Dr. Miles Weaver, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management,Leicester Business School, UK.mweaver@dmu.ac.uk

JOURNEY

The beginning, middle and the ‘beginning of the end’ of my research journey

A bit more about getting ‘stuck in the middle’ or is that the ‘beginning’

.... Alot more about the ‘beginning of the end’

ON BOARD MENU

Learning from my PhD Journey

Feedback from viva

How not to do it(?)

Importance and relevance of SCM research

Role of simulation in formulating and evaluating supply strategy options

Future directions in Greening and managing the performance in the supply chain

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Motivation and background for research interest

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"supply chains compete, notcompanies" (Christopher, 2002)

Supply strategies significantly impact upon a firms performance

(Christopher and Ryals, 1999, Keah-Choon et al., 1999)

Companies have far too often attempted to optimise their own value chains, without considering the effect of these decisions on their suppliers or customers

(Chopra and Meindl, 2004)

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Evaluating the impact of supply chain performance =

Range of supply chainimprovement options

+Utility of SCOR

+Power of enterprise

simulation

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The Primary use of SCOR: To describe, measure and evaluate supply chain configurations

SCOR contains: Standard descriptions of management processes A framework of relationships among the standard processes Standard metrics to measure process performance Management practices that produce best-in-class performance

Enables the companies to:Evaluate and compare their performances with other companieseffectivelyIdentify and pursue specific competitive advantagesIdentify software tools best suited to their specific process requirements

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ABOVE: Level 1

ABOVE: Level 2

Base Manufacturer

LEFT: Level 3

Make Base Manufacturer

An electronic enterprise simulator based on

SCOR metrics and processes

RIGHT: Level 4

Make Base Manufacturer,

Manufacture and Test

(implementation level)

• repeatable structured process that can be used and reused any number of

times to obtain reliable results each time

• made up of best practices, rules, guidelines and templates

Taylor et al., (2008)

Niranjan and Weaver (2010)

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Evaluating supply chain problems is important; difficulty is that they are inherently complex and dynamic systems (e.g. Davies, 1993; Levy, 1994; Beamon, 1998)

Simulation is an approach that is often used for evaluating SC problems; extent of research is great

Creating a conceptual model is often regarded as the most important stage of a simulation project (Law, 1991); but little is written on the subject (Robinson, 2004b)

No methodologies exist that could guide a user through the creation of a conceptual model

Significant opportunity to utilise domain knowledge aligned with a general procedure for CM >>>>

+

= Novel approach

The thesis has contributed to KNOWLEDGEin the areas of conceptual modelling and supply chain analysis.

‘development, refinement and preliminaryvalidation of a methodology that utilises domain-knowledge with a procedure that can be followed tocreate a simulation conceptual model for SCMapplications’.

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Phase 1:

Describe the supply problem

Output: Description of the

improvement(s) to be evaluated, for

a given objective(s) within its supply

setting

Phase 3:

Determine how each

improvement is to be

represented

Output: Description of the processes

that represent each improvement

Phase 2:

Determine how each

objective is to be measured

Output: Description of the processes

that provide data used to calculate

each objective

Phase 4:

Determine how the inputs

and their sources

interconnect within the

model and with its

immediate supply setting

Output: List of inputs and candidate

processes for possible inclusion in

the model boundary

Phase 5:

Formulate the model boundary

Output: List of processes and inputs

included in the model

Phase 7:

Document and validate the

conceptual model

Output: A valid description of the computer

model to be developed

Phase 6:

Design the level of detail

necessary to implement the

model

Output: Description of the model

components and interconnections that

represent the actual practices included

in the model

Point of entry

A formal problem formulation and structuring

methodology or unstructured problem from

client

Build a prototype and use

sensitivity analysis to extend

the model boundary and

level of detail

Output: Refinement of the model

boundary and level of detail

Iterate for each PROMOTED process decided in phase five

In the area of conceptual modelling, we now know that:

Decision rules can be used to consider which business processes to include within the model boundary from identifying the critical relationships between (core processes) and within the setting (real world) of the processes that are associated with each objective and improvement

Decision rules can be embedded in a generic procedure to simplify inputs to the model and to determine when no further processes should be included in the scope of the model (i.e. model boundary is set)

