The wide range of papers presented at the Logistics Research Conference in Birmingham, 2002, shows both the role and importance of logistics and supply chain management for companies in today's highly competitive supply chains. The papers were written by academics, researchers and practitioners and showed the need for research to develop, produce and test new models and strategies, to report on research findings and applications, to propose and investigate new ideas and to disseminate them to both the research community as well as to business at large.
The theme of the conference, jointly organised by Birmingham's three universities, was “collaboration for innovative supply chain solutions”. There is general acknowledgement of the need for greater collaboration within and between supply chain processes (internal and external to the organisation), but we are not necessarily putting this into practice. While the conference papers demonstrated the breadth, depth, context and internationalism of current work in logistics and the supply chain, it was clear that many of the methods, models, problems and proposed solutions are appropriate across different types of function, businesses and industries.
Further, the papers show that the field of supply chain management is still rather new and subject to different definitions and understanding based on our backgrounds. Authors usually see the supply chain in terms of their first discipline. Such diversity is reflected in the work of the Logistics Research Network; encouraging greater dissemination and collaboration between members within the research community and businesses through its seminars, workshops, conferences and journal. The way that the conference was organised by the three universities is evidence of such a collaborative approach.
The papers chosen for this special conference edition of the International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications illustrate the range and diversity of work currently being carried out in the fields of logistics and supply chain management. They help to illustrate the three aspects of activity: research, application and informed comment or proposal. A short comment on each of the papers appears below.
One of the problems of increased complexity in supply chains is that it is often accompanied by an increase in risks to the individual member companies. These are not just internal and external (or environmental), but can be due to the actions and strategies of other members of the supply chain. The paper by Jüttner, Peck and Christopher highlights the concept of vulnerability within today's supply chains and, given the paucity of information and research into the area, gives a clearer understanding of what is meant by “risk” and outlines an agenda for future research. To this end, it sets out to provide a framework and foundation for a more systematic explanation of risk management in supply chains.
Readers of this journal will be only too aware of supply chain structures, strategies and operations, the need for improved collaboration, process integration and reduction of complexity. However, for many industries these are not so well developed or commented upon. Animal food supply chains and the “fat lamb supply chain” in particular are seen as desperately in need of exposure, research and analysis. Bourlakis and Allinson's paper provides an interesting and rather topical insight into the problems faced by such supply chains where they are imperfectly managed. The catalyst for the research was the devastating impact that FMD 2001 (the year-long Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic 2001–02) had on the food industry, the farming community and the country at large. Abattoirs close to auctions and sources of production are seen as desirable but do not necessarily fit in with current trends to use larger abattoirs and the use of regional distribution centres by major food retailers. A key finding was the need for improved (two-way) information flows, identification systems and collaboration to provide greater material visibility and to prevent the long and chaotic scenes from FMD 2001 ever returning. Interestingly, due to the spread of other diseases in the past some of these measures were already in place in the beef and pig industries, yet their interaction with the poorly regulated fat lamb supply chain rendered them almost useless. This effect is commented on in Jüttner et al.'s paper on supply chain risk. There is a clear need for further and more detailed research into the management of animal food supply chains and the food industry at large.
Moving goods around the world in a timely and efficient manner requires distributors to be both customer- and cost-focused. Choosing the right post for transhipment can be crucial. The research paper by Lirn, Thanopoulou and Beresford looks at the issues of port selection through the analytical hierarchical process and how this can support decision-making. It reports on a case study of Taiwanese ports where international carriers were surveyed on the relative importance of port selection criteria. Fuzzy logic is used to help weight the response of the users and evaluate overall port performance.
Collaboration within supply chains for improved efficiencies and a greater competitive advantage sounds rather sensible. But even when companies are aware of the need and the benefits that can accrue they find it rather difficult to carry out. The paper by Småros reports that the adoption rate of the Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) process model by companies has been slower than expected, especially in Europe. This paper looks at current applications and research into collaborative forecasting. While issues of trust and information sharing and a lack of resources particularly by the customer might be expected, there are also issues with the use of a standard model. In practice, companies are more likely to succeed by developing collaboration models more appropriate to their size, structure, product range, industry and, as the paper highlights, what stage their relationship is at in terms of the product life cycle. Different types of collaboration will be needed, for example, between the new product introduction and maturity stages. The result should be a more streamlined and applicable model for the forecasting process between collaborating members of the supply chain.
