Jan Stentoft

Going local: : A trend towards insourcing of production?

This article evaluates and discusses the trend towards insourcing of production that has been proposed in the media and in a few recent studies. The article sets the context of this trend, defining and relating key terms such as outsourcing and insourcing. Based on a large-scale survey conducted in Denmark, we provide empirical results focussing on the extent to which Danish manufacturing companies have outsourced and insourced and the extent of and reasons for outsourcing and insourcing from and to Denmark. The results show that although many companies have considered returning activities to Danish shores relatively few have actually taken such action. The article contributes large-scale empirical data from firms of different sizes and discusses whether or not the trend towards global and low-cost country sourcing is likely to see a reversal to local sourcing.

Offshoring and backshoring manufacturing from a supply chain innovation perspective

ABSTRACT This paper compares the practice of offshoring and backshoring of manufacturing from a supply chain innovation (SCI) perspective. The purpose is to advance the understanding of whether and how companies pursuing different globalisation strategies work differently with the SCI components, technology, and business processes. The results, based on a questionnaire survey in Denmark on relocation of manufacturing, indicate that companies reshoring manufacturing have invested more in manufacturing innovation and, to a higher degree, have reorganised their manufacturing resources compared with companies that either have offshored their manufacturing or maintained it at home.

Reducing cost of energy in the offshore wind energy industry: The promise and potential of supply chain management

Purpose To support ongoing industry efforts to reduce the cost of energy (CoE) of offshore wind compared to other types of energy sources, researchers are applying scientific models and thought processes to identify potential areas of improvement and optimization. This paper aims to introduce a conceptual framework from a supply chain management (SCM) perspective, aimed at promoting the reduction of CoE in the offshore wind energy industry. Design/methodology/approach Using conceptual arguments from current academic literature in SCM, a comprehensive framework is presented that clarifies how SCM practices can be used by offshore wind energy industry to reduce CoE. Findings The offshore wind energy sector is a young industry that must reduce CoE to compete with other forms of energy. Applying a supply chain perspective in the offshore wind industry has hitherto been limited to the academic community. This paper offers a SCM framework that includes three interdependent aspects of reducing CoE – innovation, industrialization and supplier partnering – to guide the industry towards sources to reduce CoE. Research limitations/implications SCM is a broad research area; thus, the presented framework to reduce the CoE is open for further development. Practical implications The paper provides insights into how the CoE can be reduced through innovation, industrialization and partnering in the offshore wind energy supply chain. Originality/value The paper offers a seminal contribution by introducing a SCM framework to understand sources and approaches to reduce CoE in the offshore wind energy industry.

Dynamic supply chain design: a Delphi study of drivers and barriers

Supply chain management has both in academia and practice proven its important role to sustain and further develop companies’ competitive advantages. This is with initiatives that focus on cost-efficiencies and turnover improvement. During the last two decades, companies have faced complexity in their supply chains currently with increased global operations. The dynamic business environment forces companies to secure a competitive (re-) design of their supply chains. This paper seeks to advance the understanding on the drivers and barriers for such designs. In total, 39 experts (30 from industrial enterprises, 4 senior supply chain consultants and 5 supply chain management professors) have participated in a four-step Delphi study and have identified main drivers for dynamic supply chain design as being cost reduction, delivery reliability and change in demand for agility. The main barriers are identified as forecasting being too weak, supply chain complexity and product portfolio complexity. In addition, an explorative factor analysis has been carried out to identify how drivers and barriers can be grouped together. Finally, the paper compares the drivers and barriers underlining different competitive strategies.

Operations and maintenance issues in the offshore wind energy sector: An explorative study

Purpose There is increasing research interest in the expansion of the offshore wind energy sector. Recent research shows that operations and maintenance (O&M) account for around 20-35 per cent of the total energy costs in this sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of O&M issues in the offshore wind energy sector to propose initiatives that can help reduce the cost of energy used by offshore wind farms. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on an in-depth literature review and a Delphi study of a panel of 16 experts on O&M. Findings Consisting primarily of conceptual papers and/or modelling papers, the extant literature identifies several challenges for OM distance/water depth; weather window; and policy issues. The Delphi study identified three other major issues that lead to increased OM lack of coordinated planning of the different services offered at the wind farms; and lack of a common approach on how O&M should be managed strategically. Research limitations/implications The present study is based only on Danish respondents. Future research needs to include various respondents from different countries to identify country-specific contingencies. Practical implications The paper provides an overview of the O&M issues in the offshore wind energy sector to prioritize where future resources should be invested and, thus, reduce O&M costs. Originality/value This is the first paper on O&M issues that bridges both literature studies and industry expert opinions.

