Understanding collaborative supply chain relationships through the application of the Williamson organisational failure framework

Many researchers have studied supply chain relationships however, the preponderance of open markets situations and ‘industry-style’ surveys have reduced the empirical focus on the dynamics of long-term, collaborative dyadic relationships. Within the supply chain the need for much closer, long-term relationships is increasing due to supplier rationalisation and globalisation (Spekman et al, 1998) and more information about these interactions is required. The research specifically tested the well-accepted Williamson’s (1975) Economic Organisations Failure Framework as a theoretical model through which long term collaborative relationships can be

A framework for smart production-logistics systems based on CPS and industrial IoT

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has received increasing attention from both academia and industry. However, several challenges including excessively long waiting time and a serious waste of energy still exist in the IIoT-based integration between production and logistics in job shops. To address these challenges, a framework depicting the mechanism and methodology of smart production-logistics systems is proposed to implement intelligent modeling of key manufacturing resources and investigate self-organizing configuration mechanisms. A data-driven model based on analytical target cascading is developed to implement the self-organizing configuration. A case study based on a Chinese engine manufacturer is presented to validate the feasibility and evaluate the performance of the proposed framework and the developed method. The results show that the manufacturing time and the energy consumption are reduced and the computing time is reasonable. This paper potentially enables manufacturers to deploy IIoT-based applications and improve the efficiency of production-logistics systems

Managerial Views of Supply Chain Collaboration: An Empirical Study

  This paper is carried out to empirically examine managerial perceptions on the relationship between supply chain collaboration practice and operational performance. The framework suggests that collaborative practice is characterised by three distinct factors: (1) decision synchronisation, (2) information sharing, and (3) incentive alignment, which enable the chain members to effectively match supply with customer demand. An important question is whether or not collaborative practice leads to better operational performance. A survey research was employed to assess the relationship between collaborative practice and operational performance of New Zealand companies. The survey results show significant positive impacts of key factors of collaborative practice on operational performance. The findings suggest that information sharing, decision synchronisation, and incentive alignment are important determinants of operational performance. This study demonstrates that the chain members need to understand the role of different key factors of collaborative practice that can be redesigned to leverage operational performance

Supply chain adaptability in the mobile phones industry

Propósito: A presente investigação participa da discussão da adaptabilidade no estudo da Gestão da Cadeia de Abastecimento e relacionamentos colaborativos entre fornecedores e clientes quer externos ou internos no contexto da indústria de telefones celulares. Metodologia de investigação: Após a revisão da literatura relevante sobre as consequências do acoplamento rígido e ágil na cadeia de abastecimento elaborou-se a seguinte pergunta de investigação: como adaptar a procura na rede de abastecimento de forma a permitir utilizar os recursos disponíveis e maximizar a disponibilidade de produto nos diferentes canais de produção da indústria de telefones celulares? Recorreu-se ao método do Estudo de Caso com carácter exploratório para conduzir o presente estudo. Resultados obtidos: O estudo evidenciou com base em observações dum caso empresarial que é possível aos gestores fazerem modificações no sentido de criar adaptabilidade e desacoplar os sistemas trazendo-os de uma característica de rigidez a uma condição de flexibilidade. Limitações: A investigação em questão limitou-se a observar num unico caso os acontecimentos em questão sob a óptica qualitativa baseada na experiência do pesquisador. A utilização de um maior número de evidencias poderia contribuir para evidenciar melhor as questões intrínsecas do caso. A impossibilidade do pesquisador de revelar todos os dados empresariais por motivos de confidencialidade causou algum impacto na exemplificação do pretendido. Implicações praticas: Os resultados podem contribuir para que os gestores na área de Cadeia de Abastecimento possam encontrar referências para resolver problemas similares em suas respectivas áreas ou tão somente provocar a discussão interna dos temas abordadosPurpose – The present research participates in discussions in the adaptability on the study of Supply Chain Management and Buyer-Supplier collaborative internal or external relationships in the context of the mobile phones Industry Design/methodology/approach – After the review of the relevant literature on tight and loose coupling in Supply Chain Management, the following research questions was raised: “How to adapt the demand supply network in order to utilize the resources available and maximize product availability in different channels of the mobile phones industry?” As research methodology, it was utilized the current Thesis the Single exploratory Case Study, with explanatory characteristics Findings – The study has generated evidences that is possible for managers to modify and adapted the supply chain processes in order to bring them from a tight to a loose coupling characteristic. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited in observing the events in a single case under the qualitative aspect based in the experiences of the researcher. The utilization of a higher number of evidences could certainly have contributed in creating further insights about the case. Elements of data confidentiality and the lack of possibility of the researcher to reveal some aspects involved in the case also contributed to limit the description of certain examples of the case, which could not be made to the full extent. Practical implications – The results encourage managers to use to find references to solve similar problems in their respective areas and also can foster internal discussions on the topics referred in this stud

