The Role of Maintenance and Facility Management in Logistics: A Literature Review

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review on the different ways of carrying out Facility Management and related topics in order to uncover that there is limited research regarding the impact of Facility Management on the logistics and operational performance of warehouses. Design/methodology/approach - Four different focus areas have been identified and for each one different methodologies and streams of research have been studied. Findings - The study underlines the importance of Facility Management for the logistics operations; therefore it supports the notion that investments aiming at preserving the status of the building and service components of warehouses are crucial. Originality/value - This paper aims to suggest to Facility Management managers that they can contribute to enhance business performance by designing effective Facility Management strategie

Inter Organizational Relationships Performance in Third Party Logistics: conceptual framework and case study

Supplier relationship management is an important challenge for shippers in logistics outsourcing. This paper attempts to understand the factors which affect inter organizational relationships performance in third party logistics and proposes a conceptual framework specifically for inter organizational relationship performance in third party logistics. We also draw a set of propositions from published research and exploratory inter-views with practitioners to explain inter organizational relationships performance in third party logistic net-works. Five main dimensions of inter organizational relationships are identified which affect performance in third party logistics: commitment, supplier adaptation, conflict resolution, partner fit and communication. In order to assess the validity of our conceptual model we include a case study in this paper. The case study is based on Shell Chemicals Europe and their portfolio of seventeen third party logistic service suppliers

Warehouse manpower planning strategies in times of financial crisis: evidence from logistics service providers and retailers in the Netherlands

The economic crisis that is experienced in Europe has a large influence on transport and logistics companies. Since turnover typically drops strongly during a crisis, companies try to reduce costs in order to survive. The study reported in this paper has investigated how manpower planning in warehouses has been used to counter effects of the crisis and what the results are of the measures taken. A survey was carried out among warehouses run by retailers and logistics service providers. The results of the survey show that there is a significant relation between a decrease in turnover and the four investigated manpower planning strategies. Furthermore, the study shows that the most effective manpower planning strategies are flexible planning of employees and balancing the workload. Hence, the study concludes that in particular better operational planning is a key strategy to counter the effects of the financial crisis, which is an important insight for the management of warehouses

Overview and classification of coordination contracts within forward and reverse supply chains

Among coordination mechanisms, contracts are valuable tools used in both theory and practice to coordinate various supply chains. The focus of this paper is to present an overview of contracts and a classification of coordination contracts and contracting literature in the form of classification schemes. The two criteria used for contract classification, as resulted from contracting literature, are transfer payment contractual incentives and inventory risk sharing. The overview classification of the existing literature has as criteria the level of detail used in designing the coordination models with applicability on the forward and reverse supply chains.Coordination contracts; forward supply chain; reverse supply chain

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

Multi-Agent System Interaction in Integrated SCM\ud

Coordination between organizations on strategic, tactical and operation levels leads to more effective and efficient supply chains. Supply chain management is increasing day by day in modern enterprises.. The environment is becoming competitive and many enterprises will find it difficult to survive if they do not make their sourcing, production and distribution more efficient. Multi-agent supply chain management has recognized as an effective methodology for supply chain management. Multi-agent systems (MAS) offer new methods compared to conventional, centrally organized architectures in the scope of supply chain management (SCM). Since necessary data are not available within the whole supply chain, an integrated approach for production planning and control taking into account all the partners involved is not feasible. In this study we show how MAS architecture interacts in the integrated SCM architecture with the help of various intelligent agents to highlight the above problem

Aerospace management techniques: Commercial and governmental applications

A guidebook for managers and administrators is presented as a source of useful information on new management methods in business, industry, and government. The major topics discussed include: actual and potential applications of aerospace management techniques to commercial and governmental organizations; aerospace management techniques and their use within the aerospace sector; and the aerospace sector's application of innovative management techniques

Logistics outsourcing and 3PL selection: A Case study in an automotive supply chain

Outsourcing logistics functions to third-party logistics (3PL) providers has been a source of competitive advantage for most companies. Companies cite greater flexibility, operational efficiency, improved customer service levels, and a better focus on their core businesses as part of the advantages of engaging the services of 3PL providers. There are few complete and structured methodologies for selecting a 3PL provider. This paper discusses how one such methodology, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), is used in an automotive supply chain for export parts to redesign the logistics operations and to select a global logistics service provider

Sustainable product development strategies: Business planning and performance implications

Copyright © 2012 by Institution of Mechanical Engineers. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Manufacturing firms are under many financial and competitive pressures which focus attention on the performance of their manufacturing processes. In this paper the opportunities for improving the environmental impact of products within the constraints of existing manufacturing infrastructure are examined. Approaches which support sustainability in two aspects are proposed, firstly, the provision of products to the users in ways which extend the product life and secondly, manufacturing approaches which reduce resource usage. This paper outlines three different sustainable development strategies for different product types and describes the cost implications for manufacturers across the life-cycle. The performance measures affected by these strategies are examined drawing on product development case studies from a number of high technology sectors to highlight the different approaches taken. The results are intended to aid manufacturers during the earliest stages of business planning to consider alternative product development approaches which are more sustainable

Penalty and reward contracts between a manufacturer and its logistics service provider

Contracts are used to coordinate disparate but interdependent members of the supply chain. Conflicting objectives of these members and lack of coordination among the members lead to inefficiencies in matching supply with demand. This study reviews different types of contracts and proposes a methodology to be used by companies for analyzing coordinating contracts with their business partners. Efficiency of the contract is determined by comparing the performance of independent companies under the contract to the supply chain performance under the central decision maker assumption. We propose a penalty and reward contract between a manufacturer and its logistics service provider that distributes the manufacturer’s products on its retail network. The proposed contract analysis methodology is empirically tested with transportation data of a consumer durable goods company (CDG) and its logistics service provider (LSP). The results of this case study suggest a penalty and reward contract between the CDG and its LSP that improves not only the individual firm’s objective functions but also the supply chain costs. Compared to the existing situation, the coordination efficiency of the penalty and reward contract is 96.1 %, proving that optimizing contract parameters improves coordination and leads to higher efficiencies