This book presents a diverse set of decision-making methodologies to solve some of the most important decisions that most organizations face today. It is an excellent demonstration of some great challenges in our society in the area of sustainability. These great challenges, ranging from sustainability in logistics to the use of renewable energies, needs to be urgently addressed. Sustainability has become one of the most important topics in management and many organizations are taking big steps towards sustainability. Organizations are attempting to use cleaner production technologies and renewable energies sources, to improve health and safety issues within their industries and the products and services they offer. These points involve several important strategic and managerial decisions, highlighted in this book. The book can be used by decision-makers and policy-makers as exemplary guidelines to solve sustainability problems.

This book examines cross-chain control centers (4C), an ambitious concept in supply chain management and logistics that is intended to foster collaboration between different supply chains to increase efficiency. It provides an overview of the main results, insights, and other developments in the academic field of horizontal collaboration. Furthermore, it gives recommendations to governments, commercial companies, and academia on how to proceed with horizontal logistics collaboration in the years to come. To link research with practice, the book takes the Dutch project on cross-chain collaboration centers (4Cs) and identifies a typology of existing patterns for horizontal collaboration in supply chains. Finally, the book zooms in on the Netherlands as a case-study of intense public-private partnerships to develop 4C as a mature logistics value proposition. It provides an overview of the accomplishments in the government supported 4C projects and offers a critical reflection of why some more ambitious and structural solutions have not found solid ground yet. The book is of value to researchers and professionals in the supply chain domain.

This book was created in the spirit of learning from nature in the field of professional purchasing. It describes real-world purchasing problems faced by companies as well as individuals and presents natural hands-on solutions that apply scientific approaches. The book answers what the core of purchasing could be, the inner structure of it or in other words the natural way. Nature masters effectiveness based on immanent laws and ensures efficiency by best results for minimal invest. Especially in complex and ambiguous situations, purchasers benefit from this book by understanding the broader context with the help of recent scientific research. Focusing on the problems that purchasers face in managerial practice rather than oversimplified generalizations, the book features step-by-step explanations, allowing readers to find tailored solutions to address challenges in key purchasing areas. The book was written in collaboration and with the help of experts in purchasing and logistics, biology, law and economics, human resource development, media and sports, and merges perspectives from theory and practice to provide natural strategies for purchasers.

This book consolidates the current state of knowledge on implementing cooperating robot-based systems to increase the flexibility of manufacturing systems. It is based on the concrete experiences of experts, practitioners, and engineers in implementing cooperating robot systems for more flexible manufacturing systems. Thanks to the great variety of manufacturing systems that we had the opportunity to study, a remarkable collection of methods and tools has emerged. The aim of the book is to share this experience with academia and industry practitioners seeking to improve manufacturing practice. While there are various books on teaching principles for robotics, this book offers a unique opportunity to dive into the practical aspects of implementing complex real-world robotic applications. As it is used in this book, the term "cooperating robots" refers to robots that either cooperate with one another or with people. The book investigates various aspects of cooperation in the context of implementing flexible manufacturing systems. Accordingly, manufacturing systems are the main focus in the discussion on implementing such robotic systems. The book begins with a brief introduction to the concept of manufacturing systems, followed by a discussion of flexibility. Aspects of designing such systems, e.g. material flow, logistics, processing times, shop floor footprint, and design of flexible handling systems, are subsequently covered. In closing, the book addresses key issues in operating such systems, which concern e.g. decision-making, autonomy, cooperation, communication, task scheduling, motion generation, and distribution of control between different devices. Reviewing the state of the art and presenting the latest innovations, the book offers a valuable asset for a broad readership.

This book offers an introduction to structural dynamics, ripple effect and resilience in supply chain disruption risk management for larger audiences. In the management section, without relying heavily on mathematical derivations, the book offers state-of-the-art concepts and methods to tackle supply chain disruption risks and designing resilient supply chains in a simple, predictable format to make it easy to understand for students and professionals with both management and engineering background. In the technical section, the book constitutes structural dynamics control methods for supply chain management. Real-life problems are modelled and solved with the help of mathematical programming, discrete-event simulation, optimal control theory, and fuzzy logic. The book derives practical recommendations for management decision-making with disruption risk in the following areas: How to estimate the impact of possible disruptions on performance in the pro-active stage? How to generate efficient and effective stabilization and recovery policies? When does one failure trigger an adjacent set of failures? Which supply chain structures are particular sensitive to ripple effect? How to measure the disruption risks in the supply chain?

