Nachiappan Subramanian

Supply chain collaboration performance metrics: a conceptual framework

Purpose – Successful implementation of supply chain collaboration (SCC) by Wal‐Mart has encouraged many manufacturing companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Hewlett‐Packard Co, and West Marine Products Inc., to initiate collaboration. Subsequently, collaboration between suppliers and retailers has become a common practice in many recent supply chains. However, measuring the benefits of collaboration is still a big challenge. Based on supply chain literature and practice, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework and a standard set of metrics to evaluate the performance of SCC.Design/methodology/approach – The authors discuss two case studies to validate the proposed model. The case study discussions are appropriate to understand the usage of different performance metrics in initial and advanced stages of collaboration.Findings – From the case study it is recognized that the collaborating members in the supply chain are not able to visualise all possible benefits of collaboration. To surmount this is...

Composite particle algorithm for sustainable integrated dynamic ship routing and scheduling optimization

The problem is formulated as a sustainable ship routing and scheduling problem.Carbon emission, fuel consumption and fuel cost constraints are introduced.Particle Swarm Optimization-Composite Particle algorithm is employed.The analysis of the results and comparison of employed algorithm are performed. Ship routing and scheduling problem is considered to meet the demand for various products in multiple ports within the planning horizon. The ports have restricted operating time, so multiple time windows are taken into account. The problem addresses the operational measures such as speed optimisation and slow steaming for reducing carbon emission. A Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model is presented and it includes the issues pertaining to multiple time horizons, sustainability aspects and varying demand and supply at various ports. The formulation incorporates several real time constraints addressing the multiple time window, varying supply and demand, carbon emission, etc. that conceive a way to represent several complicating scenarios experienced in maritime transportation. Owing to the inherent complexity, such a problem is considered to be NP-Hard in nature and for solutions an effective meta-heuristics named Particle Swarm Optimization-Composite Particle (PSO-CP) is employed. Results obtained from PSO-CP are compared using PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) and GA (Genetic Algorithm) to prove its superiority. Addition of sustainability constraints leads to a 4-10% variation in the total cost. Results suggest that the carbon emission, fuel cost and fuel consumption constraints can be comfortably added to the mathematical model for encapsulating the sustainability dimensions.

Supply chain resilience: role of complexities and strategies

This article introduces the relationship between complexities and proactive management practices in supply chain resilience, particularly due to global sourcing (GS) strategies. The main objectives of this paper are as follows: (i) explain the various aspects of GS rather than reporting the trends and implications described in the literature, (ii) view GS in terms of complexity theory and (iii) investigate the resilience of supply chain due to GS complexity and suggest strategies to overcome complexities. We propose a GS resilience framework for future researchers to analyse the impact of GS complexity factors on supply chain resilience with respect to three outcomes: (i) risk and innovation, (ii) benefit in terms of sales promotion and (iii) challenges and responsiveness. Based on the framework, this introductory article summarises the papers appear in this special issue. This article would be useful to researchers and practitioners to further explore the role of complexities, proactive management strategies on GS resilience.

Influence of eco-innovation on Indian manufacturing sector sustainable performance

Manufacturing firms are striving to improve their sustainable performance in order to satisfy multiple stakeholders. Eco-innovation is a promising approach that decreases environmental impact and helps firms to increase their business value. There are several antecedents which help the firms to innovate and improve their triple bottom line performance. Among the antecedents, management and innovative practices are directly related to eco-innovation. It is not well known what practices and innovations help the firms to eco-innovate as well as to improve sustainable performance. Hence, the research objective of this paper is to identify the suitable combination of management and innovative practices that help firms to eco-innovate as well as to achieve overall sustainable performance. The paper develops an eco-innovation conceptual model which relates the management and innovative practices (antecedents) and overall sustainable performance (consequences) of eco-innovation using institutional theory. Using Indian manufacturing sector’s empirical data and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach, this paper determines the effect of eco-innovation’s antecedents and consequences. In the Indian context, this study suggests that the role of management practice is more significant towards eco-innovation than innovative practices. The results reflect practitioners’ view on how to increase innovation rate and to focus more on social aspects. The finding suggests that training on environmental related practices could tackle innovation and social aspects in the Indian manufacturing sector context.

Factors for implementing end-of-life product reverse logistics in the Chinese manufacturing sector

Dedicated, skilled and relatively cheap manpower coupled with efficient manufacturing techniques has elevated China’s status as the world’s factory. China is now capable of producing virtually any product, from cheap toys to some of the most sophisticated goods and equipment. The resultant economic benefits and associated enormous consumption due to rise in per capita income are accompanied by an equally unprecedented negative environmental impact arising from the huge increase of end-of-life (EoL) products. This study aims to understand and prioritise EoL product reverse logistics (RL) factors from Chinese manufacturing sector perspective. Multiple case studies in five different industries within the manufacturing sector have been carried out and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been employed to prioritise the governing factors for the successful RL implementation in the Chinese manufacturing sector. Results indicate that Chinese firms are unlikely to embark on RL operations without external factors such as strict government legislation.

