High volume production flows are modeled by nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations representing conservation laws. These models have Little’s law explicitly built into the formulation. Borrowing from concepts in gas dynamics and vehicular traffic models we derive several prototypical equations representing linear as well as reentrant factories. Multiple products, dispatch polices a...

Supply chains in industry have a very complex structure. The influence of many parameters is not known. Therefore the control of the material flow is rather difficult. In order to recognize these relationships between the parameters, initially very simple models have to be established. For this examination a linear supply chain with 4 stages will be designed. In all stages the stock is closed-l...

We analyze the sourcing decision of a buyer choosing between two supplier types: responsible suppliers are costly but adhere to strict social and environmental responsibility standards, while risky suppliers are less expensive but may experience responsibility violations. A segment of the consumer population, called socially conscious, is willing to pay a higher price for a product sourced from...

We study the price competition of two supply chains with demand uncertainty. Each supply chain consists of one risk-averse manufacturer and one risk-averse retailer. We consider two cases: two competing decentralized supply chains and two competing integrated supply chains. We analyze the effects of the demand uncertainty on the supply chains’ expected profits. In the first case, we find that t...

Supply chains can act as effective mechanisms for raising environmental and social standards but can be very blunt instruments. While supply chain action can bring sustainability gains, it can also have unintended negative consequences and cause considerable resentment at the mismatch between costs and benefits along the chain. This article looks at how and why supply chains are being used to i...

Sustainable supply chains depend on three critical decisions: production, inventory management, and distribution with reverse flows. To achieve an effective level of operational performance, policymakers must consider all these decisions, especially in Closed-Loop Supply Chains (CLSCs) remanufacturing option. In this research paper, we address the Integrated Production-Inventory-Routing Problem...

The aim of this review paper is to bring into light a potential area i.e., web services supply chains for research by analyzing the existing state of art in this. It is observed from the review process that there seems to be much less work done in the area of web service supply chains as compared to e-commerce and product oriented service supply chains. The service quality assurance models, end...

One of the primary objectives of National Immunization Programs is to strengthen and optimize immunization supply chains so that vaccines are delivered to the end recipients effectively, efficiently and sustainably. As a result of larger investments in global health and a wider portfolio of vaccines, global agencies are recognizing the need for vaccine supply chains to operate at their most opt...

Information sharing within a supply chain has numerous bene ts. However, in the past decade, several works have pointed out using game-theoretic models that: (i) a supply chain entity may not have an incentive to share information for fear of exploitation by the party (e.g. manufacturer) with whom they share information as well as leakage of information to their competitors, (ii) the negative e...

This chapter studies the strategic decision making problem regarding the design of a distribution network and the definition of material flows. In particular, we consider the Two-Echelon Uncapacitated Facility Location Problem (TUFLP). In a general case, the problem is defined as follows. A firm may have relatively few products and a number of plants. Products are shipped from plants to markets...