This paper is to analyze an integrated production and inventory model in a single-vendor multi-buyer supply chain. The vendor is defined as the manufacturer and the buyers as the retailers. The product that the manufacturer produces is supplied to the retailers with constant periodic time interval. The production rate of the manufacturer is constant for the time. The demand of the retailers is constant for the time. The cycle time of the vendor is defined as the elapsed time from the start of the production to the start of the next production, while the cycle times of the buyer as the elapsed time between the adjacent supply times from the vendor to the buyer. The cycle times of the vendor and the buyers that minimizes the total cost in a supply chain are analyzed. The cost factors are the production setup cost and the inventory holding cost of the manufacturer, the ordering cost and the inventory holding cost of the retailers. The cycle time of the vendor is investigated through the cycle time that satisfies economic production quantity with the production setup cost and the inventory holding cost of the manufacturer. An integrated production and inventory model is formulated, and an algorithm is developed. An numerical example is presented to explain the algorithm. The solution of the algorithm for the numerical examples is compared with that of genetic algorithm. Numerical example shows that the vendor and the buyers can save cost by integrated decision making.

Fashion industry pressure on natural resources has grown dramatically as consumption grew in emerging countries and the principle of rapid change of fashions extended to mass market in western counties, at the same time supply chains expanded globally to countries with lower labor and environmental standards creating critical sustainability challenges. Meanwhile, sustainability has become a hot topic for consumers that hold brands responsible for sustainability performances along the whole supply chain. The paper traces developments in the fashion business commitment to sustainability over two decades, with a focus on the implication for SCM. Academic literature focuses mainly on partial issues, missing the overall picture, the interaction among a complex set of factors, and to account for the role of past decisions and mistakes on current SSCM (sustainable supply chain management) strategy developments. The time span considered captures sustainability awareness in the fashion business which is in its statu nascenti (nascent state) and the trial and error process that led to progressive refinements of both means and ends. The paper provides an extensive review of academic articles, business reports, technical documents, regulations and direct information from the field and identifies five key lessons learnt in this process that influence current fashion business strategies in sustainability and SCM.

Fashion is primarily based on adoption of trends by consumers in textiles, clothing, footwear, jewelry and art, inter alia. As fashion is based on human preferences, it is characterized by dynamic changes throughout seasons and years, short life cycles, low predictability and high volatility of demand and impulse purchases. In the dynamic environment of apparel markets, fashion firms aim at successfully forecasting both the desirability of new collections and the volumes of each item produced and released to the market under terms of substantial levels of uncertainty. When demand for an item exceeds its supply, the firm is likely to lose additional profits that could have been collected had a sufficient volume of this item been present in the market. Alternatively, if the supply of an item surpassed its demand, it would remain unsold, thereby generating loss equal to its marginal production and distribution costs. The paper proposes a forecasting model that enhances the accuracy of fashion trend forecasting in the context of multiple variants of colour clothing. The model aims at maximizing profits of the firms, while minimizing the forecasting error and reducing the costs that result from excess capacity of production or, alternatively, from loss of potential revenues due to low demand.

This study illuminates the inherent difficulty to manage creativity in fashion design as well as the innovation capabilities in an entire fashion firm. The paper is elaborating creative capabilities in fashion extended to the entire supply chain. In addition to manufacturers and retailers the supply chain also includes transporters, warehouses, stores, and even customers themselves. Within each stage includes all parts needed to get and satisfy customer requirements. This research is based on data from two of the most rapid growing and profit increasing fashion brands in Sweden, which are Cheap Monday and Acne Studios. The analysis has three starting points and definitions. i.e. fashion design, creativity and innovation. The results show that creative capabilities have to been spread out in the entire supply chain to be an efficient component in the building and managing an innovative firm such as it is the case in the fashion industry.

