Performance management practices in humanitarian organisations

Purpose – We examine how design and implementation practices for supply chain performance management that have proven successful in commercial organisations apply to Humanitarian Organisations (HOs) to guide the process of designing and implementing performance management in humanitarian organisations. Design/methodology/approach – We identify from the literature 10 successful practices regarding the design and implementation of supply chain performance management in commercial businesses. We apply these, using action research over a four-year period, at Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Belgium and draw conclusions from this. Findings – We find that tools and techniques, such as workshops and technical sheets, are essential in designing and implementing supply chain performance measurement projects at HOs. Furthermore, making a link to an IT project is crucial when implementing performance measurement systems at HOs. Overall, our case study shows that performance management practices used in business can be applied and are relevant for humanitarian supply chains. Originality/value – Previous research has argued that there are few empirical studies in the domain of performance management at humanitarian organisations. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to provide a longitudinal understanding of the design and implementation of supply chain performance measurement at HOs

The Inventory routing problem with demand moves

ABSTRACT: In the Inventory Routing Problem, customer demand is satisfied from inventory which is replenished with capacitated vehicles. The objective is to minimize total routing and inventory holding cost over a time horizon. If the customers are located relatively close to each other, one has the opportunity to satisfy the demand of a customer by inventory stored at another nearby customer. In the optimization of the customer replenishments, this option can be included to lower total costs. This is for example the case for ATMs in urban areas where an ATM-user that wants to withdraw money could be redirected to another ATM. To the best of our knowledge, the possibility of redirecting end-users is new to the operations research literature and has not been implemented, but is being considered, in the industry. We formulate the Inventory Routing Problem with Demand Moves in which demand of a customer can (partially) be satisfied by the inventory of a nearby customer at a service cost depending on the quantity and the distance. We propose a branch-price-and-cut solution approach which is evaluated on problem instances from the literature. Cost improvements over the classical IRP of up to 10% are observed with average savings around 3%

Strategic partner evaluation criteria for logistics service provider networks

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish criteria for evaluating strategic partners in a network of logistics service providers (LSPs) to show how analytical network process (ANP) can be used to identify the weights of these criteria on a case-specific basis, and to investigate whether the ANP model can be used as a starting point to evaluate strategic partners for other LSP networks. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a literature review of vertical cooperation, the authors develop an overview of criteria for the evaluation of partners in a network of LSPs. The authors then apply ANP at LSP1 to validate the criteria, identify weights for these criteria and to validate model outcomes. Furthermore, the authors investigate whether the ANP model developed for LSP1 can be applied to another LSP with similar characteristics (LSP2). In-depth interviews are used to draw conclusions on the modeling approach and the model outcomes. Findings: The research shows that evaluation criteria for partners in vertical partnerships between shippers and LSPs are applicable to LSP partners in horizontal partnership networks. The ANP model with criteria weights provides a good starting point for LSPs to customize the evaluation framework according to their specific needs or operating environments. Originality/value: Limited research is available on evaluating LSP partners in horizontal partnerships. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to bring forward horizontal LSP partner evaluation criteria to develop an ANP model for LSP partner evaluation and to apply this to two cases, and to provide a starting point for evaluating partners in similar horizontal LSP networks

An empirical investigation of Lead-time reduction in purchasing groups: evidence from SMEs

This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of horizontal cooperation in purchasing on the lead times of the orders from suppliers. Two groups of SMEs participating in purchasing groups were investigated for a ninemonth period of data collection. However, for one of the groups involved in cooperative transportation of the purchased goods, total lead-time was measured, and further analysis was conducted. The outcomes of this study show that firms involved in purchasing consortia face significant shorter lead times up to 45%. Meanwhile, the lead times for the firms cooperating in both purchasing and transportation tasks were shorter than for the other group. Additional managerial conclusions and unique contributions are drawn. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Reducing Lead-times and Lead-time Variance in Cooperative Distribution Networks

The academic and professional attention to the large synergies hidden in horizontal collaborations is increasing. This study attempts to address the impact of collaborative transport on transportation lead-time and lead-time variability through empirically investigating a group of SMEs involved in a collaborative distribution network. Data was collected for seven pre-cooperation and eight cooperative orders over a period of 14 months. The results of Mann-Whitney U-test show a significant average reduction of 30.8% in the duration of lead times. Lead-time variability was also found to be reduced as the result of changes in the coefficient of variances and the Bartlett's test for homogeneity of variances. Horizontal collaboration in transport could eventually lead to reduced lead times and lower variability of lead time which results in reduced supply chain costs. This can be achieved by means of direct routing and avoiding multi-transshipment routes which reduces the uncertainty and variability by diminishing the number of stages in the transport chain. Thus, effective lead-time management is considered a source of competitive advantage as it can reduce supply chain costs by lowering inventory levels, but is also capable of improving performance and customer service by offering improved product quality service levels

A preliminary study on safety stock placement in capacitated supply chains

The issue of safety stock placement is one of the challenging problems in the area of supply chain design. Safety stocks play a significant role in supply chains since they assure the service level and the smoothness of the flow of materials throughout the chain. Some special models of the problem have been solved efficiently, especially in the case of uncapacitated serial or tree chains. This paper discusses some existing models and their limitations. Computer experiments are used to identify possible solution strategies for safety stock placement problem for capacitated serial chains