Żaneta Pruska

RANKING OF INTEGRATION FACTORS WITHIN SUPPLY CHAINS OF FORWARD AND BACKWARD TYPES - RECOMMENDATIONS FROM RESEARCHES

Background: Integration trends are one of main determinants of the development of modern logistics. After the period of interest focused mainly on supp ly chains realizing one-way flows only, at present there is a time for supply chains characterized by two-way flows, reali zing at the same time both forward and backward flo ws. The possibility of various configurations of such chain s requires identification of integration factors an d determination of their influence on the results of the whole supply chain. Experiences of the science as well as the practice of supply chains show the urgent need of learning of reasons of the integration within supply chains of the two-way typ e. Material and methods : The researches on modeling and simulation of inte gration processes within supply chains of forward and backward type were carried out in the e nvironment of iGrafx Process 2013 for Six Sigma. The empirical material obtained in these researches was put to th e statistical analysis by the used of Minitab 17. T he identification of the significance of differences was made with the help of analysis of variance ANOVA. Additionally the analysis of differences in form of absolute averages was made. The following measures are main ones for the evalu ation of the integration of a supply chain of forward and backwa rd types: cashflow, profitability, service level. Results : 8 192 simulation experiments were made for 6 inte gration factors: accessibility of recycled material s, production planning, stock management, integration of transpor t, unification of packing materials and optimizatio n of the material flow. Based on the analysis of the significance and values of differences, the results of the influenc e of each integration factor on global results of supply chains of forwar d and backward type were obtained. They were used to prepare the ranking of integration factors. The main factors, f orming the integration shape of two-way supply chai ns were: stock management, production planning and accessibility of recycled materials. Conclusions: The integration offers new possibilities therefore it is the promising option of actions. In complica ted and complex logistic reality, it is more and more diffi cult to function, in economic sense, without starti ng and tightening close cooperation. Sometimes it is even not possible at a ll. The growing popularity of two-way supply chain s opens the dimensions of the possible cooperation. However, bo th science and the practice need the reliable quant itative information covering the conscious creation of the integration in supply chains. Such tool could be a ranking, rec ommended in this paper, of integration factors from the perspective of three measures of evaluation of global level of functioning of the supply chain.

Potential Benefits of Applying e-Markets to Waste Management

Contemporary enterprises should take the fact that their activity influences environment into consideration. Except from monitoring their competitors they should be involved in environment protection and remember that final products and wastes as well are results of processes they perform. The following paper is to prove that numerous companies in Poland take advantage of waste management, including waste selling, re-using and benefiting from cheaper material sources. To provide some theoretical background, authors introduce the idea of sustainable development, wastes definition and present possible solutions that can be applied in wastes management area. The solutions presented include electronic wastes market operating in Poland. Short description of some of the wastes markets is to be presented, as well as benefits emerging from enterprises’ cooperation with wastes markets.

The Essence of Integration in Supply Chains and Reverse Supply Chains: Similarities and Differences

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the issue of integration in supply chains and in reverse supply chains. The Authors specify the factors key to integration and examine their impact on the process. The first part addresses the issues affecting forward flows and the benefits offered by a close cooperation between the links in the supply chain. In the second part the Authors discuss the factors which may contribute to a more seamless operation of backward flows. The third part presents the outcome of a survey into the measures taken by companies with a view to developing closer relationships with business partners in individual chains. These results provided the grounds for selecting the most crucial integration factors and highlighted the similarities and differences in integration-oriented activities taken in supply and reverse supply chains. In the last part of the chapter the Authors investigate the issue of barriers to building close relationships between supply chain partners.

Supply Chain Integration in View of Secondary Raw Materials

Environmental awareness keeps growing and comes to be viewed as an integral part of the management process in companies. We should keep in mind that the waste generated by a company (one of the participants in the supply chain) is part of the total waste generated by the entire chain. Moreover, environmental awareness of individual companies does not mean that the principles of sustainable development are adhered to. What is needed is an integration of companies across the entire chain. Their management should be therefore approached from a holistic perspective. The main goal of this article is to identify integration factors that take into account process and structural changes in the entire supply chain in terms of secondary raw materials. Each of the factors comes with a detailed characteristics of individual levels of integration. The universal character of factors enables the study of chains in various sectors of business practice. In order to achieve the goal of this article a survey was conducted among companies operating on the Polish market. On the basis of these studies the key barriers to the supply of secondary raw materials have been identified. The chapter contains an overview of these barriers, taking the selected channels of supply into account. It should be noted that the focus of individual elements on ecology affects the evaluation criteria associated with the level of integration of the entire chain.