3D printing strategic deployment: the supply chain perspective

Purpose – The emergence and application of 3D Printing (3DP) is changing the way products are developed and reach the customer, allowing for unprecedented customisation options. Past research has focused on the modus operandi of the technology, providing indications for wider future adoption. 3DP is predicted to complement current production processes and is anticipated to have a profound effect on the value chain, and therefore, on Supply Chain (SC) management. Management-related 3DP research has, however, been largely fragmented in terms of analysing the strategic deployment of 3DP and the corresponding effects on performance objectives. Design/methodology – The approach taken is a critical literature review, synthesizing and interpreting past research on cross-industry deployment of 3DP, including illustrative examples. This enabled the development of a framework of current stage knowledge. Findings – Building on past research we propose a conceptual framework to be used as a classification system for 3DP operations, based on process and SC level configurations across different industries. We discuss the potential impact on operations performance objectives and then highlight research gaps, proposing specific research avenues to enhance understanding of the effects of 3DP adoption on SCs. Practical implications – The proposed framework outlines strategic guidelines for 3DP and provides practitioners with the range of strategic options available for 3DP deployment and anticipated impacts on performance. Originality/Value – The framework can be used to map 3DP deployment at an operational level and to identify the likely impact on performance objectives. Relevant implications and a future research agenda are explored

The role of social media in managing supplier attractiveness: An investigation of business-to-business markets

Purpose-Managing attractiveness is a constant challenge to mobilize relationship-specific investments, especially in a business environment increasingly enhanced by social media activities. There is limited knowledge on how social media activities contribute to supplier attractiveness, so decisions about strategizing with social media and consequent resource allocations become highly uncertain. The purpose of this study is to examine how suppliers' social media activities influence supplier attractiveness. Design/methodology/approach-Altogether, 57 senior managers were interviewed: 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers in strategic decision-making roles regarding social media on the supplier side, along with 20 senior managers responsible for purchasing or looking after supplier development; one-to-one interviews were complemented by a focus group with 5 senior managers on the buyer side. Findings-The study reveals a U-shaped relationship between the intensity of the supplier's social media activity and its attractiveness and offers a set of propositions about the influence of social media on supplier attractiveness, with special regard to the perceived risks of increased transparency and becoming 'too social' on social media. Practical implications-The study highlights social media management results for supplier attractiveness and their impact areas on business growth and supply chain development. Originality/value-This paper provides in-depth insights into the role of social media in managing supplier attractiveness. Various effects of social media activities are identified that aim to contribute to the body of literature on supplier attractiveness as well as social media management in buyer-supplier relationships

Business process management and supply chain collaboration: effects on performance and competitiveness

Purpose: This study aims to examine the interrelationships among business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 204 manufacturing firms in Thailand, and the interrelationships proposed in the framework were tested via structural equation modelling. Findings: This study highlights the role of intra- and inter-organisational practices and clearly demonstrates the joint role and impact of BPM and SCC, respectively. The results provide empirical evidence that BPM improves both organisational performance and collaborative activities. Also, SCC and collaborative advantage can have indirect positive impacts on organisational performance. Research limitations/implications: This work could be expanded by adopting a supplementary dyadic or extended supply chain (SC) approach and could also consider contextual factors, which were outside of the scope of this study. Practical implications: The BPM approach has a positive impact on organisational performance, which is essential for collaborative activities between a firm and its SC partners. Further, effective BPM and SCC practices lead to enhanced performance and collaborative benefits. Practitioners should be better able to define and measure specific actions relating to their BPM and SCC practices. Originality value: This paper stresses the need to consider the interrelationships between BPM, SCC, collaborative advantage and organisational performance for both direct and indirect effects. Rather than focusing only on improvement at individual firm level, SCC is vital to compete in the market. Improving the effectiveness of SC allows higher organisational performance levels than those that could be achieved in isolatio

Organisational learning in SMEs: a process improvement perspective

We investigate how Organisational Learning (OL) can occur through Process Improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We study PI practices in six engineering-oriented SMEs via interview-based case studies. We draw from a range of literature and use an OL conceptual framework, informed by Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I framework, as an analytical lens. The OL perspective provides new insights to conceptualize the nature of PI as a multi-level practice in SMEs. Effective PI practices within SMEs are shown to be consistent with OL concepts, enabling firms to translate individually identified improvement opportunities into organisational-level changes that result in sustained benefits. A new conceptual model is presented that explains how SMEs can learn through improvement activities. The key role of management support, both operational and strategic, is highlighted. It is necessary for management to provide sufficient PI opportunities to enable and sustain beneficial learning. Management can provide additional learning opportunities by introducing new business that requires exploratory learning. Without such support, the reduction in improvement opportunities reduces the benefits that can be realised from PI. The findings provide a theoretically underpinned framework to achieve OL in engineering-oriented SMEs deriving from PI activities, highlighting the key mechanisms that enable learning from improvement activities. Further case-based, longitudinal, and survey-based research studies with firms of different types will enhance the generalisability of the findings, allowing the confirmation and extension of the new conceptual model. OL provides a multi-level perspective to understand both how smaller firms are able to undergo systematic improvements and the support required to continually improve

Strategic and operational considerations for the Extended Enterprise: insights from the aerospace industry

The Extended Enterprise (EE) paradigm has been adopted in the civil aerospace industry to enhance collaboration and product innovation among supply chain partners. Nevertheless, key aspects of this collaborative form remain poorly understood. In particular, the interrelation of strategic and operational considerations has received little attention in the literature. Our study aimed to investigate this area, using two dyads as case studies, where three companies were involved in an EE form of collaboration. The primary case company was a leading manufacturer in the civil aerospace industry that employs EE principles on both upstream and downstream sides of its supply chain. The other two case companies were key suppliers embedded in the EE. This paper aimed to develop a more complete understanding of how sharing risks and rewards results in effective collaboration among EE partners with key strategic and operational results

Business process management and supply chain collaboration: a critical comparison

The link between a firm and supply chain (SC) members has been recognised as one of the key issues for ensuring business success and achieving competitive advantage. Indeed, working across organisational boundaries is required to accomplish effective responses to customers’ needs. Our preliminary research confirmed that there are positive relationships between business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance. This study is a step further and uses a multiple case design to illuminate the results and gain a greater understanding from extensive discussions about these relationships. By means of semi-structured interviews, the three main issues were identified as: (1) the link between BPM and organisational performance; (2) the link between BPM and SCC; and (3) the contextual factors and benefits achieved from working collaboratively with SC partners. The different scenarios of the link between BPM and SCC were developed in a taxonomy, and the case studies were used to illustrate the experience of intra- and inter-organisational practices in the developing economy of Thailand. The case studies’ results explain in depth that both BPM and SCC are important for improving organisational performance and competitiveness. BPM not only improves organisational performance directly, but also assists with collaborative activities that in turn help to improve internal capabilities. Additionally, the comparisons in issues relating to firm size, industry type, relationship closeness and relationship length were also included in this study