A Review of the IoT-Based Pervasive Computing Architecture for Microservices in Manufacturing Supply Chain Management

Author(s):  
Kamalendu Pal

Supply chain coordination needs resource and information sharing between business partners. Recent advances in information and communication technology (ICT) enables the evolution of the supply chain industry to meet the new requirements of information sharing architectures due to globalization of supply chain operations. The advent of the internet of things (IoT) technology has since seen a growing interest in architectural design and adaptive frameworks to promote the connection between heterogenous IoT devices and IoT-based information systems. The most widely preferred software architecture in IoT is the semantic web-based service-oriented architecture (SOA), which aims to provide a loosely coupled systems to leverage the use of IoT services at the middle-ware layer to minimise system integration problems. This chapter reviews existing architectural frameworks for integrating IoT devices and identifies the key areas that require further research for industrial information service improvements. Finally, several future research directions in microservice systems are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek Roy

PurposeSupply chain traceability and supply chain visibility have become a critical element for the effective management of contemporary complex supply chains. At their core is information sharing, which has been acknowledged as a key prerequisite for logistics and supply chain performance, but whose notional underpinnings have not been delineated fully, leading to interchangeable deployment of these terms. Addressing the shortcoming, this paper aims to establish a contrast between the two notions.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from systematic review protocols, a multi-disciplinary review scope is constructed wherein the synthesis is strategized to primarily channel implications for the scholarship of logistics and supply chain management. The review is aimed at addressing two research objectives: (1) how the notions of traceability and visibility in supply chain management develop contrast in terms of their thematic emphasis and (2) to attain an integrative understanding of the notional convergence and divergence between supply chain traceability and visibility for raising strategic recommendations.FindingsThe review outcomes help contrast both the convergence and the divergence between traceability and visibility in the supply chain environment, and the differentiated but fundamental role that information sharing plays within these notions to outline why they are not interchangeable.Originality/valueThe originality of the findings lies in the conceptual synthesis of the relevant literature from both technological and non-technological perspectives to ultimately draw logistics and supply chain management implications. The review also points out key strategic considerations to demarcate the notional boundaries of traceability and visibility in future research.


Author(s):  
Nenad Stefanovic ◽  
Dusan Stefanovic ◽  
Bozidar Radenkovic

As supply chains are growing increasingly complex, from linear arrangements to interconnected, multi-echelon, collaborative networks of companies, there is much more information that needs to be stored and analyzed than there was just a few years ago. Today, there are variety of business initiatives and technologies such as joint planning and execution, business intelligence, performance management, data mining and alerting that can be used for more efficient supply chain management. However, organizations still lack methods, processes and tools to successfully design and implement these systems. In this chapter, the authors present the integrated supply chain intelligence (SCI) system that enables collaborative planning and decision making through web-based analytics and process monitoring. The system is process based and utilizes business intelligence and Internet technologies. Multi-layered and service-oriented architecture enables composition of the new breed of SCI applications. They describe main elements and capabilities of the system, its advantages over existing systems and also discuss future research trends and opportunities.


Author(s):  
Thanigavelan Jambulingam ◽  
Ravi Kathuria

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the antecedents that influence supply chain coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain using the transaction cost analysis framework. Design/methodology/approach Data from 156 retail pharmacies on their relationship with the pharmaceutical wholesalers are used to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings of this paper show the importance of antecedents that are based on the transactional cost theory, such as asset specificity and environmental uncertainty. These antecedents impact the supply chain process coordination at different levels – transactional, operational and strategic. Research limitations/implications Future research may investigate additional antecedents using other theoretical lenses. Practical implications Pharmaceutical wholesalers are dependent on pharmaceutical manufacturers for the supply of products and face intense competition that results in lower profit margins. Given that the pharmaceutical industry is strictly regulated, the wholesaler facilitates regulatory compliance of the manufacturers in the distribution process by coordinating with them. But the wholesalers do also face a constant threat from the manufacturers, who could potentially bypass the wholesalers (disintermediation) and go directly to the pharmacies. To counterbalance the dependence, the wholesalers strive to achieve loyalty with the retail pharmacies. Through supply chain coordination, the wholesalers achieve efficiency in procurement for the pharmacies, thus reducing cost and improving their competitive advantage. Social implications Supply chain coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain improves the safety and security of the pharmaceutical distribution system. Originality/value This paper contributes to the supply chain coordination stream of literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to develop the three levels of process coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain context. This paper shows how process coordination can be achieved between the dyad without vertical integration.


Author(s):  
Eoin Plant ◽  
Yusen Xu ◽  
Gareth R.T. White

Green supply chain management and reverse logistics has emerged as a key area of research interest. Recent environmental regulations have also stimulated interest in this field. However, information sharing is a prerequisite to efficient and effective logistics utilisation. Manufacturing organisations in China were argued to be 10-20 years behind their Western counterparts in relation to information sharing in their supply chains (). This barrier needs to be addressed if China is going to maintain and grow its manufacturing position in the world, attempt to address green supply chain issues and their negative externalities. A systematic literature review was undertaken and green supply chain management theoretical framework adopted. The paper explores the perceptions of senior management toward green logistics and information sharing in Chinese electronic manufacturers. Previous research has concentrated on the focal companies (brand owners). This research concentrated on SME organisations further up the supply chain. Semi-structured interviews of eighteen senior managers of electronic manufactures in Jiangsu province China were conducted in 2012. Thematic analysis is applied and the findings contrasted to other research. The paper provides insight to the current status of managers' views on information sharing and green supply chain initiatives. Information platform, skills, investment, and trust emerged as key influences on their willing to engage in information sharing in relation to green supply chains. This research, among others, assists to inform policy for optimal evidence based intervention. Future research directions are also considered.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhad Panahifar ◽  
P.J. Byrne ◽  
Mohammad Asif Salam ◽  
Cathal Heavey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the interrelationships between various characteristics of information sharing and trust and their criticality for effective information-centred supply chain collaboration initiatives and, in turn, its criticality to overall firm’s performance. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 189 executives from different firms was conducted and the resulting data were analysed to investigate how collaboration enablers affect effective collaboration and to determine its impacts on organisational performance. Structural equation modelling through partial least squares is used to study the relationships between four enablers (trust, information readiness, information accuracy and information security), perceived collaboration success, and two outcomes (sales growth and overall operational performance). Findings The empirical results indicate that three collaboration enablers including trust, information readiness and secure sharing of information improve supply chain collaboration. The present study finds that “secure sharing of information” was the most important factor in fostering information sharing-centred collaboration. The present study also demonstrates that effective collaboration positively and significantly influences on firm’s performance. Practical implications This study provides researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding about the information sharing-centred collaboration, its enablers and effects on firms’ performance in a supply chain context. Future research should focus on developing additional constructs that may capture other drivers of effective collaboration. Originality/value The present study makes an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge by investigating an integrated framework focussing on the enablers of collaboration through information sharing and its impact on firms’ performance.


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