published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts

M. Tech. (Logistics management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / The growth and development of SCM is attributed to number of factors such as partnership, collaboration, integration and relationship commitment. Despite increasing awareness of the importance of joint venture to organisations, research on the supply chain relationships (supply chain partnership, collaboration, integration and relationship commitment) and performance have received little attention. Therefore, using a data set of 271 individuals from the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) sector in South Africa, this study examines the influence of supply chain partnerships on collaboration, collaboration on integration, integration on relationship commitment and relationship commitment on performance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) method was used to analyses the data collected whereby individuals agrees with that supply chain relationships increase performance in the work environment. The study has developed a supply chain management (SCM)-based performance measurement system (PMS) for the case of SMEs. Such a framework may help SMEs managers to establish their own supply chain functions and strategically plan improvements for weak areas. In addition, it may remain helpful for benchmarking current practices with industry norms requirements. Quite often, companies dealing with a large number of performance measures derived and expanded based on the suggestions from employees, consultants and past experiences (history) forget to realise that supply chain performance measurement can be better addressed when they joint venture.

D. Tech. (Business, Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences) Vaal University of Technology / The effective implementation of intra-firm and inter-firm supply chain practices and processes such as supply chain e-collaboration and sharing of important information among supply chain partners, is commonly associated with the creation of supply chain competitiveness and enhanced performance. However, little attention has, thus far, been given to the empirical investigation of the influence of the successful implementation of intra-firm supply chain practice on supply chain e-collaboration, strategic information sharing, supply chain competence and supply chain performance in South Africa. The principal objective of this study was to fill this void by investigating the influence of intra-firm supply chain practice on supply chain e-collaboration among supply chain partners in South Africa. Secondly, the study sought to determine the influence of supply chain e-collaboration on strategic information and supply chain competence among supply chain partners in South Africa. It also aimed to examine the influence of strategic information sharing on supply chain competence and ultimately on the supply chain performance of supply chain partners in South Africa. Lastly, the study sought to ascertain the influence of supply chain competence on supply chain performance of supply chain partners in South Africa. A positivist approach that allowed a quantitative research method in data collection was used in this study. Data from a sample of 280 collaborating firm owners/managers from all the industries of South Africa’s nine provinces was used for the final data analysis of this research. A principal component analysis was performed for factor reduction and dimensional groupings using SPSS 21 software. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were performed for model fit assessments and hypotheses tests respectively, using the Analysis of Moments of Structure (AMOS 21) software. Multiple Regression analysis was performed using SPSS 21 software, and was used for comparison and support of the weak and unsupported SEM hypotheses tests. The principal finding of this study reveals that intra-firm supply chain practice has a strong positive and significant influence on supply chain e-collaboration among supply chain partners in South Africa. In addition, the results showed that supply chain e-collaboration can strongly and significantly enhance the sharing of strategic information among supply chain partners in South Africa. The findings further revealed that supply chain e-collaboration has an ability to create a supply chain competence among supply chain partners in South Africa. The study’s empirical findings also indicate that strategic information sharing has a weak positive and significant indirect influence on supply chain competence and supply chain performance. Lastly, the SEM findings showed that supply chain competence has a weak negative and insignificant influence on supply chain performance. However, the multiple regression analysis showed a weak negative and significant