Next-generation supply chains revolve around smart manufacturing processes and personalized customization of products and services. For businesses to stay relevant in the market today, prioritizing customer satisfaction with speed and great service has become crucial. Industry 4.0 and Hyper-Customized Smart Manufacturing Supply Chains is an assemblage of innovative research ideas surrounding the methods of modern smart manufacturing technologies and digital supply chain management in the era of Industry 4.0. While highlighting topics including blockchain diffusion, logistics system, and data analytics, this book is ideally designed for industry professionals, researchers, managers, and students seeking current research on the role of technology in business production.

Making Sense of Managerial Economics provides students with a foundational knowledge base in managerial economics, the study of how managers can leverage economics in a way that best reaches their goals by optimizing resources. Readers develop a higher level of understanding of microeconomic principles. The text also demonstrates how the mathematical assumptions presented in the study of microeconomics can be attained in the real world. Opening chapters discuss marginal analysis and optimal decision-making, linear regression and statistical methods, and the laws of supply and demand. Students learn how to perform the required math to institute price ceilings and floors, key facts about consumer behavior, and the traits of social economic efficiency. Additional topics include organizing for production, marketing in the competitive environment, output and associated costs, and the regulation and deregulation of competition. Closing chapters address risk and uncertainty, capital, and pricing. A comprehensive yet accessible resource, Making Sense of Managerial Economics is well suited for introductory courses in managerial economics.

Assessing vendors is a tricky process. Large and regulated organizations are forced to demonstrate due diligence in vendor assessment, but often do not know how to do this. This results in a great deal of busywork being required by both the vendors and the organizations. Smaller organizations don't know what to look for and, as a result, often wind up selecting based on price instead of value. This results in service failures and vendors that just milk their customers for as long as they can. "

Assessing Vendors "shows you how to walk the line between under- and over-assessing, so decisions can be made on sufficient data without wasting time, digging too deeply, or making decisions too quickly. This hands-on guide will show you how to use an iterative approach to vendor analysis, so you can rapidly filter out the vendors that are clear failures and then select likely winners. It will then show you how to do progressively deeper dives into the likely winners so you can select a preferred vendor. Finally, you will learn how to negotiate with your preferred vendor to get reasonable prices and services. Provides an iterative approach to vendor assessment, showing you how to make decisions on sufficient data without wasting time Includes checklists to help you navigate the decision-making process, while considering all the important factors needed to make a sound decision Helps you understand and evaluate vendors based on key concepts such as performance criteria, functional testing, production, and price
Provides an iterative approach to vendor assessment, showing you how to make decisions on sufficient data without wasting time Includes checklists to help you navigate the decision-making process, while considering all the important factors needed to make a sound decision Helps you understand and evaluate vendors based on key concepts such as performance criteria, functional testing, production, and price

Marketing Decision Making and the Management of Pricing: Successful Business Tools provides the latest research studies, market analysis, and best practices utilised in emerging markets to gain competitive advantage and market leadership. This reference source is useful for corporate managers, undergraduate and graduate students, and research scholars intending to increase their knowledge on pricing strategy and profit management. This book is part of the Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services series collection.

The manufacture and sale of counterfeit products is a widespread problem that affects a wide range of industries - from the pharmaceutical industry, electronics, and electrical equipment industry, clothing, footwear, to food, cosmetics, and luxury products industries. Counterfeiting and Fraud in Supply Chains explains the reasons behind the popularity of counterfeiting and fraud among both consumers and companies, a systematic and holistic overview and critical examination of the situations that have caused an increasing trend of those criminal activities. For all businesses, counterfeiting causes serious economic and social impact and can even be dangerous, posing health, privacy, and safety risks ranging from mild to life-threatening. Covering topics from the harmful effects of counterfeiting related to the environment, trade, foreign investment, employment, innovation, and criminality, Counterfeiting and Fraud in Supply Chains documents the unregulated production and the use of dangerous machinery and materials to attain a high profit margin. Counterfeiting and Fraud in Supply Chains boosts the existing knowledge about the profoundly multi-faceted dimension of the counterfeiting market, comprising the work of a team of theorists and practitioners who characterize a multidisciplinary approach to counterfeiting and fraud.

Evaluating the role of logistics and supply chain management skills or applications is necessary for the success of any organization or business. As market competition becomes more aggressive, it is crucial to evaluate ways in which a business can maintain a strategic edge over competitors. The Handbook of Research on Information Management for Effective Logistics and Supply Chains highlights strategies, tools, and skills necessary for supply management within organizations and companies. Featuring best practices and empirical research within the field, this handbook is a critical reference source for scholars, practitioners, researchers, information systems and telecommunication specialists, and managers.

