Helena Carvalho

Logistics performance can be affected by the presence of uncertainties in the decision making process. To reduce decision making uncertainties, a topology of sources of supply chain ({SC)} uncertainty is proposed, in order to identify different types of uncertainty. A conceptual framework is developed for the analysis of decision making uncertainty sources in {SC’s}, providing the basis for the design and selection of improved {SC} scenarios. A case study is presented to illustrate the potential of simulation techniques in modeling scenarios for the Supply Chain: a set of performance measures is proposed, and results are obtained based on a predetermined selection criterion.

In a global market, companies must deal with a high rate of changes in business environment. Most manufacturing systems fail to sustain productivity when process disturbances occur. Therefore, it is necessary to create resilient production systems with the ability to return, rapidly, to the initial stage or to an improved one. The parameters, variables and restrictions of the production system are inherently vagueness. This situation suggests that there are dependencies between relevant variables which are not possible to know with precision. The fuzzy logic theory has the ability to describe, in a quantitative and qualitative way, problems that involve vagueness and imprecision. This paper provides an overview for the use of fuzzy logic to establish resilient production systems. Fuzzy concepts are reviewed, in particular its applications to production systems, trying to classify related fuzzy parameters and vari-ables. In addition, the concept of resilient systems are reviewed and extended to production. Finally, it is proposed an approach to establish resilient production systems using the fuzzy set theory

This paper explores the designing principles to create resilient Supply Chains ({SC)} with the ability to return, rapidly, to the initial stage or to an improved one after a disturbance occurrence. Supply chain disturbances and failure modes are identified and discussed. The concept of resilience applied to {SCs} is defined and explored; a conceptual {SC} Resilience Index and a {SC} Resilience Indicator are proposed. A framework for the design of resilient supply chains is introduced, identifying main {SC} characteristic that can be modified to increase {SC} resilience and to mitigate its inherent vulnerability. An exploratory simulation study is presented to test the design of alternative {SC} scenarios.

This paper explores the designing principles to create resilient Supply Chains ({SC’s)} with the ability to return, rapidly, to the initial stage or to an improved one after a disturbance occurrence. {SC} disturbances and failure modes are identified and discussed. The concept of {SC} resilience is defined and explored; a conceptual {SC} Resilience Index and a {SC} Resilience Indicator are proposed. A framework for the design of resilient {SC’s} is introduced, identifying main {SC} characteristic that can be modified to increase {SC} resilience and to mitigate its vulnerability

In this paper, a research project intituled {“Supply} chain management: design for resilient systems” is presented. The project aim is to develop a Management Support System prototype to help managers to react quickly and efficiently to the effects of disruptions that can occur in supply chain. The research project is presented; including the current state of the art in Supply Chain disruptions, the research project objectives and main tasks. Preliminary research findings are presented and discussed.

As organizações são concebidas com o enfoque principal na eficiência. As práticas de gestão que adoptam pressupõem, regra geral, a estabilidade do ambiente onde estão inseridas. Por isso, as organizações ficam vulneráveis aos distúrbios a que são sujeitas, e cuja frequência é cada vez maior, o que condiciona a sua eficiência, o seu nível de produtividade e, consequentemente, a sua competitividade. Porque existe uma relação de interdependência mais ou menos definida entre as organizações, a ocorrência de um distúrbio numa delas pode afectar todas as que dela dependem. É, por isso, fundamental que as organizações sejam mais resilientes, isto é, sejam capazes de reagir a um distúrbio inesperado, regressando rapidamente ao estado original ou a um melhor, após a cessação do distúrbio. Neste sentido, uma das acções que pode ser tomada é a definição de planos de mitigação e/ou de contingência. A adequação de planos, de mitigação e/ou de contingência, a implementar quando uma organização está perante um distúrbio, sendo por natureza uma actividade pró-activa, pressupõe a identificação dos distúrbios a que a organização pode ficar sujeita. Atendendo a que os distúrbios podem ter características muito diferentes, no que concerne à frequência de ocorrência, efeito crítico, nível de previsibilidade, área afectada na organização e duração, e podem, ainda, ter origem em fontes diversas, internas ou externas à organização produzidas pelo Homem ou pela Natureza, é fundamental que existam modelos que permitam a sua caracterização e a quantificação do grau de severidade das suas consequências para a organização onde incidem. É possível identificar na bibliografia modelos cujo desenvolvimento está associado aos distúrbios. Contudo, o âmbito em que são desenvolvidos é muito diverso. Nenhum deles, porém, permite caracterizar os distúrbios. O principal objectivo deste artigo é apresentar um modelo conceptual que permita caracterizar os distúrbios e avaliar a severidade dos seus efeitos para a organização onde incidem.

