Impact of decision sequence on reliability enhancement with supply disruption risks

This paper considers a supply chain that consists of a manufacturer and a supplier who faces disruption risks. We investigate the impact of decision sequence on the supplier’s endogenous reliability enhancement and the firms’ equilibrium pricing strategies. The supply chain reliability achieves a higher level under the supplier–leader game, but this does not always lead to a higher payoff for the supply chain. Each firm prefers to make the decision first, while any decision sequence can become dominant for the supply chain. We also show that the supply chain can achieve coordination via the revenue sharing contract.     

Lead time aggregation: A three-echelon supply chain model

In this paper, destructive effects of upstream aggregated stochastic lead times on the supply chain (SC) performance are analyzed. For this purpose, a three-echelon SC consisting of one producer, one distributor, and one retailer is modeled. Both the producer and distributor face stochastic lead times, which can be also aggregated to create a long unpredictable lead time. In order to scale down shortages at the retailer site, an incentive scheme is proposed to convince the upstream members to increase their reorder points. Applying the coordinated model considerably increases the total profit earned by the whole SC as well as all SC members.     

Cooperatives for fruits and vegetables in emerging countries: Rationalization and impact of decentralization

We develop a (noncooperative) game theoretic model for a decentralized setting wherein fringe farmers compete with a two-tier cooperative network involving network farmers and a coordinator. We examine the roles of the coordinator and profit sharing in allocating costs/benefits of externalities in enhancing network efficiency and stability. Our main finding is that using profit sharing based mechanism the coordinator can overcome inherent inefficiency and instability of decentralization and noncooperative behavior of the network farmers. The roles of the coordinator and profit sharing are particularly important when it is economical for both network and fringe farmers to supply the product.     

Global supply chain design: A literature review and critique

In this paper, we review decision support models for the design of global supply chains, and assess the fit between the research literature in this area and the practical issues of global supply chain design. The classification scheme for this review is based on ongoing and emerging issues in global supply chain management and includes review dimensions for (1) decisions addressed in the model, (2) performance metrics, (3) the degree to which the model supports integrated decision processes, and (4) globalization considerations. We conclude that although most models resolve a difficult feature associated with globalization, few models address the practical global supply chain design problem in its entirety. We close the paper with recommendations for future research in global supply chain modeling that is both forward-looking and practically oriented.     

Pricing strategies of a dual-channel supply chain with risk aversion

We investigated the effect of risk aversion on the optimal policies of a dual-channel supply chain under complete information and asymmetric information cases. We determined that the optimal value added only depends on the value-added cost. The optimal prices under a risk-averse case are lower than those in a risk-neutral case. Information asymmetry increases wholesale and retail prices but reduces direct sale price, and tends to engender inefficiency. The value of information increases with the mean of the manufacturer’s estimation about the retailer’s risk aversion.     

Supply chain design under quality disruptions and tainted materials delivery

Events such as the 2008 Heparin tragedy, in which patients lost their lives due to tainted pharmaceuticals, highlight the necessity for supply chain designers and planners to consider the risk of even low probability incidents in supply chains. The goal of this research is to design a single-period, single-product supply chain model with capacitated facilities to hedge against the possibility of sending tainted materials to consumers. Given that our mixed-integer stochastic model is NP-hard, we develop efficient heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms to obtain acceptable solutions. Computational experience is presented and discussed.     

基VMI的供应链利润模型研究

研究了供应链管理环境下新的库存策略。建立了基于VMI的有初始库存、允许库存短缺、缺货需补充、补充具有延时的供应链利润模型，并对该模型进行了供应链总的库存相关成本及供应商的库存相关成本分析。     

Marrying supply chain sustainability and resilience: A match made in heaven

Sustainable supply chain management has become an integral part of corporate strategy for virtually every industry. However, little is understood about the broader impacts of sustainability practices on the capacity of the supply chain to tolerate disruptions. This article aims to explore the sustainability–resilience relationship at the supply chain design level. A multi-objective optimization model featuring a sustainability performance scoring method and a stochastic fuzzy goal programming approach is developed that can be used to perform a dynamic sustainability tradeoff analysis and design a “resiliently sustainable” supply chain. Important managerial and practical insights are obtained from an empirical case study.     

