Evolution of the Role of Measurement Systems in Industrial Decision Support

Measurement data can be used for decision support in multiple ways – from one-time, manual data collection/presentation (reporting) through flexible business intelligence solutions to online, automated measurement systems. In centralized organizations, the measurement data is often collected through reporting, but the trends in modern organizations with empowered teams, globalized development, and needs to monitor continuously longer supply chains requires shift in the design and use of measurement systems. In this chapter, we present a study of evolving measurement systems at three companies with global businesses – Ericsson, Volvo Cars, and Axis Communications. The results of the study include the identification of the timeline of the evolution, distinct generations of measurement systems and information needs in the different phases of the evolution. The experiences show how to evolve centralized decision support systems to support global and distributed decision support.

Methodology to Support Supply Chain Integration A Business Process Perspective

This chapter explains and describes a detailed framework based on integrating a number of different methodological strands from the literature. A literature review was conducted in three different domains - business process re-design, supply chain re-design and e-business process design-. The literature review revealed potential for integrating elements of a number of different methods and techniques found in different methodological strands into a framework for conducting Business Process Re-design (BPR) to support Supply Chain Integration (SCI).The proposed BPR methodology can be applied in any company or sector; methods and techniques incorporated are not specific to any sector.

Structuring and Managing Supply Network

The concept of supply network has extended supply chain across national borders towards globalization. The aim of this chapter is to provide researchers, business practitioners and university students a picture of the architecture of supply networks. By analyzing two main trends of studies in the field of supply network management, components of supply network are classified into structural and infrastructural factors. Also a comparison is made to identify the difference between supply network and traditionally factory-based manufacturing system. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework is further proposed which describes the supply network from four essential perspectives: Role/function, Relationship/alliance, Configuration/reconfiguration, and Risk and crisis management. After presenting detailed models and decision making areas of each perspective, suggestions are given on some emerging topics.

A “Flying High, Landing Soft” Platform for Supplier Diversity

Diversity management has emerged as a unique agenda of today's corporations in the global economy. One important area of corporate diversity management is supplier diversity, which is an inclusive growth program designed to help develop under-represented businesses into competitive suppliers of corporations. A major challenge of supplier diversity is that many minority suppliers lack the capability to deliver products which the corporate buyers need. Another major challenge is that few minority suppliers have the ability to participate in the global markets opportunities. We address these two problems by proposing an innovative “Flying High, Landing Soft” platform for international education in supplier diversity to help multinationals manage their global supplier diversity.

Strategies for Effective Worldwide Supply Chains

In this study, after analyzing hundreds of papers and books by using a meta-analysis technique, it was revealed that supply chain management suffers from a lack of strategies for many aspects of real-world supply chain activity. Existing supply-related strategies are very primitive and incomplete. Real-world activities in modern supply chains are complicated and multidimensional; consequently, supply chain strategies should reflect and manage these realities. This study aims to reduce the existing shortcomings in current supply chain strategies by proposing the taxonomy of supply chain strategies.

Strategic Value Creation in a Supply Chain

This chapter is designed to give the readers a concise understanding of supply chain strategies and the process involved in its formation. It is a background study on the changing role of supply chain in gaining competitive advantage for the firm. The chapter discusses on traceability and integration along a supply chain, its inception and the advantages to the corporate world through its implementation. The chapter focuses on the topic of value creation in a supply chain through strategic management decisions like vertical and horizontal integration. The value chain analysis model for competitive advantage is covered in this chapter. A discussion on the differences between vertical and horizontal integration systems and the best strategic decision among them is provided. The concepts of sustainable supply chain integration, traceability, and the limitations to their implementation have also been discussed. The best examples on practitioners of supply chain strategy and integration are provided along the chapter.

Supply Chain Risk Management

The importance of supply chain management (SCM) has been increasing recently and the concept of supply chain risk management (SCRM) has been gradually expanded. Since the concept of risk and uncertainty permeates all organizational functions, risk management would seem to be a crucial step towards safeguarding a company's competitive advantage. In the case of modern supply chains, which are composed of complex relationships necessitated by competitive pressures such as outsourcing and globalization, understanding and implementing risk management processes and initiatives at various levels of the chain is essential (Peck, 2006). The purpose of this chapter is to conduct an extensive and structured review of the supply chain risk management (SCRM) literature in order to understand the importance of the risk management concept in the context of organizational supply chains, identify gaps, and suggest future research areas in this important and growing field.

Supply Chain Processes as Key Drivers for Upgrading in the Semiconductor Global Supply Chain

Brazilian government has developed public policies during the last years in order to promote a national semiconductor industry. Under this program, 22 new Design Houses have started their operations. Considering this context, this study aims to understand how Brazilian Design Houses are upgrading to operate as players in the semiconductor global chain. To really move up in the semiconductor global chain, DHs need to improve key supply chain processes, such as marketing and sales, outsourcing and relationship management. This new scenario will characterize the achievement of functional upgrading, in which the companies will develop capabilities to move to higher value added activities in the global chain.

A Staged Supplier Pre-Evaluation Model

In the late 1980s, the proportion of outsourced materials in the cost of high-tech products was around 80%. In this respect, with increasing globalization and ever-expanding supply chains, interdependencies between organizations have increased and the selection of suppliers has become more important than ever. This exploratory research study intends to develop a novel approach for a specific type of supplier selection problem which is supplier pre-evaluation. A two-staged multi-layered feed forward neural networks (NN) algorithm for pattern recognition was used to pre-evaluate suppliers under strategy-based organizational and technical criteria. Data for training, validation and testing the network were collected from a global Tier-1 manufacturing company in the automotive industry. The results show that the proposed approach is able to classify candidate suppliers into three separate groups of risky, potential or preferred. With this classification, it becomes feasible to eliminate risky suppliers before doing business with them.

Green Supply Chain Initiatives

Emergence of ‘sustainability' as the new paradigm of conducting business has led to increased focus on operations of firms in emerging economies such as India. With growing concerns on the environmental impact of products and processes of firms in emerging economies, it becomes imperative to understand the factors steering green initiatives in India. This chapter aims to answer the question regarding what drives firms in India towards greening? Through research and discussions with managers, we observe certain common underlying factors determining firms' greening initiatives. The chapter aims to outline these common factors and takes a look at various approaches of firms in India in line with those factors. The current work aims to provide a better understanding of environmental friendly practices in India to both practitioners and researchers alike and establishes a platform for green supply chain research.