Inventory Management in Multi-Echelon Networks presents methods to plan inventory in distribution networks. By holistically looking at the supply chain, it shows how safety stocks across all echelons can be optimized if inventory of all levels is taken into consideration. The gap between the existence of advanced inventory planning methods and their low penetration in the industry was the motivation for this book. Christopher Grob develops essential algorithms that companies can use for network inventory planning and highlights achievable implementation benefits. The work of the author was inspired by the needs of an after sales supply chain of a large automotive company. This company supplies customers all over the world with spare parts and operates a distribution network with more than 100 warehouses. This supply chain faces two particular challenges: demand is highly uncertain and customers expect a high service level. About the Author Christopher Grob works in after sales supply chain management at a major German automotive company. He is responsible for the functional development of inventory planning systems for the spare parts business. He is an expert in the field of inventory management.

Supply chain professionals: master pioneering techniques for integrating demand and supply, and create demand forecasts that are far more accurate and useful! In Demand and Supply Integration, Dr. Mark Moon presents the specific design characteristics of a world-class demand forecasting management process, showing how to effectively integrate demand forecasting within a comprehensive Demand and Supply Integration (DSI) process. Writing for supply chain professionals in any business, government agency, or military procurement organization, Moon explains what DSI is, how it differs from approaches such as S&OP, and how to recognize the symptoms of failures to sufficiently integrate demand and supply. He outlines the key characteristics of successful DSI implementations, shows how to approach Demand Forecasting as a management process, and guides you through understanding, selecting, and applying the best available qualitative and quantitative forecasting techniques. You'll learn how to thoroughly reflect market intelligence in your forecasts; measure your forecasting performance; implement state-of-the-art demand forecasting systems; manage Demand Reviews, and much more.

This book provides a detailed study of the Thai rubber industry and its utilisation of renewable resources, focussing on the use of open source software in building supply chain models. By describing elements that the supply chain is composed of and relating this to Thailand's rubber industry, the authors then outline the construction of a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model and use open source software to model renewable resources in this particular supply chain. Emphasis is placed on the way that modelling can aid the important decision-making required in the exploitation of natural resources. By taking a hands-on approach and offering a valuable guide for readers, this book not only appeals to academics in the fields of industrial engineering, operations, logistics and supply chain management, but also to practitioners, policy-makers and associations involved in the rubber industry.

The maintenance spare parts business is in turmoil. There have been fundamental changes in the sale, distribution, and storage of spare parts needed to maintain machinery and other physical assets. The key to uptime in manufacturing is managing risk, and Surviving the Spare Parts Crisis: Maintenance Storeroom and Inventory Control by Joel Levitt describes how to evaluate risk in the inventory. Levitt shares knowledge he has gained over more than 30 years of consulting companies and providing training to professionals who are facing problems with their spare parts inventory. His latest book shows how the maintenance department can provide better support to purchasing agents and buyers. It provides dozens of ideas to properly reduce inventory, reduce usage, and save money in parts, all while maintaining service levels. This text is the only one available that not only covers the conventional wisdom, but also deals with the new realities of today's market space. This is an ideal resource for maintenance managers, planners, and engineers; parts specialists; supply chain managers; and anyone involved in purchasing. Joel Levitt is known worldwide as a leading educator in maintenance management. He has trained more than 17,000 maintenance professionals from thousands of organizations in 25 countries. He has more than 30 years of experience in many facets of maintenance. Since 1980, he has been president of Springfield Resources, a management/consulting firm servicing clients on a wide range of maintenance issues. Levitt is a frequent speaker at maintenance and engineering conferences, has published dozens of articles on the subject, as well as a number of successful books, including The Complete Guide to Preventive and Predictive Maintenance;The Handbook of Maintenance Management;Lean Maintenance; Managing Factory Maintenance: and Managing Maintenance Shutdowns and Outages. What Are We Really Doing? Models of Inventory Modern Production Gives Us the Tools for Maintenance Planning Perspectives on Storerooms How Well Do You Know Your Current Stores Operation? Spare Parts Inventory and Risk Management What the Storeroom Needs to Know About Maintenance The Big Picture: Where the Maintenance Warehouse Fits Storeroom Management Computerization The Physical Storeroom The Economic Storeroom SIC (Statistic Inventory Control Dealing with the Part Itself Parts as a Business: E-MRO Parts: Replace-Rebuild-Remanufacture-Used Metrics and KPIs for the Maintenance Warehouse Bright Future for the Spares Business