The paper supports the idea that competition is nowadays played among supply chains rather than among companies. The competitive action has been mainly analyzed as a single actor' strategy, looking for gaining a competitive advantage over competitors (Porter, 2008). The competitive advantage is connected to distinctive resources and capabilities owned and/or controlled by the single actor and, especially, to how a company is capable to combine and connect such resources and capabilities reaching a distinctive positioning (Grant, 1991). By re-defining the most traditional view, Porter underlines how strategy has to look for uniqueness rather than to the search for being better than others in the market (Porter, 1996). Following such a view, scholars have addressed their attention to identify new sources of differential advantage, based on a at least temporary uniqueness. Such new sources mostly rely on intangible issues and on the capability to perform more efficiently and effectively market-driven processes (Day, 1994). By shifting his view from tangible to intangible issues, from products to processes, literature has focalized on the company's network relationships as fundamental sources of differential advantage (Hakansson, Snehota, 1989; Dyer, Singh, 1998). The structure and dynamics of a company's business relationships, as well as the company's relational capabilities can sensibly make the difference between one company's performance and another's in the eye of the customer. Processes of value creation and delivery capable to meet customer expectations are only in part referred to activities performed by a single supplier company. Rather, they are connected to a number of companies that interact and connect their resources and capabilities in supply chains' contexts (Christopher, 2012; Cox, Lamming 1995). The customer satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) can be addressed to a single supplier, notably the branded company that directly interfaces with the customer but it is strongly connected to how the branded company's supply chain has been able to mobilize resources, connect activities and exchange information. (Dyer, 1996; Gadde et al., 2010). In confronting and evaluating its perceptions in respect to two different brands a customer expresses his satisfaction (or not) towards the performance of two different supply chains (Hines, 2004). Taking a branded company, driving a supply chain (it is also known as strategic center or leader company), structuring, mobilizing and enabling effective and efficient business relationships with effective and efficient suppliers becomes the most important tool to gain market shares and keep customers satisfied. As network literature well explains, even if a company is a leader in a supply chain, business relationships with supplier companies can only be partially addressed and oriented, mobilized. (Ford, Hakansson, 2002). The general aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of the processes of contractual formalization in business networks on the competitiveness of the supply chains. More precisely, the paper focalizes on a new tool introduced by Italian government, named "Contratto di Rete" (Network Contract - NC)1, that can be also useful to reinforce, orient and develop efficient and effective supply chains. The NC is not simply a type of strategic business alliance as a joint venture or a consortium can be (Guercini and Woodside 2012). It is a flexible tool that companies may use and it is a legal framework within which a network of companies can experiment various opportunities to innovate and to be more competitive. The NC sustains SMEs' development and competitiveness, especially in an international context. The NC also represents a new way of response for Italian SMEs to the current economic crisis, and to the challenges posed by an increasingly globalized and competitive market. Small and medium enterprises represent a significant portion of the industry in most countries. This share is particularly relevant in the Italian reality. In Italy the weight very strong of the small business and the relative weakness of big business has recently been the focus of debate on the loss of competitiveness of the country's industrial system (Coltorti et al., 2013). Empirically, the paper studies the case of Gucci and its supply chains that have used the NC to reinforce and promote their positioning and their performance. In particular, sponsored by the Florentine brand of luxury and with the support of Confindustria Florence, three NC have been developed - P.re.Gi. , Almax and Fair – among the companies of three supply chains of small leather goods , bags and luggage . Each of the three networks includes companies that provide the complete production cycle, from cutting the skin and in one case even tanning to the final packaging of the object . The idea behind the signing of the “Contratto di rete” is come together to promote the transfer of innovation, knowledge transfer, know -how and training, but also to make economies of scale, improve access to credit, streamline costs and streamlining the supply chain, to ensure improved transparency in the flow of marginalization by the leader until the last sub-contractor. In each of the three networks, the parent company is different from Gucci that is left out of the contract. But, most interesting, Gucci will play the role of facilitator, subject to address and exchange of best practices, support and advice in the organizational, technological, financial and training issues. By studying the three NC, the paper wants to emphasize the most important issues both supporting and limiting the