International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Gyöngyi Kovács; Karen M. Spens

2007 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030710734820

Purpose – This paper aims to further the understanding of planning and carrying out logistics operations in disaster relief. Design/methodology/approach – Topical literature review of academic and practitioner journals. Findings – Creates a framework distinguishing between actors, phases, and logistical processes of disaster relief. Drawing parallels of humanitarian logistics and business logistics, the paper discovers and describes the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics while recognizing the need of humanitarian logistics to learn from business logistics. Research limitations/implications – The paper is conceptual in nature; empirical research is needed to support the framework. The framework sets a research agenda for academics. Practical implications – Useful discussion of the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics. The framework provides practitioners with a tool for planning and carrying out humanitarian logistics operations. Originality/value – No overarching framework for humanitarian logistics exists in the logistics literature so far. The field of humanitarian logistics has so far received limited attention by logistics academics.

Stig‐Arne Mattsson

2007 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030710734839

Purpose – The objective of this study is to revise and enhance existing inventory control models in a way that allows them to be used more efficiently in environments with short lead times. Design/methodology/approach – A simulation approach has been chosen to assess the efficiency of the developed model. This simulation is based on randomly generated demand data with a compound Poisson type of distribution. Findings – Results from the simulation show that traditionally used inventory control methods fail to ensure that desired service levels are attained in environments with short lead times. The simulation also shows that, by using the developed model, the differences between desired and attained service levels can be reduced to fall within limits acceptable in practice. Originality/value – The study provides an enhanced inventory control model that can be used in environments with short lead time to increase service level performance.

Astrid Vigtil

2007 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030710734848

Purpose – Vendor managed inventory (VMI) is a model for supply chain collaboration gaining ground in multiple industries around the world. Forecasting is one of several means to predict future demand. The purpose of this paper is to identify what types of advance demand data would be valuable to the supplier for successful replenishment planning in cases of VMI, frequency and means of information exchange. Design/methodology/approach – The work is based on a literature review and a multiple case study where both successful and unsuccessful VMI collaboration programs are studied. In all cases, the supplier or the customer was a manufacturer. The discussion is based on case‐observations of causes and effects that are compared with existing literature. Findings – It is found that current inventory status and sales forecasts are the most important kinds of information to be made available to the supplier in a VMI relationship. This also conforms with the general perception of the literature review. Some kinds of information are found valuable while other kinds are found not to be of importance. It was also found that kinds of information differ with the type of supply chain activities being performed by the customer, i.e. there is a different kind of information recommended when the customer makes to stock than when he is a wholesaler or a manufacturer making to order. This observation has not been discussed in the literature reviewed. Research limitations/implications – The value of generalization from case studies is subject to general discussion. The cases applied in this research encompass Norwegian suppliers and dyads at the upstream end of the value chain. Geographically related cultural differences might limit the applicability of this work. Originality/value – The findings support the existing literature and this paper takes a practitioner's perspective on information sharing. The aim is to offer a comprehensive yet educational view of information sharing and VMI.

Henrik Pålsson

2007 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030710734857

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the advantages, challenges and uncertainties of collecting and analyzing data using participant observation in logistics research. Design/methodology/approach – Experiences from a participant observation study of an interorganizational radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation in an international environment are presented and reflected on. The RFID implementation included complex interactions between three leading companies. Findings – The results appear to support an increased use of participant observation in qualitative logistics research, particularly when investigating interorganizational aspects. The analysis highlights values, general limitations and challenges of using participant observation in logistics. The paper illustrates that using participant observation results in significant and detailed findings, which would be difficult to achieve with other methods. Suggestions on how to take advantage of the method's benefits and overcome methodological challenges are provided. Research limitations/implications – Future research may address experiences from other studies regarding how to analyze and report data from a participant observation study. It may also clarify the role the method is given in case studies and extend the analysis of epistemological aspects conducted in this paper. Practical implications – This paper may inspire logistics researchers to consider participant observation, either as sole method or as part of a multi‐methodical case study, in order to make use of its benefits and thus broaden the dimensions of logistics research. Originality/value – A broad literature review indicates that participant observation studies are rather uncommon in logistics research. This paper thus highlights the potential of using this method in logistics research, particularly when investigating the overlooked, but essential, interorganizational aspects of logistics and SCM.

Bjørnar Aas; Irina Gribkovskaia; Øyvind Halskau Sr; Alexander Shlopak

2007 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/09600030710734866

Purpose – In the Norwegian oil and gas industry the upstream logistics includes providing the offshore installations with needed supplies and return flow of used materials and equipment. This paper considers a real‐life routing problem for supply vessels serving offshore installations at Haltenbanken off the northwest coast of Norway from its onshore supply base. The purpose of the paper is to explore how the offshore installation's limited storage capacity affects the routing of the supply vessels aiming towards creating efficient routes. Design/methodology/approach – A simplified version of the real‐life routing problem for one supply vessel is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming model that contains constraints reflecting the storage requirements problem. These constraints ensure that there is enough capacity at the platform decks and that it is possible to perform both pickup and delivery services. Findings – The model has been tested on real‐life‐sized instances based on data provided by the Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA. The tests show that in order to obtain optimal solutions to the pickup and delivery problem with limited free storage capacities at installations, one has to include in the formulation the new sets of constraints, the storage feasibility and the service feasibility requirements. In addition, two visits to some platforms are necessary to obtain optimality. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation is the present inability to solve large cases. Originality/value – The contribution of this paper is to provide a better insight into a real‐life routing problem which has a unique feature arising from the limited deck capacity at the offshore installations that complicates the performance of service. This feature has neither been discussed nor modeled in the vehicle routing literature before, hence the formulation of the problem is original and reveals some interesting results.