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To introduce the applicability of the Ned‐MASTA classification method for medicines within the environment of a hospital pharmacy and the virtual pharmacy inventory system that forms a virtual pharmacy inventory of hospitals within the same geographical region providing the infrastructure for the cooperation of hospital pharmacies in order to improve the efficiency of their operations.

A survey that was conducted in Greek hospitals identified the inefficiencies of their logistics systems that are similar to inefficiencies identified through surveys in hospitals worldwide. It was considered vital and necessary to investigate the solutions that are provided in other industries facing similar problems. The case of spare parts inventory for production machines was found to present similarities with the management of medicine stock within the hospital pharmacy. The approach that was followed for the case of spare parts was modified and included in the system that forms a virtual hospital pharmacy inventory; this made the approach applicable in the hospital environment and further improved the efficiency of the use of hospital pharmacy resources.

The MASTA classification approach was modified to fit in the operation of the hospital pharmacy and a system was constructed to form the virtual pharmacy inventory. The applicability of the system is demonstrated through an application scenario.

The system is in the form of a prototype under evaluation. It has not been applied yet thus results that are based on actual applications are not presented.

It demonstrates the idea of a solution to the inefficiencies of the hospital pharmacy and sets the ground for discussing the proposed solution.

This study introduces a new approach to the problems and inefficiencies of the hospital pharmacy management.

The purpose of this research is to propose an approach for discovering operational intelligence and knowledge mapping in a supply network with uncertainty.

Knowledge mapping and handbook techniques are used. TAPS software is used to model a supply network with uncertainty and to discover operational intelligence in a supply network.

Knowledge management is inadequate for managing a supply network with uncertainty. Knowledge mapping is proposed, but it needs to be assisted by operational intelligence.

iTAPS provides managers with an ability to visualise the operational intelligence for a given objective, and to identify the likely effects on implementing a particular tool or technique in a supply network.

A new approach – called the “intelligence handbook” is proposed to discover operational intelligence in order to map knowledge in a supply network with uncertainty.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a fuzzy multi‐criteria decision‐making procedure and it is applied to find a set of optimal solution with respect to the performance of each supplier. This method with the use of Monte Carlo simulation produces overall desirability level less imprecise and more realistic than those of the conventional QFD methods for engineering design evaluation.

A few responses obtained from customers are simulated using a triangular fuzzy QFD algorithm, Monte Carlo simulation and a multi‐objective model to optimise the total user preferences.

The proposed approach provides decision‐making with an optimal solution less imprecise in a QFD‐based collaborative product design environment.

The proposed approach depends on the few responses and the random numbers derived from simulation. The random numbers need to be used after passing them through random number testing methods. The responses obtained from the customer are considered to be genuine and original.

The triangular fuzzy, Monte Carlo simulation and multi‐objective optimisation are embedded into QFD environment to make the decisions less imprecise than that of conventional QFD and it is tested for a case study problem. It definitely helps the managers in a collaborative product design environment.

Today's business environment emerges the need for organizations to continuously transform themselves, in order to maintain and reinforce their ability to compete successfully. The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the transformation process of supply chain in order to provide a modular structured management tool for planning, implementing and measure the effectiveness of supply chain transformation process (SCTP), in relation to overall organizational performance and business strategy.

The focal concepts upon which the overall approach is based are the strategic planning process, the human resources management techniques, the link between organizational structure and culture, the marketing integration and the importance of quality evaluation.

The success of such efforts depends on a number of correlated parameters, among which, those of top management commitment and behavioural issues of human resources are the most critical. The tool proposed in this paper for the transformation of the supply chain, provides a flexible sequence of project phases, linked together in a loop and continuously assessed against specific evaluation criteria, to assure the project quality and the continual transformation dynamics.

The pilot implementation of the tool to a big furniture organization led to the development of an integrated supply chain function, which would integrate planning, purchasing, production, warehousing distribution and transportation processes. The customer satisfaction rate had an increase of 25 percent, six months after the fulfilment of the transformation and three key suppliers reported a significant decrease of the duration of the overall purchasing process.

The paper presents a modular tool to facilitate the management of a SCTP as a project, taking under consideration the critical sensitivity factors of a transformation process.

The principal aim of this paper is to determine the critical factors of total quality management (TQM) and to measure their effect on organizational performance of SMEs operating in Turkish textile industry.

Data for this study was collected using a self‐administered questionnaire that was distributed to 500 SMEs in textile industry in the city of Istanbul in Turkey selected randomly from the database of Turkish Small Business Administration (KOSGEB). Of the 500 questionnaires posted, a total of 163 questionnaires were returned.

Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, seven empirically validated dimensions of TQM were identified. The structural equation modelling technique was employed to investigate the relationship between the implementation of TQM practices and organizational performance. Data analysis reveals that there is a strong positive relationship between TQM practices and non‐financial performance of SMEs, while there is only weak influence of TQM practices on financial performance of SMEs. With only a mediating effect of non‐financial performance that the TQM practices has a strong positive impact on financial performance of SMEs.

