Triple-A strategy: For supply chain performance of Indonesian SMEs

Supply chain management is an activity that effectively integrates suppliers, companies, retailers where goods are produced and distributed at the right quality, location, and time with minimum cost levels to provide the highest quality services for consumers. Supply chain agility, supply chain adaptability, supply chain alignment, which is known as the Triple-A strategy, are elements to form supply chain performance. In this study, we tried to apply it to SMEs in developing countries, such as Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to show whether it is true that the supply chain cannot be applied to SMEs, while for a disruption as it is today, competition is getting tougher not only among SMEs but also against large companies, and SMEs need to develop several strategies that were previously unimaginable. This study uses quantitative techniques to determine the effect of supply chain agility, supply chain adaptability, supply chain alignment on supply chain performance either partially or simultaneously. The results showed that all hypotheses were accepted. This shows that supply chain management can be a strategy to create better SMEs performance and can even be used to achieve competitive advantage.

Critical role of minor eggcase silk component in promoting spidroin chain alignment and strong fiber formation

Natural spider silk with extraordinary mechanical properties is typically spun from more than one type of spidroin. Although the main components of various spider silks have been widely studied, little is known about the molecular role of the minor silk components in spidroin self-assembly and fiber formation. Here, we show that the minor component of spider eggcase silk, TuSp2, not only accelerates self-assembly but remarkably promotes molecular chain alignment of spidroins upon physical shearing. NMR structure of the repetitive domain of TuSp2 reveals that its dimeric structure with unique charged surface serves as a platform to recruit different domains of the main eggcase component TuSp1. Artificial fiber spun from the complex between TuSp1 and TuSp2 minispidroins exhibits considerably higher strength and Young’s modulus than its native counterpart. These results create a framework for rationally designing silk biomaterials based on distinct roles of silk components.