International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Göran Svensson

2003 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030310469135

This research applies the construct of bullwhip effect in a non‐traditional context. It is explored in intra‐organisational echelons. It is argued that the bullwhip effect in a company's inventory management of inbound and outbound logistics flows depends in part upon the gap between the degree of speculation and postponement of business activities. It is also argued that the bullwhip effect is caused by the value adding of business activities in supply chains. The study shows that there is a potential bullwhip effect between companies’ inbound and outbound logistics flows, i.e. two internal stocking levels. A see‐saw model of the bullwhip effect, and a typology of the bullwhip effect in intra‐organisational echelons, are introduced. The term “reversed bullwhip effect” is also introduced. Finally, a model of the bullwhip effect‐scenarios in a dynamic business environment positions these contributions in a wider theoretical and managerial context.

Mikko Kärkkäinen; Timo Ala‐Risku; Jan Holmström

2003 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030310469144

A broad product assortment is usually valued highly by customers. However, holding a great number of product variants in inventory increases the costs of a supplier. It is possible to reduce need for warehousing with direct deliveries from manufacturing units, but customer value is reduced when orders are received on several shipments. Merge‐in‐transit is a distribution method in which goods shipped from several supply locations are consolidated into one final customer delivery while they are in transit. This article examines the effects of merge‐in‐transit distribution on delivery costs. The analysis is performed with a maintenance, repair, and operations products distributor as the case company. The evidence in this article supports the claim of merge‐in‐transit being a cost efficient distribution alternative in business networks. Based on the results advocates that companies in multi‐company networks should study the possibility of using the merge‐in‐transit delivery model.

Hokey Min; Ahmed Emam

2003 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030310469153

Chronic driver turnover can adversely influence a trucking firm's competitiveness through disrupted delivery services, equipment down time and excessive recruiting expenses. Thus, a key to the survival of the trucking firm rests with its ability to recruit and retain qualified drivers who are less likely to cause turnover. In an effort to develop the ways to recruit and retain those drivers, we propose data mining techniques. Based on an empirical study of trucking firms in the USA, this paper not only develops a viable driver recruitment and retention strategy, but it also demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed data mining techniques.

S.G. Lee; S.W. Lye

2003 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030310469162

Packaging costs (direct labor and material) account for a substantial portion of a product's manufactured cost and so it is desirable to minimize these costs. And since major productivity gains have already been realised in manufacturing operations, the last frontier for productivity improvements appears to be in logistics. A formal methodology is therefore proposed to assess the efficiency of manual insertion and packing operations such as folding, insertion, labeling, sealing and scanning. Through this methodology, inefficient packaging operations can be identified and improved upon. This paper also discusses how standard manual handling and insertion times can be computed from raw data collected from industry. These standard manual handling and insertion times form the basis for the computation of the manual packaging efficiency expressed as a packaging index. The closer the index is to 1, the more efficient are the packaging operations. Tables of standard times for labelling, scanning barcodes, sealing with adhesive tape, and insertion into Zip‐Lock™ bags and cardboard boxes with two, three and four flaps are presented. A simple five‐step procedure records the ideal and actual packaging times in a worksheet, from which the packaging efficiency may be computed. The methodology was applied to the packaging of mobile phones, hard disk drives, a desk‐jet printer, a notebook computer, a video cassette recorder and a microwave oven. The packaging efficiencies of the three popular mobile phone models were computed to be 81.5 percent, 76 percent and 74.4 percent. By adopting the best packaging features of two competitor models, it was found that the packaging efficiency of one model of mobile phone could be improved by 13.7 percent. Arising from the research, the authors postulated a general manual packaging line consisting of all conceivable manual packaging operations. This generic manual packaging line is significant in a specific line for a specific product may be quickly configured from it. Finally, arising from the experience of the authors in this research, guidelines for the design of efficient packaging lines are proposed.