The sample is restricted to only a single region and a single industry, so it would be strongly recommended that data be gathered from various parts of Turkey including both various manufacturing and service industries. As the data in this study were collected from top managers of organizations on the basis of their subjective evaluations, objective performance indicators should also be employed in the analysis.

Despite some attempts on the applicability of TQM practices and advanced manufacturing technologies as well as their impact on organizational performance of SMEs, there is a lack of systematic empirical evidence regarding the extent of TQM implementation and its effect on performance of SMEs in emerging market economies. This paper presents new data and empirical insights into the relationship between TQM implementation and organizational performance in SMEs operating in Turkey.

When approaching a stock‐out situation, a company should be able to actively manage the allocation of available products on the basis of customer requirements and priorities as well as contractual relationships. The purpose of this paper is to describe different order promising mechanisms and analyze how well they can contribute to the effective management of stock‐out situations.

The paper provides a formal description and analysis of alternative order promising mechanism applicable in make to stock systems. Numerical analysis is conducted based on the data of a pharmaceutical company.

The paper clearly points out the potential of alternative order promising mechanisms to alleviate the negative consequences associated with a temporary stock‐out situation.

The paper does not consider implications of inventory pre‐allocation to customer classes. Further research should address the interplay between pre‐allocation and different order allocation mechanisms.

The results obtained from this analysis provide guidelines for manufacturers, retailers, and vendors of supply chain software on how to design and utilize order promising systems.

The paper provides a consistent formal approach to modelling order promising mechanisms, introduce new and innovative order promising mechanisms and provide valuable insight into their performance through numerical analysis.

Effective service logistics can lower the cost and increase service value by improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, the conventional ways of the service logistics are information driven instead of knowledge‐driven which are insufficient to meet the current needs. The purpose of this paper is to present a knowledge‐based service automation system (KBSAS) to enhance the competitiveness for manufacturing enterprises in service logistics.

The KBSAS incorporates various artificial intelligence technologies such as case‐based reasoning which is used for achieving four perspectives of knowledge acquisition, service logistics, service automation and performance measurement, respectively.

A prototype customer service portal has been built based on the KBSAS and implemented successfully in a semi‐conductor equipment manufacturing company. It is verified that the KBSAS provides high quality customer services with fast and efficient customer responses. It also allows the company to capture the valuable experience and tacit knowledge of the staff in performing customer and field services.

The KBSAS yields a number of advantages over conventional service logistics which include streamlining the service logistics process; performance measurement; reduction of paper work; the provision of 24 hours worldwide automatic customer service supported by the verified knowledge base established in the date time operations as well as the driving for continuous improvement of customer service quality.

The paper presents the development and successful implementation of a KBSAS which allows for the capture of the valuable experience and tacit knowledge of the staff in performing customer and field services.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework to evaluate e‐business strategic capabilities using structural equation modelling (SEM) approach.

The paper identifies three e‐business capabilities, namely business strategy, supply chain strategy and e‐business readiness. These capabilities are further decomposed under technology, organization and people dimensions to assess their contribution for business effectiveness. A questionnaire is designed and implemented using SEM technique. Survey data from 143 firms from the UK are collected to test our theoretical model. In particular, we have tested a positive, mediating/reciprocal relationships among multidimensional measures of business strategy, supply chain strategy and e‐business adoption. Further hypotheses are developed to evaluate a direct positive impact of e‐business on company's performance.

This empirical analyses demonstrate several key findings: success of e‐business in UK firms is attributed to the strong positive co‐relationship of supply chain strategy to business strategy and to e‐business adoption; within the technology‐organization‐people dimensions, e‐business adoption and business strategy emerges as the strongest factors for the company's performances for the adopter of e‐business group, whereas supply chain capabilities and business strategies is relatively a stronger contributory factor towards business success for non‐adopter of e‐business.

It is expected that the results from this study will provide useful guidelines for companies to assess their strengths and weaknesses towards adopting an effective e‐business implementation strategy.

The aim of this paper is that of individualizing a framework for the management of uncertainty in supply chain finalized to reduce the firm risks.

Since a way for reducing the damages deriving from uncertainty sources is increasing the level of flexibility inside the supply chain, and the real option theory allows the increase of the flexibility level, in order to achieve the aim of this work, we utilize the real options theory to coverage of one or more risks inside the supply chain.

A useful theoretical framework has been individualized enabling the selection of possible options to protect the firm against the risk originating from every source of uncertainty. In particular, on two types of risks, using Matlab software, a test has been conducted that proves the ability of the outsource option to cover risks under examination.

In the paper a framework providing useful information for the supply chain management is presented.

The paper attempts to provide an original tool for the risks management deriving from production activities inside a supply chain.