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1 – 10 of 282Jie Ding, Betsy S. Greenberg and Hirofumi Matsuo
The purpose of this paper is to develop a model‐based methodology for the repetitive testing of multiple products with limited capacity, when the testing process is imperfect.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a model‐based methodology for the repetitive testing of multiple products with limited capacity, when the testing process is imperfect.
Design/methodology/approach
In a repetitive testing process, items that are classified as non‐conforming may be conforming, resulting in excessive scrapping of good items. Failed items are commonly retested to reduce scrapping costs. This paper develops a stochastic optimization formulation and its solution to determine the numbers of repetitive tests for multiple products that minimize the sum of the expected scrapping costs and variable testing costs, subject to a testing equipment capacity constraint. It also develops a procedure to estimate the parameter values that are used in the optimization formulation.
Findings
Computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the estimation and solution procedure and to understand the effect of testing machine capacity on the optimal total cost. These results demonstrate the viability of the proposed approach and the criticality of accurate parameter estimation.
Research limitations/implications
This research shows the usefulness of the proposed optimization/statistical estimation approach to a real‐life complex inspection problem. However, the proposed model has to be modified when the characteristics of the testing equipment are changed.
Practical implications
The authors capture the idiosyncrasies in semiconductor manufacturing such as the high outgoing quality level, the repetitive testing environment, the high coefficient of variation in the number of failure products, and the testing capacity constraint. Conducting extensive computational experiments, the authors demonstrate that the proposed approach is viable.
Originality/value
The paper describes a complex, real‐life inspection management situation, develops a rigorous model‐based solution approach, and carefully demonstrates its viability.
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Hongxia Wang, Jie Ding, Tong Lin and Xungai Wang
In this paper, we report on superhydrophobic fabrics (polyester, wool and cotton) produced by a wet-chemical coating technique. The coating solutions were synthesized by the…
Abstract
In this paper, we report on superhydrophobic fabrics (polyester, wool and cotton) produced by a wet-chemical coating technique. The coating solutions were synthesized by the co-hydrolysis of two silane precursors, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and an alkylsilane, in an alkaline condition. Without any purification, the as-hydrolyzed solutions were directly used to treat fabrics, and the treated fabrics had water contact angles (CA) as high as 170° and sliding angles (SA) as low as 5°. Three alkylsilanes have been used for the synthesis of the coating solutions, and all contain three hydrolysable alkoxyl groups and one non-hydrolysable alkyl, but with different chain lengths (C1, C8 and C16). It was found that the CA value increased with an increase in the alkyl chain length, while the SA showed a reverse trend. When the functional group had a C16 alkyl, the treated fabric surfaces were highly superhydrophobic, with the CA not being affected much by the fabric type, while theSA values were slightly affected by the original wettability of the fabric substrates. The superhydrophobic feature was attributed to a highly rough surface formed by the particulate coating. Aside from the superhydrophobicity, the influence of the coating on the fabric softness was also examined.
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Xueyong Li, Changhou Lu, Rujing Xiao, Jianchuan Zhang and Jie Ding
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel image sensor technology for raised characters based on line structured‐light. It can convert raised character's three‐dimensional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel image sensor technology for raised characters based on line structured‐light. It can convert raised character's three‐dimensional (3D) features into image's grayscale levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The measurement principle and mathematical model are described. An experimental device is established and system parameters are calibrated. A grayscale conversion algorithm is proposed to convert the distortion of laser stripe to the grayscale intensity of image. The article also introduces a four‐factor method to assess the image quality of characters.
Findings
Experimental results show that the method can get high‐contrast images of raised characters that are conventionally low‐contrast with the background. Besides, the method does not need complicated calibration and mass computation, which makes the system structure simple and increases the speed of image acquisition.
Originality/value
The paper presents a novel image acquisition method for raised characters.
