Ten-tier and multi-scale supplychain network analysis of medical equipment: Random failure and intelligent attack analysis

Motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper explores the supply chain viability of medical equipment, an industry whose supply chain was put under a crucial test during the pandemic. This paper includes an empirical network-level analysis of supplier reachability under Random Failure Experiment (RFE) and Intelligent Attack Experiment (IAE). Specifically, this study investigates the effect of RFA and IAE across multiple tiers and scales. The global supply chain data was mined and analyzed from about 45,000 firms with about 115,000 intertwined relationships spanning across 10 tiers of the backward supply chain of medical equipment. This complex supply chain network was analyzed at four scales, namely: firm, country-industry, industry, and country. A notable contribution of this study is the application of a supply chain tier optimization tool to identify the lowest tier of the supply chain that can provide adequate resolution for the study of the supply chain pattern. We also developed data-driven-tools to identify the thresholds for breakdown and fragmentation of the medical equipment supply chain when faced with random failures or different intelligent attack scenarios. The novel network analysis tools utilized in the study can be applied to the study of supply chain reachability and viability in other industries.Comment: 47 page

How can B2B e-marketplaces (EM) enhance the quality of supply chain?

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a source of competitive advantage in organizations especially for those organizations that supply chain (SC) is the core of their business or is tightly coupled with their core business. Traditionally organizations use re-engineering practices and organizational enhancement programs in order to increase their competitive advantage through optimizing their supply chain management. With advancement of technologies organizations begun to fabricate processes and employ more advanced communication technologies and technological tools -such as E-Marketplaces (EM) and RFID tags- with the goal of increasing the quality of their SC. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the concept of quality in SC, and application of B2B EMs for enhancing the quality of their supply chain. Moreover the adoption process and critical factors affecting the success of EM adoption in SC is explored in this study

Application of B2B electronic-marketplaces in the integration of supply chain

This paper explores the application of business-to-business (B2B) Electronic Marketplaces (EM) in supply chain (CS) integration. The paper starts with explaining the developments in supply chain management studies, and identifies the SC integration era as one of the main streams of supply chain management studies. The second part of the paper describes the evolution of SC integration and introduces B2B EMs as one of the tools for integration inter-organizational supply chains. In part three different types of EMs and their applicability to supply chain integration is disused. Finally part four describes the factors affecting the readiness of Sc for integration through B2B EM, explains the success factors of adopting B2B EM and proposes a transition model for adopting B2B EMs for inter-organizational SC integration

Identification in electronic networks: Characteristics of e-identifiers

Identification in electronic networks (e-Identification) has been a source of new risks in e-commerce and e-govemment [3, 22]. Identity theft is the fastest growing white-collar crime in many countries, specifically in developed countries. The identity theft (IDT) report presented by Competition Bureau Canada indicates that the cost of IDT to the economy of Canada has increased by 83% in the period of 2002-2003. Also, the average loss of victims has increased from 1439Cnd$in 2002, to 1614Cnd$ in 2003. This increase can also be observed in other developed countries at the same level. This rapid increase of identity theft indicates that the development of optimal identification systems in organizations is far behind the development of electronic networks. One of the central issues in IDT is the identification process. Understanding the identification processes in electronic systems, its concepts, and tools are the fundamentals of designing, implementing and operating an efficient and effective identification system. However, there have been very few studies in this area, and there is a gap in literature specifically on identification tools, their characteristics, their efficiency and their effectiveness, and their usability. This paper presents a comp

Measurement of business process orientation in transitional organizations: An empirical study

With regards to the benefits associated with the business process orientation, only a small body of research in this field has specifically addressed the issue of the measurement of process-orientation in organizations. To help fill this gap, the primary focus of this study is to explore the measurement of business process orientation in transitional organizations by providing a framework for measuring process orientation, from managerial perspective, and applying this measurement in an empirical study. Based on the transition framework of this study the transition process from functional organizational structure to a process-oriented organizational structure starts with the implementation of the ERP system by the organization. The results of the study show the positive relationship that exists between the level of process-orientation in the organization and the success of ERP systems implementation and utilization

Water as the next commodity

Water is increasingly recognized as a commodity in its own right, as evidenced by the launching in 2006 of the first water index, World Water Index or WOWAX. For a number of factors ranging from the growth of the world population to global warming and potential extinction of lakes and seas, water is increasingly receiving the attention it deserves. Expensive techniques of adduction or desalination are put into place in those regions in the world where it is scarce and in great demand. Both in developed and developing countries, large capital investments are required to establish and maintain water systems that will altogether benefit populations and investors. The goal of this article is to illustrate the ways in which one can currently invest in water and to discuss the ineluctable emergence of water markets and water right

B-cell depletion is protective against anti-AAV capsid immune response: a human subject case study

Gene therapy strategies for congenital myopathies may require repeat administration of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors due to aspects of the clinical application, such as: (i) administration of doses below therapeutic efficacy in patients enrolled in early phase clinical trials; (ii) progressive reduction of the therapeutic gene expression over time as a result of increasing muscle mass in patients treated at a young age; and (iii) a possibly faster depletion of pathogenic myofibers in this patient population. Immune response triggered by the first vector administration, and to subsequent doses, represents a major obstacle for successful gene transfer in young patients. Anti-capsid and anti-transgene product related humoral and cell-mediated responses have been previously observed in all preclinical models and human subjects who received gene therapy or enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for congenital myopathies. Immune responses may result in reduced efficacy of the gene transfer over time and/or may preclude for the possibility of re-administration of the same vector. In this study, we evaluated the immune response of a Pompe patient dosed with an AAV1-GAA vector after receiving Rituximab and Sirolimus to modulate reactions against ERT. A key finding of this single subject case report is the observation that B-cell ablation with rituximab prior to AAV vector exposure results in non-responsiveness to both capsid and transgene, therefore allowing the possibility of repeat administration in the future. This observation is significant for future gene therapy studies and establishes a clinically relevant approach to blocking immune responses to AAV vectors