The two papers by Kidd, Richter and Stumm and Huang, Raynor and Zhuang similarly comment on the difficulties of managing flows of material and information within supply chains. As our supply chains become longer, more complex and increasingly global, members are going to have little option but to learn to work more closely with different organisations regardless of differences in position, size, culture and ethics. In particular, Kidd et al. examine how different types of alliances function, and the role that learning and trust can play. The sharing of knowledge comes with effective collaborations and this can then lead to a better supply chain performance. However, the paper shows that there are often subtle boundaries between the organisations, particularly in terms of ethics and culture. Overstepping these may result in a “pathological” mode—a destructive form of collaboration. “Co-opetition” and “compromise” are seen as the preferable modes. Although the paper looks at cultural and ethical issues between companies, it addresses general issues that members of all supply chains meet at their inter- and intra-firm boundaries.
Huang et al.'s research is focused on cross-border relationships between China and the UK. It reports specifically on intercultural competence in relationships, which it sees as having three dimensions: relational competence, conflict resolution competence and commercial competence. Research carried out shows the importance of intercultural business competence, particularly at the early stages of relationship development. The internal business competence of managers is seen to be related to the “quality”, e.g. level of trust, co-operation and commitment, of relationships, particularly in the long term. Conflict resolution competence was measured to be more important than both relational and commercial competence. The paper acknowledges that more research needs to be carried out for a greater understanding of the competence factors in intercultural business relationships.
No conference today is complete without a number of papers on information and communication technology and e-business and every time they raise a debate as to whether the new technology is an enabler or driver in the strategic planning process. The paper by Tang, Burridge and Ang remarks on this issue but avoids taking sides, concentrating instead on developing a planning model, which integrates different levels of decision-making for improved business performance. The paper focuses particularly on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing e-business planning models. This can help the SMEs both to identify e-business applications that support and enhance their overall business strategy and to prioritise their introduction. The work develops a four-stage model of strategic appraisal, value chain analysis, quality function deployment (QFD) for projects and QFD for project selection—an application roadmap. The paper uses a case study to show how this works in a practical context.
Olsson and Karlsson investigate how product/service provision can be customised to add value for the customer. The paper looks specifically at the role the Internet can play in providing a new channel for the internal service provision and how this can be customised to a specific customer. Such channels should be offered in addition to existing physical channels but must provide real benefits such as speed, ease of use and low cost for the customer. What the researchers found from their analysis and customer process mapping is a need for customer analysis and involvement (perhaps earlier in the customer's processes), the possibility of providing extra levels of service provision (the service provider takes over parts of the customer's processes which add little or no value for the customer, but will increase opportunities for the supplier—similar to the activities of systems integrators in automotive supply chains) and the use of customised or tailored packages for the customer. Reducing complexity for the customer in such provision is likely to increase its value and subsequent demand.
The final “e-business” paper discusses the procurement of non-production items (MRO items) by manufacturing organisations through the application of Internet technologies. The authors Michaelides, Ho, Boughton and Kehoe, argue the need to consider new operational e-business models to support the development of these new applications. In this paper, simulation modelling has been applied in order to estimate the business benefits of adopting these new e-business models. The simulation results have shown significant reductions in acquisition and operational costs, which justify the adaptation and use of electronic procurement methods for the supply of non-production materials.
Taken together, the papers illustrate the diversity of topics that can be covered under the headings of logistics and supply chain management. However, they all contain a consistent message—successful supply chains require improved collaborations to be efficient. This is a prerequisite for the ability to respond more effectively to customer requirements, allow greater innovation and develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Yet such collaborations are difficult to deliver and are often limited in scope and over time. One of the conference's keynote speakers, Prof. Fred Hewitt, suggested that a major difficulty in designing, developing and implementing new supply chain models and techniques is in the way we “see” them. A far better concept was that of “demand chains”, a notion that reflects the growing importance of the consumer at all stages of supply. ICT systems that enable the capture and sharing of information today, in what is termed the “information age”, can provide managers with greater visibility of demand and allows them and their collaborators to operate in parallel rather than sequentially on a real-time basis.
As we see in the published papers there is a danger that companies may rush to embrace the new technology only to forget the systems that have proved so successful in the past. Yet, to dwell in the past and ignore such technology may prevent the development of chains, networks and virtual organisations that are able to adapt quickly and effectively to the new conditions. Heralding the fourth stage of logistics, Hewitt argues that researchers, academics and practitioners must be aware of this in their work. There is a need for research that can help business understand and unravel the potential of real-time demand response processes in providing products and services to a far more demanding, knowledgeable and global market.