Seize the moment [supply chain integration]

As few as 30% of mergers and acquisitions succeed in increasing shareholder value. The few that have achieved significant increases, such as Cisco and General Electric, have been the ones that have effectively exploited the synergies of supply chain integration. Though the less successful organisations may recognise the supply chain as an important source of efficiencies, they fail to realise those efficiencies because they focus on cost-cutting measures and the aggregation of purchasing power. These measures in themselves are not sufficient to deliver the looked-for benefits. The organisations that do deliver the benefits are those that exploit technical and market synergies between previously disparate supply chain processes. Success requires thorough, systematic integration of both the supply chain processes themselves and the associated customer interfaces; integration that must be accompanied in each case by the adoption of best practice. If all that is achieved, the market can be served with proportionally lower costs, and the promised increases in shareholder value will materialise     

A novel approach to prioritize customer requirements in QFD based on customer satisfaction function for customer-oriented product design

In the highly competitive marketplace, customer satisfaction is one of the critical success factors to many leading companies. Quality function deployment (QFD) has been regarded as a powerful customer-oriented design tool for developing new or improved products to achieve higher customer satisfaction by integrating various functions of an organization. In the QFD process, correctly rating the importance of customer requirements (CRs) is a crucial and essential step since it largely affects the target value setting of design requirements (DRs). This paper proposes a novel approach to prioritize CRs from the viewpoint of company’s competitiveness (i.e., competitive priority ratings). The key characteristic of proposed approach is to model the customer’s preference structure as the form of customer satisfaction function by combining the competitive benchmarking analysis with Kano’s analysis. Finally, the proposed approach is illustrated with a numerical example of car door design problem.     

Creating agile supply chains

An agile business needs an agile supply chain. Quick response to customer demand, the ability to customise and the need to provide multiple variants for profitable customer niches are all increasingly required by many companies. Yet as manufacturers inexorably move their sourcing of components and low value-added operations offshore, to lower cost countries, so their supply chains increase in both distance and complexity. Many companies are faced with the challenge of providing an agile response to customers and yet operating a lean operation across an extended global supply chain. This is a challenge that needs a solution beyond the abilities of simply judgement, the telephone and spreadsheets. Companies need to utilise the power of Internet-enabled software to provide visibility across their global supply chain and to help them optimise it. In particular the new generation of supply chain optimisation software offers companies the ability to gain visibility and optimisation across their supply chains, at significantly reduced ownership costs compared to earlier systems     

Oversea outsourcing - making it work

The attractions of a supply source that could reduce unit costs by 80% are obvious. Not so obvious are the implications for the agility of the supply chain and the ability to maintain customer service performance. In considering transferring manufacturing to low cost regions, most assessments look at cost benefits and business transferability, but tend to overlook the issues created by an extended supply network. The characteristics of a network incorporating low cost supply sources can drive dramatic and unforeseen effects on business performance. Detailed, objective planning is essential if the unit cost savings are to translate into increased margins.     

Capacities-based supply chain network design considering demand uncertainty using two-stage stochastic programming

The design of a supply chain (SC) aims to minimize cost so the product can reach the customer at the cheapest cost with flexible demand. The demand of a product is variable with time and environment. Most of the researchers have considered investment cost, processing cost, and transportation cost as variable costs to minimize the cost while considering a constant demand. In actual practice, the demands are flexible. In this paper, a two-stage stochastic programming model has been proposed for a capacities-based network design of a supply chain for flexible demands while considering inventory carrying cost and missed opportunity cost in addition to the above-mentioned costs. It will enhance the logistic planning and seek the location network optimally. Furthermore, in the first stage, decision variables represent different nodes (facility locations of echelons) of the supply chain, with the assumption that they will be considered at the design stage before uncertain parameters are unveiled. On the other hand, decision variables related to the amount of products to be produced and stored in the nodes of the SC, the flows of materials among the entities of the network, and shortfalls and excess at the customer centers are considered as second-stage variables. The methodology has been illustrated by solving an example. It was found that the proposed model yields more feasible and advantageous results.     

基于ASP平台的供应链协同运作模式研究

激烈的市场竞争环境给供应链管理模式下的制造企业提出了新的发展要求,供应链协同是改进消费者服务,减少库存,减少供应链成本,提升竞争力,提高消费者忠诚度的一条途径.为了实现供应链协同运作的目的,需要在跨平台、跨应用方面达成协同并实现协同管理.通过研究开发网络化制造环境下供应链协同的企业动态联盟运作模式,建立基于应用服务供应商(ASP)的供应链协同运作平台,实现集成企业中采购、库存生产计划等业务过程的管理协同和信息协同,增强对市场需求不确定性的快速反应能力,提高供应链的整体竞争力.     

