Additive Manufacturing-Based Supply Chain Configurations

ABSTRACTForest biomass can be used as source of renewable energy, contributing to mitigate climate change. Currently, forest biomass is one of the most important energy sources in Sweden, accounting for around 20% of the total supply. New demands of forest biomass may be expected due to the European Union energy targets, the previous high oil prices, the energy supply security, and the bioenergy market. However, the supply depends on the intensity of conventional final felling operations. Thus, it is crucial to determine the energy demands of conventional and new forest assortment supply chains and promote those with the highest energy efficiency and least greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An attributional life cycle assessment approach was used to evaluate the fuel consumption and GHG emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels used in forest operations, transportation and comminution of forest biomass procured via two kinds of supply chains in Northern Sweden: conventional and integrated. The results indicate that most fuel was consumed in transportation processes. The integrated supply chains (in which the harvesting of industrial roundwood is integrated with extraction of forest fuels) are more energy efficient than conventional supply chains, and have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by approximately 13%.Abbreviation: BWT: bundled whole small trees; CTL: Cut-to-length; ET: energy thinning; FF: final felling; FT: first thinning; FU: functional unit; GHG: greenhouse gas; GWP: global warming potential; LCA: life cycle assessment; LR: logging residues; LT: long tops; ODt: oven dry tonne; ORN: Örnsköldsvik (industrial location); PCT: pre-commercial thinning; PL: pulpwood; PM15h: Productive machine hours including delays shorter than 15 min; RS: Rough-delimbed tree sections; SC: stump core; SL: sawlogs; SP: stumps; ST: second thinning; STO: Storuman (industrial location); u.b: under bark; UME: Umeå (industrial location)

Previous literature shows that there are different environmental factors with different impacts on the adoption of technologies in a supply chain context. Thus, the adoption of technologies in supply chains may vary according to different environmental factors. Despite the existence of several studies about adoption of technologies in supply chain contexts that include environmental factors, there is a gap in identifying which environmental factors influence the adoption of digitalization technologies in supply chains. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify and analyze the environmental factors that influence the adoption of digitalization technologies in the supply chain. An exploratory qualitative research was conducted using semi-structured interviews with Portuguese managers of companies at several tiers of the automotive supply chain. Environmental factors were pointed as particularly critical drivers to promote the adoption of digitalization technologies in the automotive supply chain. Such adoption is mainly driven by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), through coercive and normative pressures over the other tiers of the supply chain. Relevant factors identified are: Compliance with standards and legislation, market and industry pressures, and benchmark the evolution of supply chain partners. This study contributes to the literature with new knowledge concerning new specificities of the environmental factors that showed an important influence on the adoption decision. © 2019 IEEE.

Purpose-Every business unit needs to implement tacit knowledge management to achieve its goals and win the competition. Many things can influence tacit knowledge. This study examines the effect of contractual governance, relational governance, and supply chain technology on tacit knowledge. Methodology-Using a quantitative approach and survey methods, this study collected data through questionnaires distributed to business actors in the textile and garment sector in Asia with a sample of 109 respondents. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with Smart Partial Least Square software. Findings-The results showed that contractual and relational governance have a positive effect on tacit knowledge. Thus, supply chain technology also contributes to increasing tacit knowledge. Research Limitations-This study's limitations focus on the textile and garment business sector in Asia. Therefore, its results cannot be used as a reference for business actors in other sectors and regions. Novelty-This study provides a deeper understanding of the causal relationship between the variables studied. These findings are expected to offer practical recommendations for managers and practitioners in the field of supply chain management to improve the tacit knowledge of employees in the textile and garment industry.

This paper develops a model to predict the adoption and level of usage of network technology in a two-level supply chain with buyer-supplier relationships. A firm's adoption of a new technology depends not only on its own beliefs of the new technology's costs and benefits, but also on the adoption decisions of other firms in the supply chain. A model first analyzes an individual supplier's decision about a new technology adoption considering with multiple suppliers and buyers. Individual suppliers' decisions are aggregated with a population model to project how new technology diffuses across the supply chain and examine the pattern of diffusion process. This study found that as more firms adopt in initial periods, the total amount of information to the potential adopters in the population increases, and then the number of firms persuaded by the information increases as the process moves up the distribution of adoption process. We consider three factors influencing the diffusion speed of the new technology in a supply chain network : mean benefits, cost sharing, and information provision. This study examines how such factors affect the reduction of threshold levels, which implies that reductions in threshold levels have an aggregate effect by accelerating the rate of adoption. In particular, we explore relationship factors available in practice in a buyer-supplier relationship and numerically examines how these relationship factors contribute to increase the diffusion speed of the technology in a two-level supply chain.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how e-procurement (EP) and supply chain technology internalization (SCTI) influence supply chain performance (SCP) through supply chain integration (SCI).Design/methodology/approachThis research analyzed 214 survey responses from project managers who have prior experience in the field of supply chain management. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results show that EP and SCTI positively influence SCI and SCP. The effects of EP and SCTI on SCP are found to be mediated by SCI in the context for the construction industry.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should focus on quantitative measures of SCP like budget overrun, supply chain efficiency and project success. Further research can be done through the exploration of moderating interactions of the proposed model.Practical implicationsFirst, the study highlights the importance of SCTI. Supply chain managers should first focus on effective utilization of different technologies used to support supply chain. Second, the research gives the guidelines to the supply chain managers and project managers about the benefits of EP. They should focus on proper implementation of EP in their organizations.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by proposing and testing the influences of EP and SCTI on SCI. This allows a strategic viewpoint when implementing SCTI, EP systems and SCI, intended to improve SCP.