action of supply chains as competitive sets. Based on our preliminary study of these Network Contracts, made possible by the availability of a large secondary material and by the research conducted by the authors both on the new legislative tool leading to formalized networks and on the business networks spread since long-term in the leather industry, we formulate some propositions which can be tested as hypothesis or considered as alternatives explanations of the possible role played by the NC to support the competitiveness of companies and supply chains. The study of the Network Contract must take into account with attention to different layers it may impact and influence the competitiveness of the supply chains. At a first layer, it can be a tool of survival of present existing competitive ability and/or supporting the development of new capabilities. One aspect not mutually exclusive but complement the other. It can, however, be interesting to see logic sub-standing the formalization of existing networks and which are the objectives present in the declared intentions as well as those emerging from the observation of the behavior of the actors involved. You may recognize different levels of goal through the process of formalization. A first objective is linked to the fact that the importance of business networks makes them subject to specific policy of public policy makers. This makes the process of formalization important and useful for access policies to support networks. In this sense, a first proposition can be the following: P1. The network contract represents a tool of formalization of existing business networks that allows first to make visible, perceptible such structures and enabling policy makers to support them through appropriate policies to support their growth or survival. At a second layer, the formalization of existing networks can have organizational impacts. The recognition of a strategic center within the network, the formal creation of central coordination unit, or at least the existence of roles and shared resources can also substantially initiating organizational changes that make the network an entity able to access to larger economies and critical mass in respect to individual companies. The contractual formalization can produce effects on the roles of the individual actors involved and determine a different conduct of trials. This can allow the achievement of economies, the achievement of critical mass to trigger new initiatives, to realize innovations. Where networks emerge from declining districts the depletion of external economies can be a way to internalizing in formalized networks a part of the resources as an answer to the crisis of the external district. NC can thus support companies to benefit from the shift from external economies to internal “networks” economies In this sense, a second proposition can be the following: P2. The formalization through contracts in business networks has organizational effects that result in new processes and methods of use of the resources that can affect the operation of the business network and generate economies. At a third layer, in addition to affecting the relationship between the companies and the policy makers as well as the organizational processes in the business network, the formalization by NC can have effects on the contents of the strategy implemented by the firms involved and implemented by the whole chain. Particularly in the luxury sector competition among supply chains assumes importance in terms of exclusivity and the level of quality of the offered products. The contents of the strategy have systematically need to take account of the supply chains. This pushes systematically luxury brands (defined as actors) to search for forms of vertical control through ownership (acquisition of suppliers) and through contracts (contracts for exclusive supply). Consider the role of supply chain strategies related to issues such as: (1) ecological sustainability and social sustainability of productions from luxury brands; (2) country of origin and country of product design on which is affixed the company logo; (3) traceability and guarantees associated with the use of branded products etc. In this sense, a third proposition can be the following: P3. The formalization of contracts in business networks has effect on the strategies declared and / or emerging from the behavior of the actors, both in terms of content and dynamics in the implementation. The paper, through an in-depth analysis of the three networks connected to the Gucci’s supply chain, wants to test the hypotheses corresponding to the three propositions formulated above making a comparison between the supply networks before and after the formalization of the business relationships by the Network Contract. The paper is structured as follows: in the first section the paper emphasizes the shift from a view of competition among companies to competition among supply chains and stresses major problems emerging in supply network dynamics. It then focalizes on the NC tool and its characteristics that can support supply network dynamics. The paper thus focuses on the three networks connected to the brand Gucci. In the final section, the paper summarizes the three mail levels of impact that the NC may have on the supply chains’ competitiveness: the supportive level, the organizational level and the strategic level. A comparison between the main issues affecting supply chains competitiveness in case of their formalized or not-formalized networks structure let draw final conclusions are on the role of Network contracts as positive and negative promoter on supply chains competitiveness.

