Showing papers on "Supply chain published in 2020"

Viability of intertwined supply networks: extending the supply chain resilience angles towards survivability. A position paper motivated by COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract: An intertwined supply network (ISN) is an entirety of interconnected supply chains (SC) which, in their integrity secure the provision of society and markets with goods and services. The ISNs are o...

Viable supply chain model: integrating agility, resilience and sustainability perspectives-lessons from and thinking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: Viability is the ability of a supply chain (SC) to maintain itself and survive in a changing environment through a redesign of structures and replanning of performance with long-term impacts. In this paper, we theorize a new notion-the viable supply chain (VSC). In our approach, viability is considered as an underlying SC property spanning three perspectives, i.e., agility, resilience, and sustainability. The principal ideas of the VSC model are adaptable structural SC designs for supply-demand allocations and, most importantly, establishment and control of adaptive mechanisms for transitions between the structural designs. Further, we demonstrate how the VSC components can be categorized across organizational, informational, process-functional, technological, and financial structures. Moreover, our study offers a VSC framework within an SC ecosystem. We discuss the relations between resilience and viability. Through the lens and guidance of dynamic systems theory, we illustrate the VSC model at the technical level. The VSC model can be of value for decision-makers to design SCs that can react adaptively to both positive changes (i.e., the agility angle) and be able to absorb negative disturbances, recover and survive during short-term disruptions and long-term, global shocks with societal and economical transformations (i.e., the resilience and sustainability angles). The VSC model can help firms in guiding their decisions on recovery and re-building of their SCs after global, long-term crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We emphasize that resilience is the central perspective in the VSC guaranteeing viability of the SCs of the future. Emerging directions in VSC research are discussed.

Research opportunities for a more resilient post-COVID-19 supply chain – closing the gap between research findings and industry practice

Abstract: The COVID-19 crisis has caused major supply chain disruptions, and these can be traced back to basic supply chain risks that have previously been well identified in literature. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a pathway for closing the gap between supply chain resilience research and efforts in industry to develop a more resilient supply chain.,Based upon virtual roundtables with supply chain executives, supplemented with interviews and publicly available datapoints about COVID-19 impact on the supply chain, we explore challenges in industry and suggest opportunity areas where research can support efforts in industry to improve supply chain resilience.,During the COVID-19 crisis, participating supply chain executives are experiencing textbook supply, demand and control risks in the supply chain. They also observe a lack of preparedness, shortcomings of current response plans and the need for greater supply chain resilience. Focus areas in improving resilience mirror generic recommendations from literature and provide a rich opportunity to reduce the gap between research findings and efforts in industry.,More empirical, event-based and less conceptual research into supply chain resilience has been called for several times during the last two decades. COVID-19 provides a very rich opportunity for researchers to conduct the type of research that has been called for. This research may contribute to the structurally de-risking of supply chains. Areas of research opportunity include decision models for supply chain design that avoid overfocusing on costs only, and that consider the value of flexibility, short response times and multiple sources as well as methods for enriching supplier segmentation and evaluation models to reduce a focus on savings and payment terms only.,Key levers for de-risking the supply chain include the need to balance global sourcing with nearshore and local sourcing, the adoption of multiple sources and a greater utilization of information technology to drive more complete and immediate information availability. Perhaps most importantly, talent management in supply chain management needs to promote a focus not just on costs, but also on resilience as well as on learning from current events to improve decision-making.,There is a great opportunity for supply chain managers to grow their contribution to society beyond risk response into the proactive reduction of risks for the future. Researchers can serve society by informing this progress with impactful research.,This article offers initial empirical exploration of supply chain risks experienced in the context of COVID-19 and approaches considered in industry to improve supply chain resilience. Opportunities for empirical, event-based and less conceptual research that has been called for years, are identified. This research can help close the gap between supply chain resilience research and efforts in industry to improve supply chain resilience. Hopefully the research opportunities identified can inspire the flurry of research that can be expected in response to the multiple special issues planned by journals in our field.

Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities

Abstract: Blockchain is a technology with unique combination of features such as decentralized structure, distributed notes and storage mechanism, consensus algorithm, smart contracting, and asymmetric encryption to ensure network security, transparency and visibility. Blockchain has immense potential to transform supply chain (SC) functions, from SC provenance, business process reengineering to security enhancement. More and more studies exploring the use of blockchain in SCs have appeared in recent years. In this paper, we consider a total of 178 articles and examine all the relevant research done in the field associated with the use of blockchain integration in SC operations. We highlight the corresponding opportunities, possible societal impacts, current state-of-the-art technologies along with major trends and challenges. We examine several industrial sectors such as shipping, manufacturing, automotive, aviation, finance, technology, energy, healthcare, agriculture and food, e-commerce, and education among others that can be successfully revamped with blockchain based technologies through enhanced visibility and business process management. A future research agenda is established which lays the solid foundation for further studies on this important emerging research area.

Blockchain applications in supply chains, transport and logistics : a systematic review of the literature

Abstract: This paper presents current academic and industrial frontiers on blockchain application in supply chain, logistics and transport management. We conduct a systematic review of the literature and find four main clusters in the co-citation analysis, namely Technology, Trust, Trade, and Traceability/Transparency. For each cluster, and based on the pool of articles included in it, we apply an inductive method of reasoning and discuss the emerging themes and applications of blockchains for supply chains, logistics and transport. We conclude by discussing the main themes for future research on blockchain technology and its application in industry and services.

Impact of COVID-19 on the food supply chain

Abstract: A pandemic is not a new event encountered in the history of humanity because mankind has faced various pandemics in history The common point of pandemics is their serious negative effects on the global economy Considering the food supply chain, one of the most important sectors of the economy, it has been seen that COVID-19 has an impact on the whole process from the field to the consumer In the light of recent challenges in food supply chain, there is now considerable concern about food production, processing, distribution, and demand COVID-19 resulted in the movement restrictions of workers, changes in demand of consumers, closure of food production facilities, restricted food trade policies, and financial pressures in food supply chain Therefore, governments should facilitate the movement of workers and agri-food products In addition, small farmers or vulnerable people should be supported financially Facilities should change the working conditions and maintain the health and safety of employees by altering safety measures Food protectionist policies should be avoided to prevent an increase in food prices In conclusion, each country must realize the severity of the situation and sometimes should tighten or loosen the measures according to the spread of the pandemic The supply chain also should be flexible enough to respond to the challenges in the food supply chain The purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture and food sector and to summarize the recommendations required to reduce and control the effect of the pandemic

The environmental price of fast fashion

Abstract: The fashion industry is facing increasing global scrutiny of its environmentally polluting supply chain operations. Despite the widely publicized environmental impacts, however, the industry continues to grow, in part due to the rise of fast fashion, which relies on cheap manufacturing, frequent consumption and short-lived garment use. In this Review, we identify the environmental impacts at critical points in the textile and fashion value chain, from production to consumption, focusing on water use, chemical pollution, CO2 emissions and textile waste. Impacts from the fashion industry include over 92 million tonnes of waste produced per year and 79 trillion litres of water consumed. On the basis of these environmental impacts, we outline the need for fundamental changes in the fashion business model, including a deceleration of manufacturing and the introduction of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain, as well a shift in consumer behaviour — namely, decreasing clothing purchases and increasing garment lifetimes. These changes stress the need for an urgent transition back to ‘slow’ fashion, minimizing and mitigating the detrimental environmental impacts, so as to improve the long-term sustainability of the fashion supply chain. The increase in clothing consumption, exemplified in fast fashion, has severe environmental consequences. This Review discusses the impacts of fashion on natural resources and the environment, and examines how technology, policy and consumer behaviour can mitigate the negative effects of the fashion industry.