This book investigates how the Blockchain Technology (BCT) for Supply Chain Finance (SCF) programs allows businesses to come together in partnerships and accelerate cash flows throughout the supply chain. BCT promises to change the way individuals and corporations exchange value and information over the Internet, and is perfectly positioned to enable new levels of collaboration among the supply chain actors. The book reveals new opportunities stemming from the application of BCT to SCF financing solutions, particularly reverse factoring - or approved payables financing. To do so, it first identifies the principal barriers and pain points in delivering financing solutions. Then, a possible blockchain-driven supply chain model is defined. Using this framework, the book subsequently discusses relevant use cases for the technology, which could open up new opportunities in the SCF space. It demonstrates that blockchain and distributed ledgers technologies could deliver substantial benefits for all parties involved in SCF transactions, promising to expedite the processes and lower the overall costs of financing programs. Industry giants such as IBM, Maersk, China-based Dianrong and FnConn (a Foxconn subsidiary) are currently working to digitize the global, cross-border supply chain using blockchain technology, and will likely soon create blockchain platforms for supply chain finance. These solutions aim to reduce complexity and make data sharing more secure, accurate and efficient. This book offers a highly topical resource for stakeholders across the entire supply chain, helping them prepare for the upcoming technological revolution.

Sharing accurate and timely supply and demand information throughout a supply chain can yield significant performance improvements to all members of the supply chain. Despite the benefits, many firms are reluctant to share information with their supply chain partners due to an unequal distribution of risks, costs, and benefits among the partners. Thus, incentive mechanisms must be in place to induce communication, cooperation, and collaboration among all members of a supply chain. The issue of Information exchange/sharing has been examined by various researchers over the last 15-20 years. However, there is no research book that compiles various approaches, analyses, key implications, as well as future development of this area. This book will serve as a handbook for researchers who are interested in learning the state of the art of the line of research in this area and explore open research topics in this area. Contributors, all leading researchers, have committed to delivering 18 chapters, broken into four distinct sections covering the Value of Information Sharing, Contracting and Information, Information Signaling, and Incentives for Information Sharing.

Strategic Operations Management, 4th Edition, shows how vital it is to have world-class operations management in any organisation. In the past, where organisations tended to be more hierarchical than today, the words, "strategy" and "operations" were almost mutually exclusive. In today's highly competitive environment, though, strategic operations capabilities must be in place for organisations to provide goods and services that meet and exceed customer requirements. Key issues such as cost, speed, quality, flexibility and constant innovation are all part of strategic operations. However, achieving such capabilities does not come by chance - instead a range of factors need to be put in place. This new edition pays equal attention to manufacturing and service sectors. It includes numerous references to, and discusses, major changes taking place in the business world, including 3-D printing; virtual organisations; Cloud - Big Data and the Internet of Things; Servitization, global markets, ongoing innovation and managing within complex supply networks. Cases are included from a range of settings across the globe. Students taking MBA, MSc and MBM classes on operations management, advanced operations management, and strategic operations management will find this textbook fulfills all their requirements whilst advanced undergraduate classes in these areas will also find the book an essential read.

This book describes the fundamentals of Supply Chain Management in clear and concise terms. It explains why in the near future real competition is going to be between supply chains and what the consequences will be. Managers and decision-makers will be able to build on their business's competitive advantage with the essentials provided in this work. The focus here is upon what you really need to know in order to optimally manage your processes in procurement, manufacturing, warehousing and logistics. In addition to a wealth of illustrations and examples, valuable suggestions for further expansive reading are included. Essential insights are provided into how to analyse and evaluate the supply chain, based upon key aspects from research and practice, which helps readers to initiate their own optimisation processes.

An in-depth, eye-opening look at Purchasing in the 21st Century.

This invaluable resource demonstrates how to improve purchasing operations through supplier scheduling and the integration of purchasing with other initiatives such as Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), Just-in-Time (JIT), and Total Quality Management (TQM). Along with new material on emerging technologies, vendor managed inventory, and supply chain management, seasoned consultant John E. Schorr offers a solid framework for bettering purchasing systems through a rigorous evaluation of current business structures. Comprehensive and completely up-to-date, Purchasing in the 21st Century, Second Edition provides invaluable insight and advice on:

• Implementing accurate supplier scheduling
• Using MRP II/JIT/TQM to dramatically increase performance of on-time deliveries, to decrease lead times, reduce lot sizes, and achieve an overall cost reduction of purchased materials
• Employing synchronized deliveries in conjunction with a Kanban system
• Selecting the best performance measurements for suppliers.

Filled with helpful examples and case studies of such leading companies as Steelcase and Corning Glass, this is must reading for anyone involved in creating, implementing, and improving purchasing operations.

