E-logistics of agribusiness organisations

Logistics is one of the most important agribusiness functions due to the idiosyncrasy of food products and the structure of food supply chain. Companies in the food sector typically operate with poor production forecasting, inefficient inventory management, lack of coordination with supply partners. Further, markets are characterised by stern competition, increasing consumer demands and stringent regulation for food quality and safety. Large agribusiness corporations have already turned to e-logistics solutions as a means to sustain competitive advantage and meet consumer demands. There are four types of e-logistics applications: (a) Vertical alliances where supply partners forge long-term strategic alliances based on electronic sharing of critical logistics information such as sales forecasts and inventory volume. Vertical alliances often apply supply chain management (SCM) which is concerned with the relationship between a company and its suppliers and customers. The prime characteristic of SCM is interorganizational coordination: agribusiness companies working jointly with their customers and suppliers to integrate activities along the supply chain to effectively supply food products to customers. E-logistics solutions engender the systematic integration among supply partners by allowing more efficient and automatic information flow. (b) e-tailing, in which retailers give consumers the ability to order food such as groceries from home electronically i.e. using the Internet and the subsequent delivery of those ordered goods at home. (c) Efficient Foodservice Response (EFR), which is a strategy designed to enable foodservice industry to achieve profitable growth by looking at ways to save money for each level of the supply chain by eliminating inefficient practices. EFR provides solutions to common logistics problems, such as transactional inefficiency, inefficient plant scheduling, out-of-stocks, and expedited transportation. (d) Contracting, a means of coordinating procurement of food, beverages and their associated supplies. Many markets and supply chains in agriculture are buyer-driven where the buyers in the market tend to set prices and terms of trade. Those terms can include the use of electronic means of communication to support automatic replenishment of goods, management of supply and inventory. The results of the current applications of e-logistics in food sector are encouraging for Greek agribusiness. Companies need to become aware of and evaluate the value-added by those applications which are a sustainable competitive advantage, optimisation of supply chain flows, and meeting consumer demands and food safety regulations. E-business diffusion has shown that typically first-movers gain a significant competitive advantage and the rest companies either eventually adopt the new systems or see a significant decline in their trading partners and perish. E-logistics solutions typically require huge investments in hardware and software and skilled personnel, which is an overt barrier for most Greek companies. Large companies typically are first-movers but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need institutional support in order to become aware that e-logistics systems can be fruitful for them as well

Using Transaction Utility Approach for Retail Format Decision

Transaction Utility theory was propounded by Thaler to explain that the value derived by a customer from an exchange consists of two drivers: Acquisition Utilities and Transaction utilities. Acquisition utility represents the economic gain or loss from the transaction. Where as transaction utility is associated with purchase or (sale) and represents the pleasure (or displeasure) of the financial deal per se and is a function of the difference between the selling price and the reference price. Choice of a format has been studied from several dimensions including the cost and effort as well as the non-monetary values. However, the studies that present the complete picture and combine the aspects of the tangible as well as intangible values derived out of the shopping process are limited. Most of the studies, all of them from the developed economies, have focussed on the selection of a store. They represent a scenario where formats have stabilised. However, in Indian scenario formats have been found to be influencing the choice of store as well as orientation of the shoppers. Also, retailers are experimenting with alternate format with differing success rates. The author has also not found a study that has applied this theory. It is felt that the Transactional Utility Theory may provide a suitable approach for making format decisions.

The Impact of E-Tailing on Inventory Management

Background In traditional retailing, where the challenge lies in providing goods in a store with limited space while minimizing tied up capital and obsolescence, good inventory management is often an important competitive advantage. However, the emergence of the online channel changes some of the challenges, and the associated requirements on inventory management. These dierences are studied in this thesis project. Purpose The purpose of the thesis project is to study how e-tailing as a market channel impacts inventory management in a company. Methodology In order to fulll the purpose, a multiple case study was used. In each case study, interviews were conducted and annual reports were studied. The general approach was to examine the eects of e-tailing as a market channel and how they impact inventory management. Conclusions For pure e-tailers, centralizing inventory reduces the inventory management complexity signicantly. This enables them to implement various activities that attract customers, but increase the complexity and risks. Mature e-tailers seem to have well-developed policies to mitigate risks whereas etailers experiencing rapid growth seem less concerned about how their activities aect the complexity of inventory management. Furthermore, multi-channel retailers face a number of decisions that potentially can create synergy eects in their inventory management

E-Tailing and Internet-Related Real Estate Cost Savings: A Comparative Analysis of E-tailers and Retailers

This article explores differences in the corporate real estate strategies of traditional retailers and those of electronic retailers, or e-tailers. The primary issue addressed is whether e-tailing companies realize benefits of their non-retail, online operations, specifically in the form of lower real estate-related expense ratios when compared to traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. The study reveals three trends. First, the majority of retailers studied continue to focus their corporate real estate strategies in the retail space world. However, some companies are incorporating their online operations into their real estate strategies and are beginning to see lower real estate-related costs as a result. Second, there are differences among e-tailers in their real estate strategies as well as some indication of differences in the real estate-related costs associated with the strategy chosen. Third, e-tailers are not realizing real estate-related cost savings over their retailing competitors.

