Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) is an evolving discipline, and incorporates the environmental and social performance dimensions of sustainability with the traditional measure of economic performance; current SSCM research indicates a skew towards economic performance and its interaction with environmental performance, while social performance is underrepresented (Pagell and Wu, 2009, Schaefer, 2004, Sharma and Ruud, 2003). The UK clothing industry represents a relevant research focus due to its supply chain complexity, and scale and scope of its environmental and social impacts; this thesis further recognises the tendency for academic research to focus on Large Enterprises (LE) (Curran and Blackburn, 2001) and investigates how SSCM is implemented in UK SME clothing supply chains to understand how and why they address economic, environmental and social performance and the potential contribution to developing the SSCM concept. An inductive case study methodology is employed and the research focuses on 4 UK clothing SMEs with primary data collection a series of semi-structured interviews, supported by observation, company documentation and archival data. Three theoretical lenses are applied and the findings indicate that SMEs manage their supply chains for sustainability in ways that strongly align with their specific characteristics and apply a greater emphasis on long-term, trust-based and mutually beneficial supplier relationships. A rich view of SSCM practice in SMEs is developed, which reflects the more intangible and human components of sustainability and supply chain relationships, and how these can be harnessed to achieve firm specific commitments. This thesis fulfils an identified need to study how sustainability is addressed in SME supply chains within a single industry; SSCM research to date has focused on large organisations and multiple industry perspectives. It contributes to knowledge in both the SSCM and SME research fields by identifying key gaps within the combined literature, critiquing sustainability models and developing a conceptual framework from the findings, which aims to embed social performance and offer a more integrated approach to SSCM in this context.

This thesis aims to develop and validate the dimensions of supply chain collaboration and collaborative advantage in the containerised maritime industry and explores the impact of supply chain collaboration on collaborative advantage and port performance. Additionally, this thesis tests a mediation effect of collaborative advantage on the relationship between supply chain collaboration and port performance. This thesis employs a quantitative method. A theoretical model is built based on thorough literature reviews of supply chain management and maritime studies, in-depth discussions with experts, item review and Q-sorting techniques to signify ambiguity or misunderstanding with the scales and to suggest modifications. The proposed model is empirically tested with survey data using 178 responses from terminal operators, shipping lines, inland transport companies, freight forwarders, ship management companies and third-party logistics providers involved in maritime logistics in the major containers ports of Busan, Gwangyang and Incheon for a comprehensive and balanced view by using structural equation modelling. With regard to the findings of the empirical research, three main constructs were successfully validated as multi-dimensional constructs. The structural paths support hypotheses that supply chain collaboration has a positive influence on collaborative advantage, and collaborative advantage has a strong contribution to port performance. However, the direct impact of supply chain collaboration on port performance is insignificant. A hierarchical approach of the mediation test and bootstrapping test found that the association between supply chain collaboration and port performance is fully mediated by collaborative advantage. In other words, the greater degree of supply chain collaboration between the port and port user enables them to gain a higher degree of collaborative advantage, and, in turn, this collaborative advantage can contribute to augmenting port performance. This thesis synthesises transaction cost theory, resource based theory and a relational view to explain how supply chain collaboration influences collaborative advantage and port performance. Its theoretical contribution expands the concept of supply chain collaboration and collaborative advantage into containerised maritime contexts, capturing the perspective of the ports and port users. Further, despite numerous maritime studies which extol the importance of collaboration between the ports and port users, no systematic approach has previously developed and validated those constructs and relationships. The various maritime logistics organisations would benefit from applying the results of this study to their supply chain collaboration practices when seeking greater collaborative advantage. The results heed practitioners in containerised maritime logistics organisations to focus on balancing the facets of supply chain collaboration to transport flows of containers seamlessly and efficiently from door-to-door, as supply chain management philosophy drives the maritime logistics industry to become more integrated into shippers' supply chains.