In order to outperform the competition today, companies must be like finely tuned machines, composed of quality parts that work together both seamlessly and in unison. Until recently, and for most organizations, this wasn't the case when it came to two crucial components: buyers and suppliers. However, with growing attempts to improve operations across the board, this once adversarial relationship is evolving into a more cohesive partnership. In this comprehensive resource, now revised and expanded, author John E. Schorr takes an in-depth look at this important change in perspective, explores techniques currently being implemented to improve performance, and focuses on what's around the corner for Purchasing in the 21st Century.

In the past, buyers and suppliers operated with different sets of numbers, different priorities, and different agendas, resulting in ongoing conflicts, poor service levels, and, perhaps, most obviously, a concerted disadvantage in the marketplace. Realizing that purchasing can be key to seeing significant improvements in operations and competitive capabilities, companies have begun to leverage the role of purchasing to achieve improvements in supplier quality, product delivery, and new product development.

Purchasing in the 21st Century, Second Edition offers practical information on improving purchasing operations. With complete coverage of the tools and techniques needed, the book illustrates how to implement supplier scheduling, as well as carry out purchasing in Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), Just-in-Time (JIT), and Total Quality Management (TQM) environments. It also provides essential details on supply chain management and vendor managed inventory, two new concepts being used in purchasing departments around the country.

Perhaps, most significantly, Purchasing in the 21st Century, Second Edition helps you create a sound purchasing operation with a solid framework that includes a rigorous evaluation of current systems. You'll learn to coordinate with your suppliers' production schedules, ensure supplier quality assurance, reduce freight costs, and effectively use electronic data interchange and the Internet. To illustrate how others have altered and refined their purchasing approach, you'll find detailed case studies of such prominent companies as Steelcase and Corning Glass.

Purchasing in the 21st Century, Second Edition gives purchasing executives and their counterparts across the company state-of-the-art guidelines for creating and effectively managing their purchasing operation. A timely examination, this is essential reading for anyone involved in the purchasing process.

For students who want to advance their understanding of company logistics and supply chains, the author examines how a number of firms in a supply chain work together to create a flow of products and services that satisfies end customers, whilst enabling all the manufacturing and service companies involved to grow profitably.

Including the most recent concepts and theoretical advances to emerge from the field of logistics and supply chain management, this text informs and assists its readers with the aid of case studies and accompanying questions, diagrams, photos and an accompanying website at www.sagepub.co.uk/sadler.

This book provides a step-by-step guide to implementing lean at SMEs using an approach that has been tested and fine-tuned at over a hundred organizations across India, South East Asia and the Middle East. The book approaches Lean through an implementation project cycle flow and enables the reader to understand the imperative for Lean, how to diagnose current operations, how to plan and deploy Lean and shows a path for long-term sustenance. Diverse situations such as meeting the demand fluctuations, designing a facility, or improving profit margin etc. are included in the case studies from multiple sectors, to ensure that every reader finds a situation similar to their organizational situation. While the publicly available literature on lean offers a large collection of tools and techniques, given each organization's unique context, the choice of the right sequence of tools differ. The book offers guidelines in terms of which solutions work in which context, backed by real-cases, which is a big help to the resource constrained SMEs. This book is an equally good resource for the organizations that have already implemented lean, as it provides realistic pointers about sustaining, tackling supply chain uncertainties and going beyond Lean by integrating emerging technologies and management principles. It is an excellent resource for students and researchers studying this area and also for corporates, professionals and industry watchers.

* Introduces a novel concept of Lean Construction 4.0, the amalgamation of two of the industries most talked about frameworks: Lean and Industry 4.0 * Truly global coverage and contributors at the forefront of research in the field * Growing numbers of courses and research centers dedicated to the concepts and technological applications in this book: IOT, cyber physical systems, Bi Data, Cloud Computing, VR, AI etc

Introduction to Global Logistics offers a step-by-step guide to global logistics. Covering the breadth of logistics, this highly accessible text is illustrated by engaging case studies of market leaders. In this comprehensive second instalment of Global Logistics Strategies, John Manners-Bell provides an in-depth definition, description and exploration of the strategic principles and practices in transportation modes and supply chain verticals, including: freight forwarding, contract logistics, shipping, road freight, air cargo and express. The book also examines major sectors, including automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, retail, consumer, and high tech. Introduction to Global Logistics offers a detailed examination of key topics, including: how the logistics industry has developed, how it is influenced by macro-economic factors and demand-side trends, what the risks are to the industry, and how it will develop over the coming years. It examines important trends and developments that are shaping the industry, including 3D printing, megacities, and post-harvest food losses. Online resources available: Chapter-supporting lecturer slides.

