Supply Network Evolution in Emerging Industries

The study of emerging industries has recently captured the interest of academics, industrialists, and government policy makers as a means to providing new sources of ‘value’ creation. In recent years, research in this area has typically focused on product R&D technologies, coupled with their particular technology commercialisation challenges. However, the industrial ecosystem is much more complex, and cannot be readily described by a single viewpoint. It is now widely recognised that manufacturing value chains (including subsequent stages of design for manufacture, engineering, production ramp-up, route-to-market, and in-use activities) are critical to transforming new technologies and ideas into innovative products and services. However, the design, setup and operation of enabling supply networks, in the context of emerging industries, is poorly understood. One key challenge is there is no defined strategy that a firm can follow due to lack of certainty in the business ecosystem and on end-consumer requirements. This often forces entrepreneurs to experiment with multiple supply chain strategies. This process can be very time consuming – leading to increased time to market and making it difficult to maintain critical ‘first mover advantage’. This increasing focus on emerging industries, with these inherent uncertainties, is also compounded with changes in the industrial landscape for mature sectors – with the impact of globalisation and the dissolution of vertically integrated value chains – raising the importance of supply networks as an enabling element of emerging industrial development. This special issue focuses on ‘Supply network evolution in emerging industries’, drawing on examples of ‘industrial innovation’ spanning technology-based product innovation, new production or supply chain replenishment models (e.g., new routes to market) and/or novel business models. The research presented here offers new insights into the design and operation of supply networks and their links to other parts of the broader industrial ecosystem

Exploring knowledge transfer configuration profiles in global operations

This research looks to integrate network configuration and knowledge transfer (KT) approaches. The developed framework was tested using an in-depth case study involving three manufacturing networks at different stages of maturity. Current and future knowledge transfer configuration profiles and supporting KT mechanisms for each network are presented and discussed

Urban Logistics and Transportation - Defining a B2B Concept of Operations for Urban Construction Consolidation Centres

The challenges facing the UK construction industry reflect many inefficiencies in current practice: 60% of planned vehicle deliveries do not arrive on time. The Urban Construction Consolidation Centre (UCCC) concept aims to promote a more efficient flow of construction materials through the supply chain, reducing vehicle deliveries and the impact of urban congestion. New B2B relationships have emerged and multi-partner service model concepts need to be developed, in order to aid partners understand roles and inter-relationships in service delivery. A B2B Concept of Operations (ConOps) to define the key elements, operating philosophy and design and operation of UCCCs is presented

Effecting Policy Change within UK Construction Logistics - Capturing Current and Future Industrial and Institutional Obligations

The challenges facing the UK construction industry reflect many inefficiencies in current practice: 60% of planned vehicle deliveries do not arrive on time; 20% of all UK waste comes from construction. This research aims to inform how best to inform government policy on contracting models for construction logistics and create incentives to influence UK-wide consolidation center adoption by both private sector (e.g. consumers, suppliers, logistics service providers) and public sector (e.g. local, regional policy makers) stakeholders. A process mapping methodology was developed and is presented to capture current and future industrial and institutional obligations. It identifies (a) the key stakeholders in the public sector procurement process of construction projects, (b) processes required for construction approval and (c) the mapping of each key process. The research method involved fieldwork interviews and site visits involving both public and private sector stakeholders involved in local authority-led construction project provision. The hard/soft factors that influence public sector approval were examined in the context of an urban construction consolidation center (UCCC) to aid development of a collaboration model between private companies and public resources. The key processes and requirements of these key stakeholders may then be linked, informing development of a new industry standard for the UK construction industry

Exploring Visual Management and Continuous Improvement in a Manufacturing Context: A Structured Bibliometric Analysis

Many manufacturing organisations rely on continuous improvement (CI) activities to maintain their competitive position. Here, effective communication is seen as critical in facilitating the alignment of corporate strategy and CI efforts. As many firms increasingly struggle to ensure effective internal communication due to time pressures and the need to continuously adapt strategic information, visual management (VM) can provide a means to support effective information transfer. Therefore, this paper explores the impact of VM on CI within a manufacturing context by first systematically reviewing and summarising the extant literature. A bibliometric analysis reveals that while VM offers great potential to support CI efforts, the field lacks systematic and holistic scholarly examination in a number of areas. For example, the association of CI as a dynamic capability and the impact of digitalisation in connecting VM and CI

