many companies have begun to implement green supply chain management and to consider environmental issues and the measurement of their suppliers’ environmental performance. Here we have adopted, an effective method for selecting and evaluating green supplier selection; TOPSIS (Technique for order preference by similarity to Ideal Solution

Construction of capital procurement decision making model to optimize supplier selection using Fuzzy Delphi and AHP-DEMATEL

Purpose – Supplier selection for capital procurement is a major strategic decision for any automobile company. The decision determines the success of the company and must be taken systematically with the utmost transparency. Therefore, the aim of this study is the construction of capital procurement decision making models to optimize supplier selection in the Indian automobile industry. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the stated objective, a combined approach of fuzzy theory and AHP-DEMATEL is applied. Evaluation parameters are identified through an extensive literature review and criteria validation has been introduced through a Fuzzy Delphi method by using fuzzy linguistic scales to handle the vagueness of information. AHP is employed to find the priority weight of criteria although an inter-relationship map among criteria is not possible through AHP alone since it considers all criteria as independent. To overcome this, DEMATEL is used to establish cause-effect relationships among criteria. Findings – The results show that the total cost of ownership is the first weighted criterion in supplier selection for capital procurement, followed by manufacturing flexibility and maintainability, then conformity with requirement. The cause-effect model shows that supplier profile, total cost of ownership, service support and conformity with requirement are in the cause group and are considered to be the most critical factors in selecting the supplier. Originality/value – The study’s outcome can help the automobile industry to optimize their selection process in selecting their suppliers for capital procurement; the proposed model can provide guidelines and direction in this regard.N

A REPRISE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN CONSANGUINITY TO THE INDUSTRY OF TEXTILE

This study investigates supply chain management (SCM) literature to categorize it as well as this study particularly explores studies of SCM for textile industry. An analysis is provided for SCM in connection to textile industry. Science Direct, ABI/INFORM Global, EBSCO Host, and Emerald scholarly databases are inspected for SCM studies. It is found that there is lack of agreement for a sole definition of SCM; moreover, textile industry is being neglected for investigation of SCM. However, categories of SCM are described in a descending order from most studied categories to least studied categories. There is a void of a sole definition for SCM; therefore, a comprehensive definition of SCM is suggested from pertinent literature. Moreover, research gaps are identified for future research of SCM particularly for textile industry.supply chain management, textile industry, categories of SCM

Barriers to implement green supply chain management in automobile industry using interpretive structural modeling technique-An Indian perspective

Purpose: Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has received growing attention in the last few years. Most of the automobile industries are setting up their own manufacturing plants in competitive Indian market. Due to public awareness, economic, environmental or legislative reasons, the requirement of GSCM has increased. In this context, this study aims to develop a structural model of the barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry. Design/methodology/approach: We have identified various barriers and contextual relationships among the identified barriers. Classification of barriers has been carried out based upon dependence and driving power with the help of MICMAC analysis. In addition to this, a structural model of barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry has also been put forward using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique. Findings: Eleven numbers of relevant barriers have been identified from literature and subsequent discussions with experts from academia and industry. Out of which, five numbers of barriers have been identified as dependent variables; three number of barriers have been identified as the driver variables and three number of barriers have been identified as the linkage variables. No barrier has been identified as autonomous variable. Four barriers have been identified as top level barriers and one bottom level barrier. Removal of these barriers has also been discussed. Research limitations/implications: A hypothetical model of these barriers has been developed based upon experts’ opinions. The conclusions so drawn may be further modified to apply in real situation problem. Practical implications: Clear understanding of these barriers will help organizations to prioritize better and manage their resources in an efficient and effective way. Originality/value: Through this paper we contribute to identify the barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry and to prioritize them. The structured model developed will help to understand interdependence of the barriers. This paper also suggests the removal of these barriers.Peer Reviewe