Green Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review

--Vinod N Sambrani and Naveen Pol

In India, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) as a concept is gaining its pace, and in a broader sense, there have been works in the areas of research opportunities in GSCM, impact of GSCM on economic, social and financial performances, different types of pressure, enablers, drivers, barriers, conflicts and benefits of GSCM practices, designing structural models and testing its implications, comparing green practices among companies within nation and among companies of different nations, finding key words pertaining to GSCM practices, etc. Pragmatically, these concepts have been followed by the corporate and the same has been reflected in their annual sustainability reports. The paper makes an attempt at simplifying the overall factors under the circle of GSCM through a review of literature.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Outbound Logistics Modeling Using Shortest Routing Algorithm in a Lean Enterprise: A Case Study

--N S Shobha and K N Subramanya

Automobile supply chain and logistics network involves an entire network of multiple-tier suppliers, manufacturing plants, sub-assembly plants, assembly plants, warehouses, distribution centers, dealers and customers. The vastness of this supply chain structure makes logistics and information flow—the most important functions to ensure comprehensive coordination between the firms. Lean distribution starts with the trends and drivers that lead to the need for new approaches in distribution and then consider customer service expectations to initiate the lean design. In order to address the complexity as stated above, this paper attempts to model outbound logistics using shortest routing algorithm in a lean enterprise. The data and information are collected at the tactical level for automobile supply chain, and two echelons of distribution are considered. The methodology adopted includes studying the processes involved in lean distribution system, collection of data using primary and secondary sources, identification factors and modeling using Floyd Warshall algorithm for multiple sources and multiple destinations, and calculation of the number of cars which can be accommodated in a truck. The verification and validation of developed model is done for automobile logistics and supply chain network. The comparison of performance of current and proposed model for outbound logistics was carried out. Vehicle routing has helped us in identifying the right routes to be chosen in order to reduce the distance traveled and hence logistics cost. The understanding of current system and proposing new system has helped in improving the efficiency of the complete outbound logistics system and resulted in large cost savings through improvement in schedules, demand allocation and choice of routes.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Prioritizing the Service Failures of Package Delivery Business: An Analytical Hierarchy Process Analysis

--Ranjit Roy Ghatak and Shyamsunder Pal

Service failures happen in service businesses at times. Failures impact the service quality of the business and mandate proportionate service recovery actions. Prioritizing the service failures can bring discipline and focus in implementing the recovery plan of the service company. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been implemented here in failure prioritization for the first time. Service failures are recognized to originate variously as customer-induced, company-induced and their business associate-induced. Failure rate and intensity of incidence are both considered important for prioritization. In extending the current knowledge, this research finds four factors of service failures in order of importance, viz., service process failure, employee action failure, business associate action failure and customer action failure in a package delivery business for deploying their recovery resources most productively.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

RFID Implementation in Supply Chain: A Comparison of Three Case Studies

--Raul Valverde and Malleswara Talla

The paper examines the impact of different approaches in implementing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, namely, supply chain inventory management system based on RFIDs to address the challenges encountered in the operation of the warehouses, item-level inventory tracking at retail stores and customer order processing and distribution using RFIDs to eventually propose RFID-based Supply Chain Management (SCM). SCM involves effective information sharing, inventory management, transportation, sourcing and pricing strategies. The paper highlights how RFID can improve SCM drivers, one by one, and together improve overall synergy. It extends the solutions of case studies and proposed improvements to RFID solutions in ERP applications. It also highlights the motivation to such implementations as these solutions offer further cost savings and performance gains. Consequently, it concludes that RFID is a vital technology for the success of SCM and bridging the gaps among the existing enterprise applications.

© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.