The Potential of an Enhanced Cooperation Measure in the EAFRD (2014-2020): the case of Ireland

This report was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) through the National Rural Network (February-May, 2012).The current Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for Rural Development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) includes Article (36) Cooperation that is potentially instrumental for realising the objectives of FOOD HARVEST 20204. The purpose of this report is to assess the scope and potential of Article 36 in the context of Irish agriculture and its findings have four key aspects. First, the main areas of confluence between Article 36 and primary policy objectives as set out in Food Harvest 2020 are identified. Second, a range of cooperation categories and types relevant to Article 36, many of which are operational in Ireland, are profiled. Third, drawing from case-studies of these co-operation types5, the operational characteristics of each type are presented, focusing on compatibility with Article 36. Possible supports that would encourage and assist the formation and operation of the cooperation types on a broad scale into the future, and also any possible constraints that would prevent success, are indicated. Fourth, a brief discussion of some key implementation considerations arising from the analysis overall is presented.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Maritime transport in digital world

Authors investigate the impact of the electronic economy to the transport value chain, and especially the port as technological node. The electronic economy impacts on the transport chain, and on logistics outline different view on the port operations. The ports do not only bound themselves to basic transit operations only, but rather involve the sophisticated logistic operations. Simulation has been used to define economic behaviour of the model and its entities for two generic case studies – usage of the electronic and paper documents. The results show that electronic documents can decrease the transaction costs Electronic documents diminish the time used to obtain, create the documents, and thus the costs are decreased. For one shipment (total of 103 documents) electronic documents are 39% cheaper then paper documents and the difference between the electronic and paper documents is 295.44$ for one set of 103 documents in one shipment.

Modelling a Humanitarian Supply Chain using the Structured Analysis and Design Technique (SADT)

Conflicts since the end of the Cold War have seen military and civilian assets deployed side by side as part of an overall UN mandated solution. In order to visually present the integrated nature of humanitarian supply chains ‘Structured Analysis and Design Technique’ (SADT) has been used. SADT was chosen as it provides a robust structured method to model hierarchical systems and for this research it provides an opportunity to define and analyse the coordination and co-operation in terms of the humanitarian supply chain process, humanitarian supply chain activities and the actors involved. This research demonstrates that the visualisation facility that SADT provides not only helps in understanding the interrelationships between the actors and stakeholders involved in a humanitarian supply chain but also to some extent explains how a more effective co-ordination of humanitarian operations by military and civilian organisations involved in a complex emergency can be achieved

Important aspects to the development of the supply chain management to promote innovation

The new economy, also called knowledge economy, shifts radically the basis of competition and highlights the merger of firms; the cooperation, without eliminating the role of competition; the customized and flexible production systems. It also points out the collective efficiency, which demands a new model of management of network relationships. In this context, profound changes in organizational structures are observed leading to the obsolescence of isolated companies and the emergence of networks of companies and supply chain managements. Based on this new paradigm of competitiveness, the objective of this article is to present relevant aspects of the development of supply chain managements to promote the innovation. This is an academic research, which encompasses technical and bibliographic procedures. The conquest of dynamic competitiveness depends on the growing search for optimal systems both in and out of the organizational boundary. In this context the creation of a new model of competitiveness with emphasis on the competition among supply chains highlights that organizations are part of a transitional stage which in the beginning focused on an individual efficiency and nowadays concentrates the attention on a collective efficiency. The supply chain management to promote the innovation must be focused on aspects related to technologies, to the processes involving value creation for the customer, and also on aspects related to human talent, especially in the integration of people to share the same objectives. The casting of variables that should be considered during the planning of supply chain management development to promote the innovation is: customer orientation, knowledge flow, structure, degree of relationships, and the use of information and communication technologies. It was also observed that the implementation of the concept of SCM to improve the innovation demands significant changes not only in internal procedures but also in external ones mainly due to the partnership between customers and suppliers

