Today's world is characterized by volatility and uncertainty. Cooperation is needed to survive in this harsh business climate. Cooperation in supply chains are practiced and well known but in today's tough and volatile environment it is simply not enough. Wastes and unnecessary processes have to be eliminated to secure a competitive advantage. Incorporating lean in supply chains get more and more attention and embrace in the modern literature and media. Lean implemented in supply chains is praised to create a proactive supply chain that successfully eliminate waste and create efficiency. In the thesis the negative aspects, the angle that is very seldom described in the literature, of incorporating lean in supply chain is researched. I will view lean from the management perspective and research the negative aspects, their cause and impact on the entire supply chain. Being aware of the criticism of lean from the employee and society perspective this research serves to find if lean from the management perspective is a flawless story. To achieve the aim of this thesis I conducted a survey research where 100 supply chain executives from different countries, different industries and of different designations within supply chain management were asked to share their lean experience. The summary of my research show that lean incorporated in supply chains is not only a sunshine story. I can conclude problems, even a mismatch, with the lean concept incorporated in supply chains- the time sensibility lean brings. In my research it became obvious that lean supply chains are very sensitive to delays and that the consequences of the delays will strike very hard - hence the lean supply chain can also be seen as more vulnerable and fragile compared to ordinary supply chains. There is no question about the fact that any company, any network of companies or a supply chain for that matter, are better off without delays. A delay will always be negative. In a lean environment, where time aspects such as Just-In-Time and a pull scenario are present, a delay will immediately ruin the entire execution and the consequences will naturally spread in the supply chain. In today's volatile and ever changing world I believe that leanness in supply chains are indeed needed but to an extent where the time factors are viewed realistically in order to avoid drastic consequences. My conclusion is that supply chains should be realistically lean, bearing the time factors of lean in mind, to avoid being mean. I encourage every supply chain to identify their lean level in order to avoid a mean result.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / Performance measurement of supply chain in the healthcare environment has presented with a number of challenges, and studies exist to confirm this. These problems include rising costs, excessive demands, shortage of supply, and escalating level of customer dissatisfaction are the true reflection of supply chain issues faced by the hospitals. This study aims to find out an effective solution to measure supply chain performance within a hospital in Cape Town. The relation among trust, SCM/IT integration, firm’s performance, and knowledge exchange were investigated. A mixed research method (both qualitative and quantitative) was conducted involving five managers and 80 employees from the hospital. A number of interviews and a close-ended questionnaire were used for data collection. Content analysis was used for qualitative data and the descriptive results were generated through SPSS V25. Hospital and healthcare environment have been used interchangeable in this study. The research findings showed that trust levels between the hospital and its suppliers has no direct impact on supplier integration, but that its influence is interceded by knowledge exchange. Knowledge exchange plays an important role in influencing supply chain performance in the hospital. IT integration and knowledge exchange have a positive impact on hospital–supplier logistical integration between the hospital and its suppliers. In addition, knowledge sharing in supply chain may subsequently build strong relationships among SCM partners and may automatically influence hospital performance. This study recommended that the hospital should develop an approach that facilitates the dynamics of the hospital in order to manage the buyer-supplier relationship. Further research can be done on factors that contribute to buyer/supplier trust development in the healthcare environment.

No description available.

Zugl.: Magdeburg, Univ., Diss., 2009

The aim of this research is to investigate collaborative supply chain practices between Taiwanese and Chinese companies. To that end, we seek to address four main objectives: 1) to investigate and provide evidence of collaboration in supply chain management; 2) to evaluate supplier development within supply chain collaboration; 3) to investigate the internal processes of supply chain collaboration; and 4) to examine the outcomes of supply chain collaboration. To explore collaboration in supply chain management, we conduct an extensive review of the state of the art in collaborative supply chain, and we base our investigations and discussions on three real-life companies that practice collaborative supply chain methods in the target countries. Each study contains detailed information on each company, including the company’s background, history, culture, marketing strategy and their collaborative practices. We employ pattern-matching structures to analyse current collaborative practices, which allows us to determine the similarities and differences between theoretical collaboration and collaborative supply chain in practice. We have analysed both the literature and collaborative methodologies used by the companies in each case study, and we have identified a number of key findings that address each of the four research objectives. On one hand there is evidence to support the use of collaboration in supply chain management between Taiwanese and Chinese companies. However, to increase collaboration, we propose agreements between the countries and identification of key suppliers. On the other hand, dominant and powerful partners may prevent good collaboration within the supply chains. Therefore, in order to create an open minded and collaborative culture, we propose greater trust between Taiwanese buyers and Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers. The value in collaborative supply chain can then be realised, which has a positive impact on the business in terms of increasing competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. In addition, such collaborative practices provide the motivation for collaborative supply chain management between Taiwanese buyers and Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers.