influence of supply chain competence on the supply chain performance of supply chain partners in South Africa. The conclusions and implications of the empirical research findings are provided and recommendations are suggested. The study suggests a new supply chain management conceptual model for research. It also proposes a new supply chain management implementation framework to help guide firms to formulate strategies for improving supply chain performance. The study recommended that the collaborating firm owners/managers consider: training and education for all employees on the importance of supply chain practices and processes such as supply chain e-collaboration and strategic information sharing. Furthermore, it is recommended that collaborating firm owner/managers should consider adopting advanced technologies and information sharing structures to improve their supply chain performance. The collaborating firm owner/managers were also encouraged to align their incentives with the supply chain roles and activities assigned to the supply chain partners. Policy makers were encouraged to make e-business financing arrangements for supply chain collaborating firms; promote synergies between collaborating small and mediums firms and large technology vendors; and ensure affordability of supply chain e-collaboration technologies. The study attempted to address the intra-firm supply chain practice deficiencies on the side of both the supply chain e-collaborating firms and the government. / Research Hubs and Spokes

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:10:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Armando.pdf: 1186614 bytes, checksum: 973e53495ff1fde59e3b83ca719dc6a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-11-18 / The present work has as objective to present a proposal for monitoring of the service level to systems of physical distribution of products that seeks to bring improvements to the delivery process of the companies that act in the beverages segment. By means of an extensive literature review and of the case study accomplished in a company of beverage segment, it became possible to map all distribution process and identify the variables that affect it s performance, concentrating the monitor on the indicators of costs, productivity, use of resources, efficiency and route come back. Regarding that physical distribution of products absorbs significant portion of the budget expenses of the organizations, this activity has occupied a prominence paper in the logistics problems of the companies. That is due, on a side, to the growing cost of the capital (financial cost), that forces the companies to reduce the stocks and the handling activity, transports and distribution of your products beyond own competition. The model was applied and it presented satisfactory results that allowed the company to identify, measure, analyze, improve and control the level service of your distribution system. The proposal contemplates a systematic accompaniment of the indicators and its performance, along the year of 2004 and, with possibility of definitions or revision of the goals as well as the comparison with other periods. / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma proposta de monitoramento do nível de serviço para sistemas de distribuição física de produtos que vise trazer melhorias ao processo de entrega das empresas que atuam no segmento de bebidas. Mediante extensa revisão de literatura e do estudo de caso realizado em uma empresa do segmento de bebidas, tornou-se possível mapear todo o processo de distribuição e identificar as variáveis que afetam o seu desempenho, concentrando o monitoramento nos indicadores de custos, produtividade, utilização de recursos, eficiência e retorno de rota. Considerando que a distribuição física de produtos absorve parcela significativa do orçamento de despesas das organizações, essa atividade passou a ocupar um papel de destaque nos problemas logísticos das empresas. Isso se deve, de um lado, ao custo crescente do capital (custo financeiro), que força as empresas a reduzir os estoques e a agilizar o manuseio, transporte e distribuição de seus produtos além da própria concorrência. O modelo foi aplicado e apresentou resultados satisfatórios que permitiram a empresa identificar, medir, analisar, melhorar e controlar o nível de serviço de seu sistema de distribuição. A proposta contempla um acompanhamento sistemático dos indicadores e seus resultados, ao longo do ano de 2004 e, com possibilidade de definições ou revisão das metas bem como a comparação com outros períodos.