Design, building and validating a measuring scale for the supply chain management practices of industrial organizations by assessing their efficiency on SCM measures

The aim of this study is to design, build and validate a scale for the measurement of Saudi industrial Organizations' SC Management Practices (SCMP), and also to evaluate its efficiency at various SCM measurements. The analysis identified 20 constructs of (SCMPs) based on a comprehensive literature review; namely Strategic Partnership of Suppliers (SPS), Customer Relationship (CR), Information Sharing (IS), Information Quality (IQ), Postponement (PST), Agreed Vision and Goals (AVG), Sharing of Risks and Rewards (SRR), Lean Manufacturing (LM), Total Quality Management (TQM), Organizational Culture (OC), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Benchmarking and Performance Measurement (BPM), Agile Manufacturing (AM), Outsourcing (OUT), Just In Time Manufacturing (JIT), Green SC Management (GSCM), Reverse Logistics (RL), Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and SC Integration (SCI), and four SCM performance structures in particular namely; Flexibility Perspective (FLP), Efficiency Perspective (EFP), Customer’s Perspective (CSP), Product Innovation Perspective (PIP). A survey tool based on the existing literature was developed and relevant data were collected from 351 Industrial Saudi organizations on this tool. In the data analysis the validation of the instrument is mainly carried out with confirmatory factor analysis in terms of unidimensionality, durability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, nomological validity, and the associated validity criteria. A parsimonious instrument that makes an important contribution to the SCM literature is generated by the results of this research. The instrument will allow an enterprise to incorporate various SCMPs, to keep track of the implementation status, and then to evaluate SCM performance to the SCM dimensions.

Agility enhancement through agile manufacturing implementation: a case study

PurposeDynamic business environment has a deep influence on production and management related exercises. In order to remain competitive, organization needs to coordinate with continuous and unpredictable changes taking place in the market. Globalization of markets is posing competitive pressure on firms, which leads them to adopt a new manufacturing paradigm termed agile manufacturing (AM). The purpose of the present case study is to explore the contribution of AM towards agility and productivity enhancements in an Indian manufacturing company.Design/methodology/approachThe study is carried out at forging industry which has been assessed on certain key business performance indicators. The assessment highlighted various issues which had scope for improvement to enhance the agility of the organization. Therefore, a phase-wise implementation of AM is carried to reap the significant benefits as a result of AM implementation in the case study company. The methodology has been applied to decrease the inline rejection, increase the productivity and responsiveness of the organization.FindingsThe results revealed an improvement in performance score from 77.5 to 100. Further, an increase in productivity and reduction in line rejection has been achieved through the systematic implementation of AM.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the contributions of strategic AM implementation to organizational performance and highlights the need for successful management of AM practices for establishing sustained performance of the organization.Originality/valueThe contribution of the present work is the phase-wise implementation of AM in the case studied company.

Selected management concepts in supply chains

Supply chain management is considered a complex process that can lead to errors, conflicts, or a breakdown of cooperation. In chain creation, it is important to organize and rationalize the network of interconnections to which the assumptions of concepts, such as lean manufacturing, agile manufacturing, and resilient supply chains, can be applied. For this reason, the aim of the research presented in the study was to attempt to identify how selected management systems in supply chains can influence the improved functioning of enterprises in a vulnerable condition and in the contemporary challenging situation. The starting point for consideration was to define the concept of a supply chain, lean manufacturing, agile manufacturing, and resilient supply chains, and to indicate the benefits of using the selected concepts. For this purpose, foreign and domestic literature was used. The result is a description, analysis, and criticism of the different systems in relation to the supply chain.

Applying analytical hierarchy process for addressing the agile manufacturing drivers

In order to incorporate agile manufacturing (AM) in materials and systems, the manufacturing sectors have drivers to face obstacles. Agility is generally accepted for satisfying diverse consumer demands as a new strategic principle in the automotive industry. There has now been a prerequisite for evaluating AM in industry. An organization’s effectiveness relies on their ability to find and pay special attention to the crucial success drivers to achieve a high level of efficiency. This paper suggests a number of Agile Manufacturing Drivers (AMDs) to evaluate AM that is deemed suitable to the production industry. In order to prioritise performance drivers, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach is used to summarise the perspective of an expert. The proposed AMDs are believed to encourage and assist the manufacturing sector in producing agile products to achieve higher efficiency so as to improve competition.

