Jack G.A.J. van der Vorst

Simulation modelling for food supply chain redesign; integrated decision making on product quality, sustainability and logistics

Food supply chains are confronted with increased consumer demands on food quality and sustainability. When redesigning these chains the analysis of food quality change and environmental load of new scenarios is as important as the analysis of efficiency and responsiveness requirements. Simulation tools are often used for supporting decision-making on supply chain (re)design when logistic uncertainties are in place, building on their inherent modelling flexibility. Mostly, the underlying assumption is that product quality is not influenced by or does not influence chain design. Clearly, this is not true for food supply chains, as quality change is intrinsic to the industry. We propose a new integrated approach towards logistics, sustainability and food quality analysis, and implement the approach by introducing a new simulation environment, ALADIN™. It embeds food quality change models and sustainability indicators in discrete event simulation models. A case example illustrates the benefits of its use relating to speed and quality of integrated decision making, but also to creativity in terms of alternative solutions.

Performance measurement in agri‐food supply chains: a case study

Purpose – Measurement of the performance of entire supply chains is an important issue because it allows for “tracking and tracing” of efficacy and efficiency failures and leads to more informed decision making with regard to chain design. However, the choice of appropriate supply chain performance indicators is rather complicated due to the presence of multiple inputs and multiple outputs in the system. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the usefulness of a novel conceptual model for supply chain performance measurement in an agri‐food supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model for integrated supply chain performance measurement is evaluated in a Dutch‐German tomato supply chain by means of a case study approach.Findings – The proposed conceptual framework is found to be useful for measuring performance of the tomato supply chain. From the case study it is concluded that four main categories of performance measures (i.e. efficiency, flexibility, responsiveness, and food quality) ar...

Modelling and simulating multi-echelon food systems

This paper presents a method for modelling the dynamic behaviour of food supply chains and evaluating alternative designs of the supply chain by applying discrete-event simulation. The modelling method is based on the concepts of business processes, design variables at strategic and operational levels, performance indicators, and business entities, as these concepts allow relevant aspects of a food supply chain to be described and modelled. Our simulation model is based on timed coloured Petri-nets to support decision-making when redesigning a supply chain for chilled food products. Scenario analysis allowed us to evaluate the potential benefits of alternative designs for this supply chain in terms of logistical performance. In this case study, major benefits were identified. The results of the scenario analysis are compared with the outcomes of a pilot project where one scenario was implemented in real life.

Environmental supply chain management: using life cycle assessment to structure supply chains

In recent years increasing attention has been given to environmental supply chain management (ESCM). One of the supporting instruments of ESCM is life cycle assessment (LCA). The idea of integrating LCA into supply chains is gaining more support among research institutes and companies. However, we conclude that there are no guidelines for this integration. In this paper we argue that inline with a differentiation between environmental care chain strategies and environmental chain performances, a differentiation between types of LCAs should be made; i.e., between compliance-, process- and market-oriented LCAs. To execute these different types of LCAs, the chain structure should be attuned to meet the specific requirements of these types. By discussing case studies, we show that the integration of the different types of LCAs in a chain bring about different chain structures.

Supply Chain Design in the Food Industry

The concepts of hybrid supply chain strategies and the decoupling point are applied to a poultry supply chain experiencing high demand uncertainty in an inflexible production environment. Several solutions are proposed for this supply chain to cope with high demand uncertainty. The customer order decoupling point, the product differentiation point and the information decoupling point play a central role in these solutions. Because of specific characteristics of the poultry supply chain, the opportunities for a leagile supply chain design are limited.

E-Business initiatives in Food Supply Chains: Definition and Typology of Electronic Business Models

E-business is a concept that has been given many definitions in practice and in the literature. In general, e-business is used for improving the efficiency of established supply chains or for the creation of new (dynamic) supply chain networks with looser partnerships. However, because of this diversity in meanings the evaluation of the usefulness of a certain type of e-business for a specific supply chain situation is often indistinct. Based on a review of 16 prevailing electronic business-to-business initiatives in (mainly Dutch) food supply chains, this paper defines and develops a typology of e-business models to elucidate these discussions. The paper is concluded with proposed classifications and developments of e-business in food supply chains.