n/a

Supply chain management ({SCM)} is crucial for increasing organisational effectiveness, enhancing competitiveness, customer service and profitability. Actually, the lean and green philosophies have been adopted in the {SCM} context, but nearly always separately and with little understanding of their influence on supply chain performance. Accordingly, this paper intends to propose a conceptual model that explores the relationships between lean and green practices and supply chain performance. A set of lean and green {SCM} practices and a performance measurement system are suggested. The proposed performance measures intend to evaluate the practices influence on operational, economic and environmental supply chain's performance.

Supply chain management must appeal to different and more innovative strategies that make possible a better responsiveness to customers’ requirements and needs. The supply chains must be more agile, and also improving its ability to cope with unexpected disturbances, that is, supply chains must be more resilient. The deployment of these two strategies simultaneously will contribute to enhance the supply chain performance and competitiveness. Accordingly, the main objective of this paper is to propose an innovative conceptual model to a better understanding the influence of agile and resilient strategies on supply chain performance and competitiveness. The conceptual model proposed considers a set of agile and resilient practices deployed with consideration for the upstream and downstream supply chain relationships, as well as for the firm inward. In this model a performance measurement system is also proposed which intends to monitor the influence of these practices on operational and economic performance of the supply chain.

The main objective of this exploratory paper is to investigate the relationships between green practices of supply chain management and supply chain performance. This relationship is investigated in the context of the automotive industry. Five research propositions are suggested and tested with empirical data derived from five case studies taken from the Portuguese automotive supply chain. The data analysis identifies the most important green practices considered by managers, as well as the performance measures that are most appropriate and most widely used as means to evaluate the influence of green practices on supply chain performance. A conceptual model was derived from the data analysis and it can be used to assess the influence of green practices on supply chain performance. This model provides evidence as to which green practices have positive effects on quality, customer satisfaction and efficiency. It also identifies the practices which have negative effects on supply chain performance.

The supply chains (SCs) have to appeal to new management paradigms to improve their ability to respond rapidly and cost effectively to unpredictable changes in markets and increasing levels of environmental turbulence, both in terms of volume and variety. In this highly demanded context, the Agile paradigm provides the capabilities to SC quickly adapt to changes in the market requirements. The purpose of this paper is to suggest an Agile Index to assess the agility of the automotive companies and corresponding SCs.The proposed integrated assessment model incorporates Agile practices weighted according to their importance to the automotive SC competitiveness and obtained from the Delphi technique.

n/a

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to suggest an Index entitled {GResilient} Index to assess the greenness and resilience of the automotive companies and corresponding supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated assessment model is proposed based on Green and Resilient practices. These practices are weighted according to their importance to the automotive supply chain competitiveness. The Delphi technique is used to obtain the weights for the focused supply chain paradigms and corresponding practices. The model is then tested using a case study approach in the automotive supply chain. Findings: The case study results confirmed the applicability of this Index in a real-world supply chain. The results show that the Resilient supply chain management paradigm is the one considered as the one that more contributes for the automotive supply chain competitiveness. Research limitations/implications: The proposed Index was developed in the automotive sector context therefore it could not be adjusted to a different one. Future research could consider other aggregation methods for the Index construction. Practical implications: Supply chain participants will be able to evaluate the performance of their companies or supply chain in terms of Green and Resilient paradigms. Also, the Index can be effectively employed for functional benchmarking among competing companies and supply chains.