A framework for mapping the RFID-enabled process redesign in a simulation model

Empowered by the possibility to automatically identify unique product instances, the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is expected to revolutionize the supply chain processes. However, in view of the numerous possible ways that RFID can be implemented within the supply chain, the issue of supporting the design choices based on a credible assessment between the current (as-is) and the future (to-be) processes has become a matter of considerable concern and debate for both practitioners and academics alike. To design RFID implementations in the supply chain using a robust dynamic analysis, we resort to discrete event simulation. As a result, this paper conceptualizes the ‘RFID-enabled process redesign’ and proposes a framework regarding all possible types of RFID effects when integrating the technology within the supply chain processes. The research design was based on the empirical evidence through three case studies combined with the development of simulation models and on theoretical constructs regarding the information technology (IT)-enabled process redesign.     

Impact of RFID technology on inventory control policy

RFID application can improve operation performance in a supply chain by reducing or eliminating inventory misplacement and shrinkage. In this paper, we present a periodic review inventory model to investigate and characterize the multiperiod inventory control policies in both non-RFID and RFID cases when the firm encounters misplacement and shrinkage. The optimal inventory control policy is proved to be a two-control limit policy. The control limits in both the non-RFID case and the RFID case are analyzed and examined, while considering the impact of shrinkage and misplacement on inventory policies. A critical inventory level is determined to identify the relationship of higher inventory level control limits between the RFID case and the non-RFID case. An intensive numerical study with sensitivity analysis of selling price, misplacement rate, shrinkage rate, inventory recovery rate, and tag price is conducted. We find that when RFID technology is adopted, the inventory control policy in the RFID case is much more stable than that of the non-RFID case, as the misplaced inventory can be recovered perfectly and instantly for sale and the inventory shrinkage can be reduced by RFID technology. In addition, one of our intriguing findings is that when the shrinkage rate is below a threshold value which is independent of parameters, RFID application has no effect on inventory control policy if the misplaced inventory can be recovered in a timely manner by physical audit, which has not been revealed in previous studies.     

Bilateral information sharing in two supply chains with complementary products

Information sharing has been regarded as a major way to promote collaboration or to optimize overall supply chain performance. Most of the literature has focused on unilateral information sharing in a supply chain with single or substitutable products. This paper investigates bilateral information sharing in two supply chains with complementary products, and formulates four decision models based on different information sharing patterns. Our results show that (i) information sharing always benefits the manufacturer, and benefits the retailer and the whole supply chain under certain conditions; (ii) information sharing increases/decreases the positive effect of the retailer’s/manufacturer’s forecast on the optimal pricing strategies in its own supply chain; however, its impact depends on the parameter conditions in the other complementary supply chain.     

Comparing improvement strategies for inventory inaccuracy in a two-echelon supply chain

Classical inventory theory often assumes no discrepancies between recorded inventory and actual inventory. However, inventory records are usually inaccurate due to many reasons in practice. For example, inventory shrinkage refers to the difference between booked inventory that a company should have as a result of its sales, purchasing, and manufacturing processes and actual inventory that it has on hand. This paper concerns the impact of inventory shrinkage to a supply chain and investigates different strategies to deal with inventory shrinkage. We consider a single-period two-echelon supply chain consisting of a Stackelberg manufacturer and a retailer whose inventory is subject to shrinkage errors. Our analysis is based on a single-period newsvendor model and considers the following cases of order decisions: (a) the retailer ignores the inventory errors; (b) the retailer estimates the errors; (c) the retailer shares the inventory error information with the manufacturer; and (d) RFID technology is used to reduce or eliminate the errors. The first case is the base strategy and a common practice for many supply chains, the other two represent certain non-technological strategies of the retailer when dealing with inventory inaccuracy, and the last one represents a technology improvement strategy by the manufacturer to reduce or eliminate inventory shrinkage errors. We compare these improvement strategies and derive critical tag price for RFID implementation as a technological remedy for the inventory inaccuracy problem. Conditions for the profitability of RFID adoption are discussed.     