Robust supply chain strategies for recovering from unanticipated disasters

Recovering from unanticipated disasters is critical in today’s global market. This paper examines the effectiveness of popular recovery strategies used to address unpredictable disasters that derail supply chains. We create a formal model to portray dynamic operational performance among supply chain firms facing disruptions caused by natural and man-made disasters. Our analysis shows that a supply chain recovers best if member firms adopt a radical, rapid, costly recovery strategy that immediately resolves the disruption. This observation is robust to various resource consumption requirements. We apply our methodology in the case of Taiwan’s 2011 food contamination scandal and provide managerial insights.     

Optimizing shipment,ordering and pricing policies in a two-stage supply chain with price-sensitive demand

In this paper we focus on a two-stage supply chain consisting of one vendor and one buyer. We develop an integrated production–inventory–marketing model to determine the relevant profit-maximizing decision variable values. The model proposed is based on the joint total profit of both the vendor and the buyer, and it finds out the optimal ordering, shipment and pricing policies. We are able to ascertain the optimal decision variable values employing an analytical solution procedure. The numerical evidence suggests that it is more beneficial for the buyer and the vendor to cooperate with each other when the demand is more price sensitive.     

A supply chain model of vendor managed inventory

This research evaluates how vendor managed inventory (VMI) affects a supply channel. Specifically, VMI always leads to a higher buyer's profit, but supplier's profit varies. In the short-term, VMI is found to reduce total costs of the channel system, but under certain cost conditions between buyer and supplier, it could decrease the purchasing price and supplier's profit. In the long-run, it could more likely increase supplier's profit than in the short-run. Finally, VMI is an effective supply chain strategy that can realize many of the benefits obtainable only in a fully integrated supply chain.     

Diversification strategy with random yield suppliers for a mean–variance risk-sensitive manufacturer

We consider the diversification strategy for a mean–variance risk-sensitive manufacturer with unreliable suppliers. We first analyze the linear model and find that the suppliers are selected according to the descending order of their contributed marginal expected profit, and increasing the manufacturer’s risk-averseness leads to a more even allocation of demand across the suppliers. Then, we study the general newsvendor model. By approximating the leftover inventory with a normal distribution, we establish the general properties of the active supplier set and show that the supplier selection rule is similar to that under the risk-neutral setting when the demand uncertainty is large. Moreover, we conjecture that the selection rule also applies when the demand uncertainty is low, which we verify with an extensive numerical study. Our paper makes two contributions: First, we establish the properties of the optimal diversification strategy and develop corresponding insights into the trade off between cost and reliability under the mean–variance framework. Second, we perform comparative statics on the optimal solution, with a particular emphasis on investigating how changes in the supplier’s cost or reliability affect the risk-averse manufacturer’s ordering decisions and customer service level.     

A deterministic mathematical model to support temporal and spatial decisions of the soybean supply chain

A novel deterministic mathematical model is presented as part of research into a stochastic optimization model for the soybean supply chain in Brazil. The model was conceived as a tool to aid in the decision-making of any trader involved in this highly complex market. The model is intended to be applied to decisions related to tactical planning over a time span of one year. The major spatial and temporal components of the soybean complex, including transportation mode decisions, are incorporated into the model. The mathematical model is described in detail. Several stochastic parameters are used with fixed values in the deterministic model to construct various scenarios. These parameters are the purchase and sale prices of the grain on the market, the crop failure rate and the volumes of demand. The model was tested using data from a large trade in Brazil with consistent results.     