Résolution collaborative de problèmes au sein des chaînes logistiques : cadre conceptuel, processus et méthodologie

La Résolution de Problèmes est l'un des piliers des stratégies d'amélioration continue des entreprises. Dans ce cadre, un certain nombre des méthodes ont réussi à démontrer son efficacité pour adresser des problèmes particulièrement complexes. Parmi ces méthodes, on peut distinguer le PDCA, le DMAICS, le 7Steps et le 8D/9S. Pourtant, l'apparition des réseaux distribuées de partenaires, ainsi que le positionnement du concept d'entreprise étendue, ont obligé les entreprises à aller au-delà de ses frontières pour travailler en synergie avec tous les partenaires en amont et en aval de sa chaîne. Dans ce contexte, l'efficacité de ces méthodes de résolution des problèmes a été fortement impactée. Ceci car non seulement les problèmes, mais aussi les produits, les partenaires, les ressources et l'information nécessaires pour sa résolution sont extrêmement fragmentés et décentralisés. Cette thèse s'intéresse donc à la résolution collaborative de problèmes au sein des chaînes distribuées de partenaires et son objectif est de proposer un processus et une méthodologie adaptés à ces contextes. Les propositions faites prennent en compte les aspects techniques (e.g. la modélisation des flux et la configuration de la chaîne) ainsi que les aspects collaboratifs (e.g. le niveau de confiance et/ou le rapport de pouvoir entre les partenaires) que conditionnent l'opération et l'efficacité du réseau. Finalement, cette thèse s'intéresse à l'articulation d'un système de retour d'expérience dans la résolution de problèmes distribués afin d'améliorer son efficacité. ABSTRACT : The Problem Solving Process is a central element of the firms' continuous improvement strategies. In this framework, a number of approaches have succeeded to demonstrate their effectiveness to tackle industrial problems. The list includes, but is not limited to PDCA, DMAICS, 7Steps and 8D/9S. However, the emergence and increasing emphasis in the supply chains have impacted the effectiveness of those methods to solve problems that go beyond the boundaries of a single firm and, in consequence, their ability to provide solutions when the contexts on which firms operate are distributed. This can be explained because not only the problems, but also the products, partners, skills, resources and pieces of evidence required to solve those problems are distributed, fragmented and decentralized across the network. This PhD thesis deals with the solving of industrial problems in supply chains based in collaboration. It develops a general framework for studying this paradigm, as well as both a generic process and a collaborative methodology able to deal with the process in practice. The proposal considers all the technical aspects (e.g. products modeling and network structure) and the collaborative aspects (e.g. the trust decisions and/or the power gaps between partners) that simultaneously impact the supply chain operation and the jointly solving of problems. Finally, this research work positions the experiential knowledge as a central lever of the problem solving process to contribute to the continuous improvement strategies at a more global level

Studying the Value of Information Sharing in E-Business Supply Chain Management

The supply chain management of goods and services involves multiple trading partners such as raw-material suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Every one of these trading partners need to determine their requirements, in terms of merchandise, and match them against availability, pricing, and cost of transportation. At every step of the supply chain economics information retrieval is a crucial and recurring process. In this paper we study information sharing as a strategy for improved decision making that can increase the profitability of the entire supply chain. We describe various different models for information sharing and illustrate the benefits of information sharing using ordering relationships among the trading partners of a simple four-node supply chain. In order to examine the relationship between different variables and the well-known bull-whip ejfect, we develop a simulation system to quantify the variables and generate different results in different scenarios. These results are analyzed in this paper, and implications are presented

Characterisation of collaborative decision making processes

This paper deals with the collaborative decision making induced or facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their impact on decisional systems. After presenting the problematic, we analyse the collaborative decision making and define the concepts related to the conditions and forms of collaborative work. Then, we explain the mechanisms of collaborative decision making with the specifications and general conditions of collaboration using the modelling formalism of the GRAI method. Each specification associated to the reorganisation of the decisional system caused by the collaboration is set to the notion of decision-making centre. Finally, we apply this approach to the e-maintenance field, strongly penetrated by the ICTs, where collaborations are usual. We show that the identified specifications allow improving the definition and the management of collaboration in e-maintenance