The adoption of lean techniques to optimise the on-shelf availability of products and drive business performance in the food industry: a South African manufacturing and retail case study

Includes bibliographical references.The degree of sustaining business performance, while maintaining competitive costs, satisfied consumers and customers has become more difficult and harder to achieve. To date, both retailers and manufacturers are economically challenged as they enter into a new age and era that is characterised by a restructuring of the supply and demand known today, the one in which the consumer demand chain will both lead and direct all organisational processes. The greatest challenge in manufacturing and retail supply chains today continue to be the inconsistency of product availability. Both retailers and their manufacturers frequently find themselves in positions where they either have too much stock of specific stock-keeping units (SKUs) or insufficient stock levels of a particular SKU, Steve (2010). Retailers and their suppliers both seek to avoid the costly out-of-stock (OOS) situations, which result in lost revenue opportunity for both parties. OOS can also damage shopper loyalty as frustrated consumers might seek out alternative retailers for the same merchandise, while on the other hand suppliers' brand loyalty can be impacted if a competitor's product is substituted instead. It remains true that the two pillars of business, namely demand and supply, still rule. Traditionally, putting supply before demand, with its implied precedence, was the correct approach to apply, but in today's business environment, there is a major shift taking place, predominantly driven by the cycles in globalisation that would be faster than in the traditional way, oversupply in the fast -moving consumer goods industry, a parallel loss of pricing power, consumers with a twenty-four hours access to precise pricing information, which terminates the power of information scarcity, and shorter product life cycles. The global economic crash that represented a global economic storm led many organisations to rethink the manner in which organisations are led. A consensus exists among many authors and commentators that the emerging economic order has imposed changes to the very way companies are doing business

Business models in the sector of the distribution

Treball Final del Grau en Administració d'Empreses. Codi: AE1049. Curs 2013-201

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

Service led strategies : the case of port centric logistics in UK ports

In recent decades organisations have found ways to increase revenue, respond to challenging business environments, sustain relationships with increasingly sophisticated customers, and overcome saturation barriers in core markets, by the implementation of Service-led-strategies (SLS). SLS are strategies that enhance the core offering of organisations with value-added services (VAS). This research builds on previous studies in supply chain management, maritime logistics and operations management literatures to examine the impact of Services-Led-Strategies (SLS) on the competitiveness of UK ports and intermediaries involved with port-centric logistics (PCL). The main purpose of the study is to contribute to the ongoing research on service-led growth of organisations. Grounded in theoretical assumptions from the extended resource-based theory (ERBT), this research aims to explain the implementation of SLS, and their anticipated impact on UK ports and intermediaries, and to empirically and theoretically underpin the concept of PCL using UK ports and intermediaries as a context. Theoretically, this thesis demonstrates how the co-creation of value and resources among actors in business networks enhance the competitiveness of supply networks. Methodologically, the research adopts a critical realism paradigm and an abductive research approach using multiple case studies developed through the method of casing and collects data through interviews, observations and documents. The case studies contrast theoretical attributes with practice, and develop new context related propositions. Therefore, this research suggests that flexible qualitative data collection and analysis techniques are appropriate for a holistic, and comprehensive understanding of complex operations and supply chain management phenomena. The primary contributions of this thesis are an empirically derived and contextualised typology of SLS in a PCL context, which to the best of the author’s knowledge has not been provided in the PCL literature so far, and a quadruple framework that investigates the anticipated impact of those SLS on firms. The proposed typology provides managers with a comprehensive understanding of the type of SLS they can implement, the resources and services required and the mechanisms to develop them within the PCL market. Additionally, the research study provides managers with a comprehensive framework to understand the anticipated impact of the implemented SLS strategy

Advances in Supply Chain Management: Potential to Improve Forecasting Accuracy

Forecasting is a necessity almost in any operation. However, the tools of forecasting are still primitive in view of the great strides made by research and the increasing abundance of data made possible by automatic identification technologies, such as, radio frequency identification (RFID). The relationship of various parameters that may change and impact decisions are so abundant that any credible attempt to drive meaningful associations are in demand to deliver the value from acquired data. This paper proposes some modifications to adapt an advanced forecasting technique (GARCH) with the aim to develop it as a decision support tool applicable to a wide variety of operations including supply chain management. We have made an attempt to coalesce a few different ideas toward a “solutions” approach aimed to model volatility and in the process, perhaps, better manage risk. It is possible that industry, governments, corporations, businesses, security organizations, consulting firms and academics with deep knowledge in one or more fields, may spend the next few decades striving to synthesize one or more models of effective modus operandi to combine these ideas with other emerging concepts, tools, technologies and standards to collectively better understand, analyze and respond to uncertainty. However, the inclination to reject deep rooted ideas based on inconclusive results from pilot projects is a detrimental trend and begs to ask the question whether one can aspire to build an elephant using mouse as a model

