scholarly journals Unveiling the Challenges of Future Supply Chains: An Explorative Analysis

Author(s):  
Mustafa Çağrı Gürbüz ◽  
Victoria Muerza ◽  
Irene Marchiori ◽  
Andrea Zangiacomi

AbstractThis chapter focuses on the identification of challenges that supply chains of the future will most likely face. The primary input in this process are the potential optimistic/pessimistic/intermediate future scenarios based on trends within political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental dimensions. Based on such input, we present a list of major challenges/opportunities in relation to the design and operations of Supply Chains (SCs) in the near future. The preliminary list is calibrated and validated based on the input from industry stakeholders (to account for the perspectives of different supply chain actors such as buyers, suppliers, policy makers, and supply chain facilitators) in order to make sure that these challenges are indeed of practical relevance and grounded in reality. The aforementioned challenges are aggregated into several clusters aiming at providing decision makers with a tool that would enable them to quickly and easily spot the relevant challenges and take proper actions to mitigate any potential risk.

Author(s):  
Markus Stute ◽  
Saskia Sardesai ◽  
Matthias Parlings ◽  
Pedro Pinho Senna ◽  
Rosanna Fornasiero ◽  
...  

AbstractDigital technologies have gained ground among companies, researchers and policy makers in recent years due to their growing relevance to current and future supply chains. Technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous transport systems, data science, and additive manufacturing are gradually becoming part of people’s and companies’ daily lives and are changing the manufacturing, process industry and logistics sectors. Although recent attempts have been made to understand the implications of these technologies on supply chain management, the relevance of the different technologies in future scenarios is still unknown. Using a technology scouting approach, the most important enabling technologies for supply chains until 2030 are identified and selected and their implications on future supply chains are evaluated using an assessment methodology with different evaluation criteria.


Author(s):  
Dimitra Kalaitzi ◽  
Aristides Matopoulos ◽  
Rosanna Fornasiero ◽  
Saskia Sardesai ◽  
Ana Cristina Barros ◽  
...  

AbstractCompanies operate in a macro-environment that is changing considerably due to large, transformative global forces namely megatrends and trends. The wave of these megatrends and trends generates new prospects as well as challenges for the future of supply chains. This chapter provides a review of 23 major megatrends and 72 trends identified in multiple dimensions along Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) dimensions. The results are based on a systematic literature review and an experts’ workshop, and can be used to generate future supply chain scenarios.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1054-1057
Author(s):  
Bindu Swetha Pasuluri ◽  
Anuradha S G ◽  
Manga J ◽  
Deepak Karanam

An unanticipated outburst of pneumonia of inexperienced in Wuhan, , China stated in December 2019. World health organization has recognized pathogen and termed it COVID-19. COVID-19 turned out to be a severe urgency in the entire world. The influence of this viral syndrome is now an intensifying concern. Covid-19 has changed our mutual calculus of ambiguity. It is more world-wide in possibility, more deeply , and much more difficult than any catastrophe that countries and organizations have ever faced. The next normal requires challenging ambiguity head-on and building it into decision-making. It is examined that every entity involved in running supply chains would require through major as employee, product, facility protocols, and transport would have to be in place. It is an urgent need of structuring to apply the lessons well-read for our supply chain setup. With higher managers now being aware of the intrinsic hazards in their supply chain, key and suggestions-recommendations will help to guide leader to commit to a newly planned, more consistent supply chain setup. Besides, the employees’ mental health is also a great concern.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Nikookar ◽  
Josu Takala ◽  
Daniel Sahebi ◽  
Jussi Kantola

Abstract The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a comprehensive and competitive management system to enhance resilience capability of supply chains. In addition, the study aims to identify and eliminate barriers affecting resilience by identifying the factors may cause trouble in the near future. The theoretical framework was established to summarize the significant finding in the area of resilient supply chain and as a guideline for the empirical part. A qualitative approach based on multi criteria decision making process has been adopted in order to gather data through in-depth interviews. The developed method to evaluate resilience capability through supply chains piloted in a sample of five companies involved in an automotive supply chain.