Bakgrund: Tillväxten i den svenska e-handelsmarknaden har under de senaste åren ökat och i takt med detta ökar e-handelsföretagens returer. Ehandelsföretagen ser ofta returprocessen som ett onödigt ont och som en kostsam post. Därför har företagen oftast inga utarbetade strategier för att effektivisera returprocessen ur konsument- och kostnadssynpunkt. Segmentet heminredning och möbler är ett av segmenten som har haft kraftigast tillväxt under det senaste året, vilket leder till att returer gällande skrymmande produkter har ökat. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra till kunskapen om hur svenska ehandelsföretag inom heminredning och möbler i deras returprocess arbetar med avvägningen mellan kundnöjdhet och kostnadseffektivitet. Metod: Studien har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats. För att samla in empiri har vi genomfört en dokumentstudie samt två fallstudier gällande returprocessen hos två e-handelsföretag inom segmentet heminredning och möbler. Slutsatser: Enligt studien arbetar de två studerade e-handelsföretagen utifrån olika returstrategier gällande kundnöjdhet och kostnadseffektivisering. För att förhindra en returprocess samt skapa kundlojalitet vid en returprocess har vi genom studien kommit fram till att information om både produkten och returprocessen är en vital faktor.

The eradication of global poverty is central to the concept of sustainable development. In developing nations the lack of essential infrastructure and technologies, which are necessary to provide people with their basic human rights, offer a central role for the engineer. These needs are increasing as new global threats, such as the pressures caused by population growth, the harmful effects of climate change or the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters, have only heightened the difficulties which threaten the world’s poorest nations. Decades of development practice has allowed the profession of engineering to engage with many of these global issues. Over this period the engineering approaches, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, have gradually moved from high impact and short-term disasters relief interventions to long-term endogenous solutions. This change in overall aims has raised awareness of the sustainability of current engineering interventions. Many of the results are not entirely positive. For example, in water supply engineering, certain national estimates of sustainability of hand-pump wells for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa can range from 30- 80%. The role that the engineer could provide in addressing the concerns of poorer nations has not yet been fully realised. This thesis evaluates the current engineering models of service delivery that are used by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in developing nations. These models of technology transfer are supposed to provide communities in developing nations with a sustainable access to technologies that can provide for their basic rights. It is from within these models that engineers, who in many cases are foreign to the socio-cultural systems of the host nation, perform their engineering function and activities. The field research focuses on a case study of water supply engineering projects that have been carried out within the rural District of Tonkolili in Sierra Leone. To address the complex socio-cultural and socio-technical systems in Sierra Leone this field research adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative assessment methods. This involved investigating both the technical and social sustainability issues found in Sierra Leone. The research visits were both inductive and deductive. They covered 150 spatially distributed villages in the rural district of Tonkolili. The methodologies used as part of this study involved; interviews, focus group discussions, community mapping, transect walks and technical observations, to provide a broad understanding of the sustainability issues affecting engineering projects. A total of 309 hand-pump wells, pulley systems and borehole water points were evaluated as part of the research. The study investigated the technical, socio-technical and socio-cultural consequences of these technology transfers - as well as the current condition of the social support mechanisms that are designed to sustain the water schemes. The results of the technical observations demonstrated that there are a diverse range of failures, from extreme to moderate, that have occurred at many of the water points. During the field visits observations of water supply solutions found to have urgent technical problems were frequent occurrences. The majority of the water points (96%) were found to have at least one technical failing that required immediate maintenance or further engineering assistance. The social research also indicated that, of the 4,700 individual categories monitored, a significant proportion (49%) were technical problems that were within the capacities of village members to address locally. These technical problems found to be ignored by the host communities. The NGO trained support mechanisms, which were designed to provide sustainability to the systems, for innumerable reasons, were unable to operate effectively. The breakdown in function of these supporting systems highlighted the serious weakness of current service delivery models in their ability to achieve sustainable engineering solutions. Investigating the relationship between the households and the water points suggests that the communities are not acting rationally towards their water sources. The majority of households were found to have unsafe water practices regardless of the provision of their improved sources. For example, many households that had access to improved water sources were found to still use their unimproved sources (30%). Many more (53%) complemented, and mixed, their unimproved water with water from their improved wells. This attitude towards safe water suggested that there were fundamentally flawed assumptions about how communities would receive and interact with their technologies. These household decisions, and the associated technical concerns, are directly attributable to the actions of the engineers from the project implementing development agencies. The results of these misinterpretations have undermined the long term sustainability of water supplies in Sierra Leone. The research indicated that to address sustainability the engineering profession is at a crossroads in determining its future in international development. Engineers have the capacity to acknowledge that the complexities of development limit their efficacy and therefore seek support from other professions. This would narrow the scope of their interventions. They are also capable of actively seeking the opposite; to broaden the scope as well as the responsibilities, expectations and skills of the engineers. It is this decision that will define the role of the engineer in international development.