Organizations are now recognizing the importance of demand-supply integration to their growth and success. While marketing and supply chain management are an essential part of any business qualification, it is becoming increasingly essential to understand the need for integration between synergize marketing and SCM. Marketing and Supply Chain Management is among the first to synergize these two disciplines. Its holistic approach provides students with a macro-level understanding of these functions and their symbiotic relationship to one another, and demonstrates how both can be managed synergistically to the benefit of the organization. This bridge-building textbook is ideal for students of marketing, logistics, supply chain management, or procurement who want to understand the machinations of business at a macro level.

This book maps the latest developments in public procurement of innovation policy in various contexts and analyzes the evolution and development of the various policy solutions in broader institutional contexts. In doing so, it addresses significant theoretical and practical gaps: On the one hand, there is an emerging interest in public procurement as a policy tool for spurring innovation; yet on the other hand, the current theory, with some notable exceptions, is guided and often constrained by historical applications, above all in the defence industries. By carefully examining the cases of eleven countries, the book points to the existence of much more nuanced public procurement on the innovation policy landscape than has been acknowledged in the academic and policy debates to date.

This book examines the problem of managing the flow of materials into, through, and out of a system in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of materials management. The subject is crucial for global competitive advantage, as materials constitute the largest single cost factor in manufacturing and service, and their effective management enhances value for money. In this context, inventory is a barometer of materials management effectiveness, along with wastage of materials. The book adopts a comprehensive, integrated systems approach and covers almost all aspects of materials, considering the specification, procurement, storage, handling, issue, use and accounting of materials to get the most out of every dollar invested. Combining conceptual clarity and quantitative rigor, it will be a highly useful guide for practicing managers, academics and researchers in this vital functional area.

This book assesses the achievements of the software engineering discipline as represented by IT vendors in Japan in order to deepen understanding of the mechanisms of how software engineering capabilities relate to IT vendors' business performance and business environment from the perspective of innovation and engineering management. Based on the concepts of service science and science for society, the volume suggests how to improve the sophistication of services between the demand side, i.e., IT user companies, and the supply side, i.e., IT vendors, simultaneously. The author and his colleagues developed a structural model including innovational paths, such as service innovation, product innovation and process innovation, and a measurement model including the seven software engineering capabilities: deliverables, project management, quality assurance, process improvement, research and development, human resource development and customer contact. Then they designed research on software engineering excellence and administered it with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Information-Technology Promotion Agency. Through statistical analyses of the results, they found that human resource development and R&D are significant fundamental conditions to improve the quality of the deliverables and that IT firms with high levels of deliverables, derived from high levels of human resource development, quality assurance, project management and process improvement, tend to sustain high profitability. In addition, they developed a measurement model based on Porter's five forces and Barney's resource-based view. A regression tree analysis suggested that manufacturer spin-off vendors tend to expand business with well-resourced R&D, whereas user spin-off vendors tend to depend heavily on parent company demand.

In the 21st century, supply chain operations and relationships among supply chain partners have become highly challenging, necessitating new approaches, e.g., the development of new models. Supply Chain Strategies, Issues and Models discusses supply chain issues and models with examples from actual industrial cases. Expert authors with a wide spectrum of knowledge working in various areas of supply chain management from various geographical locations offer refreshing, novel and insightful ideas and address possible solutions using established theories and models. Supply Chain Strategies, Issues and Models features studies that have used mathematical modeling, statistical analyses and also descriptive qualitative studies. The chapters cover many relevant themes related to supply chains and logistics including supply chain complexity, information sharing, quality (six sigma), electronic Kanbans, inventory models, scheduling, purchasing and contracts. To facilitate easy reading, the chapters that deal with supply chain related issues are first, followed by studies on inventory, scheduling, purchasing and logistics. This book can be used as a useful resource of supply chain management by academics, students and practitioners. This book can serve as a helping tool in managerial decision making for investments in collaboration and information exchange to improve forecasts, scheduling and inventory management, and for supply chain managers to leverage product and process complexities into competitive advantage. Some interesting mathematical models can appeal to students and researchers interested in modeling the impact of information sharing in supply chains.

The book describes the K-Method which has been developed by the authors. The purpose of the K-Method is to negotiate and administrate a complex portfolio of customised materials, all belonging to the same purchasing group (e.g. labels). The underlying idea is to agree prices for specification features, instead of giving each material an individual price based on its unique specification. By doing so, a price formula will be agreed between the buyer and supplier which even defines prices of future materials with any kind of specification.

