Interrelationship Performance Indicators Model of Agile Supply Chain Management in Palm Oil Industry

This paper tries to model agile supply chain management performance indicators in the palm oil industry. The interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) method is used to find the relationship between these indicators. The ISM stages begin with identifying indicators, compiling contextual relationships, compiling reachability matrices, compiling level partitions, compiling digraphs, and compiling ISM models. Then MICMAC analysis is used to group each of these indicators into four categories based on their driving power and dependence power. In this study, 16 hands of agile supply chain management in the palm oil industry were obtained, of which the four-level ISM  model could be constructed. Two indicators are at level 4, six hands are at level 3, three indicators are at level 2, and five indicators are at level 1. Meanwhile, through MICMAC analysis, five indicators are found in the independent indicators category, six hands are in the linkage indicator category, four indicators are included in the dependent indicator category, and one indicator is in the autonomous indicator category. This research can be used by managers in the palm oil industry who want to increase agility in their supply chain. In general, indicators at level 4 can affect indicators at level 3, and so on. So that management can start fixing the indicators at level 4 first. In addition, indicators that have a driving power value in MICMAC analysis can be prioritized to improve their performance

Evaluation of Leanness, Agility and Leagility Extent in Industrial Supply Chain

The focus of Lean Manufacturing (LM) is the cost reduction by eliminating non value added activities (waste i.e. muda) and enabling continuous improvement; whereas, Agile Manufacturing (AM) is an approach which is mainly focused on satisfying the needs of customers while maintaining high standards of quality and controlling the overall costs involved in the production of a particular product. This approach has geared towards companies working in a highly turbulent as well as competitive business environment, where small variations in performance and product delivery can make a huge difference in the long term to a company’s survival and reputation amongst the customers. Leagility is basically the aggregation of lean and agile principles within a total supply chain strategy by effectively positioning the decoupling point, consequently to best suit the need for quick responding to a volatile demand downstream yet providing a level scheduling upstream from the marketplace. A leagile system adapts the characteristics of both lean and agile systems, acting together in order to exploit market opportunities in a cost-efficient way. The present research aims to highlight how these lean, agile as well as leagile paradigms may be adapted according to particular marketplace requirements. Obviously, these strategies are distinctly different, since in the first case, the market winner is cost; whereas, in the second case, the market winner is the availability. Agile supply chains are required to be market sensitive and hence nimble. This means that the definition of waste is different from that appropriate to lean supply. The proper location of decoupling point for material flow and information flow enables a hybrid supply chain to be better engineered. This encourages lean (efficient) supply upstream and agile (effective) supply downstream, thus bringing together the best of both paradigms. While implementing leanness/agility/leagility philosophy in industrial supply chain in appropriate situations, estimation of a unique quantitative performance metric (evaluation index) is felt indeed necessary. Such an index can help the industries to examine existing performance level of leanness/agility/leagility driven supply chain; to compare ongoing performance extent to thedesired/expected one and to benchmark best practices of lean/agile/leagile manufacturing/supply chain, wherever applicable. The present research attempts to assess the extent of leanness, agility as well as leagility, respectively, for an organizational supply chain using fuzzy/grey based Multi- Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches. During this research, different

Studies on some aspects of agility appraisement: empirical research and case studies in Indian perspective

