Reverse supply chain flexibility: a theoretical framework of research dimensions (original) (raw)

A conceptual model of supply chain flexibility

Industrial Management & Data Systems, 2003

This paper presents an integrated conceptual model of supply chain flexibility. It examines flexibility classification schemes and the commonalities of flexibility typologies published in the literature to create a theoretical foundation for analyzing the components of supply chain flexibility. Even though there has been a tremendous amount of research on the topic of flexibility, most of it has been confined to intra-firm flexibility concerns. As supply chain management goes beyond a firm's boundaries, the flexibility strategies must also extend beyond the firm. This paper identifies the cross-enterprise nature of supply chain flexibility and the need to improve flexibility measures across firms. Opportunities are identified for future cross-functional research that builds on this theoretical foundation and leads to more effective formulation of supply chain strategies.

Supply chain flexibility: a systematic literature review and research directions for future research

The field of supply chain flexibility historically emerged from different functional areas. Despite the numerous initiatives to describe and develop Supply Chain Flexibility (models) there is little consensus on how to define flexibility, and especially Supply Chain Flexibility. Adopting a systematic literature review, the present research aims to give a clear overview of the literature on supply chain flexibility so far, and to clarify this emerging perspective on supply chain flexibility. Our results support researchers and practitioners by identifying relevant issues and gaps in the field of supply chain flexibility, especially in relation to performance and/or customer service aspects. A literature review shows different models, but only one perspective, as research is predominantly executed from the perspective of one organization, mostly a manufacturing company, in the supply chain. Questions that remain in the open pertain to how to achieve this flexibility; what costs, benefits or disadvantages, if any, actually are; and which approach to supply chain flexibility can be applied in different supply chains and by different supply chain partners of interest. Furthermore, the effect of supply chain flexibility on supply chain performance and/or logistics customer service needs further attention.

Perspectives, practices and future of supply chain flexibility

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2008

Supply Chain Flexibility (SCF) has become more necessary than ever as it offers strategic advantage. The published literature bears a good testimony to this fact and several authors have proposed different viewpoints on SCF. The interest in the philosophies and perspectives of SCF has been growing and organisations of the world have been taking a number of initiatives governed by various paradigms evolving around lean, agility, responsiveness, robustness, etc. At the moment, there are several views on SCF and other organisational innovations, which may perhaps confound a student of SCF. The purpose of this paper is to present a consolidated account of various views expressed by academicians and practitioners by bringing to the fore, various research options available in the area of SCF. The paper also addresses the relevance of various forces and the role of dynamics in managing supply chain flexibility.

A conceptual Framework for Assesing Supply Chain Flexibility

2002

Abstract Flexibility has been considered as a major determinant of competitiveness in an increasingly intense competition in the marketplace. A large body of literature has been addressing various issues of flexibility in the last two decades. However, the discussions have mainly been from the viewpoint of a manufacturing company as a single entity in a supply chain. The flexibility related to machine, process, routing, part, worker, and the like are all associated with a manufacturing or a production system.

Assessing supply chain flexibility: a conceptual framework and case study

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2004

Flexibility has been considered as a major determinant of competitiveness in an increasingly intense competition in the marketplace. A large body of literature has been addressing various issues of flexibility in the last two decades. However, the discussions have mainly been from the viewpoint of a manufacturing company as a single entity in a supply chain. The flexibility related to machine, process, routing, part, worker and the like are all associated with a manufacturing or a production system. With the advent of the supply chain management concepts, business communities have been realising that being flexible in a production system only is insufficient. Thus, flexibility concepts should be broadened from the perspective of a production system into a supply chain system. However, the study addressing supply chain flexibility is still limited. This paper presents a framework for assessing flexibility of a supply chain. Four main parts of flexibility are identified including flexibility of the product delivery system, production system, product development, and supply system. In each of these parts, a number of pertinent elements are defined. A general guideline for conducting flexibility assessment is also presented. In an attempt to assess the model validity, a case study also forms a part of the paper.

