Importance of factors driving firms’ decisions on spatial distribution structures

Association between distribution centre design and contextual characteristics

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the main decisions for designing distribution centers (DCs) and the contextual characteristics of the distribution networks.

Design/methodology/approach

Experts were surveyed and responses analyzed quantitatively through multivariate data techniques. This study considered four contextual characteristics that were deemed as influential for DC design: types of routes in the distribution network, quantity of DCs, distribution network levels and company size.

Findings

This paper evidenced which decisions are affected by each contextual characteristic encompassed in this study. This paper identified that the characteristic types of route in the distribution network must be carefully considered, as it had the greatest amount of associations with the decisions for designing a DC.

Originality/value

Despite its importance, most studies on design of DCs disregard the effect of the context in which DCs are inserted. This research provides arguments to support decision-making process of DCs design, increasing assertiveness of their planning. This work fulfills a literature gap by empirically examining the effect of contextual variables on the decisions related to DC design. Regarding practice, this paper addressed a fundamental issue for managers looking to design a DC, as it evidenced how contextual characteristics impact the decision-making.

The contingent nature of warehouse flexibility

Purpose

In a volatile marketplace, warehouse management is fundamentally contingent of changes in its supply network environment. Flexibility is therefore a key logistics issue in distribution centre management. This study probes into the nature of warehouse flexibility in a supply network through simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

By using the FlexSim simulation tool the dynamic behaviour of the warehouse system are conceptualised, documented, simulated, analysed and evaluated.

Findings

Simulation revealed that external changes affect daily processes and the reorganisation of warehouse processes. Given the extensity of resource use, simulation also revealed that process reorganisation should not be a daily undertaking. This is because warehouse processes react in unpredictable and different manners to even the smallest disturbance from the environment. This reaction is not necessarily negative impending more long-term change of warehouse processes.

Originality/value

The warehouse is a complex system that self-adapts with limited need to calculate new optimised warehouse processes to counter changes in its environment. Rather than following deterministic optimisation procedures, the development of flexible resources is a key issue in warehouse management. The applied simulation model is generic and therefore applicable in other distribution centres pointing to how to monitor warehouse processes to in a pre-emptively develop warehouse flexibility through change of process context.

Facilitating Vulnerable Supplier Network Management Using Bicriterion Network Resilience Management Approach

This study aims to enable a high level of coordination to cope with increasing levels of uncertainty by computing supplier- and network-based resilience values. Our case study is based on a real-world highly connected global manufacturing firm based in Korea as a test environment to evaluate a proposed bicriterion network resilience model using resilience and network values, together with an ordering approach. An outranking methodology is used to determine the improvement priorities of suppliers to achieve a high level of overall network resilience. The results show that the effectiveness of a firm’s performance with respect to the entire supply chain may increase or decrease based on its embeddedness and connectivity within the supply network. This study is one of the first to provide an integrative (resilience capabilities and network attributes) approach to the supplier improvement model, future studies are encouraged to expand the model to different network settings.