The Potential for Innovation in the Swedish Food Sector

The food sector in Sweden, comprised of retailers, food manufacturers and packaging suppliers, has been investigated, guided by two research questions: What does “innovation” mean to the different actors (i.e. is there a gap in opinions)? How is innovation performed and what are the key issues? But before this research of the present, the past was studied (the author’s licentiate) to identify and describe the factors and reasons behind the growing food sector in Sweden after World War II, particularly those underlying the major innovations (i.e. what, why, how and who?). It was a historical and qualitative case study based on interviews with people who had experience and knowledge of the food sector in the period after WW II, and on literature reviews. However, in this doctoral thesis the focus is on the present situation in the Swedish consumer food sector, albeit with some comparisons with the past. The method is qualitative, starting with an exploratory study and continuing with three case studies in which three groups of actors in the supply/value chain were interviewed: retailers, food manufacturers and packaging suppliers. In all, 47 people in Sweden were interviewed. During the entire research process, relevant literature was reviewed to guide the analysis of results. The author also has a pre-understanding and personal experience of innovations in the food sector, which has facilitated contacting different actors and performing the interviews based on open-ended questions. The results show that the respondents define “innovation” in a similar way, and that it is more than incremental. Based on this input, a new definition for food related innovations is proposed. However, gaps in the meaning of innovation do exist between the three groups. This is evident from the examples they give of innovations on the market. It may be due to their different roles, their lack of a common vision, and their lack of a supply chain perspective. The food manufacturers and retailers appear to develop for the consumers, not with them, and do not involve anyone from the outside. In other words, they do not apply the Chesbrough’s concept of Open Innovation. When innovating, there is limited collaboration between retailers and food manufacturers. Practically the only time it occurs, it results in private labels for the retailers. Packaging suppliers are quite global and collaborate with customers everywhere but they lack direct consumer insight and rely on their customers to tell them what is needed. Contacts in the chain are mainly transactional, cost focused, and non-relational. Among other key issues are lack of trust and transparency in the chain, the need of food manufacturers to be listed by all major chains, lack of pride and vision among manufacturers. There are several drivers and barriers, such as a strong trend towards sustainability (which will require a total chain approach), “pure” food with no additives, ecological, locally produced, more convenience, higher quality and lower cost. It is difficult to make any direct comparisons between the past and the present as society, the supply chain and its actors, including the consumers have changed. Still some things are worth considering from that time. In the past the major innovations, frozen food and self-service shops, fulfilled consumer needs, were introduced at the right time and with the right conditions prevailing in the country. They resulted through collaboration in clusters and networks and by allowing individuals, ‘Edisons’, from inside and outside to contribute. This was an early example of Chesbrough’s Open Innovation. Trust existed among different actors, including the consumers. Will the present way of working prevail or will it change? There are signs of an emerging shift from a focus on cost to value. This is evidenced by some respondents from each group expressing a wish to contribute and help the others in the supply chain, and by some manufacturers realising that to develop and produce private brands in addition to their own brand is not necessarily bad. Some manufacturers already have separate organisations for developing their own labels and private labels. These signs can be seen as indications of an interest to co-operate and compete simultaneously, which is the definition of coopetition. Coopetition implies trust between the individuals involved in a defined task where resources are pooled to be used for mutual benefit, and it offers a way out of being locked in pure competition – and save costs at the same time

How Cannibalistic is the Internet Channel?

During the past decade, irrational exuberance has turned into a possibly equally irrational pessimism about what the Internet can accomplish. The fear of getting ruined through cannibalization losses has recently deterred many firms from deploying the Internet as a distribution channel. But do Internet channels really cannibalize firms' entrenched channels, or is this widely held assumption exaggerated? To answer this question, we apply recent structural-break time-series econometrics to quantify the impact of an Internet channel addition on the long-run performance evolution of a firm's established channels. Using a database of 85 Internet channel additions over the last ten years in the British and Dutch newspaper industries, we find that the often-cited cannibalization fears have been largely overstated. The Internet therefore need not be disruptive to established companies and channels. This does, however, not imply that firms enjoy free play in setting up Internet channels. In cases where the newly established Internet channel too closely mimics the entrenched channels, substantial cannibalization is more likely to take place.cannibalization;internet channel;structural-break time-series analysis

Analysis of the revenue-sharing contract under different power structures with application in the biodiesel niche market

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

The development of a lean, agile and leagile supply network taxonomy based on differing types of flexibility

The paper explores the meaning of flexibility in the context of lean, agile and leagile supply networks and articulates a supply network flexibility framework. Two key ‘sources’ of flexibility are investigated: Vendor Flexibility and Sourcing Flexibility. The paper introduces an extension of the ‘leagility’ concept beyond the simple material flow decoupling point concept. Two new types of Leagility are put forward: (1) Leagile with Vendor Flexibility Systems, which combine the use of agile vendors with lean sourcing practices and (2) Leagile with Sourcing Flexibility Systems, which combine the use of lean vendors with agile sourcing practices. Case studies of two UK based specialist fashion retailers’ supply networks are presented in order to gain insights into the sourcing strategies used and the sources of flexibility employed by retailers at supply network level. A new taxonomy that dynamically links Vendor and Sourcing Flexibility with lean, agile and leagile supply network strategies is proposed. We suggest that the proposed taxonomy can be used as a guideline for firms designing and managing parallel supply pipelines that match different operating environments. The findings add to the understanding of the ways in which the two sources of supply network flexibility (Vendor and Sourcing) interact in practice and provide evidence of the ways in which companies can strike balances between these sources, as well as the effects that can be achieved and some of the trade-offs involved