E-Fulfillment and Multi-Channel Distribution – A Review

This review addresses the specific supply chain management issues of Internet fulfillment in a multi-channel environment. It provides a systematic overview of managerial planning tasks and reviews corresponding quantitative models. In this way, we aim to enhance the understanding of multi-channel e-fulfillment and to identify gaps between relevant managerial issues and academic literature, thereby indicating directions for future research. One of the recurrent patterns in today’s e-commerce operations is the combination of ‘bricks-and-clicks’, the integration of e-fulfillment into a portfolio of multiple alternative distribution channels. From a supply chain management perspective, multi-channel distribution provides opportunities for serving different customer segments, creating synergies, and exploiting economies of scale. However, in order to successfully exploit these opportunities companies need to master novel challenges. In particular, the design of a multi-channel distribution system requires a constant trade-off between process integration and separation across multiple channels. In addition, sales and operations decisions are ever more tightly intertwined as delivery and after-sales services are becoming key components of the product offering.Distribution;E-fulfillment;Literature Review;Online Retailing

Research Opportunities in Service Process Design

This paper presents an overview of the new issues and research opportunities related to four service operations design topics—the design of retail and e-tail service processes, design of service processes involving waiting lines and workforce staffing, service design for manufacturing, and re-engineering service processes. All four topics are motivated by new technologies (particularly web-based technologies) and require a multi-disciplinary approach to research. For each topic, the paper presents an overview of the topic, the relevant frameworks, and a discussion of the research opportunities

A Systematic Review of the Implementation of Lean Six Sigma Tools to Improve the Logistics of Retail Businesses

Currently, retail businesses must be as competitive as possible, and for this, their logistics system must be efficient and optimal; however, it is known that these have various problems such as longer delivery times, product delivery errors, offering a quality of service that meets customer expectations, etc. To solve these problems, the implementation of Lean Six Sigma tools was proposed, and a systematic review of the literature was carried out to determine which Lean Six Sigma tool is the most frequent and expose the benefits provided to the logistics system of retail businesses. A combination of keywords was used in prestigious databases such as Web of Science, Scopus and Pro-Quest to search for academic articles. On the other hand, for the analysis and classification of each article, categories and subcategories were used for synthesizing the information from each research work. To determine which tool is the most frequent, the number of articles were quantified if they applied an LSS tool and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Regarding the results, after carrying out the systematic review of the literature, the DMAIC tool was the most frequent and provided benefits such as a reduction in the number of complaints, a reduction in lead time, operations costs reduction, among others

The broiler meat system in Nairobi, Kenya: using a value chain framework to understand animal and product flows, governance and sanitary risks

Livestock food systems play key subsistence and income generation roles in low to middle income countries and are important networks for zoonotic disease transmission. The aim of this study was to use a value chain framework to characterize the broiler chicken meat system of Nairobi, its governance and sanitary risks. A total of 4 focus groups and 8 key informant interviews were used to collect cross-sectional data from: small-scale broiler farmers in selected Nairobi peri-urban and informal settlement areas; medium to large integrated broiler production companies; traders and meat inspectors in live chicken and chicken meat markets in Nairobi. Qualitative data were collected on types of people operating in the system, their interactions, sanitary measures in place, sourcing and selling of broiler chickens and products. Framework analysis was used to identify governance themes and risky sanitary practices present in the system. One large company was identified to supply 60% of Nairobi’s day-old chicks to farmers, mainly through agrovet shops. Broiler meat products from integrated companies were sold in high-end retailers whereas their low value products were channelled through independent traders to consumers in informal settlements. Peri-urban small-scale farmers reported to slaughter the broilers on the farm and to sell carcasses to retailers (hotels and butcheries mainly) through brokers (80%), while farmers in the informal settlement reported to sell their broilers live to retailers (butcheries, hotels and hawkers mainly) directly. Broiler heads and legs were sold in informal settlements via roadside vendors. Sanitary risks identified were related to lack of biosecurity, cold chain and access to water, poor hygiene practices, lack of inspection at farm slaughter and limited health inspection in markets. Large companies dominated the governance of the broiler system through the control of day-old chick production. Overall government control was described as relatively weak leading to minimal official regulatory enforcement. Large companies and brokers were identified as dominant groups in market information dissemination and price setting. Lack of farmer association was found to be system-wide and to limit market access. Other system barriers included lack of space and expertise, leading to poor infrastructure and limited ability to implement effective hygienic measures. This study highlights significant structural differences between different broiler chains and inequalities in product quality and market access across the system. It provides a foundation for food safety assessments, disease control programmes and informs policy-making for the inclusive growth of this fast-evolving sector

Addressing Gaps in Supply Chain Technology for Global OMNI Channel Retailers

This annotated bibliography examines literature published between 2010 and 2017 that addresses technology gaps in supply chains for global OMNI channel retailers for cross channel engagements to help drive profits and better serve the consumer. It provides information to cross functional business leaders about: (a) business strategy descriptions for OMNI channel retailers, (b) supply chain challenges for OMNI channel retailers, (c) and best practices for integrated technology for OMNI channel supply chains