Blockchain Technology for Enhancing Traceability and Efficiency in Automobile Supply Chain—A Case Study

A robust traceability system would help organizations in inventory optimization reduce lead time and improve customer service and quality which further enables the organizations to be a leader in their industry sector. This research study analyzes the challenges faced by the automotive industry in its supply chain operations. Further, the traceability issues and waiting time at different nodes of the supply chain are considered to be priority issues that affect the overall supply chain efficiency in the automotive supply chain. After studying the existing blockchain architectures and their implementation methodology, this study proposes a new blockchain-based architecture to improve traceability and reduce waiting time for the automotive supply chain. A hyper ledger fabric-based blockchain architecture is developed to track the ownership transfers in inbound and outbound logistics. The simulation results of the proposed hyper ledger fabric-based blockchain architecture show that there is an improvement in the traceability of items at different nodes of the supply chain that enhances the Inventory Quality Ratio (IQR) and the mean waiting time is reduced at the factory, wholesaler, and retailer, which thereby improves the overall supply chain efficiency. The blockchain embedded supply chain is more capable to eliminate the risks and uncertainties associated with the automotive supply chain. The benefits of adopting blockchain technology in the automotive supply chain are also described. The developed blockchain-based framework is capable to get more visibility into goods movement and inventory status in automotive supply chains.

The Evolution of Sustainability: The Automotive Supply Chain Opportunity in Southern Italy

This Special Issue titled “Assessment of Socio-Economic Sustainability and Resilience after COVID-19” aims to propose the positive relationship between sustainability and resilience across multiple sectors [...]

Board diversity and performance in a masculine, aged and glocal supply chain: new empirical evidence

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the debate on the relationship between board diversity and performance, a hot topic for scholars and shareholders. A number of studies have found contrasting impacts of board diversity on firm performance and this paper adds new and original evidence in the context of the automotive supply chain focusing on gender, age and nationality diversity. Design/methodology/approach The authors propose a triple stage empirical analysis. First, the authors use linear models according to different performance indexes for investigating diversity (gender, age and nationality) within the board of directors and executives. Second, the authors investigate the issue of diversity in different contexts such as position in the supply chain, nationality of the owner and family/corporate ownership. Finally, the authors use non-linear models to find a better combination of diversity in terms of gender and nationality for retrieving some managerial implications. Findings First, the authors demonstrate a robust positive effect of women in board representation on firm performance in terms of profitability and firm risk. In the case of, age and nationality the results are more equivocal in particular for the former. Second, the authors depict board diversity in different contexts as follows: positioning in the supply chain, type and nationality of the final owner. Again, gender heterogeneity is more adequate in the complex firm as Tier 1 suppliers, corporate and foreign company. Originality/value The authors focused the analysis on a specific industry, shedding light on the main specificities linked to operating in certain phases of the supply chain, a substantial novelty in this field. The empirical evidence is based on a very large data set containing quantitative and qualitative information on a representative sample of 1,538 firms operating in the Italian automotive supply chain, one of the most relevant in Europe.

El Sector Automotriz en Ecuador: Antecedentes, situación actual y perspectivas

El presente artículo es de carácter investigativo con razonamiento inductivo y paradigmas analítico y sintético, busca determinar el comportamiento del sector automotriz con un periodo de análisis del 2000 a 2019, para ello se realizó un estudio de estadística descriptiva que permita establecer el comportamiento del mercado automotriz. Los resultados demuestran que la producción vehicular nacional ha presentado un declive a partir del 2013, dando oportunidad al crecimiento de la importación vehicular. Pichincha y Guayas concentran la mayor cantidad de la venta vehicular nacional, el segmento automóviles es el de mayor venta aunque el segmento de SUV está en proyección de incremento a nivel nacional. A pesar de la existencia de 7 marcas ensambladoras de vehículos el Ecuador presenta un saldo negativo dando a notar su dependencia a la importación de vehículos. Palabras Clave: Crecimiento económico, Comportamiento del Mercado, Sector industrial. Referencias [1]J. Vieyra Medrano, «Innovación y nuevas estrategias espaciales en el sector automotriz. El caso de la nissan mexicana,» Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, vol. 69, nº 87, 2000. [2]A. Vieyra, 4 Octubre 1999. [En línea]. Available: https://www.aehe.es/wp-content/uploads/2001/10/vieyra.pdf. [Último acceso: 4 Abril 2021]. [3]Y. Carbajal Suárez, «Sector automotriz: reestructuración tecnológica y reconfiguración del mercado mundial,» Paradigma económico, vol. 2, nº 1, pp. 24-52, 2010. [4]V. Francisco y K. Rajiv, «the automotive supply chain: global trends and asian perspectives,» Economics and research department, nº 3, pp. 1-41, 2002. [5]P. B. Joseph, Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition, Harvard Business School Press, 1993. [6]A. David M. y P. B. J., Agile Product Development for Mass Customization: How to Develop and Deliver Products for Mass Customization, Niche Markets, JIT, Build-to-order, and Flexible Manufacturing, Irwin Professional Pub, 1997. [7]FENALCO, «Comportamiento del Mercado Automotor Acumulado a diciembre de 2.008,» Bogotá, 2009. [8]D. Carrillo, «Diagnóstico del sector Automotriz,» Quito, 2009. [9]AEADE, «Anuario 2018,» Editorial Ecuador F.B.T. Cía. Ltda, Quito, 2019.

The Indian Automotive Supply Chain: Impact due to COVID-19 and Strategies to Re-Emerge

The Indian automotive industry has suffered heavily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper dwells deep into the various impacts due to the COVID-19 lockdown and how the industries have responded to the crisis. Data on the impacts and responses of various automotive industries were collected by reading a lot of articles and news reports on the same and also through Google forms and telephonic interviews with industrialists. For the purpose of study, the timeline of COVID19 in India has been split into four phases and each phase has been individually analysed. Strategies to re-emerge from this crisis has been formulated based on the lessons from the past combined with the lessons learnt from this Covid-19 pandemic. The various impacts and responses of companies during different phases of the lockdown has been consolidated in this paper. This pandemic has also opened the industry’s eyes to various shortcomings in its supply chain. Strategies to re-emerge from the crisis has also been discussed in the paper.