Idag slängs en stor del av konsumenters använda textilprodukter i soptunnan för att sedan deponeras i stora sopområden, så kallade landfills. Vad många inte känner till är att en stor del av det som slängs egentligen går att återanvända. Genom att ta vara på nyttjade produkter kan företag minska användningen av råmaterial i produktion för att på sikt uppnå en sluten produktlivscykel. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att, med hjälp av en kvalitativ ansats, undersöka hur textilföretag arbetar med att erhålla nyttjade produkter från konsumenten och återföra de tillbaka in i företaget. Genom att studera tidigare forskning inom området har vi identifierat fem nyckelprocesser i produktens väg från konsumenten tillbaka till företaget. Processerna är följande: Produktinsamling, Returlogistik, Sortering och disponering, Återanvändningsalternativ samt Omdistribution, vilka dessutom är de huvudområden som presenteras i den teoretiska referensramen. Den teoretiska referensramen mynnar ut i en syntesmodell som framtagits för att utföra en jämförande analys av empirin. Rapportens empiri har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet av insamlad empiri från intervjuer bör bidra till ett mer uppdaterat synsätt på vilka utmaningar som textila företag, som har implementerat en Closed-loop Supply Chain, står inför. Förhoppningsvis kommer resultatet att frambringa lösningar för textilföretag som önskar förlänga eller stänga sina produktlivscykler. Studien granskar tre svenska textilföretag som idag har implementerat insamlingssystem, antingen internt eller via en tredjepartsorganisation. Det återanvändningsalternativ som används är främst återanvändning men till viss del även återvinning. Studien identifierar att ett problem som försvårar att stänga produktlivscykeln är att motivera konsumenten till att återlämna sina nyttjade plagg istället för att slänga dem. Textilföretagen ser även en svårighet med att få tillgång till teknik som möjliggör materialåtervinning. Ytterligare en aspekt som försvårar återvinningsprocessen är att textilbranschen idag ofta använder sig av heterogena material med fiberblandningar vilket gör det svårt att avgöra textiliernas materialinnehåll. Slutligen visar studien att avsaknaden av miljölagstiftning och direktiv inom textilbranschen leder till att det är svårt att definiera vad Closed-loop Supply Chain är, vilket försvårar hanteringen av textilavfall.

Lured by the promise of bigger sales, companies are increasingly looking to raise the volume of international trade. Consequently, the amount of bulk products carried in containers and transported overseas exploded because of the flexibility and reliability of this type of transportation. However, minimizing the logistics costs arising from the container flow management across different terminals has emerged asa major problem that companies and affiliated third-party logistics firms face routinely. The empty tankcontainer allocation problem occurs in the context of intermodal distribution systems management and transportation operations carried out by logistic service provider companies. This paper considers the time-evolving supply chain system of an international logistic service provider company that transports bulk products loaded in tank containers via road, rail and sea. In such system, unbalanced movements of loaded tank containers forces the company to reposition empty tank containers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical model that supports tactical decisions for flow management of empty tank containers. The problem involves dispatching empty tank containers of various types to the meet on-time delivery requirements and repositioning the other tank containers to storage facilities, depots and cleaning stations. To this aim, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) multiperiod optimization model is developed. The model is analyzed and developed step by step, and its functionality is demonstrated by conducting experiments on the network from our case study problem, within the boarders of Europe. The case study constitutes three different scenarios of empty tank container allocation. The computational experiments show that the model finds good quality solutions, and demonstrate that cost and modality improvements can be achieved in the network The sensitivity analysis employs a set of data from our case study and randomly selected data to highlight certain features of the model and provide some insights regarding the model’s behavior.