A decision support system for demand management in healthcare supply chains considering the epidemic outbreaks: A case study of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Abstract: The disasters caused by epidemic outbreaks is different from other disasters due to two specific features: their long-term disruption and their increasing propagation. Not controlling such disasters brings about severe disruptions in the supply chains and communities and, thereby, irreparable losses will come into play. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of these disasters that has caused severe disruptions across the world and in many supply chains, particularly in the healthcare supply chain. Therefore, this paper, for the first time, develops a practical decision support system based on physicians' knowledge and fuzzy inference system (FIS) in order to help with the demand management in the healthcare supply chain, to reduce stress in the community, to break down the COVID-19 propagation chain, and, generally, to mitigate the epidemic outbreaks for healthcare supply chain disruptions. This approach first divides community residents into four groups based on the risk level of their immune system (namely, very sensitive, sensitive, slightly sensitive, and normal) and by two indicators of age and pre-existing diseases (such as diabetes, heart problems, or high blood pressure). Then, these individuals are classified and are required to observe the regulations of their class. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed approach was measured in the real world using the information from four users and the results showed the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach.

Blockchain for Supply Chain Traceability: Business Requirements and Critical Success Factors

Abstract: We seek to guide operations management (OM) research on the implementation of supply chain traceability systems by identifying business requirements and the factors critical to successful implementation. We first motivate the need for implementing traceability systems in two very different industries – cobalt mining and pharmaceuticals – and present business requirements and critical success factors for implementation. Next, we describe how we carried out thematic analysis of practitioner and scholarly articles on implementing blockchain for supply chain traceability. Finally, we present our results pertaining to the needs of different stakeholders such as suppliers, consumers, and regulators. The business requirements for traceability systems are curbing illegal practices; improving sustainability performance; increasing operational efficiency; enhancing supply-chain coordination; and sensing market trends. Critical success factors for implementation are companies’ capabilities; collaboration; technology maturity; supply chain practices; leadership; and governance of the traceability efforts. These findings provide a nascent measurement model for empirical work and a foundation for descriptive and normative research on blockchain applications for supply chain traceability.

Safety of foods, food supply chain and environment within the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract: Background The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a new era in the world while we still figure out the consequences in different aspects of our daily life. The food supply chain and the food industry do not comprise an exception. Scope and approach This review summarizes the possible transmission ways of COVID-19 through the foods, food supply chain, surfaces, and environment before exploring the development of corresponding detection tools of SARS-CoV-2. For the time being, the possibility of transmission through the food sector is considered negligible, and tracing of SARS-CoV-2 in working environments is not considered as a priority by public authorities. However, the adverse effects on the environment, food systems, and people along the food supply chain are already evident. Key findings and conclusions As long as we move from farm to fork, more safety measures are needed since more people (and subsequently more potential sources of infection) are involved in the process. The need for developing respective bioanalytical protocols for food and environmental safety applications to adapt in the post-lockdown period is also highlighted.

Blockchain for the future of sustainable supply chain management in Industry 4.0

Abstract: The objective of this study is to provide an overview of Blockchain technology and Industry 4.0 for advancing supply chains towards sustainability. First, extracted from the existing literature, we evaluate the capabilities of Industry 4.0 for sustainability under three main topics of (1) Internet of things (IoT)-enabled energy management in smart factories; (2) smart logistics and transportation; and (3) smart business models. We expand beyond Industry 4.0 with unfolding the capabilities that Blockchain offers for increasing sustainability, under four main areas: (1) design of incentive mechanisms and tokenization to promote consumer green behavior; (2) enhance visibility across the entire product lifecycle; (3) increase systems efficiency while decreasing development and operational costs; and (4) foster sustainability monitoring and reporting performance across supply chain networks. Furthermore, Blockchain technology capabilities for contributing to social and environmental sustainability, research gaps, adversary effects of Blockchain, and future research directions are discussed.

Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract: This paper, a pathway, aims to provide research guidance for investigating sustainability in supply chains in a post-COVID-19 environment.,Published literature, personal research experience, insights from virtual open forums and practitioner interviews inform this study.,COVID-19 pandemic events and responses are unprecedented to modern operations and supply chains. Scholars and practitioners seek to make sense of how this event will make us revisit basic scholarly notions and ontology. Sustainability implications exist. Short-term environmental sustainability gains occur, while long-term effects are still uncertain and require research. Sustainability and resilience are complements and jointly require investigation.,The COVID-19 crisis is emerging and evolving. It is not clear whether short-term changes and responses will result in a new “normal.” Adjustment to current theories or new theoretical developments may be necessary. This pathway article only starts the conservation – many additional sustainability issues do arise and cannot be covered in one essay.,Organizations have faced a major shock during this crisis. Environmental sustainability practices can help organizations manage in this and future competitive contexts.,Broad economic, operational, social and ecological-environmental sustainability implications are included – although the focus is on environmental sustainability. Emergent organizational, consumer, policy and supply chain behaviors are identified.,The authors take an operations and supply chain environmental sustainability perspective to COVID-19 pandemic implications; with sustainable representing the triple bottom-line dimensions of environmental, social and economic sustainability; with a special focus on environmental sustainability. Substantial open questions for investigation are identified. This paper sets the stage for research requiring rethinking of some previous tenets and ontologies.

Blockchain-oriented dynamic modelling of smart contract design and execution in the supply chain

Abstract: Recently, the applications of Blockchain technology have begun to revolutionise different aspects of supply chain (SC) management. Among others, Blockchain is a platform to execute the smart contra...

A supply chain transparency and sustainability technology appraisal model for blockchain technology

Abstract: Blockchain technology is a technology that can effectively support supply chain transparency. An important initial managerial activity is for organisations in supply chains to evaluate and select t...

What does the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about global value chains? The case of medical supplies

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic shortage in the medical supplies needed to treat the virus due to a massive surge in demand as the disease circled the globe during the first half of 2020. Prior to the crisis, there was an interdependence of trade and production for medical supplies, with advanced industrial countries like the United States and Germany specializing in the relatively high-tech medical devices sector, while low-cost production hubs such as China and Malaysia were leading producers of less technologically sophisticated personal protective equipment (PPE) products such as face masks, surgical gloves, and medical gowns. After the COVID-19 outbreak, global shortages of PPE products emerged as many affected countries imposed export controls and sought ways to boost domestic output. A case study of the face mask value chain in the United States shows misalignments between the priorities of U.S. federal government officials and the strategies of leading U.S. multinational producers of face masks, which resulted in exceptionally costly policy delays in terms of health outcomes. On balance, the U.S. shortage of N95 respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic is more a policy failure than a market failure. The global value chain framework highlights strategic options that could lead to more resilient supply chains and diversified sourcing patterns.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Food Supply Chain

Abstract: A pandemic is not a new event encountered in the history of humanity, because mankind has faced various pandemics in history The common point of pandemics is their serious negative effects on the global economy Considering the food supply chain, one of the most important sectors of the economy, it has seen that COVID-19 has an impact on the whole process from the field to the consumer In the light of recent challenges in food supply chain, there is now considerable concern about the food production, processing, distribution, and demand COVID-19 resulted the movement restrictions of workers, changes in demand of consumers, closure of food production facilities, restricted food trade policies and financial pressures in food supply chain Therefore, governments should facilitate the movement of workers and agri-food products In addition, small farmers or vulnerable peoples should be supported financially Facilities should change the working conditions and maintain the health and safety of employees by altering safety measures Food protectionist policies should be avoided to prevent an increase in food prices In conclusion, each country must realize the severity of the situation and sometimes should tighten or loosen the measures according to spreadability of the pandemic The supply chain also should be flexible enough to respond to the challenges in the food supply chain The purpose of this review article is to determine the impact of COVID-19 in the agriculture and food sector and to summarize the recommendations required to reduce and control the effect of the pandemic