The thesis highlights decision-making problems in relation to agility evaluation as well as appraisement of agile enterprises followed be suppliers’ selection in agile supply chain. Various aspects have been covered (i) Supply Chain Agility Appraisement and (ii) Appraisement of Agility in Mass Customized Product Manufacturing (iii) Organizational Agility and Benchmarking of Agile Enterprises, (iv) Interrelationship amongst Agile Capabilities/Enablers, (v) Identification of Agile Barriers etc. Appraisement modules (appraisement index systems) have been proposed utilizing the concept of generalized fuzzy numbers, Interval-Valued Fuzzy Numbers (IVFNs) as well as grey numbers. The study provides in-depth understanding on hierarchical interrelationship amongst various agility dimensions required to assess organizational as well as supply chain agility. Agility appraisement modules have been proposed to perform both in fuzzy as well as grey environment. Agility barriers have been identified as well. The outcome of the empirical research as well as case study conducted in two Indian industries (automotive and railway construction at eastern India) have been critically analyzed. The influence of decision-makers’ risk bearing attitude over agility assessment and related decision-making has also been focused in this work. An efficient fuzzy embedded performance appraisement module has been proposed to facilitate suppliers’ evaluation cum selection process in agile supply chain. There exist a number of agility indices (metrics) that influence the extent of organizational agility. By evaluating these indices, appropriate ranking order of alternative agile enterprises can be determined. This being the basic fundamental of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), it can effectively be explored towards benchmarking of agile enterprises. Evaluating the candidate agile alternatives and comparing across them, the best practices of the efficient organization can easily be identified and transferred to different organizations. Indian manufacturing industries prefer to maintain status-quo and hardly go for changes (or transformation). However, today’s market compulsion due to liberalization and globalization of demands that manufacturing firms must be agile enough to serve continuously changing unpredicted needs of the customers in an effective manner. The changes in terms of being agile are not easy enough due to several environmental, managerial and technical considerations. Analysis of drivers of agile manufacturing and their interaction with various aspects in integrative planning can be a valuable source of information to the decision-makers (DMs) for its successful implementation. In doing so, the managers can derive important insights into the problem and explore the said drivers efficiently to overcome those obstacles. Agility evaluation problem can be viewed as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem involving qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation criterions. Quantitative criterions (attributes) can be tackled by traditional tools and approaches. Difficulty arises in dealing with subjective qualitative selection criterions. In this thesis, fuzzy logic (as well as grey theory) has been proposed to tackle decision-makers’ subjective information/judgment in relation to agility appraisement and related decision-making vi problems. Literature is rich enough in addressing various decision-modeling problems using generalized fuzzy numbers; therefore, fruitful incorporation of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Numbers theory and grey theory definitely added value (contribution) pursued in data analysis (empirical as well as case studies) in this thesis. Use of ‘Fuzzy Degree of Similarity’ concept in identifying weak (ill-performing) areas (called agile barriers) in an agile supply chain appears to be a unique contribution in this work

Critical factors of digital supply chains for organizational performance improvement

Technological advancement is redefining supply chains (SCs) processes and soon traditional ways of managing SCs will no more be feasible and effective. Due to recent advancement in technology, digitalization has become an emerging topic among decision-makers and researchers. To cope-up with this emerging trend in customer behavior and remain competitive, organizations must move from their traditional ways of managing their SCs to digital supply chains (DSCs) for improved organizational performance. Therefore, the purpose of this article is in two folds: First, to identify critical factors of DSCs that are essential for transitioning traditional SCs to DSCs to improve organizational performance. Second, interpretive structural modeling is used to establish the relationship among critical factors and (matriced’ impacts croise´s multiplication applique´e a´un classement used to identify the driving and dependency power of the critical factors. Thus, this article identified fifteen DSC critical factors and established their direct and indirect effect on DSCs. The results show that “SC resilience”, and “proactive prevention” have the highest dependency power factors whilst “integration” and “advanced operational models” have the highest driving power factors. This article can help SC managers and decision-makers to understand the critical factors essential in adopting DSCs for improving organizational performance

Implementing environmental practices within the Greek dairy supply chain Drivers and barriers for SMEs

Purpose – Food supply chain (FSC) in Greece is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who face several challenges in adopting green practices. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key drivers and barriers influencing the environmental performance of SMEs within the Greek dairy supply chain (SC). Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive research methodology attempts to prioritize the drivers and barriers for improving the environmental sustainability performance. Analytical hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis are used to understand the complex nature of the influencing factors. Findings – The analysis identifies five barriers and six drivers for the implementation of green practices within the dairy SC. While external drivers significantly influence the market structure and logistics network, government, competitors and customers are the driving factors for improving environmental performance. Research limitations/implications – The study contributes to filling the literature gap on key factors influencing the implementation of green practices within the FSC. The identified influential factors will contribute toward building a framework for improving sustainability performance within the Greek dairy SC. Practical implications – The study is expected to benefit the Greek and European SMEs by driving their environmental practices within the perishable SC network. Originality/value – The paper provides directions for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in understanding the challenges for implementing green practices in the dairy SC. The holistic approach followed in this paper is a building block for a conceptual framework on implementing environmental sustainability within the FSC. Apart from contributing to the current literature by extending the research horizon to SMEs’ green adoption capability, this study also provides better understanding of the pivotal role of internal and external key factors in influencing sustainability performance