The main proposition of this study is to examine Volvo Powertrain's procurement ofproduction equipment in order to find solutions that can prevent delays in futureprocurements. The conditions of the case leads to the theoretical field of supplierdevelopment, which emphasizes the advantages of closer collaborations between thebuying company and their supply chain. Through focus groups with Volvo-personneland interviews with supplier representatives, a step-by-step examination is made ofprior procurement projects. The knowledge generated from the examination is theninterlaced with theory concerning supplier development, which results in a line ofconclusions of Volvo Powertrain’s procurement process and the possibilities to takesupplier development into consideration for future procurements. Finally,recommendations to Volvo Powertrain is provided in the form of an updatedprocurement model called Volvo Equipment Procurement Model.

Managing supply chain relations has evolved over a decade and many companies have given importance to regulate their relations in supply chain relations to stay competitive in the market. In this context of adjusting relations among supply chain members, central point of discussion is the role of power. Power can be a component that persuades one member of supply chain to do certain things that he/she wouldn’t agree on doing it voluntarily. The implication of that power among supply chain members is called as power relations. These power relations between the supply chain members need to be sustained under circumstances of whether the power is balanced or not balanced between the two actors. The key research questions are formulated as followed, What is the perspective of the supply chain members regarding to the role of power relations among supply chain actors? How do the cost, transparency, reliability and flexibility help to sustain the power relations in supply chain? In order to answer these questions, structured literature review was conducted. The conceptual model to sustain the supply chain relations included four main components that were cost, transparency, reliability and flexibility.  Interviews were conducted in three companies located in Sweden, Turkey and India. The company profiles regarding to power relations in this dyadic relationship were the main concern. The three cases tested were supplier dominancy, mutual dependency and subordinate buyer. In this thesis, we accomplished how supply chain members sustained their relations under the influence of power practices among supply chain members. We concluded our thesis study, showing the inter-connection in between these four elements to enable the sustainability of power relations. Moreover, we inferred that even though power seems to be a negative concept, the companies are able to maintain their power relations through awareness of existing power. In addition to that, the companies don’t give equal importance to each four elements though each element is present to maintain the power relations in their dyadic supply chain relationship.

Med detta examensarbete vill vi utveckla kunskaper om hur logistikaktiviteter utförs hos ett företag med en varierande efterfrågan. Vidare vill vi presentera en arbetsmodell samt ge förbättringsförslag som kan minska eller eliminera företagets upplevda problem vad gäller ledtider, leverantörsrelationer och servicenivå kontra kapitalbindning.   Med stöd av genomgången litteratur har en arbetsmodell utformats till företaget. primärdata till kartläggning och analys av nuläget har insamlats genom observation av och intervjuer med personal på servicedepån i Gävle.   Efter genomförd nulägesbeskrivning identifierades problemområden. Dessa områden handlar om varierande ledtider, låg synlighet, bristfällig kommunikation, långa transportsträckor samt för låg kapitalbindning för att hålla utlovad servicenivå till kund.    Genom metoder och verktyg i arbetsmodellen kunde grundorsakerna till problemen identifieras och tre förbättringsförslag utformas. Det första förbättringsförslaget handlar om att utveckla befintliga leverantörsrelationer för att uppnå förbättrad synlighet och kortare ledtider i försörjningskedjan för upparbetade artiklar. Om det första förslaget inte är genomförbart föreslår det andra att vidga sitt leverantörsutbud och genom det säkerställa att utlovad servicenivå uppnås. Det tredje och sista förslaget handlar om att företaget ska förbättra sin interna lagerstyrning och genom det uppnå minskat beroende av leverantörers pålitlighet.      Resultatet av examensarbetet påvisar på hur relationerna i en försörjningskedja påverkar det enskilda företagets vardagliga arbete och lagerstyrning. Examensarbetet styrker tidigare forskning gällande kopplingen mellan servicenivå och kapitalbindning. Dock måste dessa bestämmas och utformas i förhållande till hur befintliga relationer i försörjningskedjan fungerar. / The purpose with this study is to create knowledge about the logistic activities within a company with varying demand. To present a work model and give suggestions for improvements that could lead to more effective supply chains in order to lighten or eliminate the problems that the company experience in the area of lead times, supplier relations and service levels versus capital bindings.   With support from the reviewed literature has an working model been constructed for the company. Primary data for the mapping and analysis of the present flows have been collected through observations and interviews with staff at the service depot in Gavle.   The status report identified problem areas. These areas are about varying lead times, low visibility, inadequate communication and long transport distances. We also find out that the capital binding currently is too low to hold the promised level of service to customers.   Through methods and tools within the working model could the main cause to the highlighted problems be identified and suggestions for improvement presented. The first suggestions for improvement is about develop the existing supplier relations to achieve improved visibility and shorter lead times in the supply chain for accumulated articles. If the first suggestion isn´t feasible, is the second suggestion that the company should aim to expand their supplier selection and by that ensure that they achieve the promised level of service. The third and last suggestion is that the company should try to improve their internal inventory control and through that achieve less dependence on the reliability of the suppliers.  The result of the thesis demonstrates how the relations in a supply chain affect the inventory control for the individual company. The thesis proves the previous research about the connection between service level and capital binding. These two need to be decided and formed with the relations of the existing supply chains in mind.