Despite strong market interest in speciality foods, producers find market access and distribution challenging. This exploratory research includes a literature review and five case studies of supply chains relating to shellfish, cheese, meat, potato and miscellaneous speciality foods in the mid-Norway region. The study identifies key supply chain configuration parameters from the extant literature, and these are used to analyse the cases. The study makes three main contributions to the literature: an analytical framework for analysing the supply chain characteristics of speciality foods; important supply chain factors for accessing the conventional food supply chain; and five propositions for improving market access. We argue that the speciality foods supply chain should be configured according to these propositions to ensure responsiveness to customer needs and to strengthen market access.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess if blockchain technology, which is hailed for its potential to improve supply chain transparency and efficiency, can deliver to this promise (Abreu et al., 2021; Mahyuni et al., 2020; Manzoor et al., 2022; Rennie, 2022; Yiannas, 2018). Supply chains are increasingly complex and full transparency is difficult to achieve and may sometimes be undesired, yet governments worldwide are demanding more transparency especially with respect to the social and environmental sustainability of supply chains (Francisco & Swanson, 2018; Franke, 2021; Najjar, 2021). If blockchain technology allows to close this gap, without compromising corporate confidentiality and efficiency requirements, it might change supply chain management drastically. Most other research in this field remains rather superficial with respect to the fundamentals of blockchain technology and supply chain management. Our study will add to the very limited theoretically founded research on blockchain potentials in supply chains.Study Design: Our paper is conceptual. Based on the extant literature, we compare blockchain technology and its advantages to the characteristics of supply chains and challenges of supply chain management to identify a theoretical fit. We investigate if published case studies of blockchain technology in supply chain management support this. Finally, we devise a conceptual framework for the application of blockchain technology in supply chain management.Findings: There is, currently, very limited use for blockchain technology in supply chain management. It does not provide an answer to several of the challenges that exist in supply chain management. Blockchain technology was primarily devised as encryption technology for virtual entities and transactions involving them and not for tangible objects. Published case studies describing the use of blockchain technology in supply chain management do not contradict these findings.They rely on private blockchain solutions lacking the key benefits of blockchain technology. Our conceptual framework constitutes a reference for a future public blockchain solution for supply chains. It offers solutions for some of the challenges but also cannot solve some fundamental challenges, like power imbalances in supply chains.Limitations: Blockchain technology undergoes rapid development. Future blockchain technology may be faster, less energy-intensive and more integrated with other technologies. This may be aided by developments in hardware, like quantum computing. The findings of this paper are limited to currently available technology.Implications: Companies and governments alike should be very cautious when considering investing in currently available blockchain solutions for supply chain management.

Maintaining an effective risk management procedure can counterbalance a critical effect on supply chains. The Agri-food supply chain has characteristics that are unique and complex if compared with a conventional supply chain. Sustainability risk management in the supply chain is the key to a competitive organisation in the long term. The aim of this paper is to review current research on sustainable risk management in the Agri-food industry chain. These reviews were arranged in steps systematically, ranging from searching related to review of supply chain sustainability risk management (SCSRM), reviewing the general framework of SCSRM and the framework of Agri-food SCSRM. Selection of literature review papers in the period 2010-2019, and obtained 30 papers. Risk aspects were analysed using a multi-dimensional approach (economic, social, environmental, technical, and institutional) that influences the sustainability of the Agri-food industry. The results show that there are few studies focusing on risk management to achieve a sustainable supply chain system. Some studies only focus on Triple Bottom Line elements (economic, social, and environmental). Sometimes, these studies do not consider risks from other elements such as technical and institutional aspects that can be influence the sustainability of the Agri-food industry. Technical aspects such as the reliability of technological systems and institutional aspects as policymakers support sustainability in a business process. The contribution of this paper is to provide an initial theoretical framework to guide researchers in analysing risk through a multi-dimensional approach to sustainability.