Author(s):  
Chih-Yuan Chu ◽  
Elif E. Gunay ◽  
Omar Al-Araidah ◽  
Gül E. Kremer

Abstract Due to the impact of globalization, companies have extended their borders across nations to launch products more competitively. However, globalization affects various uncertainties and risks that may limit the performance of supply chains. Research indicates that models that incorporate uncertainties and risks will help to improve the resilience of global supply chains. In the era of technology, we experience the abundance of textual data from various web-media resources related to companies, which can be deployed to understand the impact of risks on the chain. Accordingly, this study aims to utilize textual data collected from news articles and earnings call transcripts to assess the vulnerability of the suppliers and the chain. Among many, we considered supply chain resource limits as a subcomponent of vulnerability and collected textual data associated with its sub-factors. Then, we proposed an integrated factor analysis and Analytical Network Process (ANP) method to model the company’s supply chain resource limits index. Specifically, factor analysis was used to determine the latent constructs of the variables that are grouped under resource limits and their correlations. This latent construct and correlations were then applied as the interdependencies among variables in the ANP to discover the final importance weights of the variables in terms of supply chain resource limits. The results of the study showed that the shortages of capacity, components, and energy supply are the most critical sub-factors. The company’s supply chain resource limits index (SCRLI) can be further calculated to assist decision-makers of an enterprise in supply chain configuration design, and improve the supply chain resilience.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 610-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Jordan ◽  
Ozlem Bak

Purpose The growing scale and scope of the supply chain requires a greater understanding of the broader supply chain skills picture. This study aims to assess the supply chain skills needs within the context of a UK-based higher education institution involving graduates, academics and employers to appreciate the graduate skills demands of modern supply chains. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods study entailing in-depth interviews with academics followed by a questionnaire distributed to graduates and employers has been designed and utilised. Findings The findings indicate that the changing supply chain scope encourages the requisition and development of different supply chain skills with varied levels of emphases in relation to 25 skills identified in the literature. Key graduate skills needs are highlighted, including time management, collaborative learning, teamwork and problem solving, with the addition of two supply chain skill areas, namely specialist training and the understanding and application of regulations. The findings of the current study present a limited emphasis on information technology (IT) skills, despite the significant IT advancements and changes in supply chains. Research limitations/implications The study has been carried out in a UK university delivering undergraduate supply chain management courses. It would be beneficial to test whether the findings are exemplary across other supply chain courses and to investigate the integration of these skills within the supply chain syllabus and how employers, graduates and academic parties could actively engage in developing the agenda for future supply chain skills needs. Practical implications This research paper highlights the gaps in supply chain skills, which inevitably puts considerable pressure on operatives and managers whose responsibility it is to ensure compliance with regulations and professional bodies. Originality/value This paper contributes to the supply chain skills discussion and reports subject relevant challenges for supply chain educators by engaging three key stakeholders – graduate employers, graduates and academics. The findings have generated additional supply chain skills to the academic literature, in addition to providing an understanding of the weighting of skills in terms of their importance and application to industry needs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. van der Fels-Klerx ◽  
M. Kandhai ◽  
C. Booij

The research described in this paper focuses on identification of the most important indicators for emerging mycotoxins, starting from those produced by Fusarium fungi, in wheat-based feed and food supply chains, as well as the development of a conceptual model to predict the occurrence of these emerging toxins, based on the selected indicators. The selection of the most important indicators was based on a literature review and evaluation of the resulting indicators for their relevance. Each indicator selected was appointed to relevant stage(s) of the supply chain to which it is related and, for each indicator, a suggestion for a potential information source is given. The selected indicators cover various influential sectors, amongst others, weather conditions, agronomical practices, trade and legislation, as well as a variety of information sources, e.g. on-farm records and statistical organisations. The conceptual model developed is aimed at predicting the occurrence of emerging mycotoxins – based on the selected indicators – in a particular unit of wheat. The model takes a supply chain approach and can handle various types of indicators and various levels of detail of information on origin of the unit of wheat. The proposed model could be useful in the development of an identification system for emerging risks related to mycotoxins in wheat-based supply chains. Ultimately, such a system will help industry and policy makers in their decision-making process with regard to prevention and control of upcoming risks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 5987-5997
Author(s):  
Sezi Cevik Onar ◽  
Cengiz Kahraman ◽  
Basar Oztaysi