Blockchain Driven Supply Chains and Enterprise Information Systems examines initiatives for blockchain implementation in supply chain management and the integration of blockchain technology with existing enterprise management applications. The authors aim to establish common ground to provide solutions and best practices in the supply chain field, while tackling the challenges faced when integrating blockchain in supply chain policy. Chapters address both design and implementation aspects of supply chain platforms and enterprise information systems, and provide real-world use cases and examples from industry that address the impacts of using blockchain in the modern supply chain.

This book shows how digital transformation has the power to revolutionize the way procurement operates, and discusses how especially buyer decisions are empowered through artificial intelligence. Depending on a company's strategy all desired outcomes are possible, including doubling savings, innovation, sustainability, quality, speed, and halve the risk. Jumpstart to Digital Procurement is a hands-on guide on how companies can grasp the opportunities offered by digital transformation.

This book presents scheduling with a medium- and short-term focus, which makes it possible to capitalize on fleeting market opportunities while simultaneously working to reconcile economic and environmental priorities. It introduces a new mixed-integer approach to hierarchical discrete-time and continuous-time scheduling, combining aspects of production and recycling, forward and reverse logistics as well as emissions trading for multi-stage supply chain networks. Problem-specific variants of relax-and-fix heuristics and genetic algorithms are also proposed. Given its scope, the book provides a range of practical tools and new perspectives for researchers and professionals in the field of supply chain management.

The dominant role of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices in the retail industry today has created a strong need for collaboration between business and research communities for the development of robust theoretical frameworks and intelligent technological solutions towards providing direct managerial implications to the retail industry players. To this end, this book aims to highlight the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the retail industry, under the perspective of the changing consumer and business behavioural patterns, the reconfiguration of intra- and inter-organizational relationships and the evolving technological capabilities. Elaborating on the core ECR concepts, the book emphasizes the role of consumer behaviour research as the driving force for the configuration of the retail value chain processes. Along these lines, the application of the latest technological inventions to enthuse consumers through accurate targeting along with the identification of the potential of the new technologies, processes and strategies for transforming the supply chain constitute the main pillars of the book. Specifically, the book focuses on the emerging techniques and technologies for supply chain management and collaboration as well as on the emerging relationships and the electronic transformations governing multichannel retailing. It aims at supporting retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and third parties applying the latest technological inventions to transform the value chain. It also attempts to guide practitioners to effectively proceed in employing new technologies to ignite consumer enthusiasm. Similarly, the objective of this book is to help companies targetmore accurately consumer and shopper wishes with focused investments, in shorter time, and with more success. Finally, the book underlines the great potentials for new technologies and processes from a supply and demand side perspective.

This book summarizes the effect of COVID-19 on the global supply chain. Eminent researchers, practitioners, and professors discuss the challenges faced by supply chain providers and supply chain strategies related to various global, retail, fast moving consumer goods, humanitarian, pharmaceutical, and agricultural supply chains. This book also suggests the resilient approach adopted by supply chain organizations for quick recovery and re-establishing their networks. This book helps the readers explore the pandemic's impact on the supply chain and rebuilding the same using suitable approaches.

This book aims to provide the reader with an understanding of the concept of the circular economy, in relation to food supply chains. The current food supply chain system, based upon the linear supply chain model, is unquestionably unsustainable: make, use, dispose. The circular supply chain model, on the other hand, aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible, while regenerating products/materials at the end of their service life. In short: reduce, reuse, recycle. This book puts forwards the circular economy as an alternative to the traditional supply chain management models. The circular economy aims to minimise material, energy and environmental damage without restricting economic growth and social and technological progress. It involves transition to renewable energy sources, and it builds on economic, natural and social capital. This shortform monograph will appeal to academics working in the fields of supply chain logistics, operation management, agricultural management, and sustainability more broadly. Dr. Stella Despoudi is Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Aston University, UK and Adjunct Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at University of Western Macedonia, Greece. Prof. Uthayasankar Sivarajah is Head of School of Management and Professor of Technology Management and Circular Economy at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK. Dr Manoj Dora is Director of Collaborative Projects and Outreach at Brunel Business School, UK. Manoj's areas of specialisation are Sustainable Value Chain and Quality Management, with a focus on Lean Six Sigma in the agro-food sector.