Vertical Flexibility in Supply Chains

Management Science, 2010

Principles on the benefits of manufacturing process flexibility. Management Sci. 41(4) 577-594) initiated a stream of research on supply chain flexibility, which was furthered by Graves and Tomlin (Graves, S. C., B. T. Tomlin. 2003. Process flexibility in supply chains. Management Sci. 49(7) 907-919), that examined various structures for achieving horizontal flexibility within a single level of a supply chain. In this paper, we extend the theory of supply chain flexibility by considering placement of vertical flexibility across multiple stages in a supply chain. Specifically, we consider two types of flexibilitylogistics flexibility and process flexibility-and examine how demand, production, and supply variability at a single stage impacts the best stage in the supply chain for each type of flexibility. Under the assumptions that margins are the same regardless of flexibility location, capacity investment costs are the same within and across stages, and flexibility is limited to a single stage of logistics (process) flexibility accompanied with necessary process (logistics) flexibility, we show that both types of flexibility are most effective when positioned directly at the source of variability. However, although expected profit increases as logistics flexibility is positioned closer to the source of variability (i.e., downstream for demand variability and upstream for supply variability), locating process flexibility anywhere except at the stage with variability leads to the same decrease in expected profit.

Flexibility in Reverse Logistics

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2013

Reverse logistics (or the reverse supply chain) features greater relative uncertainty when compared to forward logistics and supply chain flows. An effective way to manage uncertainty and variance in operational and organizational systems is by introducing greater flexibility. The literature on flexibility in reverse logistics is surprisingly sparse, with an explicit focus on flexibility in reverse logistics non-existent in the literature. To address this gap in the literature, and building upon literature in supply chain flexibility, we introduce a reverse logistics flexibility framework. The framework is separated into operational and strategic flexibilities. Operational flexibility includes a variety of dimensions such as product and volume flexibility across various reverse logistics operational functions. We have also included strategic flexibility categorized into network and organizational design flexibility dimensions. Additional sub-dimensions are also included in the framework. The framework is useful for practical managerial decision making purposes such as process improvement or programmatic evaluation. The framework is also useful as a theoretical construct for reverse logistics empirical research. To exemplify the practical utility of the framework we introduce a performance evaluation of third party reverse logistics providers model using a novel neighborhood rough set approach. Using illustrative data, sensitivity results help evaluate the neighborhood rough set technique's robustness with various reverse logistics performance factors. This paper sets the foundation for significant future research in reverse logistics flexibility.

Analyzing the interaction of factors for flexibility in supply chains

Journal of Modelling in Management, 2017

Purpose In the present scenario of global competition and economic recession, most of the organizations are facing tough challenge to survive in the market because of shortening product life cycle and reducing profit margin. Customers are seeking better design, production and delivery, which have made firms to concentrate on flexibility in supply chains. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify major factors and develop a suitable framework for flexibility in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach Based on literature review, about 14 factors have been identified. To develop relationship among these factors, a team of five experts from industry and academia was formed. Based on inputs from experts, different relationships are developed among factors to form structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM). Based on this matrix, a flexibility framework is developed by interpretive structural modelling approach. Findings Top management commitment, strategy development for flexi...

Analysing the interaction of factors for Flexibility in Supply Chains

Journal of Modelling in Management, 2017

Purpose In the present scenario of global competition and economic recession, most of the organizations are facing tough challenge to survive in the market because of shortening product life cycle and reducing profit margin. Customers are seeking better design, production and delivery, which have made firms to concentrate on flexibility in supply chains. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify major factors and develop a suitable framework for flexibility in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach Based on literature review, about 14 factors have been identified. To develop relationship among these factors, a team of five experts from industry and academia was formed. Based on inputs from experts, different relationships are developed among factors to form structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM). Based on this matrix, a flexibility framework is developed by interpretive structural modelling approach. Findings Top management commitment, strategy development for flexi...