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcio Vieira de Almeida.pdf: 626751 bytes, checksum: 72eb4fc81be2e4ad4bc380a69c0574bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-07 / The main objective of this dissertation is to understand which elements inherent to physical distribution can lead manufacturers of fast consumer goods, specifically in the segment related to cleaning products, gain competitive advantage. The survey was conducted considering the perceptions of manufacturers and retailers about the physical distribution services. As a theoretical foundation it was used the resource-based view (RBV) including concepts of value, competitive advantage and competitive strategies, as well, the concepts of physical distribution and logistics. The exploratory research type and a descriptive qualitative methodology were used. Through a semi-structured script, eight executives, being three from the retail sector and five from industry manufacturers, were interviewed. The data was treated and analyzed considering the content analysis technician. It was noted that there are evidences that the combination of tangible and intangible resources are elements that can generate competitive advantage for manufacturers. It was noted the high importance given by the retailers on the stock availability and service level compliance by manufacturers. From the manufacturer s perspective, the establishment of "go to market" strategy in order to meet the retailers needs, as well, the cost management with the aim of generating economic value higher than the competitors are the basis of their perception about how the competitive advantage can be created. In light of the RBV, the conjunction of resources like warehouse and transportation networks, systems and personnel can create value for the retailers, but can not be considered strategic since they are imitable and not rare. In the other hand, culture of services and intellectual capital resources has characteristics of strategic resources. When the physical distribution services are related to the three biggest retailers of the market, it was noted that the manufactures have been using strategies of differentiation and cost leadership to gain competitive advantage. From the practical standpoint, it was noted that the manufacturers still have difficulty make use of strategic partners more effectively to improve services for physical distribution. Finally, retailers believe that the value is still in to delivery the basics in terms of physical distribution services and, in this way, there is still a long way to be covered by the manufacturers. / Essa dissertação tem como objetivo entender quais os recursos inerentes a distribuição física podem levar os fabricantes de produtos de consumo de massa, especificamente no segmento de produtos de limpeza e afins, a obterem vantagem competitiva. A pesquisa foi realizada a partir das percepções de fabricantes e varejistas sobre esses serviços. Como fundamentação teórica utilizou-se a visão baseada em recursos (VBR), incluídos os conceitos de valor, vantagem competitiva e estratégias competitivas, bem como os conceitos de distribuição física e logística. A pesquisa foi do tipo exploratória descritiva e utilizou a metodologia qualitativa. Foram entrevistados oito executivos, sendo três do setor de varejo e cinco do setor de fabricantes, por meio de roteiro semi-estruturado com perguntas abertas. Os dados foram tratados e analisados com base nas técnicas da Análise de Conteúdo. Observaram-se indícios de que a conjunção de recursos tangíveis e intangíveis constituintes dos serviços de distribuição física são elementos que podem gerar vantagem competitiva para os fabricantes. Constatou-se ainda a grande importância dada pelos varejistas na questão de disponibilidade de estoques e o cumprimento do nível de serviço por parte dos fabricantes. No que concerne aos fabricantes, o estabelecimento de uma estratégia go to market que vise atender às necessidades dos varejistas em termos de distribuição, bem como, a gestão de custos com objetivo de gerar valor econômico superior aos dos concorrentes, constituem-se a base da sua percepção de como se gerar vantagem competitiva para si mesmos. A conjunção de recursos como redes de armazéns, redes de transportes, sistemas e pessoal podem criar valor para os varejistas, porém não podem ser considerados estratégicos na medida em que são imitáveis e não raros. Por outro lado, a cultura de serviços e o capital intelectual possuem características de recursos estratégicos. Quando se trata dos serviços de distribuição física para os três grandes varejistas do mercado, observou-se que fabricantes se utilizam de estratégias de diferenciação e liderança de custos para obterem vantagem competitiva. Do ponto de vista prático, observou-se que os fabricantes ainda têm dificuldade de utilizar-se de parceiros estratégicos com maior efetividade para melhoria dos serviços de distribuição física. Por fim, os varejistas entendem que o valor ainda esta na entrega dos serviços básicos de distribuição e, neste sentido, ainda há um grande caminho a ser percorrido pelos fabricantes.