This book addresses critical issues in today's logistics operations and supply chain management, with a special focus on sustainability. In dedicated chapters the authors address aspects concerning multimode logistics operations, reverse network configuration, forward and reverse supply chain integration, improvement of the production operations and management of the recovery activities, as well as carbon footprint reduction in transportation. Selected best practices from different countries and industries are presented to aid in the implementation of sustainable policies in private enterprises and at public-sector institutions. The book offers a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners who wish to deepen their expertise in the field of logistics operations and management with regard to sustainability issues. The book examines both qualitative and qualitative aspects of sustainable supply chain and logistics operations.

This textbook provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide for new public transport modelers. It includes an introduction to mathematical modeling, continuous and discrete optimization, numerical optimization, computational complexity analysis, metaheuristics, and multi-objective optimization. These tools help engineers and modelers to use better existing public transport models and also develop new models that can address future challenges. By reading this book, the reader will gain the ability to translate a future problem description into a mathematical model and solve it using an appropriate solution method. The textbook provides the knowledge needed to develop highly accurate mathematical models that can serve as decision support tools at the strategic, tactical, and operational planning levels of public transport services. Its detailed description of exact optimization methods, metaheuristics, bi-level, and multi-objective optimization approaches together with the detailed description of implementing these approaches in classic public transport problems with the use of open source tools is unique and will be highly useful to students and transport professionals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has vividly and dramatically demonstrated the importance of supply chains to the functioning of societies and our economies. The discussion in this timely book explores prominent issues concerning supply chain networks and labor. The readership is aimed to include students, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers, interested in the wide range of topics presented in these pages. Labor has a particular focus as the driver behind supply chains, whether associated with food products, life-saving medicines and supplies, or high tech products that make innovation possible, just to name a few. The impacts of policy interventions, in the form of wage bounds, and their ramifications, in terms of volume of attracted labor, product prices, product volumes, as well as profits, are explored. Profit-maximizing firms are considered (with relevant associated issues such as waste management in the case of the food sector, for example), but also non-profits, as in blood services, as well as humanitarian organizations engaged in disaster relief. The book is filled with many network figures, graphs, and tables with data, both input and output and includes an appendix that provides the foundations of the underlying mathematical methodologies used. The book offers strong evidence for the need to provide a holistic, system-wide perspective for the modeling, analysis, and solution of supply chain problems with the inclusion of the critical labor resources. A formalism using the prism of supply chain networks, which yields a graphic representation of supply chains, consisting of multiple stakeholders, is constructed. Models that capture the behaviors and interactions of single decision-makers as well as multiple decision-makers engaged in supply chain activities of production, transportation, storage, and distribution, are considered. The models capture many realistic constraints faced by firms today, as they seek to produce and deliver products, while dealing with competition, various constraints on labor, a variety of disruptions, labor shortages, challenges associated with proper wage-determination, plus the computation of optimal investments in labor productivity subject to budget constraints. The book provides prescriptive suggestions in terms of how to ameliorate negative impacts of labor disruptions and demonstrate benefits of appropriate wage determination.

Gain a comprehensive insight into the ideas and approaches to purchasing and procurement Now in its 12th edition, Procurement Principles and Management in the Digital Age by Baily, Farmer, Crocker and Jessop has been essential reading for practitioners and students of purchasing, procurement and supply chain management for nearly 50 years. The text has been updated to cover the continuous developments taking place in this field, and carefully balances emerging philosophies with proven and established thinking and practice in the profession. This new edition covers various existing and future concerns in procurement and supply chain such as digitalisation, sustainability and resilience. This ever-popular title offers: * relevant case studies and research boxes that explore the topics introduced in the chapter in detail * latest global examples of best practice in many key areas of purchasing and procurement * expanded treatment of key topics, including supplier diversity, supplier relationship management, sustainability, retail procurement and category management * additional material on Industry 4.0 elements such as e-procurement, Blockchain, the Internet of Things, Big Data, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots and analytics * post-Brexit implications on public sector procurement * long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on procurement and supply chain * increased focus on social value strategies and approaches, contract management, procurement of consultancy and supply chain resilience approaches. About the authors: Peter Baily was Senior Lecturer at the Polytechnic of Wales and chief examiner for Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS). David Farmer was Professor of Management Studies at Henley Management College. Barry Crocker is former Senior Lecturer at Salford University and former assistant examiner for CIPS. David Jessop is Emeritus Professor at University of South Wales and a Fellow of the CIPS. Pearson, the world's learning company

This book explores total revenue management (TRM), an emerging concept in revenue management that incorporates existing principles and tools of revenue management across all profit streams. It is a professional's guide to using TRM in an optimal and innovative manner to gain competitive advantage. Readers will gain comprehensive insights into the strategies, tools and principles of TRM including existing and emerging revenue streams across the value chain. The author offers a transparent and holistic explanation of pricing strategies, segmentation methods and distribution principles which enable implementation of TRM in organizations.

