Determinants of Informal Coordination in Networked Supply Chains

Purpose – Provide insight into the determinants or constructs that enable informally networked supply chains to operate in order to achieve improved operational performance. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a wide literature review, focused on the identification of dimensions of informal networking in supply chains along network connectivity, supply chain relationship alignment, informally networked supply chain, and operational performance. These determinants or constructs of informal networking were statistically validated for validity and reliability, using a sample of 231 supply chain professionals. Findings – Four determinant of informal networking were derived: capability connectivity, describing the ability of supply chain partners to rapidly and informally integrate capabilities to service an ad hoc market requirement; relationship alignment or the ability to informally integrate resources across supply chain partners in the context of highly dynamic market situations; the informally networked supply chain itself, measuring the ability of supply chain partners to respond to transient opportunities in the context of highly dynamic markets; and finally operational performance which measures the effect informal networking has on company performance. Research limitations/implications – Future research may investigate the effects of informally networked supply chains on a broader array of measures of company performance, and additional measures of operational performance. Practical implications – These newly developed constructs or determinants give managers further insight into which dimensions need to be fostered to enable informally networked supply chains to operate, and what operational gains may be potentially realised as a result of informal networking. Originality/value – This paper contributes to enhancing the understanding of the newly emerging phenomenon of informal networking in supply chains and how it may yield operational efficiency and effectiveness gains.construct development;coordination;informal networking;supply chain

Expectations in Relation to Factory Closures and Mass-Dismissals Clean Clothes Campaign E-Bulletin, September 2007

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.CCC_Expectations_FactoryClosures.pdf: 84 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Supply Chain Management and Management Science: A Successful Marriage

The last century has witnessed extant studies on the applications of Management Science (MS) to a diverse set of Supply Chain Management (SCM) issues. This paper provides an overview of the contribution of MS within SCM. A framework is developed in this paper with a sampling of MS contributions to major SCM dimensions. Future research directions are presented

Integrating revenue management and sales and operations planning in a Make-To-Stock environment : softwood lumber case study

Most research regarding revenue management in manufacturing has considered only a short-term planning horizon, assuming supply and production data exogenously given. Motivated by the case of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, this paper offers additionally a medium-term visibility for firms with limited capacity and faced with seasonal markets. We propose a demand management process for Make-To-Stock environments, integrating sales and operations planning (S&OP) and order promising based on revenue management concepts. Given heterogeneous customers, divergent product structure and multiple sourcing locations in a multi-period context, we first define a multi-level decision framework in order to support medium-term, short-term and real-time sales decisions in a way to maximize profits and to enhance the service level offered to high-priority customers. We further propose a mathematical formulation integrating an S&OP network model in the Canadian softwood lumber industry and an order promising model using nested booking limits. This new formulation allows reviewing previous order promising decisions while respecting sales commitments. A rolling horizon simulation is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed process in various demand scenarios and provides evidence that better performances can be achieved compared to common demand management practices by integrating S&OP and revenue management concepts

The Economics of Outsourcing in a De-integrating Industry

Many large firms in low scale economy industries are actively considering outsourcing options, in the face of competition from smaller more efficient players. Based on a review of the theoretical literature and a case-study of outsourcing decisions at two large vertically integrated footwear manufacturers in Pakistan, a framework is developed for determining which set of products and activities to outsource and which to keep in-house. The framework suggests activities being considered for outsourcing be evaluated in terms of level of proprietary knowledge, economies of scale, inefficiencies of vertical integration, transactional costs, and the existence of reliable vendors. It is suggested that activities with low levels of proprietary knowledge and activities where cost savings due to outsourcing justify the increased transaction costs, should be outsourced.footwear, Outsourcing, Pakistan, case-study

Design of global chain for wind turbines production

PFC presentat a Copenhagen University College of EngineeringTreball desenvolupat dins el marc del programa 'European Project Semester'.This project discusses perspectives for design global supply chain for wind turbine production aiming to a future political system supporting this development. We have to install wind farms in 6 countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England and Finland). The project is based on a fictive case where a major Danish energy conglomerate has decided on a new strategy to become the largest producer of clean energy in northern Europe. The fictive company is Dan Energy and is the leading Danish energy conglomerate. Nowadays, it focused on energies fossils like fuel and coal power station. For the future, the conglomerate wants to develop wind turbines power and its target is to become the largest producer of wind power in Northern Europe until 2014. In particular, it suggests answers to the following questions: · How should the production be divided? Are we going to produce in house or out house some parts of the wind turbine or we are going to produce some parts ourselves? · Which governance system is the most suitable for our business situation? · Where in the world should the factories be located for the best cost without good quality? · What are being our suppliers and where are they? Our supervisor is Samuel Larsen and he helped us with meeting each week on Monday for give us some advice in our report. He gives us also a contact in Dong Energy Company for asking to Mickael Sanggaar

Order fulfillment in high variety production environments

Providing high levels of product variety and product customization is challenging for many companies. This paper presents a new classification of production and order fulfillment approaches available to manufacturing companies that offer high variety and/or product customization. Six categories of approaches are identified and described. An important emerging approach - open pipeline planning – is highlighted for high variety manufacturing environments. It allows a customer order to be fulfilled from anywhere in the system, enabling greater responsiveness in Build-to-Forecast systems. The links between the open pipeline approach, decoupling concepts and postponement strategies are discussed and the relevance of the approach to the volume automotive sector is highlighted. Results from a simulation study are presented illustrating the potential benefits when products can be reconfigured in an open pipeline system. The application of open pipeline concepts to different manufacturing domains is discussed and the operating characteristics of most relevance are highlighted. In addition to the automotive, sectors such as machinery and instrumentation, computer servers, telecommunications and electronic equipment may benefit from an open pipeline planning approach. When properly designed these systems can significantly enhance order fulfillment performance

Exploring the impact of innovation implementation on supply chain configuration

Considering the foreseen digital transformation and rapid dissemination of technological innovations, this paper investigates what happens along the supply chain (SC) when process and product innovation practices are implemented. The research examines the SC strategy and configuration of four product families; it considers the configuration to incorporate the whole range of SC functions and relationships. The paper addresses the little attention paid to the process innovation dimension in SC literature, and develops a framework capturing the dynamics between innovation implementation and configuration decisions and settings. The provided analyses guide practitioners on better management of innovation implementation along the supply chain

Design of global chain for wind turbines production

PFC presentat a Copenhagen University College of EngineeringTreball desenvolupat dins el marc del programa 'European Project Semester'.This project discusses perspectives for design global supply chain for wind turbine production aiming to a future political system supporting this development. We have to install wind farms in 6 countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England and Finland). The project is based on a fictive case where a major Danish energy conglomerate has decided on a new strategy to become the largest producer of clean energy in northern Europe. The fictive company is Dan Energy and is the leading Danish energy conglomerate. Nowadays, it focused on energies fossils like fuel and coal power station. For the future, the conglomerate wants to develop wind turbines power and its target is to become the largest producer of wind power in Northern Europe until 2014. In particular, it suggests answers to the following questions: · How should the production be divided? Are we going to produce in house or out house some parts of the wind turbine or we are going to produce some parts ourselves? · Which governance system is the most suitable for our business situation? · Where in the world should the factories be located for the best cost without good quality? · What are being our suppliers and where are they? Our supervisor is Samuel Larsen and he helped us with meeting each week on Monday for give us some advice in our report. He gives us also a contact in Dong Energy Company for asking to Mickael Sanggaar