In recent years, due to the increasingly aggressive market competition, it is essential to evaluate the role of logistics and supply chain management skills and applications for the success of any organization or business. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the fragility of the sustainability of economic organization, production, and supply chains globally. Cases on Supply Chain Management and Lessons Learned From COVID-19 collects compelling case studies, theoretical and empirical research, experiences, and applications on numerous aspects of logistics and supply chain management. It not only focuses on industry and digital transformation and the critical nature of organizational agility, but also presents different methods, techniques, models, and competitive advantage prospects, providing an extremely relevant and current view of the subject matter. Covering topics such as green supply chain management, organizational performance, and supply chain disruptions, this book is the ideal reference source for managers, supply chain specialists, entrepreneurs, business professionals, consultants, researchers, academicians, educators, and students.

Globalization has made both operations and supply chains more complex than ever before. Inputs are sourced from many locations all over the world to serve different needs and market segments throughout the planet, making it a global challenge that necessitates a global strategic response. Managing Operations Throughout Global Supply Chains is a crucial academic resource that discusses concepts, methodologies, and applications of emerging techniques for operations and supply chain management processes that promote cost efficiency. While highlighting topics such as global operations, resource planning, and business forecasting, this publication explores how organizations manage the procurement of all necessary resources at every stage of the production cycle from the original source to the final consumers. This book is ideally designed for researchers, academicians, practitioners, professional organizations, policymakers, and government officials.

Supply chain management in the construction industry has passed through different eras - yet throughout, the construction industry has experienced fragmentation, late project delivery and other Gordian Knots due to its slow adoption of innovative modern technologies and principles in the supply chain processes. Addressing the need to harmonise the construction supply chain and establish the industry as the lynchpin of the economy, Construction Supply Chain Management in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era acts as a roadmap, re-aligning the activities of the construction supply chain stakeholders with the principles and tenets of Industry 4.0. Gathering evidence on both the benefits and disruptive potentials within the current construction supply chain management domain, this collection determines the acceptable practice and standard for regulatory bodies and managers, appealing also to researchers as it expands the frontiers of knowledge in the fourth industrial era.

Technological advancements in recent years have led to significant developments within a variety of business applications. In particular, data-driven research provides ample opportunity for enterprise growth, if utilized efficiently. Supply Chain Management in the Big Data Era is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly material on the implementation of big data analytics for improved operations and supply chain processes. Highlighting emerging strategies from different industry perspectives, this book is ideally designed for managers, professionals, practitioners, and students interested in the most recent research on supply chain innovations.

Performance evaluation models are viewed as management tools enabling strategic change. One of their features is to represent several viewpoints regarding supply chain organisation (financial, strategy, operations, etc.) hence to enable an analysis in time and space. This book presents the different models of supply chain performance evaluation for global supply chains. It describes why it is necessary to evaluate global performance both to assess the contribution of the supply chain to achieve the goals of creating value throughout the chain and secondly to meet customer requirements in terms of time, responsiveness and reliability. The book provides an understanding of how evaluation model chosen according to criteria including the level of maturity of the organization, the level of decision making and the level of value creation desired.The originality of the book is to position the evaluation of the performance for the whole chain from the supplier of the supplier to the customer of the customer. The approach is to describe the different models with a reading grid including value creation, level of maturity and levels of decision making. This book allows managers to understand how to implement the evaluation of supply chain performance. An example of application is given to illustrate the implementation of a performance model.

Thanks to the development of internet and network-based information and communication systems, virtually every product and service produced today has a supply chain that extends around the globe. For the last twenty-five years, companies such as Wal-Mart, Dell, and Toyota have enjoyed strong competitive advantages in their respective markets as a result of their world-class supply chains. As the supply chain increasingly lengthens, managers at all levels of the organization must understand the unique challenges of working with suppliers and customers located around the world - and the opportunities that can build new competitive advantages. This book will introduce readers at all levels of experience to cutting-edge methods and strategies for global sourcing and global distribution through the discussion of current research and case study vignettes from companies in every corner of the world.

