International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Leif Enarsson

1998 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600039810205935

Industry in general, and Swedish private companies in particular, are working today within increasing environmental considerations. Environmental strategies, policies, and work programmes in varying forms are necessary in a market which increasingly focuses on environmental factors. An environmental process must include a product’s full life‐cycle, its supply, production, use and waste handling. It must also include economic calculations and be well established within a company’s leadership. A part of a company’s environmental analysis is to evaluate its suppliers and their effect on the environment. The Ishikawa diagram (Ishikawa, 1990) has been used in a project as a diagnostics tool to evaluate suppliers. In conjunction with this evaluation, tables in the computer program Excel have been produced. The work has been done in conjunction with Swedish industrial companies.

Peter Hines; Nick Rich; Malaika Hittmeyer

1998 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600039810205944

This paper describes the Value Stream Analysis Tool (VALSAT) as a rigorous analysis and decision‐making tool in the supply chain or value stream context. The tool can employ both tacit and explicit knowledge for the advantage of the supply chain in which it is used. Although the approach owes its origins to new product development in the Japanese shipbuilding industry, it can provide many advantages over traditional analysis approaches in a value stream setting. VALSAT is demonstrated from both a theoretical and practical viewpoint, the latter involving an analysis of potential improvement in the Kenyan textile industry. The tool appears to be particularly useful in focusing knowledge and so in aiding decision making where there is a complex web of supply chain inter‐relationships and especially where data are a mix of subjective and objective assessments. Additionally it creates the right environment for increased intra‐ and inter‐company co‐ordination, allowing for improvement implementation programmes.

Sherriff T.K. Luk

1998 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600039810205953

One of the essential components of China’s economic open door policy is the reform in its distribution system. So far the distribution reform has transformed China’s distribution system from being non‐responsive and supply‐driven to increasingly responsive and market‐ driven and the nature of exchange relationships among channel members has also changed. Consequently, the China market has become more accessible. This paper reviews a series of distribution reform programs and the emerging trends, highlights major changes in China’s distribution system, identifies the unresolved marketing and administration issues, and assesses their implications for the design of channel strategy, market entry strategy, and effective channel management in China.

David de la Fuente; Jesús Lozano

1998 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600039810205962

The aim of the present article is to decide the ideal number of warehouses for a food manufacturer in the north of Spain (Asturias) for the year 2000, and their ideal location in the Spanish Peninsula by cluster analysis. The stages followed are to comment first on the underlying assumptions of the study, then on the methodology and the structure of the program developed to solve the problem, as well as on their input and output files. How the cluster and cost are calculated is discussed and finally the solution to this real case is provided.