Integration of Environmental Management and SCM

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a rather new phenomenon in the Operations Management/Operations Research literature. In the design of Sustainable Supply Chains the increase of transparency across the chain is essential and can be obtained through identification and traceability. Sustainable production often means a change in resource-areas and modes of transportation. Investment in sustainability implies innovations in supply chain management with accompanying costs and profits. We present a framework based on product and process innovations that provides insights in the relevant research questions for integrating Environmental Management and SCM. The framework is applied using the literature and practical case studies in this area

Integrating Closed-loop Supply Chains and Spare Parts Management at IBM

Ever more companies are recognizing the benefits of closed-loop supply chains that integrate product returns into business operations. IBM has been among the pioneers seeking to unlock the value dormant in these resources. We report on a project exploiting product returns as a source of spare parts. Key decisions include the choice of recovery opportunities to use, the channel design, and the coordination of alternative supply sources. We developed an analytic inventory control model and a simulation model to address these issues. Our results show that procurement cost savings largely outweigh reverse logistics costs and that information management is key to an efficient solution. Our recommendations provide a basis for significantly expanding the usage of the novel parts supply source, which allows for cutting procurement costs

E-Fulfillment and Multi-Channel Distribution – A Review

This review addresses the specific supply chain management issues of Internet fulfillment in a multi-channel environment. It provides a systematic overview of managerial planning tasks and reviews corresponding quantitative models. In this way, we aim to enhance the understanding of multi-channel e-fulfillment and to identify gaps between relevant managerial issues and academic literature, thereby indicating directions for future research. One of the recurrent patterns in today’s e-commerce operations is the combination of ‘bricks-and-clicks’, the integration of e-fulfillment into a portfolio of multiple alternative distribution channels. From a supply chain management perspective, multi-channel distribution provides opportunities for serving different customer segments, creating synergies, and exploiting economies of scale. However, in order to successfully exploit these opportunities companies need to master novel challenges. In particular, the design of a multi-channel distribution system requires a constant trade-off between process integration and separation across multiple channels. In addition, sales and operations decisions are ever more tightly intertwined as delivery and after-sales services are becoming key components of the product offering

Supply Chain Optimisation in Animal Husbandry

The pig husbandry is an important economic sector. In the last decade, major changes have been made. As a result, farmers came together to introduce the "Eco Label pig", meeting the strong consumer and governmental call for high quality, animal friendly and environmentally friendly food. The market for Eco Label food is expected to grow enormously in the next years, asking for the development of an efficient and effective supply chain consisting of farmers, slaughter houses, wholesalers and retailers. We present some mathematical models to support decision making and evaluation of a large number of growth scenario's, using cost minimization given a number of Eco Label conditions

Reverse Logistics – Capturing Value in the Extended Supply Chain

Product flows in today’s supply chains do not end once they have reached the customer. Many products lead a second and even third or fourth life after having accomplished their original task at their first customer. Consequently, a product may generate revenues multiple times, rather than a single time. Capturing this value requires a broadening of the supply chain perspective to include new processes, known as ‘reverse logistics’, as well as multiple interrelated usage cycles, linked by specific market interfaces. Coordinating the successive product uses is key to maximizing the value generated. In this chapter, we review the field of reverse logistics. We discuss its opportunities and its challenges and indicate potential ways for companies to master them. We highlight what makes reverse logistics different from ‘conventional’ supply chain processes, but also point out analogies, and explain how both views can be integrated into an extended supply chain concept. We illustrate our discussion with examples of reverse logistics practice at IBM

Strategic Issues in Product Recovery Management

This article examines strategic production and operations management issues in product recovery management (PRM). PRM encompasses the management of all used and discarded products, components, and materials for which a manufacturing company is legally, contractually, or otherwise responsible. The objective of PRM is to recover as much of the economic (and ecological) value of used and discarded products, components, and materials as reasonably possible, thereby reducing the ultimate quantities of waste to a minimum. This article also discusses the relevance of PRM to durable products manufacturers. It contains a categorization of PRM decisions. A case study based on the PRM system of a multinational copier manufacturer is presented to illustrate a set of specific production and operations management issues. The experiences of two other pro-active manufacturers (BMW and IBM) are also discusse

Spare Parts Logistics and Installed Base Information

Many of the challenges in spare parts logistics emerge due to the combination of large service networks, and sporadic/slow-moving demand. Customer heterogeneity and stringent service deadlines entail further challenges. Meanwhile, high revenues rates in service operations motivate companies to invest and optimize the service logistics function. An important aspect of the spare parts logistics function is its ability to support customer-specific requirements with respect to service deadlines. To support customer specific operations, many companies are actively maintaining and utilizing installed base data during forecasting, planning and execution stages. In this paper, we highlight the potential economic value of installed base data for spare parts logistics. We also discuss various data quality issues that are associated with the use of installed base data and show that planning performance depends on the quality dimensions

An explanatory study on electronic commerce for reverse logistics.

In this paper we consider the role Electronic Commerce plays and can play for Reverse Logistics. After short introductions to electronic commerce and reverse logistics, we give an overview of existing internet sites for reverse logistics. These sites can be classified as electronic markets, supply of used parts and complete reverse logistic solutions. Finally we draw some lines to the future

A DSS for capacity planning of aircraft maintenance personnel

In this paper we describe a Decision Support System (DSS) that has been developed for the aircraft maintenance department of the Dutch national airline company at the main airport in the Netherlands. The aircraft maintenance department is responsible for carrying out the regular short inspections of aircraft between their arrival at and their consecutive departure from the airport. The main resource of the aircraft maintenance department is its workforce. The DSS that has been developed can be used to support the management of the maintenance department in solving several capacity planning problems related to the size and the composition of the workforce. In this paper we give a description of the capabilities of the DSS. Furthermore, we describe the solution technique that is applied within the DSS for determining the required size and composition of the workforce