Trends and applications of resilience analytics in supply chain modeling: systematic literature review in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: The increasingly global context in which businesses operate supports innovation, but also increases uncertainty around supply chain disruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic clearly shows the lack of resilience in supply chains and the impact that disruptions may have on a global network scale as individual supply chain connections and nodes fail. This cascading failure underscores the need for the network analysis and advanced resilience analytics we find lacking in the existing supply chain literature. This paper reviews supply chain resilience literature that focuses on resilience modeling and quantification and connects the supply chain to other networks, including transportation and command and control. We observe a fast increase in the number of relevant papers (only 47 relevant papers were published in 2007-2016, while 94 were found in 2017-2019). We observe that specific disruption scenarios are used to develop and test supply chain resilience models, while uncertainty associated with threats including consideration of "unknown unknowns" remains rare. Publications that utilize more advanced models often focus just on supply chain networks and exclude associated system components such as transportation and command and control (C2) networks, which creates a gap in the research that needs to be bridged. The common goal of supply chain modeling is to optimize efficiency and reduce costs, but trade-offs of efficiency and leanness with flexibility and resilience may not be fully addressed. We conclude that a comprehensive approach to network resilience quantification encompassing the supply chain in the context of other social and physical networks is needed to address the emerging challenges in the field. The connection to systemic threats, such as disease pandemics, is specifically discussed.

Blockchain technology for enhancing swift-trust, collaboration and resilience within a humanitarian supply chain setting

Abstract: There has been tremendous interest in blockchain technology (BT) (also known as distributed ledger technology) around the globe and across sectors. Following significant success in the financial sector, other sectors, such as humanitarian sector, have started deploying BT at various levels. Although the use of BT in the humanitarian sector is in its infancy, donors and government agencies are increasingly calling for building BT-enabled swift-trust and more collaborative relationships among various humanitarian actors in order to improve the transparency and traceability of disaster relief materials, information exchanges and flow of funds in disaster relief supply chains. Our study, which is informed by organizational information processing theory and relational view, proposes a theoretical model to understand how BT can influence operational supply chain transparency (OSTC) and swift-trust (ST) among actors engaged in disaster relief operations. Our model also shows how BT-enabled ST can further improve collaboration (CO) among actors engaged in disaster relief operations and enhance supply chain resilience. We formulated and tested six research hypotheses, using data gathered from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the help of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) database. We received 256 usable responses using a pre-tested survey based instrument designed for key informants. Our results confirm that our six hypotheses were supported. Our study offers significant and valid contributions to the literature on swift-trust, collaboration and supply chain resilience and BT/distributed ledger technology. We have also noted limitations of our study and have offered future research directions.

Big data analytics as an operational excellence approach to enhance sustainable supply chain performance

Abstract: Operations management is a core organizational function involved in the management of activities to produce and deliver products and services. Appropriate operations decisions rely on assessing and using information; a task made more challenging in the Big Data era. Effective management of data (big data analytics; BDA), along with staff capabilities (the talent capability in the use of big data) support firms to leverage big data analytics and organizational learning in support of sustainable supply chain management outcomes. The current study uses dynamic capability theory as a foundation for evaluating the role of BDA capability as an operational excellence approach in improving sustainable supply chain performance. We surveyed mining executives in the emerging economy of South Africa and received 520 valid responses (47% response rate). We used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. The findings show that big data analytics management capabilities have a strong and significant effect on innovative green product development and sustainable supply chain outcomes. Big data analytics talent capabilities have a weaker but still significant effect on employee development and sustainable supply chain outcomes. Innovation and learning performance affect sustainable supply chain performance, and supply chain innovativeness has an important moderating role. A contribution of the study is identifying two pathways that managers can use to improve sustainable supply chain outcomes in the mining industry, based on big data analytics capabilities.