University of Macau / Faculty of Business Administration / Department of Management and Marketing

Orientador: Douglas Tacla / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T15:02:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_LuizFernandoMoreirada_M.pdf: 1451507 bytes, checksum: 58e3a59b22897945f6af446c8a495907 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Esta dissertação objetiva discutir a situação atual da logística farmacêutica na Grande São Paulo e analisar uma alternativa para a distribuição de medicamentos destinados às farmácias, sob os aspectos estratégico, tático e operacional. Esta alternativa deverá permitir a redução de custos e melhorar a eficiência desta distribuição urbana com entrega feita por meio de transporte rodoviário. Uma vez aplicada esta alternativa, espera-se uma redução nas taxas de poluição e de tráfego de veículos de entregas, com vantagens em comparação ao método atualmente utilizado pelo mercado farmacêutico. O uso da logística colaborativa no desenho da malha desta estratégia de distribuição fina é facilitado pela grande interação já existente entre as empresas do setor farmacêutico. Esta interação será ainda maior devido à publicação da Lei 11.903/09 e, mais recentemente, à regulamentação da ANVISA RDC 059/09, que torna obrigatória a coleta e troca de informação entre produtores, distribuidores e varejistas. De modo a tornar esta estratégia viável, sua composição de custos deve permitir a inserção de um parceiro de distribuição na malha atual. Este parceiro deverá estar apto a planejar e executar as entregas destinadas à região metropolitana, reduzindo o número de veículos usados na operação em comparação ao método de distribuição regular. Por se tratar de um método de distribuição em grandes centros urbanos por intermédio de um único parceiro, o ganho de escala proporcionado pode tornar viável o uso de uma frota de veículos movida a combustível limpo ou ecológico, como etanol ou eletricidade, permitindo maior redução da poluição gerada pela distribuição urbana. A forma utilizada para desenvolver este trabalho se deu pela análise de uma operação real de distribuição de medicamentos na Grande São Paulo, sua comparação com uma abordagem colaborativa para a distribuição de medicamentos na mesma região e a conclusão com base nos resultados gerados pela simulação e comparação das variáveis que influenciam o tráfego, a emissão de poluentes e os custos envolvidos com a distribuição de medicamentos em áreas urbanas. Após o desenvolvimento destes dois métodos de distribuição, eles foram aplicados às variáveis atribuídas a cada um, a partir de dados e premissas baseadas em operações reais colhidas junto a um operador logístico de distribuição de medicamentos, gerando valores comparáveis e que embasaram uma conclusão e recomendação, a partir deste estudo. Uma das premissas mais importantes deste estudo é que, adicionalmente às variáveis consideradas, esta nova configuração deve provar sua eficiência também no que se refere ao nível de serviço, isto é, a frequência e a pontualidade nas entregas urbanas, mantendo-o, no mínimo, no mesmo nível encontrado atualmente. A conclusão deste trabalho será a comparação de três variáveis entre a configuração atual - em que vários e diferentes transportadores precisam atingir lojas de varejo diariamente, entregando diversos tipos de produtos, e configuração proposta - em que apenas um transportador fará as entregas nas áreas urbanas / Abstract: This dissertation aims to discuss the current situation of pharmaceutical logistics in the São Paulo metro area and analyze an alternative for the distribution of pharmaceutical products for the drugstores and pharmacies located in the metro regions under the aspects strategic, tactic and operational. The alternative for the distribution method presented in this study shall allow a cost reduction and improve the efficiency of the urban distribution using the ground transportation. Once this alternative is applied, it will be expected a reduction in pollution and transit rates generated by this urban deliveries, bringing advantages when in comparison with the current method utilized by the pharmaceutical market. The use of collaborative logistics to design this distribution network strategy is facilitated by the great interaction already existing among the pharmaceutical industry. This interaction will be even bigger due to the issue of a new law n. 11.903/09 and a new rule from the Federal Sanitary Agency (ANVISA), n. 059/09, which states the obligation of exchanging information among industry, logistics providers, wholesalers and retailers. To make the strategy presented in this study feasible, the costs involved in its operation must to allow insert a new partner in current supply chain. This partner must be apt to plan and execute the deliveries in the metro area, reducing the number of vehicles used in this operation in comparison with the current or regular distribution method. Considering this is an urban distribution method for a big city using an unique provider, the scalability can allow the use of a clean fuel fleet, as ethanol or electricity, allowing an even bigger reduction in the pollution generated by this urban distribution piece. The methodology used was the analysis of a real operation for pharmaceutical distribution in the Sao Paulo metro area, its comparison with a collaborative approach and then the conclusion based on the results obtained through the simulation of the two scenarios using the arguments that affect the traffic, pollution and the costs involved in this distribution. The data to simulate the two scenarios were taken from a real operation of pharmaceutical distribution located in the Sao Paulo metro area. One of the most important assumptions is that this model must to prove its efficiency in the service level, assuring at least the same level provided currently. The conclusion will be the comparison between the current methods, where many different carriers need to carry goods to retail stores daily, with the proposed method, where only one carrier will provide the deliveries in the metro area / Mestrado / Transportes / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