Considering the supply system and operating cost of enterprises which are in the supply chain as the main index, this paper establishes a supply chain evaluation model, and utilizes Arena building stimulation model of the supply chain which considers manufacturing enterprises as the core of supply chain. This model designs a generic simulation model of the supply chain including multi-level distributors and suppliers. And the model analyzes a representative example of business process, one of the enterprises in Shandong.

It is expected that the temperature in Pyeongyang will be similar to that (16.6℃) in Seogwipo in the late 21st century, and most of South Korea will enter the subtropical climate due to climate change. Change in the precipitation pattern like the range of fluctuation caused by climate change will lead to expanded uncertainty in securing reliable water supply, along with a serious impact on demands for living and industrial water due to change in the volume and period of river outflow. As industrial water for production activities is estimated based on the contract quantity, it is difficult to apply rationalization of water usage and incentives in water recycling. Therefore many companies are making efforts in complying with the effluent standard while spending few resources on such rationalization and recycling. This study researched water risk management over 115 Korean companies by 28 questions in 4 categories. Through the research, this study aims to understand water risk management levels and seek response plans.

In this paper, we investigate an inventory and production system in a three-layer supply chain system involving a single supplier, single manufacturer and multiple retailers. Earlier study in this type of supply chain only consider a single raw material in order to produce single item, but we consider raw materials in order to produce multiple items. It is assumed that the cycle time at each stage is an integer multiple of the adjacent downstream stage. We develop an iterative solution procedure to find the order quantity for the multiple items and raw materials that minimizes the supply chain-wide total cost per unit time of the supplier and manufacturer’s raw materials ordering and holding, setup and finished items holding, the retailer’s ordering and inventory holding. Numerical examples are presented to show that the proposed heuristic gives good performance.

Various inventory control theories have tried to modelling and analyzing supply chains by using quantitative methods and characterization of optimal control policies. However, despite of various efforts in this research filed, the existing models cannot afford to be applied to the realistic problems. The most unrealistic assumption for these models is customer demand. Most of previous researches assume that the customer demand is stationary with a known distribution, whereas, in reality, the customer demand is not known a priori and changes over time. In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning based adaptive echelon base-stock inventory control policy for a multi-stage, serial supply chain with non-stationary customer demand under the service level constraint. Using various simulation experiments, we prove that the proposed inventory control policy can meet the target service level quite well under various experimental environments.

This paper is to analyze the cycle time of the vendor in a single-vendor multi-buyers supply chain. The vendor is the manufacturer and the buyers are the retailers. The cycle time of the vendor is the elapse time from the beginning time of the production to the beginning time of the next production. The cycle time of the vendor that minimizes the total cost in a supply chain is analyzed. The cost factors are the production setup cost and the inventory holding cost of the vendor, the ordering cost and the inventory holding cost of the retailers. The cycle times of the vendor obtained with the costs of the vendor is compared with those obtained with the costs of the vendor and the retailers. Various numerical examples are tested if the cycle times of the vendor for both methods are the same.

New health care services are salient in the supply chain. The market success of new health care services depends on the knowledge-based view to integrate organizational knowledge and attain service innovation performance. This study suggests that the hospitals integrate total market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation as organizational knowledge to sustain marketing operations advantages and achieve market performance in the new health care service supply chain.

As companies were concerned with developing green logistics and environment, most logistics concerned functions like packaging, loading, storage, transportation and IT studies are active in study. Even if active in research studies, companies still recognized that logistics cost increases as green concepts are applied. For the efficient execution of green logistics management, it is absolutely necessary but difficult to build an optimal logistics system where each function is smoothly interacted through the proper integration and the link of various logistics functions and partners. This study aims to development of green logistics through integration of supply chain functions and partners. With this aim of study, case studies with analysis of embodiment, planning and operations for supply chain of companies are carried out.

Competition in supply chain has moved from between being organizations to between supply chain. To enhance competitiveness in supply chain, there is a need for organisations to establish and manage collaborative relationships among supply chain partners and share operational and strategic information timely and accurately. As a result, food supply chain partners have adopted of inter organisational information systems (IOIS) such as EDI, IEDI, RFID, internet, and extranets to facilitate exchange of information, streamline production and to effectively manage inventory processes so as to deliver value to the customer. Together with IOIS, cybermediaries also plays a key role in facilitating agriculture and food supply chain. This paper investigates the role and significance of IOIS and cybermediaries in facilitating agriculture and food supply chain. Convergent interviewing was conducted with agriculture producers, food processors and retailers. The study identifi ed logistics, supply chain and customer services benefi ts perceived from implementing IOIS and utilising cybermediaries services in the food supply chain. To conclude the conceptual paper outlined managerial implications and areas for future research.

Many manufacturing industries need more efficient organization since the customer expects a greater response to orders Due to this increased expectation, a supply chain management (SCM) has become one of the most important methods of competitive advantage in business today. This study has developed a simulator for the supply chain management problem. The simulator designed to help determine considering to the capacities and the costs of production and distribution facilities. The simulator developed using commercial simulation tool ARENA and the results of computational experiments for a simple example were given and discussed to validate the developed simulator. The simulator can be used to decide an realistic production-distribution planning in the area.