This book provides an insight of relevant case studies and updated practices in "PharmaceuticalSupply Chains" (PharmSC) while addressing the most relevant topics within the COST Action "Medicines Shortages" (CA15105).The volume focuses on the most recent developments in the design, planning and scheduling ofPharmSC, broadening from the suppliers' selection to the impact on patients and healthcaresystems, addressing uncertainty and risk mitigation, and computational issues. It is directed at MSc/PhD students and young researchers (Post-Docs) in Pharmaceutics/Pharmaceutical sciences, Engineering fields, Economics/Management, as well as pharmaceutical decision makers, managers, and practitioners, and advanced readers demanding a fresh approach to decision making for PharmSC. The contributed chapters are associated with the homonymous COST Training Schools (TS), and the book creates a better understanding of the Action "Medicines Shortages" challenges and opportunities.

This book examines the managerial issues surrounding the creation and implementation of distribution strategies in the broader context of logistics management. Author Martin Christopher analyzes the strategic importance of the distribution function and the problems it involves, and presents practical guidance for the manager responsible for it. Using a total distribution framework, he reviews each aspect of the distribution process and explains how to design and implement appropriate systems. His analysis is supported throughout by diagrams, checklists, and case studies. Drawing upon the experiences of practicing managers in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia, he concludes that although logistics problems are the same the world over, differences in language, culture, and management style have a substantial impact on the solutions developed.

This book sets out to explain blockchain for the non-technical expert, to decipher the dense technicalities that dominate the field and to present the opportunities for busy professionals using practical applications and case studies. Presented in a clear and structured way and with documented real-world cases, the book is a practical reference guide that can be used across different industries. It offers both a constructive and critical review of the pain points blockchain is facing today, illustrates the pitfalls as well as the opportunities for business and describes the steps towards overcoming them. It also aims to provide a unique view of both the intersection and synergy of blockchain with other emerging technologies and the wider digital ecosystem, as we see increasingly that blockchain alone won't be able to deliver business solutions. Most important, the book identifies trends and a path for the future of blockchain and its impact on society as a whole. The book is written for business audiences across all sectors. It is not a technical guide to blockchain, but it enables businesspeople to be better informed and prepared to plan ahead and develop strategies using blockchain.

This edition of Supply Chain Management (SCM) was revised to appeal to a wider readership besides students taking SCM courses. Global supply chain managers and researchers in the fields of SCM and operations strategy would find it a useful reference. Rather than discuss the technical issues of SCM, the book focuses on the strategic perspectives and approaches of SCM. Students learn to identify SCM issues from the top management's perspective. The book also presents real-world managerial problems and incorporates case studies for connecting theories with practices. By exploring the fundamental issues of SCM, managers acquire a new learning perspective that enables them to solve problems in a more sustainable and innovative manner rather than use short-term, ad hoc solutions. Finally, it distils various theoretical concepts to allow researchers to observe real SCM issues in a managerial context which allows for practical, meaningful and impactful research to be carried out.

Best Practice in Inventory Management 3E offers a simple, entirely jargon-free and yet comprehensive introduction to key aspects of inventory management. Good management of inventory enables companies to improve their customer service, cash flow and profitability. This text outlines the basic techniques, how and where to apply them, and provides advice to ensure they work to provide the desired effect in practice.

With an unrivalled balance between qualitative and quantitative aspects of inventory control, experienced consultant Tony Wild portrays the many ways in which stock management is more nuanced than simple "number crunching" and mathematical modelling.

This long-awaited new edition has been substantially and thoroughly updated.