This book is focused on the impact of ocean transport logistics on global supply chains. It is the first book solely dedicated to the topic, linking the interaction of parties along this chain, including shippers, terminal operators and line carriers. While ocean container transport logistics has been greatly studied, there are many important issues that have yet to receive the attention they deserve. The editors and contributing authors of Ocean Container Transport Logistics: Making Global Supply Chain Effective seek to address these topics and shed new light on the subject. The book is divided into three parts. Part I examines the innovation, trends, competition and business model of container terminal operations. In Part II, the book looks at how tactical and operational management is used in shipping liners. The chapters cover topics such as empty container repositioning, slow steaming, routing, network design and disruption management. Finally Part III explores at shippers and global supply chain management, with chapters on transportation service procurement, hinterland transportation, green corridors, as well as competition and co-operation in maritime logistics operations. The eighteen chapters of the book all highlight the immediate effect of ocean transport logistics on global supply chain.

Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), and Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are important concepts in order to organize and optimize the flow of materials, information and financial funds. This book, already in its fifth edition, gives a broad and up-to-date overview of the concepts underlying APS. Special emphasis is given to modeling supply chains and implementing APS successfully in industry. Understanding is enhanced by several case studies covering APS from various software vendors. The fifth edition contains updated material, rewritten chapters and an additional case study.

Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place follows the journeys of five companies with evolving sustainable supply chains in the fashion and textile industry. Each of the profiled companies are committed to advancing cultural traditions of a particular place. They value, honor, and are all deeply rooted in the geography, culture, and people of a specific location and their success is attributable to their connection to that place. With this shared value, their unique stories highlight the conditions, risks, strategies, and successes in creating and maintaining sustainable supply chains for ready-to-wear and home fashions. The companies include: -Imperial Stock Ranch and Shaniko Wool Company - Oregon, USA -Angela Damman Yucatan - Yucatan, Mexico -Tonle - Phenom Penh, Cambodia -Indigenous Designs - Highlands, Peru -Harris Tweed (R) - Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK With a focus on economic, social, environmental, and cultural sustainability, and the connection between textiles and place, Burns and Carver offer personal and insightful narratives of companies addressing the challenges facing today's global fashion industry.

In the past, services had a strong local and national focus. Professional services were very likely to be independently and autonomously organized from country to country in order to cater to local needs and local legal requirements. This has since changed radically, and highly integrated business and delivery models around the globe have become the status quo in clients' businesses and strategies. Serving clients on a global level requires professional services firms to adopt a structural change from local to distributed global sales and delivery. This book brings together many years of experience, current perspectives and future ideas of international business practitioners, academics, and market researchers. Along those lines it is structured into four parts. Part I "Winning Strategies and Innovative Ideas" lays the book's foundation: it discusses core strategies behind the globalization movement and introduces the major paradigms and ideas. Part II "Successful Processes for Realization" provides solutions for how to establish successful processes for delivering global professional services. Part III "Inspired Talent Management" goes to the core of the professional services industry: attracting, developing, and keeping the right talent in the right locations. Finally, Part IV offers "Experiences and Case Studies" on all aspects related to successfully building a globalized professional services firm. In short, this handbook provides professional services firms and their clients alike with a sound foundation for responding strategically to fundamental global changes and turning them into business advantages. It offers a comprehensive perspective of why and how to successfully globalize a professional services firm.

Unique guidance for cutting costs regardless of economic conditions--without reducing headcounts

Successfully reduce costs in the area of indirect spend and watch your bottom line grow. "Managing Indirect Spend" provides you with the knowledge and tools necessary to get it done with an overview of: the challenges faced when sourcing indirect spend categories; strategic sourcing process; tools that can help drive savings, and examples based on real world experience. This how-to guide clearly covers specific sourcing engagements and provides the details needed to source effectively. Includes sections covering the process, the tools, real-world examples, guidance through specific sourcing engagements and the information needed to source effectivelyPresents guidance for achieving the object of strategic sourcing: cost reductionShows how effectively managing indirect costs can provide a huge impact on bottom line growthCovers all areas of Market Intelligence (MI)

With tools, real world examples, and workable guidance, "Managing Indirect Spend" provides insider guidance for big bottom-line growth through effective management of indirect costs.

This work aims to increase the service level and to reduce the inventory costs by combining the forecast and inventory model into one consistent forecast-based inventory model. This new model is based on the prediction of the future probability distribution by assuming an integer-valued autoregressive process as demand process. The developed algorithms can be used to identify, estimate, and predict the demand as well as optimize the inventory decision of intermittent demand series. In an extensive simulation study the new model is compared with a wide range of conventional forecast/inventory model combinations. By using the consistent approach, the mean inventory level is lowered whereas the service level is increased. Additionally, a modern multi-criteria inventory classification scheme is presented to distinguish different demand series clusters.