Knowledge-based framework for automated dynamic supply chain configuration

Background: Digital transformation has significantly reinvented the systems and operations in the supply chain and logistics industries, enabling organisations within the industry to be able to deliver higher value to customers at a lower cost. Some of the technologies that have taken up the industry by the storm include contactless technologies such as radio frequency identification, near-field communication, mobile wallets, smart cards, touchless check-in and robots. Adoption of these technologies has grown exponentially since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, as organisations were forced to transform business operations from physical to digital.Objective: The study objective was to explore factors affecting the adoption of contactless technologies in the supply chain and logistics industry. The study has adopted the technological, organisational and environmental (TOE) framework to explore the technological, organisational and environmental factors affecting the adoption of contactless technologies in the industry.Method: The study adopted the quantitative content analysis research design and systematic literature review method to explore factors affecting contactless technologies adoption in the supply chain and logistics industry. Furthermore, a literature matrix was developed and used as an instrument to explore the TOE factors affecting the adoption. After the collection of data, findings were presented and analysed.Conclusion: The results suggest that technical (cost, value and security), organisational (change and management) and environmental factors (customer demand) affect contactless technologies adoption in the supply chain and logistics industry. The study contributes to the body of knowledge of factors affecting the adoption of contactless technologies in the supply chain and logistics.

PurposeIndustry 4.0 has put forward a smart perspective on managing supply chain networks and their operations. The current manufacturing system is primarily data-driven. Industries are deploying new emerging technologies in their operations to build a competitive edge in the business environment; however, the true potential of smart manufacturing has not yet been fully unveiled. This research aims to extensively analyse emerging technologies and their interconnection with smart manufacturing in developing smarter supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThis research endeavours to establish a conceptual framework for a smart supply chain. A real case study on a smart factory is conducted to demonstrate the validity of this framework for building smarter supply chains. A comparative analysis is carried out between conventional and smart supply chains to ascertain the advantages of smart supply chains. In addition, a thorough investigation of the several factors needed to transition from smart to smarter supply chains is undertaken.FindingsThe integration of smart technology exemplifies the ability to improve the efficiency of supply chain operations. Research findings indicate that transitioning to a smart factory radically enhances productivity, quality assurance, data privacy and labour efficiency. The outcomes of this research will help academic and industrial sectors critically comprehend technological breakthroughs and their applications in smart supply chains.Originality/valueThis study highlights the implications of incorporating smart technologies into supply chain operations, specifically in smart purchasing, smart factory operations, smart warehousing and smart customer performance. A paradigm transition from conventional, smart to smarter supply chains offers a comprehensive perspective on the evolving dynamics in automation, optimisation and manufacturing technology domains, ultimately leading to the emergence of Industry 5.0.

Due to the dependency on crude oil, mitigating, greenhouse gas emissions, energy and food security, support for rural economic development and the effort for environmental sustainability, renewable energy sources become more and more important. This led to an increasing research on biomass-based supply chains in recent years. Conventional supply chains, i.e., the commodity flow including all the stakeholders from the supplier to the end customer, have been studied intensively in the past. Biomass-based supply chains, however, feature different characteristics and uncertainties that have to be considered. In this paper, we identify the differences between the two types of supply chains and elaborate the stakeholders involved in the supply chain process and the different planning tasks structured according to the functional areas. As several possible pathways from feedstocks to different end-products exist, we focus on bio-fuels as the final product. We conclude by reviewing the literature that deals with supply chain optimization using operations research (OR) models to present the relevant planning tasks in biomass-based supply chains.

Insights from hashtag #supplychain and Twitter Analytics: Considering Twitter and Twitter data for supply chain practice and research

Logistics is the backbone of trade because it integrates the supply chain for trade facilitation of all businesses including pharmaceuticals. The objective of this article is to review pharmaceutical ocean logistics trends and issues, and four Malaysian third-party logistics (3PL) research publications consisting of service quality, cost and service differentiation, integration and information system of freight-forwarding and container freight. The publication review is to ascertain if third-party logistics are potentially capable of supporting ocean pharma non-cold chain freight to pre-empt medicine shortages and identify challenges of the logistics supply chain. The research showed logistics service quality impacts customers’ satisfaction, low costs and service differentiation influence firms’ sustainable financial competitiveness, integration of depot and hauliers enhances national logistics performance, information system affects supply chain integration (SCI), and SCI affects operational and environmental performance. These studies involved third-party logistics service providers (LSP) along the supply chain which were freight-forwarding companies and their customers, and the container depots and hauliers. The review provides research evidence of logistics service quality potentially capable of meeting the requirements of conventional ocean-going non-cold chain pharma container freight as featured in professional logistics publications. Medicine shortages attributed to freight forwarders are unlikely noting their agility and robustness in the face of economic uncertainties. They are agile enough to manage factors internal and external to the firms. The research also provides suggestions to the SCI challenges confronting the conventional ocean container freight supply chain at the depot-haulier interface to forestall delays. This article reviews relate to research investigations of 3PL in Malaysia, a country sitting in the heart of Southeast Asia.

Contributors