Smart logistics and the logistics operator 4.0

The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is expected to deeply change several aspects of the manufacturing industry. Among them, the logistics and supply chain activities will be affected by these changes both at operational and managerial level to face the market drivers of flexibility and mass-customisation. In this context, the work of operators in internal and external logistics will be affected by these changes and increase the interaction between humans and machines. The evolution of the roles of humans in Logistics 4.0 will give birth to "The Logistics Operator 4.0"paradigm. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impacts of Industry 4.0 technologies on the different roles of logistics operators that work in the main logistics domains and areas

Collaborative Integration between IT Industry and Logistics Industry in Taiwan: A Case Study on T Company\u27s E-Logistics Plan

The IT industry is Taiwan’s most thoroughly globalized industry. In the IT industry, suppliers and customers are spread all over the world, so making logistics management more efficient is very important. With government’s sponsorship, Taiwan’s IT industry has introduced e-Procurement (Plans A and B) to make the whole procurement process among enterprises an electronic one. Thus e-Procurement became the fundamentals of e-SCM. In order to extend the benefits of e-procurement, Taiwan government continuously promote the IT industry to introduce e-Logistics (Plan D). The objectives of this paper are to study the collaborative integration between IT industry and logistics industry in Taiwan, and to investigate the progress of introducing e-Logistics into the IT industry. A PC manufacturer, T Company was selected for use in the case study. It was found that the logistics visibility elevation through “Track and Trace” and the achievement of VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) are the objectives of e-Logistics implementation. IT manufacturers worked out common business models. Then each supply chain can follow the common specification and implement their e-Logistics individually. This study found that not only the IT manufacturers gain the competitive advantages, but LSPs (Logistics service providers) also learn from collaborative commerce and provide better service for customers with the implementation of e-Logistics. Then eight guidelines were induced as the reference for other industries to implement e-Logistics afterward. Besides, some suggestions were proposed to IT industry, logistics industry, and government

From Network to Web dimension in supply chain management

Cette thèse soutient que la dimension réseau, étant actuellement la portée du domaine de la gestion de chaîne logistique, contraint l’avancement de ce domaine et restreint des innovations conceptuelles et fondamentales capables d’adresser les grands défis économiques, environnementaux et sociaux. Les concepts de chaîne et de réseau ne reflètent pas la complexité des flux physiques, informationnels et financiers générés par les interactions qui ont lieu dans des réseaux interconnectés. Ces concepts n’offrent pas les fondations théoriques pour supporter des interventions allant au-delà d’un seul réseau et laissent échapper des opportunités nécessitant une vision multi-réseau. Ainsi, la dimension “web”, celle des réseaux de réseaux, est proposée comme une extension de la dimension réseau. Cette extension peut être vue comme l’étape naturelle suivante dans la progression qui a commencé par le niveau de gestion des opérations internes, est passée au niveau de la chaîne logistique et se trouve actuellement au niveau du réseau logistique. Après l’investigation théorique des raisons et de la façon d’intégrer la dimension web dans le domaine de la gestion de la chaîne logistique, la thèse étudie des implications importantes de cette intégration sur la collaboration inter-organisationnelle et le processus de prise de décision dans des environnements de webs logistiques. Elle démontre, en exploitant l’exemple des réseaux interconnectés ouverts, des potentialités inimaginables sans une vision web. Une méthodologie de conception d’un modèle de simulation permettant l’évaluation et la comparaison des webs ouverts par rapport aux webs existants est proposée. Puisque l’aide à la décision est une composante importante de la gestion de la chaîne logistique, la thèse contribue à déterminer les besoins des gestionnaires et à identifier les lignes directrices de la conception des outils d’aide à la décision offrant le support adéquat pour faire face aux défis et à la complexité des webs logistiques. Ces lignes directrices ont été compilées dans un cadre de conception des logiciels d’aide à la décision supportant la dimension web. Ce cadre est exploité pour développer quatre applications logicielles offrant aux praticiens et aux chercheurs des outils nécessaires pour étudier, analyser et démêler la complexité des webs logistiques.This thesis argues that the network dimension as the current scope of supply chain management is confining the evolution of this field and restricting the conceptual and fundamental innovations required for addressing the major challenges imposed by the evolution of markets and the increased intricacies of business relationships. The concepts of chain and network are limitative when attempting to represent the complexity of physical, informational and financial flows resulting from the interactions occurring in overlapping networks. They lack the theoretical foundations necessary to explain and encompass initiatives that go beyond a single chain or network. They also lead to overlook substantial opportunities that require beyond a network vision. Therefore, the “web” dimension, as networks of networks, is proposed as an extension to the network dimension in supply chain management. This new scope is the natural next step in the progression from the internal operations management level to the supply chain level and then to the supply network level. After a theoretical investigation of why and how the web dimension should be integrated into the supply chain management field, the thesis studies and discusses important implications of this integration on inter-organisational collaboration and of the decision-making processes in the logistic web environments. It demonstrates through the example of open interconnected logistic webs some of the potentials that cannot be imagined without a web vision. A methodology for designing a simulation model to assess the impact of such open webs versus existing webs is proposed. Since decision support is a key element in supply chain management, the thesis contributes to determine the needs of supply chain managers and identify the important axes for designing decision support systems that provide adequate assistance in dealing with the challenges and complexity presented by logistic web environments. The identified elements result in the establishment of a foundation for designing software solutions required to handle the challenges revealed by the web dimension. This conceptual framework is applied to the prototyping of four applications that have the potential of providing practitioners and researchers with the appropriate understanding and necessary tools to deal with the complexity of logistics webs