Mass Customization: Metrics and Modularity

Mass customization as a competitive strategy is getting progressively increasing attention in business and academic arenas due to its high potential to provide sustained strategic advantage in a unique fashion. It is well documented that a manufacturing company competes with others in its industry on five dimensions: Price, quality, flexibility, delivery, and service. According to the existing literature, mass customization provides significant strategic advantage in two of these dimensions—price and customization. We, however, argue that when properly implemented, the cellular manufacturing structure associated with the appropriate implementation of mass customization strategy, provides additional competitive value in quality and delivery. Furthermore by virtue of the customer co-design as an integral aspect of mass customization, customer satisfaction also improves under this strategy. Mass customization strategy, therefore, provides competitive advantage in all five competitive dimensions simultaneously—a truly unique strategic accomplishment. We also propose, in this paper, new metrics for mass customization strategy that measure the “mass” as well as the “customization” aspects of this strategy. Finally, we describe in the clearest terms the modus operandi of modularity in product design and the role it plays in bringing about high levels of customization on one hand and economies of scale at component level, on the other. We conclude with remarks that underscore the need for conducting research in the areas at the interface of mass customization and supply chain management.     

A Simulation Study of Dynamic Order-up-to Policies in a Supply Chain with Non-Stationary Customer Demand and Information Sharing

This study deals with the development of heuristic settings for dynamic order-up-to levels at different installations in a supply chain with non-stationary customer demand, in order to minimize the sum of inventory, shortage and transport costs. Balance equations are developed to capture the dynamics of supply chain. Mathematical expressions are derived to determine the dynamic order-up-to levels as a function of forecasted demand, forecasted replenishment leadtime and safety factor. Towards this attempt, different heuristic settings with respect to the safety factor are first proposed. Next, three levels of information sharing among the members of the supply chain are considered to study the impact of information sharing on the total cost. Finally, the use of a forecasting technique for predicting the replenishment leadtime is considered. A supply chain is simulated to evaluate the proposed dynamic order-up-to policies based on various heuristic settings. It is found that the use of forecast of replenishment leadtime and customer demand information sharing, and the proposed safety-stock heuristic settings in the determination of dynamic order-up-to levels, significantly reduce the sum of discounted inventory, shortage and transport costs of the supply chain.     

云制造供应链知识转移激励的演化博弈模型

在云制造供应链的运作过程中,云制造企业与客户之间的知识转移能够提高供应链的运作绩效。但是,双方企业出于信息不对称性和有限理性的考虑,不会主动进行知识转移,这将会导致供应链整体运作绩效的降低。为了提高供应链的运作绩效,研究了双方企业知识转移行为策略倾向及其演化路径的变化情况,针对客户获得知识的动机,运用演化博弈理论,建立了云制造企业与客户之间知识转移的演化博弈模型,并通过模型求解和分析,得出相应的研究结论,通过数值仿真验证研究结论的正确性。研究表明：云制造企业和客户的知识拥有量、知识转移意愿、知识传授能力、知识吸收能力、知识可转移度、相互信任程度越大,他们都采取知识转移策略的可能性就越大;云制造企业和客户的知识转移成本、投机收益越高,他们都不采取知识转移策略的可能性就越大。最后,考虑以上影响因素,提出促进云制造企业与客户之间知识转移的对策建议。     

Aligning demand and supply flexibility in custom product co-design

Flexibility of supply and demand is essential for successful implementation of a mass customization strategy that delivers sustained competitive advantage. Supply flexibility, i.e., a choice of alternative products designed to perform the same basic function, is made possible by the range of capabilities available in flexible and agile manufacturing systems and in supply chains. Demand flexibility is derived from the degree to which a customer is willing to compromise on product features or performance levels in order to meet budgetary (reflected in price) or schedule (reflected in delivery) constraints. Flexibility of both supply and demand can have significant strategic and financial value if they are properly aligned. However, customers are mostly unaware of mapping of demand flexibility on to supply flexibility and its impact on production cost and time. Recent advances in information technology have made it possible to co-design a product that involves customer on one end and the manufacturer on the other. This creates an aura and an opportunity where a middle ground between the supply and demand flexibility can be explored and a “deal” can be struck where both parties settle for a product that is beneficial to both through a negotiated settlement. In this paper, we develop a framework for such negotiations. The customer requirements are treated as a range of negotiable options instead of a set of fixed inputs. Demand and supply for customization is then matched by aligning the flexibility of manufacturing systems with customers’ requirement options. Based on this framework, a negotiation scheme is developed to assist customers and manufacturers in exploring and utilizing demand and supply flexibility information in co-design. The negotiation scheme is formulated using goal programming. Finally, an interactive problem-solving procedure is developed and implemented with an illustrative example.