The Sixth Edition of Supply Chain Logistics Management presents Logistics in the context of integration within a firm's Supply Chain Strategy and Operations. The framework of Supply Chain Management is initially presented by creating a foundation for in-depth study of the five logistics operational components in Part Two. Challenges and strategies related to design and operational integration of logistics within a global supply chain are discussed in Part Three. Part Four focuses on administrative challenges related to cross organizational collaboration, performance measurement, and concludes with the challenges of managing risk and achieving sustainability. An essential feature of the overall presentation is the integration of topical materials and examples into the Supply Chain Logistics value creation process. Text materials are supported by study and challenge questions as well as contemporary cases. The presentation integrates the discussion of information technology throughout. Illustrations and examples highlight how firms deal with operational challenges and use logistics performance to gain competitive advantage.

The global market of today is characterised by fierce competition which has heightened customer expectations and forced business enterprises to invest in, and focus attention on, their supply chains. This, together with continuing advances in information and communication technology, has motivated the continuous evolution of the supply chain and of the techniques to manage it effectively. In South Africa, the public sector is confronted with supply chain skill and capacity shortages. Hence there is a need for continuous learning and development of supply chain staff to maintain a feasible fit between government institutions' objectives, skills and resources and a changing procurement environment. Public procurement and supply chain management will help to accelerate much-needed transformation in the public sector in this regard. Public procurement and supply chain management provides new ideas, concepts, case studies and practical experiences regarding public sector supply chains. Public procurement and supply chain management will serve as a valuable resource for public procurement learners, government officials, academics, researchers, consultants, students and other concerned parties with interest in public procurement and supply chain management.

Professionals in multinational companies may face several challenges related to the multi-linguistic, multi-faceted aspects of supply chain management in developing and developed economies. Under-developed infrastructures, archaic technology and lack of knowledge of indigenous supply chain management systems have hampered the growth of markets and indigenous businesses in emerging economies. Cases on Supply Chain and Distribution Management: Issues and Principles introduces readers to a wide selection of case studies covering a multitude of supply chains in different economies of the world and examines major issues related to supply chain management. Concerned with the complete management of the flow of goods, information, and finances, the discipline of supply chain management merits an in-depth analysis. This book presents the latest knowledge on different types of supply chains that exist within the world business environment and acts as catalyst for incumbent global corporations to understand and work around inefficient supply chains, particularly in emerging economies.

This book serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the theories and applications in managing the Asian fashion supply chain, presenting both quantitative and exploratory studies. Providing academicians and practitioners insights into the latest developments and models, it also offers diverse perspectives on areas like strategic sourcing, quick response strategies, and other essential parts of the supply chain.

From modest beginnings in the early 1990's, a reform movement in the regulation of public procurement has mushroomed into a global imperative. Two fundamental values of international free trade policy--value for money and the deterrence of corruption--have brought intense scrutiny to bear on public procurement practices in nearly every country. Now international standards (notably those of the WTO and the EU) must be met if a trading nation is to take its place in the global markets. This collection of essays offers fifteen distinct views on the current status and trends in public procurement and its various aspects. From general discussion of setup, overcoming obstacles, ensuring transparency, and compliance with international rules to specific issues raised in economies as diverse as Kosovo, China, and the United States, "Public Procurement: The Continuing Revolution provides a great wealth of insight and information. Although the emphasis throughout is on legal issues, the contributors include not only lawyers but also economists and specialists in purchasing practice. In addition, this is the first book to note the relatively recent trend, in developed countries, toward a less prescriptive, more flexible approach to regulation in which a degree of transparency is sacrificed. The question of how this trend will affect international procurement regimes is perhaps the most viral and interesting aspect of current theory and practice in the field. "Public Procurement: The Continuing Revolution is of inestimable value not only to public procurement specialists, whatever their profession, but to a much wider audience who will recognise the decisive influence of this important economicactivity on the entire area embracing trade and even international relations. Most of these essays were originally presented as papers at an international conference hosted by the Public Procurement Research Group at the University of Nottingham in September 2001.

This book provides both a broad overview of the forecasting process, covering technological and human aspects alike, and deep insights into algorithms and platform functionalities in the IBP toolbox required to maximize forecast accuracy. Rich in technical and business explanations, it addresses short-, medium- and long-term forecasting processes using functionalities available in demand planning and demand sensing. There are also several theoretical concepts underpinning the algorithms discussed; these are explained with numerical examples to help demystify the IBP forecasting toolbox. Beyond standard procedures, the book also discusses custom approaches (e.g. new segmentation criteria, new outlier detection and correction methods) and new methods (e.g. the use of Markov chains for forecasting sporadic demands), etc. It subsequently benchmarks common practices using these innovative approaches and discusses the results. As measurement is an important precondition for improvement, an entire chapter is devoted to discussing process improvement and value using the Six Sigma methodology. In closing, the book provides several useful tips and tricks that should come in handy during project implementation.