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Financing remains a serious concern for firms and is considered the main hurdle in the growth and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Recently, a new stream of…
Abstract
Purpose
Financing remains a serious concern for firms and is considered the main hurdle in the growth and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Recently, a new stream of financing (SCF; supply chain finance) has emerged to meet the financing issues of SMEs. Therefore, measuring SCF is essential to support SMEs’ operations. This study aims to develop and validate the SCF scale based on extant literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a mixed-method approach, this study recruited different samples of SME entrepreneurs to confirm the internal consistency, assess construct validity and check the item structure of the SCF scale in AMOS.
Findings
The outcomes of confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the six factors of SCF (inventory financing, working capital optimization, reverse financing, fixed assets financing, logistics financing and order cycle financing) spread over 21 items. An interitem solid structure of the SCF scale offers invaluable contributions to the supply chain management literature.
Practical implications
This research supports SME entrepreneurs to obtain secure financing at the best cost, mitigating the risk of default, supporting the buyers’ payment terms, providing early payment to suppliers and strengthening the firm’s value chains. SMEs can obtain financing per their requirements to support their operational business processes. Moreover, SMEs can plan, manage and control finance-related transactional activities by correctly identifying financing solutions.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to SCM literature by developing and validating the SCF scale. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that redefined SCF and identified its six dimensions.
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Susanne Knoll, Cristiane Soares Simon Marques, Jiacheng Liu, Funing Zhong, Antônio Domingos Padula and Júlio Otávio Jardim Barcellos
The flow of the Sino-Brazilian frozen beef trade has intensified. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to characterize the supply chain structure, and identify its major fragilities.
Abstract
Purpose
The flow of the Sino-Brazilian frozen beef trade has intensified. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to characterize the supply chain structure, and identify its major fragilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Supply chain mapping was conducted based on the existing literature and primary data collection. Key stakeholders were detected and questioned through semi-structured interviews, which were later interpreted with content analysis.
Findings
The results reveal a low degree of chain coordination from the Brazilian farm to the Chinese consumer, arising from an immature traceability mechanism, a limited flow of reliable information between the segments, and low trust between the stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
The infancy of the beef trade, the paucity of literature on the topic, and restricted accessibility to key governmental and official materials imposes limits on the available information. Language and cultural barriers might have also impacted the interviewees’ responses. However, the participation of Brazilian and Chinese academics in both the interview analysis and chain mapping mitigates these shortcomings.
Practical implications
The Brazilian public and private sectors need to establish a reliable traceability system and information platform. This, together with investments in marketing and branding, would facilitate differential responses among traders and consumers, and, hence, improve supply chain sustainability.
Originality/value
By adopting an inter-country approach and directly sourcing views from specific key figures in the supply chain this study offers some unique insights and contributes to the literature on the emergence of a multi-polar global food trade.
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The literature on modularity is extensive, but most research has been concerned with the manufacturing sector and much less with the service sector. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on modularity is extensive, but most research has been concerned with the manufacturing sector and much less with the service sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existing research, to provide a critique of the empirical literature on service modularity and to discuss future research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
To perform this analysis of service modularity, a list of top-tier journals in the field of business management and organisation was compiled. From there, each and every article was identified, examined, coded and classified into high-level themes. These were then reviewed, analysed and interpreted.
Findings
This paper argues that the application of modularity in services will likely be influenced by certain characteristics that distinguish services from products. Second, modularity, from the service perspective, has been closely connected to productisation of services, and the discussion of modularity related to services has been greatly influenced by the earlier discussion on product modularity. This paper concludes that modularity in the service development context is still seeking its theoretical “identity” and requires further theoretical and empirical work on service design modularity conceptualisation, methods and measures.
Originality/value
This paper has reviewed several significant fields with which research on service modularity has been concerned. It captures and presents the core notion of service modularity in a critical way that might spur further research in the field.
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Fellipe Silva Martins, Leonardo Vils, Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra, Wanderley da Silva Junior and Domingos Márcio Márcio Rodrigues Napolitano
Supply chains (SCs) depend on interorganizational relationships (IORs) to function optimally, yet crises may lessen the knowledge flows therein. This paper aims to address this…
Abstract
Purpose
Supply chains (SCs) depend on interorganizational relationships (IORs) to function optimally, yet crises may lessen the knowledge flows therein. This paper aims to address this issue by proposing a mediation effect between knowledge generation and market orientation by crisis perception in SC.