Strategic, tactical, operational [demand management]

Demand management can be defined as the way of profitably meeting customer demand while ensuring service and quality. It is made up of four components and must be conducted at three levels. At a strategic level, organisations must manage total demand whilst they acquire new infrastructure, technology or skills. At the tactical level the aim is align resources to enhance customer value in the most profitable way. Operational demand management aims to provide reliable delivery performance within supply constraints. Four components creation, communication, supply planning and order management are usually associated with operational demand management, however, they can be applied equally well at the strategic and tactical levels.     

A decision support system framework to process customer order enquiries in SMEs

Research carried out here describes order processing especially with constraints of due date at the customer enquiry stage in a highly competitive global market. It highlights problems faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a make-to-order environment with particular reference to quality and speed of delivery at this critical stage. While commercial software such as manufacturing resource planning and enterprise resource planning can be used at this enquiry stage for SMEs, they may be unaffordable especially due to high maintenance running costs. This study recognizes this challenge facing SMEs during enquiry management and justifies the need that an effective decision support system (DSS) is crucial even if SMEs have some planning and control systems in place. A flow chart is presented to highlight the influence of negotiation on customer due dates to serve as a basis for forward or backward planning, and a case example illustrates the fundamental construction and applicability of the proposed DSS approach with a resultant profit maximization outcome if the strategy is carefully implemented.     

New rating methods to prioritize customer requirements in QFD with incomplete customer preferences

Customer satisfaction is one of the critical success factors to many leading companies over the world. Quality function deployment (QFD) has gained extensive international support as one of the powerful techniques to increase the customer satisfaction. In the QFD, correctly rating the final importance of customer requirements (CRs) is a crucial and essential process since it largely affects the target value setting of design requirements. The final importance ratings of CRs are generally determined by combining relative importance ratings and competitive priority ratings. However, determining the final importance ratings is very difficult due to the typical uncertainty or imprecision of customer’s judgment (or perceptions). This paper proposes a novel approach to prioritize CRs in QFD process by developing two sets of new rating methods, called customer preference rating (CPR) method and customer satisfaction rating (CSR) method, for relative importance ratings and competitive priority ratings, respectively. The CPR method provides a simple and intuitive technique to capture the customers’ incomplete or uncertain perceptions on the relative importance of CRs based on their own preferences, allowing them to give a partial ordering of CRs. The CSR method constructs the customer satisfaction model based on the competitive benchmarking analysis and then evaluates the performance quality of company product using our satisfaction and uncertainty measure. Furthermore, the CSR method is integrated with the Kano’s model to capture the different impacts of CRs on customer satisfaction. Finally, the proposed approach is illustrated with a numerical example of car door design problem.     

Value stream mapping and benefit–cost analysis application for value visibility of a pilot project on RFID investment integrated to a manual production control system—a case study

The importance of responding to customer demand to stay competitive in the global market and to increase market share has been increasing for companies lately. Due to demand fluctuations and difficulties to estimate it, gradually it becomes more difficult to sustain profitability and to fulfill demand. The company’s main problem is how to cut costs while producing small numbers of many types of products. For that reason, cost-conscious companies have focused on monitoring and controlling manufacturing and supplier-related activities by means of manual/electronic control devices in order to enhance the efficiency in the supply chain management and logistics process. This paper presents a case study about deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-based electronic Kanban system in an automotive industry supplier firm. In this project, by deploying RFID technology in a pilot area within the current manual Kanban system of this company, it has been possible to measure the true value added time in the production process. Value stream mapping is used to exhibit the mandatory requirements of RFID technology deployment in the shop floor. As a part of the study, we generate a current value stream map and a future value stream map, which contain the recommended revisions for the automotive supplier company. To evaluate the return of the investment, performance metrics were established and benefit–cost analysis is made. Obviously, future gains will include better inventory management to reduce the inventory levels within the production system.     

Supply chain focus dependent safety stock placement

Increasing globalization, growing product range diversity, and rising consumer awareness are making markets highly competitive, forcing supply chains to adapt constantly to different stimuli. Growing competition between supply chains (as well as players within them) is also warranting a priority for overall supply chain performance over the goals of individual players. It is now well established in the literature that, among the many order winners, both overall supply chain cost and responsiveness (i.e., supply chain lead time) are the most significant determinants of supply chain competitiveness. The literature, however, mostly focuses on supply chain cost minimization with rather simplistic treatment of responsiveness. By introducing the concept of a coefficient of inverse responsiveness (CIR), we facilitate efficient introduction of responsiveness related costs into the scheme of supply chain (SC) performance evaluation and/or optimization. Thus, our model aids supply chain managers in achieving better strategic fit between individual business unit strategies and overall supply chain requirements in terms of cost efficiency and responsiveness. In particular, it aids in strategic placement of safety stocks at different stages in the supply chain. Our model also offers managerial insights that help improve our intuitions into supply chain dynamics. The model is more suited for strategic SC alignment, for example, when dealing with product changeovers or introduction of new product, rather than for operational control.     