An application of mixed-integer linear programming models on the redesign of the supply network of Nutricia Dairy & Drinks Group in Hungary

Abstract. Between 1995 and 1998 Nutricia acquired a number of dairy companies in Hungary. Each of these companies produced a wide variety of products for its regional market. Although alterations had been made to the production system in the last few years, production and transportation costs were still substantial. This paper presents a research study with regard to the optimisation of the supply network of Nutricia Hungary using a mixed-integer linear programming model. Focussing on consolidation and product specialisation of plants the objective was to find the optimal number of plants, their locations and the allocation of the product portfolio to these plants, when minimizing the sum of production and transportation costs. The model is in line with traditional location/allocation models, with a modification concerning inter-transportation of semi-finished products between plants. The production costs used in this model are based on a Green field situation, taking into account new and more advanced technologies available today. The model is used by the Nutricia Dairy and Drinks Group as a decision supporting tool.

Performance measurement in agri-food supply-chain networks

Many researchers and practitioners are working on the enhancement of supply-chain collaboration in order to improve performance of the individual supply-chain members and supply-chain performance as a whole. Performance measurement fulfils a crucial role in the development of supply chains as it can direct the design and management of the chain towards the required performance. It is the key instrument to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of (potential) chain partnerships. This paper presents a framework for the development of innovative food supply-chain networks and discusses the implications for performance measurement systems. Current bottlenecks and research opportunities are presented.

Research challenges in municipal solid waste logistics management

During the last two decades, EU legislation has put increasing pressure on member countries to achieve specified recycling targets for municipal household waste. These targets can be obtained in various ways choosing collection methods, separation methods, decentral or central logistic systems, etc. This paper compares municipal solid waste (MSW) management practices in various EU countries to identify the characteristics and key issues from a waste management and reverse logistics point of view. Further, we investigate literature on modelling municipal solid waste logistics in general. Comparing issues addressed in literature with the identified issues in practice result in a research agenda for modelling municipal solid waste logistics in Europe. We conclude that waste recycling is a multi-disciplinary problem that needs to be considered at different decision levels simultaneously. A holistic view and taking into account the characteristics of different waste types are necessary when modelling a reverse supply chain for MSW recycling.

Modeling a green inventory routing problem for perishable products with horizontal collaboration

Increasing concerns on energy use, emissions and food waste requires advanced models for food logistics management. Our interest in this study is to analyse the benefits of horizontal collaboration related to perishability, energy use (CO2 emissions) from transportation operations and logistics costs in the Inventory Routing Problem (IRP) with multiple suppliers and customers by developing a decision support model that can address these concerns. The proposed model allows us to analyse the benefits of horizontal collaboration in the IRP with respect to several Key Performance Indicators, i.e., emissions, driving time, total cost comprised of routing (fuel and wage cost), inventory and waste cost given an uncertain demand. A case study on the distribution operations of two suppliers, where the first supplier produces figs and the second supplier produces cherries, shows the applicability of the model to a real-life problem. The results show that horizontal collaboration among the suppliers contributes to the decrease of aggregated total cost and emissions in the logistics system. The obtained gains are sensitive to the changes in parameters such as supplier size or maximum product shelf life. According to experiments, the aggregated total cost benefit from cooperation varies in a range of about 424% and the aggregated total emission benefit varies in a range of about 833% compared to the case where horizontal collaboration does not exist. HighlightsA chance-constrained model for the multi-supplier IRP is presented.Model accounts for perishability, explicit fuel consumption and demand uncertainty.Model allows us to analyse the benefits of horizontal collaboration in the IRP.A case study on the distribution operations of two suppliers shows model applicability.Horizontal collaboration contributed to the decrease of total cost and emissions.