Feasibility principles for Downstream Demand Inference in supply chains

Many companies are adopting strategies that enable Demand Information Sharing (DIS) between the supply chain links. Recently, a steady stream of research has identified mathematical relationships between demands and orders at any link in the supply chain. Based on these relationships and strict model assumptions, it has been suggested that the upstream member can infer the demand at the downstream member from their orders. If this is so, DIS will be of no value. In this paper, we argue that real-world modelling requires less restrictive assumptions. We present Feasibility Principles to show that it is not possible for an upstream member to accurately infer consumer demand under more realistic model assumptions. Thus, we conclude that DIS has value in supply chains. We then move our focus to the supply chain model assumptions in the papers arguing that there is value in sharing demand information. Using a simulation experiment, we show that the value of sharing demand information in terms of inventory reductions will increase under more realistic supply chain model assumptions.     

预付款模式下农业供应链的生产与融资研究

本文分析由一个农户和一个公司组成的农业供应链决策系统,其中农户具有资金约束并且具有产出不确定性,农户为了缓解资金压力可向公司申请预付款融资。为了研究预付款融资模式下供应链各方的决策和收益情况,本文分别构建了传统融资模式和预付款融资模式下的运作决策模型,并将两者进行分析对比。研究结果表明,农户在具有破产风险时采取银行融资获得的利润并非最优,在一定情况下,采取预付款融资双方将获得更大的收益。农户的最优决策方案受到丰收年产出因子、银行利率和价格弹性系数的影响。当丰收年产出因子较小或银行利率较高时,预付款融资模式能给农户带来更多收益。丰收年产出因子较低时,农户的融资策略对公司利润影响相同。在丰收年产出因子适中时,公司更期望农户选择预付款模式。     

考虑RFID应用的资金约束供应链订购决策研究

RFID技术的应用在有效降低商品库存损耗率的同时,也增加了供应链企业的运营成本,尤其是具有资金压力的供应链中小企业。在零售商具有资金约束的二级供应链下分析RFID技术的应用对资金约束供应链绩效的影响,通过构建贸易信贷下基于批发价合同的Stackelberg博弈模型,对比采用RFID前后资金约束供应链成员的均衡决策及期望收益,探讨了该供应链采用RFID的必要条件。结果显示当RFID标签成本低于某个阈值,或RFID库存损耗恢复率高于某个阈值时,供应链成员会选择采用RFID。此外,当RFID单位标签成本或零售商标签成本分摊系数较低,或RFID库存损耗恢复率较高时,制造商会提供比不采用RFID时更高的批发价;在采用RFID的条件下,零售商订购数量低于不采用RFID时的数量。通过设计收益分享契约实现了采用RFID时资金约束供应链的协调。     

低碳供应链协同运作的演化模型

针对低碳供应链协同运作的系统演化问题,运用协同论中的伺服原理分析了低碳供应链中的序参量和运作流程;运用布尔代数的逻辑加和逻辑乘运算规则,分析了序参量和运作流程之间的关系。在此基础上,根据系统动力学中的速率原理,构建了低碳供应链协同运作的演化模型,运用自组织原理分析了序参量影响低碳供应链协同运作的演化过程,运用协同效应原理分析了低碳供应链协同运作规律,并对模型进行了应用仿真分析,得出了低碳供应链协同运作的机理。     

碳减排补贴与碳税下的供应链碳减排决策优化与协调

针考虑碳税政策和政府对制造商的碳减排技术创新投入补贴,构建了供应链博弈模型,根据协调条件给出了相应的契约形式及参数。通过对供应链模型的求解,得到了碳税和碳减排技术创新投入补贴下的最优碳减排量和最优订货量。数值分析结果表明:碳减排技术创新投入的补贴比例变化对供应链的最优碳减排量、订货量及期望利润的影响有较大影响,而且是成正向变化关系,而且在其他参数不变及供应链碳减排量一定的情况下,碳税与碳减排补贴比例呈反向变化关系,进而可为政府碳减排补贴政策制定及供应链碳减排优化提供科学的决策依据。     