Digitalisation of Development and Supply Networks: Sequential and Platform-Driven Innovations

We draw from an eight-year dataset of 98 organisational entities involved in pre-competitive innovation networks across the UK pharmaceutical sector. These data map into three networks that are representative of: (i) a product development-led sequential pathway that begins with digitalised product development, followed by digitalisation of supply networks, (ii) a supply network-led sequential pathway that starts with digitalised supply networks, followed by digitalisation of product development, and (iii) a parallel — platform-driven — pathway that enables simultaneous digitalisation of development, production, and supply networks. We draw upon extant literature to assess these network structures along three dimensions — strategic intent, the integrative roles of nodes with high centrality, and innovation performance. We conduct within-case and cross-case analyses to postulate 10 research propositions that compare and contrast modalities for sequential and platform-based digitalisation involving collaborative innovation networks. With sequential development, our propositions are congruent with conventional pathways for mitigating innovation risks through modular moves. On the other hand, we posit that platform-based design rules, rather than modular moves, mitigate the risks for parallel development pathways, and lead to novel development and delivery mechanisms

Fine Sediment Modeling During Storm-Based Events in the River Bandon, Ireland

The River Bandon located in County Cork (Ireland) has been time-continuously monitored by turbidity probes, as well as automatic and manual suspended sediment sampling. The current work evaluates three different models used to estimate the fine sediment concentration during storm-based events over a period of one year. The modeled suspended sediment concentration is compared with that measured at an event scale. Uncertainty indices are calculated and compared with those presented in the bibliography. An empirically-based model was used as a reference, as this model has been previously applied to evaluate sediment behavior over the same time period in the River Bandon. Three other models have been applied to the gathered data. First is an empirically-based storm events model, based on an exponential function for calculation of the sediment output from the bed. A statistically-based approach first developed for sewers was also evaluated. The third model evaluated was a shear stress erosion-based model based on one parameter. The importance of considering the fine sediment volume stored in the bed and its consolidation to predict the suspended sediment concentration during storm events is clearly evident. Taking into account dry weather periods and the bed erosion in previous events, knowledge on the eroded volume for each storm event is necessary to adjust the parameters for each model.The authors acknowledge the funding received through the Visiting Researchers Programme from the Technical University of Cartagena UPCT, Spain, in the period from August to December 2018. The authors also acknowledge the funding received from the Government of Ireland Technological Research Strand I R&D Skills Programme and the support provided by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency and the Irish Office of Public Works. This research received no external funding

Exploring Implications of Continuous Manufacturing within the Pharmaceutical Sector through Industrial Landscape Mapping and Cross-Sector Analysis

On-going new technology development in Continuous Manufacturing (CM) has enabled potential for significant step changes within the Pharmaceutical sector e.g. shifting from ‘batch’ to ‘continuous’ processing has implications for (a) product variety, consistency and functionality (b) energy and resource efficiency (c) inventory and customization options and (d) overall industry structure. However, current adoption rates of CM remain in the range of 5%. This research looks to explore and address the operations and supply chain management challenges associated with CM, specifically through learning from other industrial systems. Research question(s): Emerging research questions include (a) what are the architectural differences between current (batch) and future (continuous) manufacturing operations and (b) associated implications for up-stream and down-stream supply chain configurations, structures, processes and systems. Methods: An Industrial landscape mapping methodology was developed (integrating value chain analysis with supply network configuration mapping) that is applicable to a broader industrial systems context. The pharmaceutical sector was mapped to provide the basis for (a) exploring alternative product-process supply network options and value chain implications of a shift to CM and (b) cross-sector analysis involving six previous case studies (i.e. six industrial systems that have exhibited different types of disruptive innovation). Key findings: This research provides a basis for understanding (a) current and future supply network configurations (b) critical interconnections between industry actors and (c) the overall industry structure. Preliminary cross-case analysis suggests several generic aspects to supply networks, including the blurring of industry boundaries, and the critical requirement to manage uncertainty in selective elements of the value chain