Logistik handlar om att alla aktiviteter inom ett företag ska hanteras på ett så effektivt sätt som möjligt. Logistik kopplas ofta ihop med den materiella delen av ett företag men en stor del av logistiken handlar också om det administrativa och informativa flödet. Bra informativa flöden både internt och externt leder till bättre samarbete. Genom att ha bra samarbeten skapas effektiva processer i försörjningskedjan vilket i sin tur leder till ett förhöjt kundvärde på produkten. Syftet med denna rapport var att utforma en metodik för att analysera och effektivisera material-och informationsflödet mellan olika enheter. Utifrån syftet har relevant teori tagits fram i form av bland annat Lean production, Supply chain management, informationssystem samt vikten av bra kommunikationsförmåga inom en organisation. Teorin som använts är sekundärdata och har noggrant granskats innan det använts. En metodik har utformats baserat på de faktorer som ansågs vara relevanta för att skapa bra material- och informationsflöden. Den utformade metodiken har prövats på Sandvik SMT. Då en stor del av metodiken omfattade en kartläggning av nuläget hos fallföretaget har intervjuer och observationer utförts. Metodiken har hjälpt till att skapa ett strukturerat arbetssätt, vilket har resulterat i att ett antal problem har identifierats. De identifierade problemen omfattar bland annat bristfälliga kommunikations- och informationskanaler inom organisationen samt ett begränsat samarbete mellan de olika enheterna i deras försörjningskedja. Baserat på den framtagna teorin samt undersökningen som utfördes på Sandvik SMT drogs slutsatsen att effektiva material- och informationsflöden skapas genom bland annat väl utformade IT-system och en god samarbetsförmåga i försörjningskedjorna. / The concept of logistics is to handle all the activities within a company in the most efficient way. Logistics is mostly associated with the flow of materials within the company, but it is important to remember that logistic also includes the administrative and information flow. A good information flow, both with external and internal partners will lead to good cooperation between the different partners. Good cooperation will lead to more efficient processes, which in turn will give a higher customer value. The purpose of this paper was to develop a methodology to analyse and improve the efficiency in a material and information flow between different units. Based on the purposed pertinent theories that have been found; for example, theories about Lean production, supply chain management, information systems and the importance of good communication skills within an organization. The theory that was found is secondary data, which has been thoroughly examined before it has been used. A methodology was designed based on the factors that were considered relevant to create good material and information flows. The designed methodology was tested in Sandvik SMT. As a major part of the methodology included an identification of the current status of the case company, interviews and observations have been conducted. The methodology helped to create a structured approach, which has resulted in a number of identified problems. The problems that have been identified includes among others, insufficient communication and information flows within the organisation and a limited cooperation between the various units in the supply chain. Based on the found theory and the study conducted at Sandvik SMT, we concluded that effective material and information flow are created by including well-designed IT systems and good cooperation skills in supply chains.