A conceptual model for integrating strategic supply management into the supply chain

In this paper, a strategic supply management reference model for supplier integration in the supply chain is presented. The model developed is based on the comparative case study of two relevant industries – automotive and aircraft – and may be suitable for other industries. The survey and the subsequent analysis of these industries have confirmed the strategic importance of supplies and the need for an integrated approach of supply management, both in terms of internal processes and of external suppliers. Additionally, the study has proved that there is not a unique model for supply management, valid for all industries

Dynamics in Logistics

This open access book highlights the interdisciplinary aspects of logistics research. Featuring empirical, methodological, and practice-oriented articles, it addresses the modelling, planning, optimization and control of processes. Chiefly focusing on supply chains, logistics networks, production systems, and systems and facilities for material flows, the respective contributions combine research on classical supply chain management, digitalized business processes, production engineering, electrical engineering, computer science and mathematical optimization. To celebrate 25 years of interdisciplinary and collaborative research conducted at the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics (LogDynamics), in this book hand-picked experts currently or formerly affiliated with the Cluster provide retrospectives, present cutting-edge research, and outline future research directions

Comparative analysis of the challenges of generic engineering logistics to humanitarian logistics in disaster response and relief support in South Africa

M.Ing. (Engineering Management)Logistics management has been extensively researched and implemented in the private sector, but it is gradually gaining traction in the humanitarian sector. Most humanitarian organization operations involve a mix of many activities. Some of them are involved in disaster relief, as short-term operations carried out immediately after a disaster, while some are involved in continuous aid work aimed at restoring normalcy to the disaster ravaged society and such efforts are longer term. Humanitarian organizations, particularly Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are the primary vehicle through which donors channel their contributions, but it is unfortunate to note that many of these organizations face challenges with the logistics of effectively getting the relief aid to the intended users. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding in humanitarian logistics (HL) and identify the key challenges affecting aid agencies during humanitarian action. The study adopts a quantitative approach; data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to identify the most outstanding subjects and areas of interest in line with humanitarian logistics challenges identified in the literature. The findings from the research survey shows that there is an awareness of the importance of humanitarian logistics in the sector, but the results also show that only half of the participants of the survey reported that they have a logistics professional employed in their organization. Furthermore, only 50% of the participants of the survey indicated that their organization has a preparedness plan in place in the event of an emergency. Other challenges identified are: lack of fund; difficulty to obtain real time information and poor knowledge management. The author identified unavailability and tagging of funds as the most critical challenge the humanitarian organizations face because it hinders capacity building and organizational development. The study also suggests that learning and forging closer ties with private organizations is an effective means of overcoming some of the identified challenges