Global Supply Chain

Using Systems Engineering Strategies to Respond to Disruptions

Adedeji B. Badiru

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000534474
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Operations
• Index: Business

Global Supply Chain: Using Systems Engineering Strategies to Respond to Disruptions uses a systems-based approach of the tools and techniques of industrial engineering applied to the global supply chain. The specific application addressed in this book is the supply chain, which has been disrupted due to COVID-19 and the closure of several plants in the chain.

The book presents the basic tools of industrial engineering applicable to a dynamic supply chain system. It recognizes the nuances of human factors in any commerce and industry and covers the basic elements of a supply chain from a systems perspective. It highlights the global impacts of disruption caused by COVID-19 and leverages the Triple C Model of system communication, cooperation, and coordination. It also illustrates the applicability of the DEJI systems model for supply chain design, evaluation, justification, and integration. Supply chain modeling optimization examples are offered, and the introduction of a newly developed learning curve model, applied to the global supply chain, is presented. The contents of the book are applicable not only to the food supply chain but also to the supply of other commodities, including physical products, services, and desired end results.

The book is written for engineers working in production, civil, mechanical, and other industries. It will be of interest to engineering managers, consultants as well as those involved with business management. University students and instructors will also find this book useful as a general reference.

1 Project Framework for the Global Supply Chain

DOI: 10.1201/9781003111979-1

The Amorphous Global Supply Chain

Supply chain requires that the right product, be provided at the right time, in the right place, and in the right quantity. This essentially involves the actualization of what, who, when, where, why, and how (w⁴h), in which industrial engineers are very versed because of their training in inquisitive inquiries. Of course, the supply chain can never stop. It is through the tools and techniques of industrial engineering that we can always get to the bottom of supply chain problems. Topics such as KPI (key performance index), predictive statistics, quality certification, engineering economic analysis, IoT (Internet of Things), systems optimization, forecasting, learning curve modeling, and other digital landscapes are within the tool boxes of industrial engineers and can be applied directly to supply chain problems.

The emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 revealed how fragile and shifting the global supply chain can become in the presence of a wide-sweeping disruption. Due to the pandemic, the normally smooth and efficient supply chain does not respond as swiftly and effectively as typically expected. The global supply chain is an interconnected piece of supply routes and linkages. This creates a complex project scenario. Supply chain problems are not always due to product shortages, as consumers often think in their simplistic and uninformed ways. Below are some possible contributing factors, attributes, and indicators that may cause supply chain problems:

• Product shortages
• Transportation problems
• Workforce inequities
• Labor shortage
• Sabotage
• Accidents
• Natural disasters
• Political upheaval
• Hoarding
• Excessive demand vis-à-vis supply

All of these are often recognized in their own individual rights to attention. But when they work in tandem to affect the supply chain, they can spell doom for national operations. The fluidity that may pose problems in the global supply chain can also turn out to present opportunities for alternate approaches that are responsive and adaptive to the current scenarios, operational needs, and market requirements. That is one justification for calling upon the tools and techniques of industrial engineering. Factory shutdowns in international sources, such as China, and shipping delays at domestic points create production inefficiencies that are best resolved through comprehensive industrial engineering techniques.

Because of the amorphous nature and fluidity of the supply chain, this book uses a triple-helix approach, leveraging industrial engineering, project management, and systems engineering. This calls for a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques. So, the diverse soft and hard techniques favored by different readers are incorporated into the book.

From a comprehensive project management perspective, a supply chain that is designed to be robust in a steady-state scenario will be more likely to be resilient in a scenario of disruption. This is one of the key messages of this book. Using a project management framework and a systems approach, supply chain can be designed to be more robust, resilient, and responsive in both calm and chaotic scenarios.

Industrial Engineering Efficacy in the Supply Chain

Due to the multifaceted complexity of the global supply chain, the discipline of industrial engineering is well positioned to bring its tools and techniques to bear on the diverse challenges faced in the supply chain. Industrial engineering, a discipline that has flexibility and diversity of applicability, is defined as articulated below by what an industrial engineer does:

An industrial engineer is one who is concerned with the design, installation, and improvement of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment, and energy by drawing upon specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.

This is exactly what the global supply chain needs in incorporating the multifaceted nuances of the interconnectedness of supply chains around the world.