General principles, simplification methods, methods for representing model content and validation methods (both within and at a final phase) can be incorporated into a general and comprehensive procedure for conceptual modelling to minimise the types of problems that could be encountered in a simulation project

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In the area of supply chain analysis, the thesis has shown that embedding SCOR in a generic procedure for simulation conceptual modelling can:

Aid in the description of a problem from the perspective of the client using standard terminology and domain-specific process detail

Aid in determining how an objective can be measured using standard descriptions of typical performance attributes and metrics; plus data collection needs from associated business processes at different levels of detail

Aid in determining how each improvement can be represented by business processes to implement each improvement at different levels of detail

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Aid in determining the model boundary by providing information on therelationships between business processes (i.e. interconnectionsbetween inputs and outputs germane to each process element)

Aid in providing clear domain-specific guidelines for extractinginformation from a pre-defined process reference model and whennecessary focus consultation with people who are knowledgeable aboutthe system being represented

Aid in focusing consultation with people who are knowledgeable aboutthe system being represented to determine the detail of the actualpractice that needs to be included from the descriptions provided foreach process element included in the model boundary and simplifiedinputs

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Despite SCOR purporting to be a comprehensive supply chain reference model, we know now that it has the following deficiencies which could be improved to enable the information to be used more effectively and with greater ease:

SCOR documentation needs to be presented with more detail on how a improvement and metric is to be implemented between supply chain actors (e.g. not just within the focal firm)

SCOR documentation needs to be clearer on how different manufacturing environments (e.g. MTO, MTS, ETO) use different configurations of process elements as there is significant commonality between process types within each environment

SCOR does not attempt to include typical practices such as ‘MRP’ in its planning processes and some other practices such as ‘kanban’ are expressed in scheduling of product deliveries but not included in the planning descriptions (e.g. plan number of kanban cards)

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Research paper Target Purpose DeadlineSimulation conceptual modelling for Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications: Requirements and concepts

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal (3)/ Journal of Simulation (focuses on the domain specific needs for CM – a simulation related journal may be more suitable)

The paper provides the conceptual basis for the development of approaches that utilise domain-knowledge for the creation of a simulation conceptual model

Oct 2010/Re-submit Jan 2011

Approaches to simulation conceptual modelling: A review of SCM applications

18th European Operations Management Conference: Cambridge University (paper presents a research agenda, invites feedback)

The paper sets out the need and benefits of setting a research agenda in this novel area

Abstract: SubmittedFull paper: May 2011

An assessment of the utility of SCOR for supply chain conceptual modelling

25th ESM 2011/Vienna (paper to be extended to ‘general simulaton with Dr. Albores)

Assess the utility of using the Supply Chain Operations Model (SCOR) for purposes of guiding participants through the complexity of creating a valid and credible conceptual model.

Abstract: SubmittedFull paper: May 2011

A methodology for simulation conceptual modelling for SCM applications

International Journal of Operations and Production Management (4) (key paper, interest has been expressed in principle with journal editor. See appendix A)

An overview of a seven phase methodology is presented that utilises supply chain domain knowledge for the purposes of simulation conceptual modelling. The design is developed and evaluated using three case study applications.

Feb 2011

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… some more driving metaphors ….?

Contribution to KNOWLEDGE

Mapping the research methodology

Bounded literature review Conceptual model = X?

Validation Vs. rigorous testing Meredith (1993)

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The provisional research questions could include:

What green supply strategies and practices are beingpursued by organisations in a global environment?

How can organisations evaluate the impact of greensupply strategies and practices upon the performance ofthe supply network?

Can a tool be developed to aid in the evaluation of theimpact of a particular green supply strategy andpractices upon supply network performance?

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Research proposal Target Purpose Deadline

Development of a tool to aid in

the formulation and evaluation

of green supply chain strategies

and practises

ESRC ECR/Postdoctoral

fellowship award (to establish a

new area for research)

Present a systematic literature

review and research agenda for a

major project

Sept 2011

Visiting old friends ….

How can you formulate and evaluatesupply strategy to unleash the potential performance gains for the total SC?

Who owns the supply chain?

What is the boundary of the supply chain?

How do supply chains compete for competitive advantage?

In the context of ‘greening’ the supply chain what options are available? How can they be best evaluated?

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Any questions ….? Feedback and ideas @DrMilesWeaver

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