Design/methodology/approach
Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Data collection comprised 279 full answers of business-to-business organizations in global SCs.
Findings
The data provide evidence that, contrary to the extant literature, knowledge generation during a crisis in a SC does not mitigate crisis perception. In addition, findings suggest there are no significant differences between manufacturing and service SCs in sensemaking during crises and that during crises, SC links diminish cooperation in terms of knowledge generation and sharing and focus on individual performance.
Originality/value
The authors have found a conflicting theoretical issue – while extant literature posits setting IORs lead to high sunk cost, making IOR channels costly and reliable for information flows during crises, the behavioral perspective posits that when crises hit, exogenous shocks induce inwards focus diminishing information flows. The results provide insights on this seemingly inconsistent scenario and point to future avenues of research.
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Motivated by the apparent presence of the “productivity paradox” of information technology (IT) in agri-food supply chain (SC), the purpose of this paper is to explore how IT…
Abstract
Purpose
Motivated by the apparent presence of the “productivity paradox” of information technology (IT) in agri-food supply chain (SC), the purpose of this paper is to explore how IT capabilities affect agri-food supply chain performance (SCP). Specifically, this paper investigates the direct and indirect impacts of IT capabilities on agri-food SCP through interorganizational relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs the questionnaire survey method based on relevant literatures. Data are collected from Chinese 265 core firms' agri-food SC. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is mainly employed for hypothesis testing and analysis.
Findings
The main findings are as follows. First, IT capabilities have significant direct impact on agri-food SCP. Second, IT capabilities enhance interorganizational relationships in the agri-food SC. Third, interorganizational relationships positively influence agri-food SCP. Last, interorganizational relationships are important path factors and mediate the indirect impact of IT capabilities on agri-food SCP.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to a particular sample, that is, agriculture-related firms in Chinese agri-food SC. The results need to be generalized to encompass wider samples. Future research could in greater detail study the links among IT capabilities, interorganizational relationships and agri-food SCP.
Practical implications
The study's findings could provide practical reference value for agriculture-related firms to design appropriate strategies to solve the IT “productivity paradox” and improve agri-food SCP from the perspectives of IT capabilities and interorganizational relationships.
Originality/value
This paper constructs a newly developed framework based on the resource-based view (RBV) and relational view to examine the links among IT capabilities, interorganizational relationships and agri-food SCP, and innovatively verifies the mediating effect of interorganizational relationships on the impact of IT capabilities on agri-food SCP.
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This study aims to investigate the supplier selection criteria, relationship quality and level of collaboration in Asian food businesses, while also examining the link between…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the supplier selection criteria, relationship quality and level of collaboration in Asian food businesses, while also examining the link between these practices and business performance. The research focusses on food manufacturing and exporting companies in two emerging economies, China and Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Food manufacturing and exporting companies in two emerging economies – China and Vietnam were surveyed and analysed to extract factors that reflect supplier management and business performance along with their relationship by factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Then, a two-step cluster analysis was applied to identify clusters based on supplier management and explore how different business performance groups manage their suppliers.
Findings
Four clusters that are distinct sets of food firms with detailed references about their typical characteristics revealing their business performance and supplier management practices. Also, the study confirms that certificates, reliability and inspection results constitute the factor of quality-related criteria for food firms. It is an interesting insight into what firms prioritise in selecting and maintaining collaboration and relationships with suppliers that reflect actual demanding specifications for supplier conformity.
Research limitations/implications
The study reveals the business status of the studied companies and each group's specific references, such as the criteria they prefer to select suppliers, the relationship quality and the level of collaboration.
Originality/value
The study is a useful reference for both researchers and practitioners to have a comprehensive view of supplier management in the food industry based on the viewpoint of Asian food manufacturers.
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