The product of decades of experience and expertise in the field, Best Practice in Inventory Management 3E provides students and professionals, even those with no prior experience in the area, an unbiased and honest picture of what it takes to effectively manage stocks in a firm.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1 THE BASIS OF INVENTORY CONTROL

1.A The role of inventory management

1.B Objectives for inventory control

1.C Profit through inventory management

1.D Reasons for the current stock

2 CUSTOMER SERVICE

2.A Customer Relations

2.B Measuring availability

2.C Demand management

2.D Consuming forecast demand and supply lead time

3 SHAPING INVENTORY

3.A Using Pareto Analysis for control

3.B ABC Analysis

3.C Stock cover

3.D Pareto stock balance

　

4 PRACTICAL METHODS FOR REDUCING STOCKHOLDING

4.A Approach to Inventory Reduction

4.B The Reduction Project

4 C Obsolete and Excess Stock

5 MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

5.A Where stock control fits into the organisation

5.B Responsibilities and targets

5.C Skills and Systems

5.D Inventory valuation

6 LEAN SUPPLY

6.A Lean Supply Philosophy

6.B Lean Principles

6.C Implementing lean

6.D Operational benefits of Lean Supply

6.E Developing Lean Operations

7 SAFETY STOCKS

7.A Learning from History

7.B Normal demand patterns

7.C Evaluating safety stocks

8 SETTING THE RIGHT STOCK LEVELS

8.A Simple Assessment of Review Levels

8.B Managing Lead Times

8.C Supplier Delivery frequency effects

8.D Target stock levels

9 PROCUREMENT

9.A The Role of Supply Chain Procurement

9.B Supply partnerships

9.C Single Sourcing

9.D Supply Partnerships

9.E Vendor Appraisal

9.F Pricing Methods

10 DELIVERY QUANTITIES

10.A Supply and Suppliers

10.B Organising Repetitive Supply

10.C Order types

10.D Order quantities

10.E Delivery Quantities

10.F Scheduling supply

10.G Supply Co-ordination

10.H Purchasing Processes

11 FORECASTING DEMAND

11.A Options for assessing demand

11.B Causes of forecasting inaccuracy

11.C Methods of improving forecasting

12 HISTORICAL FORECASTING TECHNIQUES

12.A Basic Forecasting Techniques

12.B Moving Average

12.C Exponentially Weighted Averages

12.D Improved Values for Mean Absolute Deviation

12.E Choosing the Best Forecast - Focus Forecasting

13 IMPROVED FORECASTING METHODS

13.A More Forecasting Tools

13.B Forecasting for seasonal sales

14 DEPENDENT DEMAND

14.A Avoiding uncertainty

14.B Material requirements planning

14.C Master planning

15 SUPPLY CHAIN INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

15.A The basis of the lean supply chain

15.B Coordination

15.C Supply Chain Operations

15.D Replenishment Techniques

16 MEETING THE CHALLENGES

16.A Review

16.B Recipe for success

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

The book provides a holistic and practical approach to lean management throughout the business value chain. The lean management framework and tools demonstrate the optimal design and use of methods, tools and principles for companies and organisations. The author describes comprehensively how lean management enables companies to concentrate on value-adding activities and processes to achieve a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. A wealth of best practices, industry examples and case studies are used to reveal the diversity and opportunities of lean management methodologies, methods and principles. Moreover, the book shows how lean management principles are ultimately applied in industries like automotive, healthcare, education and services industries.

Management of supply chains has been evolving rapidly over the last few years due to the inception of Industry 4.0, where businesses adopt automation technologies and data exchanges leading to dynamic and interconnected supply chain systems. Emphasizing on analytical approaches such as predictive and prescriptive modeling, this book presents state-of-the-art original research work dealing with advanced analytical models for the design, planning, and operation of the supply chain to provide faster and smarter decisions in the era of digitization. In particular, the book integrates machine learning and operations research models for faster and smarter decisions, presents prescriptive analytics models for strategic, tactical, and operational decision making in the supply chain, and addresses recent challenges such as sustainability in the supply chain, supply chain visibility, and supply chain digitalization. Key concepts are illustrated using real-life case studies, making the book a valuable reference for researchers, technical professionals, and students.

This book explores the relationship between the Panama Canal and the evolution of the global economy. It details the role the Canal played in America's ascendancy and the development of modern globalization. Then, it explores how the Panamanian people have brought the Panama Canal into the 21st Century, making the nation an ever-bigger player in multi-modal transport and international trade. It concludes with a deep dive into the future of globalization and what it ultimately means for the Canal.

This edited collection collates the most up-to-date and important research within the area of operations and logistics management. Boasting the combined expertise of one of the largest logistics and operations management academic teams in Europe, it provides both depth and diversity in a balanced portfolio. The first two sections are concerned with key contemporary issues in the subject area, providing a current and up-to-date overview of the field. Section three presents a selection of important cross-cutting themes that impinge upon and inform teaching, research and practice, while the final section includes a celebration of research highlights and showcases cutting-edge applications from leaders in the field. Invaluable to students, researchers and academics alike, this book is compulsory reading for those active within operations and logistics research.