AGILE MANUFACTURING THROUGH INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

<p class="comp"><em>Inventory management is a systematic approach to sourcing, storing, and selling inventory both raw materials (components) and finished goods (products). In business terms, inventory management means the right stock, at the right levels, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost as well as price. Inventory management </em><em>refers to the process of ordering, storing and using a company's inventory. This includes the management of raw materials, components and finished products, as well as warehousing and processing such items. For companies with complex supply chains and manufacturing processes, balancing the risks of inventory gluts and shortages is especially difficult. At the same time, inventory can be thought of as a liability (if not in an accounting sense). A large inventory carries the risk of spoilage, theft, damage or shifts in demand. Inventory must be insured, and if it is not sold in time it may have to be disposed of at clearance prices or simply destroyed. For these reasons, inventory management is important for businesses of any size. Knowing when to restock inventory, what amounts to purchase or produce, what price to pay as well as <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/10/when-to-sell-stocks.asp">when to sell</a> and at what pric can easily become complex decisions. Small businesses will often keep track of stock manually and determine the reorder points and quantities using Excel formulas. Larger businesses will use specialized <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/erp.asp">enterprise resource planning (ERP)</a> software.</em></p>

FRACTURE ANALYSIS OF RUBBER TOUGHENED ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED THERMOSETS

This study explores the role of rubber toughening on the dynamic fracture behavior of additively manufactured (AM) high-performance thermosetting polymers formed through digital light processing (DLP). Using DLP to create these polymers allows for rapid, agile manufacturing of prototypes meeting the lightweight and building speed requirements of relevance to military mission applications. This method also provides flexibility in part complexity while maintaining relatively high isotropy compared to traditional AM techniques. Previous work has demonstrated a dependence of these DLP specimens on print layer orientation and loading rate, prompting further investigation into other manufacturing parameters to improve toughness [1]. This study examines the role of rubber toughening on the quasi-static and dynamic fracture behavior of bis-GMA thermosets. Current literature largely reports on quasi-static behavior of DLP specimens, although dynamic conditions are more applicable to many realistic loading scenarios and extreme environments often seen in defense applications. Dynamic experiments leverage a unique long bar striker device that impacts a specimen opposite a pre-crack, sending a stress-wave driven load to initiate a dynamic Mode-I (opening) fracture event. Full-field displacement data ahead of the propagating crack is obtained using ultra high-speed imaging combined with 2D digital image correlation (DIC). An elastodynamic solution following the principles of dynamic fracture mechanics extracts the stress intensity factor (SIF) using a least squares fit at crack initiation and a Newton-Raphson scheme for crack propagation. The rubber toughened thermosets in this study exhibited a rate dependence in fracture toughness with the quasi-static SIF being 1.20 MPa and the dynamic SIF being 0.41 MPa .

Implementation of industry 4.0 to achieve sustainable manufacturing in steel industry: a case study

Sustainable manufacturing has been a popular topic of research for quite some time now. There are various concepts and ideas which have claimed to have a significant impact on sustainability of the manufacturing industry like lean, green and agile manufacturing. Industry 4.0 is the latest and by far the one with the maximum potential of changing the manufacturing sector forever. It is rightly called as “the fourth industrial revolution”. It is a wide concept which covers many state of the art technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Augmented reality etc. But like every big revolution, it is to face many challenges also. In this review, we are looking at this ‘yet in infancy’ concept and its role in achieving a sustainable manufacturing sector as discussed by researchers. Different scholars have come up with different challenges to implementation of I4.0 which they thought to be of some significance. There is going to review such challenges making a list of 13 such challenges. Then, it also throw some light on the new challenge faced by all of humanity in the form of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and how it is affecting the manufacturing sector.

Environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance: the effect of agility

PurposeToday's businesses are facing a world that is more complex, turbulent and unpredictable than in the past with increasing levels of environmental complexity. Rather than proposing environmental uncertainty as a mediator/moderator of the relationship between agility and performance as others have done, the authors offer an alternative view where supply chain agility is seen as mediating the relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose that supply chain agility is a response to the effects of environmental uncertainty and, as such, environmental uncertainty should be seen as a driver of supply chain agility. Few studies test the direct relationship between uncertainty and supply chain performance, and none simultaneously test for agility's mediation and moderation effect between environmental uncertainty and agility.FindingsThe model was statistically assessed using partial-least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS/SEM) by analyzing survey data from manufacturing managers in 136 US firms. The study results did not indicate a significant relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance. However, the authors did find a significant positive relationship between agile manufacturing and supply chain performance using measures that were primarily operations-centered rather than financial. Additionally, the authors found that agile manufacturing fully mediates the relationship between environmental uncertainty and supply chain performance.Originality/valueThe authors’ model, though simple, provides a base for future research for them and other researchers who can incorporate other impacting variables into the model. The study results show that uncertainty can be a force for good and that utilizing agile manufacturing can be a new source of opportunity.