短生命周期产品供应链清仓收入共享契约研究

基于快速反应策略的适时清仓,是提高短生命周期产品供应链运营效率及加速产品更新的有效方法。考虑由一个零售商和多个配件供应商组成的两级短生命周期产品组装供应链系统,当市场需求随机变化时,建立了基于清仓收益共享的决策模型,从集中和分散控制两个角度,比较分析了有清仓收入共享和不考虑清仓收入共享下,供应链的总产量和利润的变化。理论推导和数值解分析表明,在考虑清仓收入共享下,供应链的市场供给量增加;而且,在清仓收入共享契约下,供应链利润依据成员成本比重及所分担风险率而得到合理分配,进而提升了供应链的整体协作效益。     

RFID and item-level information visibility

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is emerging as the hottest information tracing technology in supply chain management with its inherent ability to reveal item-level product information. Although the beneficial aspects for retailers have been studied in greater detail, RFID tags can be beneficially utilized in a manufacturing context. Unlike a majority of case study-based literature in this area, this paper takes a different perspective by modeling item-level information visibility in general. Specifically, this is accomplished through reduced randomness, as a function of the scale of the information system, the distribution of the sample space, the control variables and the production functions. In order to discover the optimal procedure that utilizes item-level information, we extend the basic model to cover multiple periods. Appropriate example scenarios are simulated accordingly to verify the results and to show evidence supporting the generality and robustness of the model.     

非对称信息下供应链批发价格契约应对突发事件

针对两个制造商与一个零售商组成的二级供应链,建立了制造商一方与零售商联盟,制造商另一方与之竞争、零售商类型为其私人信息下的博弈模型,从系统优化的角度研究了供应链系统批发价格如何应对突发事件.首先证明稳定条件下,零售商成本信息为非对称信息时,批发价格契约能实现集中控制与分散控制下-该供应链的协调.当突发事件造成零售商的成本分布变化时,通过求解突发事件下供应链系统最优利润的Karush-Kuhn-Tucker(KKT)条件,提出了供应链应对突发事件的最优策略,进一步证明了改进的批发价格契约可以协调突发事件下分散化决策的供应链系统.数值仿真表明,当零售商的成本在一个较小的范围内扰动时,原有契约机制具有一定的鲁棒性,而当扰动较大时,需要对原来的生产计划进行调整.     

差异化竞争下考虑再制造专利许可的闭环供应链生产决策

针对高端产品和低端产品的差异化竞争,构建高端制造商将再制造专利许可作为外部竞争要素情形的闭环供应链竞合决策模型,研究消费者异质需求下再制造专利许可对闭环供应链生产决策、利润和环境效益的影响。研究结果表明:再制造专利许可是高端制造商的有效产品差异化竞争策略,可提高高端制造商利润,降低低端制造商利润;再制造专利许可策略对环境并不总是有利的,但消费者对再制造品的支付意愿越强,其环境效益越高。     

Benefits of working capital sharing in supply chains

Supply chain finance and working capital management are important avenues to reduce supply chain costs. Small suppliers may not have sufficient working capital to finance their operations and efficiently supply their customers. We develop a model that captures the fundamental aspects of financial and operational planning in a two-stage supply chain, with both strong and weak members. A strong member can negotiate for more favorable financing rates, more advantageous payment terms, and shorter lead times than a weaker member. We investigate two working capital allocation scenarios. In the dedicated working capital allocation scenario, the members of the supply chain each have their own working capital. In the joint working capital allocation scenario, the members of the supply chain have a joint pool of working capital. Our results demonstrate significant benefits when the members of the supply chain share the working capital. We also show that extending payment delays to a supplier upstream results in higher overall supply chain costs.     

Single-manufacturer,multi-retailer consignment policy for retailers’ generalized demand distributions

Consignment policy (CP) is a novel approach to the inventory management in supply chains. It is based on strong interaction and reliable collaboration between vendor(s) and buyer(s), which is acquiring growing importance in today's industrial reality. Unlike most literature focusing on single-vendor single-buyer models and deterministic customer demand, a single-manufacturer (vendor) multi-retailer (buyer) generic model is developed under stochastic customer demand in this study. In order to understand the potential benefits of CP, it is compared with a traditional policy (TP) model developed in the similar approach. The models are tested with two scenarios of uniform and exponential demand distributions of the retailers. The results show how CP works better than the traditional uncoordinated optimization. It not only helps the manufacturer to generate higher profit, but also coordinates retailers to achieve a higher supply chain profit. At the same time, each retailer earns at least as much as they do in TP. Further price discount sensitivity analysis demonstrates the efficiency of CP when facing price-demand fluctuation.     