As customers' demands for diversified small-quantity products have been increased, there have been great efforts for a firm to respond to customers' demands flexibly and minimize the cost of inventory at the same time. To achieve that goal, in SCM perspective, many firms have tried to control the inventory efficiently. We present an mathematical model to determine the near optimal (s, S) policy of the supply chain, composed of multi suppliers, a warehouse and multi retailers. (s, S) policy is to order the quantity up to target inventory level when inventory level falls below the reorder point. But it is difficult to analyze inventory level because it is varied with stochastic demand of customers. To reflect stochastic demand of customers in our model, we do the analyses in the following order. First, the analysis of inventory in retailers is done at the mathematical model that we present. Then, the analysis of demand pattern in a warehouse is performed as the inventory of a warehouse is much effected by retailers' order. After that, the analysis of inventory in a warehouse is followed. Finally, the integrated mathematical model is presented. It is not easy to get the solution of the mathematical model, because it includes many stochastic factors. Thus, we get the solutions after the stochastic demand is approximated, then they are verified by the simulations.

Supply chain including transportation expend the 21% of domestic energy consumption. It is necessary to diminish the excess energy usage at entire supply chain. This paper deals with the application of MFCA(Material Flow Cost Accounting) for SCM to save energy consumption. We construct the material center corresponding to each logistics function in order to apply the MFCA for GCM(Green Chain Management). We also construct the MFCA framework which consists of MFCA Database Management, MFCA Visualization, GCM Data Integration, GCM Data Tracking, and MFCA Data Predict & Assignment. We expect to help determining the range of logistics function to apply the MFCA for GCM.

It is very important the collaboration and risk management of supply chain between the parent company and its partners in the supply chain risk management(SCRM). It was known that the SCRM approach is very different between a large enterprise and a small and medium-sized enterprise. This paper deals with the suggestion about SCRM structure for a small and medium-sized enterprise. This SCRM structure consist of risk identification, risk assessment, and risk mitigation. We expect that this SCRM structure promote the collaboration between a parent company and its partners to alleviate the supply chain risk.

Studies have shown that the future of the wine market rests on the effective and efficient changes in technology to the supply chain used by most of the major global players. In today’s wine industry, companies are faced with the ever-shifting demand for their products, strict regulation and increasing price competition. Even at that, mature companies in the wine industry are succeeding by scaling up production, streamlining their supply chains, expanding into new geographic areas, implementing more efficient processes, cleverly marketing products, and focusing on ever closer relationships with suppliers, partners and customers. However, this paper looks at supply chain challenges in the wine industry from a global perspective presented in the inbound, manufacturing and outbound processes as well as offer effective solutions in order for companies to gain a competitive advantage and succeed on a global level.

Since manufacturing and supplying corporations today come to view their practice of SCM as important, it becomes essential to analyze and control the structural relationship between the information sharing among corporations and the performances resulting from their practice of SCM. It is thus the purpose of this paper to examine the factors that may prompt corporations to implement SCM by means of analyses into the relationship between information sharing and practice of SCM which corporations should lay stress on as well as the relationship between financial and non-financial performances of corporations. The findings of the study can be summed up as follows: First, as for the relationship between information sharing among and practice of SCM by corporations, information sharing among corporations turned out to affect such factors of implementing their SCM as trust, commitment mutual dependence. Consequently, corporations are requested to endeavor to implement SCM itself faithfully if they really aim to achieve their performances by practice of SCM and, at the same time, to make efforts to obtain understanding and support for information sharing among themselves. Second, from the analysis of the relationship between SCM and financial as well as non-financial performances of corporations, it was found that trust, a factor of SCM practice, had influence upon non-financial performances of corporations, but not upon their financial performances, while commitment and mutual dependence affected both financial and non-financial achievements of corporations. Therefore, it was made clear from the analysis that the decision and systematic control of SCM activities which best suit to a corporation play an important role in improving its financial and non-financial performances, because they greatly depend on the implementing extent of SCM factors such as trust, commitment and mutual dependence among corporations.