Bergische Universiẗat, Bachelorarbeit--Wuppertal, 2006.

Nürnberg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Erlangen.

The forest industry has become more complex due in part to increasing global competition. The highly fragmented nature of the forest industry supply chain and lack of interaction between industry segments can cause major supply/demand inequalities. This fragmented nature can lead to unnecessary lead time and costly inefficiencies for business transactions. The objective of this research project is to develop the concept of using an Internet-based, Geographic Information System (GIS)-supported, optimized wood supply chain management system to overcome some of the current inefficiency problems. Currently many different forms of relevant supply chain management information can be found on the World Wide Web. Through review of Internet-related material, this project identified three classes of existing web resources relevant to the development of a forest industry supply chain management system: resource, market, and e-commerce sites. Internet information provides many of the basic data attributes needed in a supply chain management system. This project demonstrated that linking this data with geographic/spatial location (georeferencing) could add an extra dimension in the planning and decision making processes and will be a key development to push the boundaries of supply chain optimization. Within the forest industry, georeferencing of supply chain business entities can easily be done with GIS. Using GIS, members of the forest industry supply chain can be visually and spatially allocated to form a grand forest industry supply chain overview and specific business opportunities using this geo-referenced data platform can be developed. Although the technology exists to produce a high quality Internet-based supply chain network system, there are challenges in producing a system that is truly integrated among all industry partners. Technology obstacles, anti-trust regulation, reluctance to use the online platforms, and inaccurate information input and dispersal are some of the major issues facing a supply chain management tool that are discussed in this report. To demonstrate how a GIS-based supply chain management system could be implemented, three case studies have been presented to show how the proposed system would benefit the current industry in realistic situations. These include (1) a simple location-based search of consulting foresters, (2) a trucking logistic optimization, and (3) a quantitative resource assessment within a manufacturing facility procurement area. Case 1 demonstrates how geocoded landowner and consulting forester information can add efficiency in communication and services provided. Case 2 demonstrates that GIS paired with geocoded information gives a logger increased decision-making power by choosing the most profitable option in a choice between sawmills that includes transportation costs. Lastly, case 3 shows that by analyzing geocoded resource information, a manufacturer can make the proper decision of whether to expand or contract operations. In each case, added value was given to market players that were able to have analysis power through geocoded information. This information is not readily used at the present time and could potentially add value along many steps of the forest industry supply chain. / Master of Science

<p><strong>Authors:</strong></p><p>Waqas Mehmood, Yasir Liaqat, Nauman Iftikhar, Raza Syed Hassan</p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong></p><p>Petra Andersson</p><p><strong>Examiner:</strong></p><p>Helena Forslund</p><p><strong>Title:</strong></p><p>Managing Supply Chain Risks in Fresh Food Items – a case study on Makro-Habib Pakistan Limited – a wholesales chain in Pakistan</p><p><strong>Background:</strong></p><p>In today’s era, businesses are facing various types of risks which can be legal/political, social, operational/technical, natural and economic in nature. For this purpose, companies need to have effective risk management process to mitigate these risks. Especially companies like Makro-Habib who heavily rely on effective and efficient supply chain can gain competitive advantage if they manage the risks within their supply chain network.</p><p><strong>Research Questions:</strong></p><p>RQ-1: What are the most significant supply chain risks in fresh food items at Makro-Habib?</p><p>RQ-2: How can significant supply chain risks in fresh food items of Makro-Habib be mitigated through proposed action plan?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong></p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the knowledge on how to manage risks in the fresh food supply chain</p><p><strong>Method:</strong></p><p>The empirical data and the conclusions which are drawn from it are based on qualitative facts that are gathered through interviews and questionnaires. The results/conclusions drawn from responses of the interviews of fresh food section heads of Makro-Habib and the literature. This thesis is written from a positivistic perspective with a deductive approach.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p><p>Various risk mitigation strategies at strategic, operational and visibility level are suggested like coordination, information sharing, training, monitoring to counter the most significant fresh food supply chain risks which are wrong ordering, contamination of products and FIFO (loose practice).</p>

I explore whether inter-firm linkages affect firms' credit risk. After controlling for the endogeneity between a firm's credit risk and its dependence on customers and suppliers, I find that supply-chain relationships affect firms' credit risk. My results indicate firms with exposure to major customers have lower ratings, and the level of firm dependence on major customers is negatively associated with firms' credit ratings. Further, I show when a firm's customers also depend on it, this mitigates the negative effect of dependence on credit risk. Finally, I document a negative association between a customer's reliance on its dependent suppliers and the customer's credit rating. Overall, my results provide insights regarding how inter-firm relationships between corporate customers and suppliers affect credit risk.