Agile organisations – features and agility enablers

Building organisations with a high degree of agility is becoming a more and more relevant and key issue as the dynamicity and unpredictability of the environment grow. A number of studies offer lists of characteristics outlining the profile of an agile organisation. The influence of numerous organisational resources and managerial practices for enhancing agility is focused upon by researchers as well. By reviewing and comparatively analysing the features of agile organisations as formulated by other researchers, the aim of this article is to outline the main features of agile organisations, as well as differentiate the markers of agility from the factors and practices which enable it. The role of knowledge in achieving agility is emphasised and centred around in the logical framework which describes the link between agility enablers and agility features. Thus, the necessity to acquire and develop knowledge and employ it in achieving agility justifies the choice of practices and resources pointed out in this article as key agility enablers

Ranking Agility Factors to Reliably Sustain a Green Industrial Supply Chain Using the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process and Ordinal Priority Approach

Suppliers can achieve high levels of supply chain sustainability by improving the related factors. An agile supply chain can support sustainability. Identifying and ranking agility factors in the SAIPA company in Iran to reach a sustainable and green supply chain is the primary purpose of this study. SAIPA is an automotive company with an extensive supply chain. The data were quantitative, and the collection was completed by reviewing the literature and questioning experts. The FANP and the OPA methods were the tools used to analyze the data. These methods are proper for facing multiple-criteria decision-making problems, as in the case of this paper. We first identified the factors (capabilities, enablers, and attributes) using a literature review. After that, we gathered the data for ranking analysis by collecting the opinions of SAIPA’s organizational experts using a pairwise comparison questionnaire for the FANP and a prioritizing list for the OPA. Both methods showed that “Quickness” is the capability with the highest priority. “Customer Sensitivity” was the most critical enabler, and “Accurate customer-based measures” was the most significant attribute of the FANP analysis. The OPA results showed that “Information Management” was the first enabler, and “Efficient funds transfer” took first place among all the attributes. Managers should pay more attention to these factors to develop agile supply chains in the SAIPA company. The results also showed that the methods proposed for multi-attribute decision-making problems like the FANP have shortcomings, such as difficulties completing the pairwise comparison matrix due to burdensome data collection in cases similar to the one in this study with many factors

Building a boundaryless manufacturing organisation through HITOP method

There is little empirical research to support the allegation that ‘leagile’ manufacturing organisations thrive in hostile environments, nor has it been demonstrated that organisation processes (referred to as enablers) actually support ‘leagile’ performance. This study tests the statistical significance of five selected HITOP (highly integrated technology, organisation and people) ‘leagile’ enablers. This was accomplished by using a mail survey instrument to measure the presence of ‘leagile enablers’ in a sample of companies taken from best factory award winners in UK, US and Japan. [Continues.

Blockchain Technology for Enhancing Supply Chain Performance and Reducing the Threats Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic

A rigorous examination of the most recent advancements in blockchain technology (BCT) and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled supply chain networks is provided in this book. The edited book brings together the perspectives of a number of authors who have presented their most recent views on blockchain technology and its applications in a variety of disciplines. The submitted papers contribute to a better understanding of how blockchain technology can improve the efficacy of human activities during a pandemic, improve traceability and visibility in the automotive supply chain, support food safety and reliability through digitalisation of the food supply chain, and increase the performance of next-generation digital supply chains, among other things. The book attempts to address and prepare a way to address the complicated issues that supply chains are encountering as a result of the global pandemic