Role of social media in retail network operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction

Purpose The technology evolution compels retail networks to introduce unique business models to retain customers and to gain a competitive advantage. Customer reviews available through social media need to be taken into account by retail networks to design a model with unique service operations and marketing approaches that will improve loyalty by adding value to customers. Furthermore, the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer spending behaviour is very weak and needs further investigation. Hence the purpose of this paper is to understand how retail network leverage the potential of social media reviews along with unique service operations to satisfy customers. The study analyses the nexus of: a brand, promotional offers, service operations; and their interaction through social media reviews on customer satisfaction levels. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a conceptual model for the social media era. The authors combine the idea of loyalty- and value-based models of Chatterjee (2013). The authors employed a survey questionnaire method to elicit opinions of retail customer satisfaction based on social media reviews, service operations and marketing efforts. The authors derive measures of the model from existing literature and expert opinion. Findings Social media reviews dramatically impact upon customer satisfaction. Similarly the empirical analysis identifies the significant and positive role played by service operations in customer satisfaction levels. Interestingly the authors did not find unequivocal support for brand satisfaction impacting on customer satisfaction. However, when promotions interact well with service operations, the level of customer satisfaction is significantly affected. Similarly the authors did not observe a positive outcome when there is an interaction between promotion and social media reviews. After reading the reviews, some potential buyers make a visit to store before making final decisions and surprisingly, promotional effects do not change their mind set. Practical implications Research findings confirm the importance of social media reviews, marketing and interaction between promotion and service operations enabling retail networks to build loyalty and value-based models. Based on customer behaviour, the study suggests a need to consider operational efficiencies when promoting sales; through careful planning, customer satisfaction and profitability levels can be increased. This sends a strong message to the retail network to defend their position within a very competitive business market. Originality/value The empirical evidence based on customer experience would be helpful for companies in integrating their operations and marketing efforts enabling them to convert different segment of customers such as “free riders (higher satisfaction and low profitability)” and “vulnerable customers (low satisfaction and higher profitability)” into “star customers (higher satisfaction and high profitability)”. Through a considered approach: combining social media reviews, marketing and operations, businesses will be better-placed to survive in the ultra-competitive social media-influenced era.

Reverse logistics in the Chinese auto-parts firms: implementation framework development through multiple case studies

In recent years, the implementation of reverse logistics (RL) in automobile manufacturing has drawn extensive interest from the Chinese government that has launched relevant take-back and environmental regulations and pilot projects. This study focuses on RL implementation issues in Chinese auto-parts manufacturing sector. Based on comprehensive literature review and multiple case studies in the Chinese auto-parts firms, this paper proposes a conceptual RL framework and highlights the major implementation issues. The purpose of this paper is to draw an overall picture of RL in the Chinese context, highlighting implementation issues in the auto-parts sector. Our study suggests that Chinese RL implementation requires close government monitoring mechanism and incentives, top management commitment within firms, technology and human capabilities support.

An Optimization Model for Sustainability Program

A sustainability program is about implementing essential sustainability practices at various intensities that will not harm people because of firm actions. This paper formulates an optimization model to identify an optimal intensity of implementation of selected sustainability practices referred as sustainability program for maximising manufacturing industry sustainability performance for a known set of budgetary and minimum thresholds constraints with respect to economic, social and socio-economic criteria. Besides modelling the paper proposes a random search procedure embedding the NN to determine the optimal sustainability program and explains the usefulness with a sample problem. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to understand the behaviour of the model. It is observed that the sustainability performances depend on the constraints such as budget limitation and threshold values of performance criterion.

Review of Full Truckload Transportation Service Procurement

Abstract This study was conducted to review the literature on full truckload (FTL) transportation service procurement and to identify the gaps from the perspectives of researchers and practitioners. FTL procurement in particular was reviewed because it is encountered more than others forms of procurement in freight movement, and it involves numerous challenges. A framework was developed to provide a systematic review of the literature, the findings of which are discussed in detail. Some key findings include the simplistic assumption of demand patterns, limited focus on non-price variables, a limited number of case studies, less consideration of sustainability aspects, and a lack of detailed studies on emerging economies.

Influence of non-price and environmental sustainability factors on truckload procurement process

In practice, manufacturers select their logistics service providers mainly based on total procurement cost. In addition to this, they will also consider allied services such as cargo insurance, electronic documentation, even though practitioners emphasize importance of other factors such as on time delivery and carbon emissions. This study proposes sustainable decision model which includes various non-price and environmental sustainability factors and analyzes their influences in allocating typical routes to the carriers,while establishing a truck load contract. Multiple case studies are carried out in automotive and logistics companies to prioritize factors using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Factor prioritization is used to formulate carrier assignment problem as a multiple objective optimization model using the influencing factors identified and applies a heuristic methodology to derive the near-optimal solution. This study reveals that carbon footprint, route optimization and on time delivery will have huge impact on procurement decision.