Supplier hoarding,government intervention,and timing for post-disaster crop supply chain recovery

This work presents a multi-methodological approach to address the issue of post-disaster crop supply chain recovery under the influences of government intervention and supplier hoarding intention. A conceptual model which characterizes the antecedents of supplier hoarding intention is proposed, and validated using survey data. Grounded in the empirical study, an analytical model is then proposed for decision analysis of a two-tier crop supply chain recovering from post-disaster supply disruptions. Analytical results indicate that hoarding behavior reduces the time taken by supply chain members for supply recovery; and however, contributes to mixed effects on the expected profits of supply chain members.     

Bioethanol supply chain system planning under supply and demand uncertainties

A mixed integer stochastic programming model is established to support strategic planning of bioenergy supply chain systems and optimal feedstock resource allocation in an uncertain decision environment. The two-stage stochastic programming model, together with a Lagrange relaxation based decomposition solution algorithm, was implemented in a real-world case study in California to explore the potential of waste-based bioethanol production. The model results show that biowaste-based ethanol can be a viable part of sustainable energy solution for the future.     

VLC虚拟供应链的建构

虚拟物流中心(VLC)对传统实物供应链实施了有效的变革,构建了以信息整体管理为特征的矩阵型虚拟供应链。VLC充分集成资源、功能和技术,建立企业功能交换市场和实现业务流程的重组与创新,通过供应链的虚拟化变革、柔性化变革和协同化变革,实现了信息链控制的多端口、多层次平行运作的矩阵型虚拟供应链的建构,从而完成供应链的整体创新。     

Environmental complexity related information for the assessment of country logistics environments: Implications for spatial transaction costs and foreign location attractiveness

With on-going fragmentation and distribution of production and consumption across geographical space, information about national logistics systems is becoming increasingly important to decision makers in internationally operating firms and organisations. While continuing research on country logistics assessment generates some of this information, its relevance for the decision makers, and relationship to their unpredictability from foreign national logistics systems remains indefinite.This paper identifies and categorises the relevant, available information on country logistics environments by using a content analysis approach. We demonstrate the immensity and nature of this information, are able to confirm the changing spatial transaction cost structures, and to reflect upon the overall conditions of information-related complexity and globalisation in the environment. Besides making a contribution to the further development of the spatial impedance factors and measures that form the basis for decision maker unpredictability, the paper offers an alternative approach for measuring the importance of transportation costs in industrial location, and offers a useful lens to distinguish between the emerging literatures on national logistics systems. Finally the paper also offers practical implications on location attractiveness for investment promotion agencies and other public sector agencies for business development and cluster growth.     

Request selection and exchange approach for carrier collaboration based on auction of a single request

This paper addresses the request selection and exchange problem in the carrier collaboration process with limited sharing of carrier’s request information. A framework including two decision makers, carrier and coordinator, is constructed and its collaboration process is described. In this framework, two request selection models for the carriers are established. In addition, a request exchange method for the coordinator is proposed and four profit allocation strategies are discussed. Compared with other four approaches, simulation results show that the proposed approach is effective and efficient.     

Ride service outsourcing for profit maximization

Transportation service subcontracting is becoming an effective means of business for many leading carriers to maintain their market dominance and profitability. This research is based on an outsourcing practice in one of the few largest limousine fleet companies in the US, whose (mostly advance) demand for services often exceeds its capacity. We develop a model for ride service outsourcing. A column generation method is proposed. The outsourcing decision is made simultaneously with pre-scheduling of in-house ride services as well as staffing. Test with services data indicates that the developed method dramatically improves the carrier’s outsourcing decision.     

Freight transport network design using particle swarm optimisation in supply chain–transport supernetwork equilibrium

This paper presents a discrete network design problem for optimally designing freight transport network in terms of the efficiency of supply chain. Modelling is undertaken within the framework of mathematical programmes with equilibrium constraints, which first incorporates both supply chain and transport networks explicitly. The upper level determines the best set of actions for transport network improvement, while the lower-level decision is based on a supply chain–multimodal transport supernetwork equilibrium. New variants of particle swarm optimisation are developed to approximately solve the upper level. Numerical tests reveal their superior performance and the effective freight transport-related actions.