D.P. van Donk

Challenges in relating supply chain management and information and communication technology: An introduction

Purpose – The papers purpose is to provide a motivation for investigating the relationship between supply chain management (SCM) and information and communication technology (ICT), to describe associated theoretical and practical problems and to introduce the papers of the special issue.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is partly based upon a short literature review, including the papers of the special issue.Findings – An important finding is that the relationship and integration of SCM and ICT in all papers of this special issue are strongly intertwined with managerial and organizational theory related issues.Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests three possible avenues for building theory in the joint field of SCM and ICT on the one hand and organizational theory on the other hand.Practical implications – Implicitly the paper argues for a better use of organizational and managerial insights to increase the usage and implementation of ICT in the context of SCM.Originality/value – T...

A basic period approach to the economic lot scheduling problem with shelf life considerations

Almost all the research on the economic lot scheduling problem (ELSP) considering limited shelf life of products has assumed a common cycle approach and an unrealistic assumption of possibility of deliberately reducing the production rate. In many cases, like in food processing industry where limited shelf life for products is common, changing the production rates is not allowed at all because it may result in products with poor quality. In this paper, we allow products to be produced more than once in a cycle and do not allow reducing production rates. We present a modification to the Haesslers basic period procedure to account for the shelf life. Proposed ‘branch-and-bound like’ procedure exploits these extra constraints to efficiently achieve a feasible solution. Numerical examples are presented to show that our approach outperforms common cycle approach with shelf life considerations.

Modelling the integration-performance relationship : Collaborative practices, enablers and contextual factors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different dimensions of supply chain integration on performance, while considering both the interconnections between these supply chain integration dimensions and the effect of context. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between two enablers (communication infrastructure and cooperative behaviour) and two practices (planning information and joint improvement), and the moderating effect of supply complexity on their relationship with performance.Design/methodology/approach – A survey among 145 Dutch and Spanish manufacturers is used to gather data on the buyer‐supplier relationship. Both the sample and two subsamples – for high and low supply complexity – are analysed using SmartPLS.Findings – The paper finds that two dimensions – communication infrastructure and cooperative behaviour – enable the two collaborative practices: joint improvement and planning information. All mentioned supply chain integration dimensions, ...

Coping with product variety in the food processing industry: The effect of form postponement

Form postponement (FP) is an operations design approach that has been proposed in the literature as a solution for companies to handle increasing product variety and demand uncertainty. FP is possible in food, but the few authors that studied FP in food stress that food characteristics limit the benefits of applying FP. In this paper, we study how characteristics of the food processing industry affect the operational performance of implementing FP based on a case in a dairy company and a simulation model. We found that substantial operational performance improvements could be achieved when implementing FP diminishes the negative effects of some typical food processing industry characteristics. Large gains are possible in production settings with restricted batch sizes and cyclical plans that heavily influence the timing of production. However, a premise to maximise the FP benefits is that the other planning activities should match the new capabilities. Benefits are lower if the company cannot or does not ...Form postponement (FP) is an operations design approach that has been proposed in the literature as a solution for companies to handle increasing product variety and demand uncertainty. FP is possible in food, but the few authors that studied FP in food stress that food characteristics limit the benefits of applying FP. In this paper, we study how characteristics of the food processing industry affect the operational performance of implementing FP based on a case in a dairy company and a simulation model. We found that substantial operational performance improvements could be achieved when implementing FP diminishes the negative effects of some typical food processing industry characteristics. Large gains are possible in production settings with restricted batch sizes and cyclical plans that heavily influence the timing of production. However, a premise to maximise the FP benefits is that the other planning activities should match the new capabilities. Benefits are lower if the company cannot or does not adapt its organisational procedures.

Towards a Conceptual Framework of the Production Function

There is much that is unsatisfactory in the way in which the production function is viewed and described in the literature. This article defines four dimensions along which aspects of the production function can be measured. The dimensions are elaborated upon and their usefulness for describing real‐life situations is explored. Possible directions for both empirical and theoretical research using the concept are suggested.

Modeling intermediate product selection under production and storage capacity limitations in food processing

In the food industry products are usually characterized by their recipes, which are specified by various quality attributes. For end products, this is given by customer requirements, but for intermediate products, the recipes can be chosen in such a way that raw material procurement costs and processing costs are minimized. However, this product selection process is bound by production and storage capacity limitations, such as the number and size of storage tanks or silos. In this paper, we present a mathematical programming approach that combines decision making on product selection with production and inventory planning, thereby considering the production and storage capacity limitations. The resulting model can be used to solve an important practical problem typical for many food processing industries.

The fit between ICT Needs and ICT capability and its influence on supply chain performance

Information and communication technology (ICT) utilization is considered as one of the major factors in supply chain management and an important approach to improve supply chain performance. Based upon some concerns regarding the constructs, measurements and items used, this paper analyses survey- based research with respect to the relationship between ICT and SCM, supply chain performance. Based upon analysis, this paper proposes a model to explore avenues for further research that could better distinguish the interrelationships among ICT, SCM and supply chain performance.

Designing scheduling concept and computer support in the food processing industries

Food processing industries cope with a specific production process and a dynamic market. Scheduling the production process is thus important in being competitive. This paper proposes a hierarchical concept for structuring the scheduling and describes the (computer) support needed for this concept.