RFID对供应链提前期压缩的影响及协调研究

提前期压缩是基于时间竞争的供应链管理的核心,是供应链竞争优势的有力来源。RFID技术通过提高供应链中信息共享、加速物流操作,进而缩短提前期。在市场需求预测精度随提前期变化的假设下,研究由生产商和零售商组成的两阶段供应链中,生产商承担压缩成本采用RFID技术压缩提前期对供应链及其成员收益的影响。确定了可使供应链收益提高的标签成本约束条件,并提出了相应的收益协调机制。研究结果表明:供应链成员的收益随服务水平和标签成本变化而变化,通过引入收益协调机制,可以实现供应链成员收益的Pareto改进。最后通过数值算例对结论进行了验证。     

协同创新视角下产学研合作行为决策机制研究

产学研合作是科技与经济结合的有效形式,协同创新理论对产学研合作提出了更高的要求。从协同创新视角出发,利用基于有限理性的演化博弈理论构建了企业与学研机构间的协同合作决策博弈模型,并对策略选择进行稳定性分析。理论研究和数值仿真结果表明:当企业和学研机构在协同合作中获得的经济收益净值大于其选择中途放弃获得的经济收益时,双方才会全部选择协同合作策略;产学研协同合作总收益、收益分配系数、赔偿系数和协同合作成本对企业和学研机构的决策结果有显著的影响,但作用机制有所不同;政府对产学研协同合作的资助和惩罚机制对企业和学研机构选择协同合作策略有促进的作用,但应将资助和惩罚力度控制在一定范围内发挥其最大激励效用。     

What are causes of cash flow bullwhip effect in centralized and decentralized supply chains?

Bullwhip effect in supply chain is a phenomenon which can emerge in both inventory levels and replenishment orders. Bullwhip effect causes variations in cash conversion cycle (CCC) across cash flow of supply chain. As a result, it can lead to inefficiencies such as cash flow bullwhip (CFB). Due to negative impact of CFB on cash flow of supply chain, it can lead to a decrease in efficiency of supply chain management (SCM). That is why supply chain modeling is a proper start point for effective management and control of the CFB. This paper aims to analyze concurrent impact of causes of inventory bullwhip effect and effect of their interactions on CFB based on generalized OUT policy from aspect of CCC variance. To this end, first we develop system dynamics structure of beer distribution game as simulation model which includes multi-stage supply chain under both centralized and decentralized supply chains. Then, in order to develop CFB function, we design experiments in developed simulation model using response surface methodology (RSM). Results demonstrate that if each chain member uses generalized OUT policy as replenishment model, there still exists CFB in both chains and CFB largely stems from rationing and shortage gaming in both centralized and decentralized supply chain. In addition, when information on ordering parameters are not shared among members, parameters of downstream stage (i.e. retailer) are more important than parameters of upstream stage (i.e. manufacturer) in reducing CFB function.     

供应链网络可靠性的多层Bayes估计模型

对供应链网络可靠性进行界定和分析,以节点企业间的协同为基础,得到可靠度计算模型,以此为依据采集实证样本无失效运行的数据.根据供应链网络可靠性统计特性,建立一种多层Bayes估计方法,应用于样本可靠性评估中.在估计失效率的基础上,对供应链网络可靠度进行估计,对仿真结果进行分析,显示多层Bayes估计方法应用效果较好,精确度高,反映了参数不确定性对供应链网络可靠性的影响,能够较好地解决依据无失效数据判定供应链网络可靠性水平的问题.     

Mesoscopic supply chain simulation

This paper reviews and compares existing approaches for supply chain modeling and simulation and applies the mesoscopic modeling and simulation approach using the simulation software MesoSim, an own development. A simplified real-world supply chain example is modeled with discrete event, mesoscopic and system dynamics simulation. The objective of the study is to compare the process of model creation and its validity using each approach. The study examines advantages of the mesoscopic approach for the simulation. Major benefits of the mesoscopic approach are that modeling efforts are balanced with the necessary level of detail and facilitate quick and simple model creation and simulation.