Decentralised production-distribution planning system using collaborative agents in supply chain network

With the fast development of information technology and the global market, collaboration between different functional units in a supply chain becomes one of the most critical factors for global companies to respond to rapid changes in customer needs and increase the efficiency of the whole supply chain. This supply chain environment requires a production-distribution planning system to enable the collaboration between production and distribution units more quickly and orderly. Generally, collaboration in a supply chain needs to resolve conflicts between two decentralised functional units, because each unit tries to locally minimise its own costs, not the overall supply chain costs. Also, there exists incomplete information sharing according to the information privacy of each functional unit. This paper proposes a decentralised production-distribution planning system using collaborative agents that can efficiently mediate the planning gaps between two decentralised planning functions: production and distribution. The validity of collaborative-agent model has been shown using some lemmas and numerical examples.     

A constrained Nash bargaining approach to the stock rationing problem in multi-echelon supply chains

In order to survive in the global volatile market place, supply chain analysts are brainstorming to arrive at robust inventory control policies that prevents inventory worth of millions of dollars to get tied up in the chain and at the same time ensures to achieve the differentiated customer service levels. Inventory rationing is a useful strategy to tackle the above problem of conflicting objectives, i.e., minimizing inventory costs (holding costs and backorder costs) and achieving the desired customer service levels. In this paper, we consider a multi-echelon supply distribution system and pose the stock allocation problem in a constrained Nash bargaining (NB) setting. The objective of the model is to determine a set of rationing fractions at the central depot in order to minimize the order-up-to level inventory yet exactly achieving the differentiated target fill rates. It is our firm belief that the distribution resource planning (DRP) managers will find the proposed models a useful tool in their stock allocation decision-making process. Rigorous computational experiments suggests that our approach performs better than the existing ones for this important problem.     

面向服务悖论规避的制造企业服务衍生状态判定

针对制造企业服务衍生可能出现"服务悖论"而出现服务转型失败的问题,在考虑产品主导逻辑与服务主导逻辑下制造企业成本和绩效关系的基础上,构建了两种主导逻辑下的供需价值创造模型,旨在探究两种主导逻辑下制造企业价值创造机理以及服务衍生对企业绩效影响的内在规律.研究表明,制造企业采取服务主导逻辑未必能够实现供需价值的更大创造,而...     

Three-dimensional numerical modeling of the friction stir welding of dissimilar steels

It is now widely recognized that collaboration across the supply chain is a must to be improved to achieve competitive advantage in global markets. Despite the fact that there is a unique well-known concept for supply chain collaboration suggested by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce and Standards Committee (VICS), it is far from being enough as a solo source for a successful implementation because of being industry-dependent (particular for retail industry), abstract, qualitative, and inflexible. This research fills the gaps in VICS’s method by addressing a holistic and structured Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) roadmap, which provides a complete source for practitioners and academicians for effective supply chain collaboration to be implemented widespread across any industry. A real case study was also carried out between an automotive supplier company and its aftermarket customer to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed CPFR roadmap in terms of specified key performance indicators as well as a discussion about how the suggested roadmap behaved in the practice.     

Analytical affective design with ambient intelligence for mass customization and personalization

The fulfillment of individual customer affective needs may award the producer extra premium in gaining a competitive edge. This entails a number of technical challenges to be addressed, such as the elicitation, evaluation, and fulfillment of affective needs, as well as the evaluation of affordability of producers to launch the planned products. Mass customization and personalization have been recognized as an effective means to enhance front-end customer satisfaction while maintaining back-end production efficiency. This paper proposes an affective design framework to facilitate decision-making in designing customized product ecosystems. In particular, ambient intelligence techniques are applied to elicit affective customer needs. An analytical model is proposed to support affective design analysis. Utility measure and conjoint analysis are employed to quantify affective satisfaction, while the producer affordability is evaluated using an affordability index. Association rule mining techniques are applied to model the mapping of affective needs to design elements. Configuration design of product ecosystems is optimized with a heuristic genetic algorithm. A case study of Volvo truck cab design is reported with a focus on the customization of affective features. It is demonstrated that the analytical affective design framework can effectively manage the elicitation, analysis, and fulfillment of affective customer needs. Meanwhile, it can account for the manufacturer’s capabilities, which is vital for ensuring a profit margin in the mass customization and personalization endeavor.