The catastrophes due to widespread outbreaks create a long-standing distraction and have an accelerating transmission. The uncontrolled outbreaks cause not only health-related problems but also supply chain related problems. The outbreak caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) shows how vulnerable the Healthcare systems and the supporting systems such as supply chains of the countries to such type of disasters. Keeping high levels of inventory, especially for healthcare products, can be beneficial to overcome such shortage problems. Nevertheless, keeping a high level of inventory can be costly, and the durability of the products creates a limit. The decision-makers have to carefully decide the inventory levels by considering many factors such as the criticality of the product and the easiness of producing the product. In this study, we try to develop a decision model for defining the inventory levels in Healthcare systems by considering multiple scenarios such as outbreaks. A novel spherical regret based multi-criteria decision-making approach is developed and used for evaluating the total regret of not keeping stock of the healthcare equipment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55
Author(s):  
Özden Özkanlısoy ◽  
Erkut Akkartal

Digital transformation in supply chain management enables businesses to achieve competitive advantage by using their resources more efficiently, to make every stage of their supply chain smarter, more transparent and more efficient, to be closer to individual customer needs, to provide a significant increase in decision-making quality, and to become increasingly flexible in the near future. and provides the advantages of having new business models that will be efficient.Unfortunately, today digital transformation is at the stage of digitization rather than digital transformation due to the high initial investment cost and concerns about the success of applications. In this study, successful digital transformation applications implemented in supply chain management to guide companies and supply chains that have not yet entered the digital transformation process, the advantages provided by these applications and the difficulties of the digital transformation process are discussed.In the study, using qualitative data analysis, open-ended interview questions were applied to a total of 28 companies, and the answers were separated on the basis of sectors and applications and new business models were grouped according to sectors. The advantages of the companies and their supply chains with digital transformation and the difficulties faced in the transformation process are discussed jointly to cover all sectors. The study ends with an evaluation and brief summary of the findings.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahir Irani ◽  
Amir M Sharif

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to signpost the genesis of food security and associated factors such that organisations, enterprises, policy makers and interested stakeholders can seek to explore and understand this important societal issue. The challenges that food security poses are eclectic in nature and cut through country, society, organisation and individual boundaries. Only through identifying these factors – hence identifying underlying factors of food waste and usage of information within food supply chains to untangle them – can we adopt enterprise interventions in order to initiate and mitigate food security risk. Design/methodology/approach – As a viewpoint piece, there is no empirical work to report in this paper. An exploratory review of the literature has allowed for the extraction of food security concerns that need the attention of stakeholders across the enterprise to ensure robust food supply chains can be are created, maintained and sustained through a better understanding and usage of information, knowledge and data. Findings – This paper articulates six constructs that underpin the challenges of establishing food security. It is suggested that information relating to factors may support decision-makers within communities, organisations and enterprises to better understand these factors that then contribute towards enhanced food security. Relevant strategies or policies can then emerge and be developed such that strategic as well as operational interventions can be prioritised across national, regional or industry level. Underpinning the above, the waste within and across the food supply chain contributes to the six factors, also highlighting where additional focus may need to be applied to sustain food supply chains. Research limitations/implications – This paper is a position paper that does not offer factual insight but rather highlights a direction of thought that others can consider exploring as part of wider research agendas in the topical area where enterprise, organisational, and information-based contributions may support the development of strategy-led food security policy. Practical implications – This paper provides reassuring insights that will help decision and policy makers assemble their thoughts when it comes to prioritising their communications and interventions amongst organisational/enterprise-level stakeholder groups involved in food security and food supply chain contexts. Social implications – This paper has highlighted the need for more research around the human and organisational factors that are identified as both underpinning the need for food security and, as drivers of waste throughout the food supply chain. Indeed, there is further work needed to highlight the inter-relationships that exist and, which then feed into resulting interventions. Originality/value – To raise the importance of food security amongst differing stakeholder community groups at the organisational and enterprise level.


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