[pt] Nos últimos anos a distribuição física vem tendo um papel de destaque no meio acadêmico e no serviço logístico das empresas, na busca de melhorias operacionais e eficiência na redução de custos para um mercado extremamente competitivo. Adicionar valor ao produto por meio da logística de distribuição, significa atender as expectativas dos clientes ao menor custo e com qualidade de serviço. Entretanto, medir o desempenho do serviço ao cliente é fundamental para o gerenciamento do sistema logístico de distribuição em virtude da complexidade do processo. A motivação deste trabalho foi a identificação e caracterização da lacuna existente entre a percepção e a expectativa dos clientes a respeito da qualidade dos serviços de distribuição prestados pela distribuidora avaliada, sediada na cidade de Nova Iguaçu- RJ. O processo de coleta e análise das informações foi adaptado dos modelos de GAPS e SERVQUAL, propostos por Parasuraman, Berry e Zeithaml (1985,1988). A análise dos dados da pesquisa de campo permitiu identificar lacunas em algumas dimensões de qualidade na empresa estudada. Tais resultados confirmam a potencialidade do modelo utilizado neste trabalho como ferramenta de gerenciamento de qualidade de serviços de distribuição. / [en] In the last years, the physical distribution is having a prominent role in the academic area and in the logistics service of the companies, seeking for operational improvements and efficiency in the reduction of costs for an extremely competitive market. However, to add value to the product by means of the logistics distribution, it is understood to attend the customers` expectations with lower cost and good quality of service. Therefore, it is essential for the management of the distribution logistics system to measure the performance of the service to the customer due to the complexity of the process. The motivation of this work was the identification and characterization of the existing gap between the customers` perception and the expectation regarding the quality of distribution service offered by the distributor assessed, located in Nova Iguaçu, RIO DE JANEIRO. The process of information collection and analysis was adapted from the models of GAPS and SERVQUAL, developed by Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml (1985, 1988). The data analysis of the field research allowed identifying gaps in some quality areas of the assessed company. Such results confirm the potentiality of the model used in this work as a tool of distribution service quality management.

M.Com. (Marketing Management) / The majority of resources in the distribution channels for the perishable market in South Africa, have mostly been directed towards the formal sector. Since macro statistics showed that the informal sector's growth rate is 5 % to the 0,5 % per annum for the formal sector, companies have started to allocate resources towards distribution channels in the informal sector. Distribution channels in the informal sector are mainly characterised by two factors: Firstly a lack of knowledge concerning distribution channel management and strategies by the perishable market and in particular the organisation that was selected as focus, namely Sacca, and secondly, a lack of workable systems and infrastructure. The purpose of this study is, firstly to determine the level of distribution channel management in the perishable market of Southern Africa. This will enable organisations to formulate a framework for a distribution channel strategy to develop the informal sector. Secondly, to determine the potential of such a distribution channel into the informal sector. The methodology used to meet the above mentioned objectives consisted of a literature survey that defined the study and set out the current state of knowledge on the subject. Secondly field visits were conducted with business leaders from Sacca and with leaders in the field of informal sector studies to collect specific information on selected issues. Personal observation followed with a comparative analysis of Sacca in the areas of channel management and strategies were carried out. The major findings of the study are, firstly that traditional channel management is still being practised by the majority of organisations. Organisations are not correctly positioned to create the necessary structure whereof responsibility is a part. Secondly trends can be identify to make it easier for the organisation to enter the market. Thirdly organisations have limited knowledge about the informal sector's structure, opportunities and threats. Lastly that the importance of a distribution channel strategy framework can never be overestimated.