Practitioners understanding of big data and its applications in supply chain management

Big data poses as a valuable opportunity to further improve decision making in supply chain management (SCM). However, the understanding and application of big data seem rather elusive and only partially explored. The purpose of this paper is to create further guidance in understanding big data and to explore applications from a business process perspective.,This paper is based on a sequential mixed-method. First, a Delphi study was designed to gain insights regarding the terminology of big data and to identify and rank applications of big data in SCM using an adjusted supply chain operations reference (SCOR) process framework. This was followed by a questionnaire-survey among supply chain executives to elucidate the Delphi study findings and to assess the practical use of big data.,First, big data terminology seems to be more about data collection than of data management and data utilization. Second, the application of big data is most applicable for logistics, service and planning processes than of sourcing, manufacturing and return. Third, supply chain executives seem to have a slow adoption of big data.,The Delphi study is explorative by nature and the questionnaire-survey rather small in scale; therefore, findings have limited generalizability.,The findings can help supply chain managers gain a clearer understanding of the domain of big data and guide them in where to deploy big data initiatives.,This study is the first to assess big data in the SCOR process framework and to rank applications of big data as a mean to guide the SCM community to where big data is most beneficial.

Big Data and its Applications in Supply Chain Management: Findings from a Delphi Study

Big data and its applications have increasingly received interest by both scholars and practitioners. However, there is still missing evidence regarding how big data is understood as well as its applications in supply chain management (SCM). Empirical contributions are especially limited. This study seeks to address this gap through an explorative Delphi study to understand the terminology of big data and its application in the SCM processes of sourcing, manufacturing, service, logistics, planning, and return. The findings reveal that big data is mostly concerned with data collection and logistics, service, and planning processes are the most applicable processes for deploying big data analytics in SCM. Furthermore, a range of applications have been identified and ranked within each process.

Harnessing capabilities and practices for sourcing innovation: an exploratory study

Sourcing innovation has become prevalent only in the recent years; therefore, researchers address the practice of sourcing innovation using various terminologies and there is no fixed definition in the extant literature for sourcing innovation. While there are several explanations and terms mentioned in the literature for the same concept, this research incorporates all the works related to sourcing innovation and synthesizes them under the umbrella ‘sourcing innovation’. This research adopts [87] definition of sourcing innovation as an ‘affair between two firms’ and broadens it in accordance with today’s supply chain relationship perspective. This research paper attempts to propose a boarder definition based on sourcing personnel perspectives and to recommend key dominant capabilities and observable practices that would help in enriching the practice of sourcing innovation based on the extant supply chain management literature. This is an exploratory study that includes five semi-structured interviews accomplished within five Danish firms. As sourcing innovation presents many challenges to organizations, this research not only conceptualizes the notion in terms of practice but also identifies dominant capabilities and observable practices to operationalize it. In consideration of dynamic market environment, this research advocates firms to practice sourcing innovation from dynamic capability perspective so that they could innovate more efficiently through intense strategic collaboration with their supply chain partners. In addition, this form of strategic collaboration would support firms in acquiring win-win innovations and achieving solid growth as well as sustainable competitive advantage. Future research to further validate and test the proposed framework is needed.

Fostering of innovation within green growth industries: How the Danish national innovation systems affect supply-network enabled innovation

Purpose This paper aims to analyse how the political, relational and institutional contexts of the offshore wind industry affect supply-network-enabled innovation (SNEI) and to identify significant possibilities for obtaining the overall target of reducing the cost of producing energy based on the offshore wind industry. Design/methodology/approach Through an embedded single-case study, the contextual conditions of SNEI within the relatively immature offshore wind energy industry are investigated. Findings The national system of innovation only affects product innovation within the industry. Process innovation, which is needed to make the industry grow and mature, seems lesser supported. Different levels of maturity exist among the actors within the industry, which creates barriers for SNEI. To help the offshore wind industry grow, the educational and research system can promote integration of companies by helping the actors to design best practices and manage their business processes according to some generic goals and practices. Additionally, the political system must provide clearer intentions for a sustainable future. Practical implications This paper provides insights into how SNEI can be applied within the Danish offshore wind industry to foster competitive advantages against energy recovered based on fossil fuels. Originality/value The paper contributes to the rather immature field of research on SNEI with empirical data from a network of companies. Furthermore, it adds to the emerging research area of political-initiated development of renewable energy sources.

Does Supply Chain Innovation Pay Off

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the relationship among supply chain innovation and performance in terms of market and operational performance. The chapter is built on empirically data subject to 187 useable responses from a questionnaire-survey among Danish manufacturers. A conceptual model was developed and subsequently two major hypotheses were formulated. Linear regression was performed using SPSS software 22.0 to tests the developed hypotheses. Supply chain innovation is unfolded through the components of business processes, networks structure and technology. Data reveals that supply chain innovation does pay off in terms of improved market and operational performance. The chapter also reveals that the strongest relationship is obtained with supply chain innovation and operational performance. Market performance may be influenced by a number of different factors beyond supply chain innovation. The chapter provides interesting findings of the network component with empirical evidence that it has a positive influence on both market and operation performance. The chapter concludes by suggesting new areas of research including also the relationship to financial performance.