Beyond Food Supply

Although food supply is often the most easily noticed disruption of the supply chain, there are many other supply chain problems, including the following:

• Auto parts
• Gasoline
• Computer chips
• Technical workforce

In fact, this book initially started with a focus on food supply chain. It was, subsequently, expanded to general supply chains due to the other realities that emerged as a result of the pandemic and other disruptive events. In most cases, the supply chain is characterized by the following elements:

• Prediction (to forecast market needs)
• Production (to meet the forecasted demand)
• Transportation (to get the goods out to the market)
• Distribution (to get the goods to the points of sale)
• Transaction (selling of the goods through wholesale, retail, etc.)
• Consumption (buyer’s usage of the goods)
• Repetition (repeat of the entire process to keep the market going)

This cycle pertains not only to physical goods but also to the provision of services, such as in healthcare, travel, security, emergency response, and recreation. In fact, the movement of people through the airport is a form of a supply chain process and the cycle described above is directly applicable. Askin and Sefair (2021) present an analytical modeling technique that fits this supposition perfectly. Their work involves improving the efficiency of airport security screening checkpoints. The first step in matching capacity to demand is to predict demand, that is the forecasting of the number of passengers arriving in each time segment. While this may sound simple, the reality is more complicated due to data availability and inherent randomness. Any disruption in the whole transportation system involving a particular airport could easily upend the passenger flow at the local airport level. For a practical implementation of their approach, Askin and Sefair (2021) developed a quantitative model of the number of passengers arriving at security screening checkpoints for specific time intervals on various days. Other aspects of the methodology involve estimating queue lengths and wait times. This is a stand component of the application of operations research to problem scenarios. The work was done at the research Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) at Arizona State University.

Export–Import Complexity of a Supply Chain

One case example of the complicated global supply chain can be seen in the seafood industry. It is reported that 80% of the seafood consumed in the United States of America is imported (Zomorodi and Geiran, 2021; NOAA, 2021). In the same breath, 25% of the seafood caught, raised, or farmed in the United States of America is sent overseas for processing before being imported back into the USA market. This symbiotic but amorphous import–export relationship can create challenges even in steady-state times, not to talk of disrupted market times. With the increasing interest in healthier living, consumers are turning more and more to seafood. Thus, the global seafood demand and supply will continue to grow. Trade logistics and agreements may shift, but the basic uptick of supply and demand will continue. Global trade tensions, political uncertainties, pandemic-caused economic downturns, and social unrests may disrupt standard supply chain practices. However, new technological breakthroughs in aquaculture techniques and biosecurity may offer enhanced responses. A system view of the overall market landscape is essential for being responsive and adaptive to the changing demand and supply profiles.

Input-Process-Output Representation

Even for a simple market commodity, the supply chain is a complex chain of input, process, and output as depicted in the Input, Constraints, Outputs, and Mechanisms (ICOM) model shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 ICOM Model for the Supply Chain.

Input

The supply chain starts with the market specifying the needs, requirements, conditions, and expectations. This is the input phase. Without knowing the nuances of the inputs, the supply chain will start out on the wrong foot. Even little things can matter bigly in a supply chain. This is akin to the age-old proverb by Benjamin Franklin as echoed below:

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For the want of a horse the rider was lost,

For the want of a rider the battle was lost,

For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.

From a systems perspective, all inputs of the market are important. It is in the input segment that the supply chain objectives and expected results are specified. Like the scope of work in project management, the scope of the supply chain market also is important to be specified as a part of the inputs.

Constraints

There is no flawless or perfect system anywhere. Every supply chain will be subject to constraints, both internal and external. Constraints are the reality of any operation. Problems and impediments crop up and must be addressed promptly before disastrous consequences can develop. Some potential constraints include budget limitation, financial requirements, reporting expectations, schedule impositions, legal guidelines, contractual requirements, trade embargoes, environmental issues, quality standards, and government regulations. Using a systems approach, the linkages between the constraints can be better understood and managed. Supply chain objectives may have to be modified in response to the prevailing constraints. Multi-constrained operation poses a challenge. But a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools can help resolve, overcome, or mitigate the challenges.

Mechanism

In a supply chain, the mechanism are the people, knowledge base, tools, techniques, models, expertise, talents, technology, and capital. These constitute the “engine” required to move the supply chain forward. The list of mechanisms facilitating the forward movement of the supply chain will often be dynamic. The operators must be responsive and adaptive to adding new mechanisms. For example, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated adding new mechanisms (e.g., COVID testing and vaccination) to several supply chains.

Output

The output is like the “coin of the realm” of the supply chain enterprise. The output is the valued result of all the inner workings of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Author
• 1 Project Framework for the Global Supply Chain
• 2 Industrial Engineering Techniques in the Supply Chain
• 3 Forecasting and Inventory Modeling for Supply Chains
• 4 Modeling for Supply Chain Optimization
• 5 Learning Curve in Production and Supply Chain Systems
• 6 Supplier Selection Using Multiple Criteria Optimization
• 7 Systems Models for the Supply Chain
• Index