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Perishable inventory management for the grocery sector has become more challenging with extended omnichannel activities and emerging consumer expectations. This paper aims to identify and formalize key performance measures of omnichannel perishable inventory management (OCPI) and explore the influence of operational and market-related factors on these measures.

The inductive approach of this research synthesizes three performance measures (product waste, lost sales and freshness) and four influencing factors (channel effect, demand variability, product perishability and shelf life visibility) for OCPI, through industry investigation, expert interviews and a systematic literature review. Treating OCPI as a complex adaptive system and considering its transaction costs, this paper formalizes the OCPI performance measures and their influencing factors in two statements and four propositions, which are then tested through numerical analysis with simulation.

Product waste, lost sales and freshness are identified as distinctive OCPI performance measures, which are influenced by product perishability, shelf life visibility, demand variability and channel effects. The OCPI sensitivity to those influencing factors is diverse, whereas those factors are found to moderate each other's effects.

To manage perishables more effectively, with less waste and lost sales for the business and fresher products for the consumer, omnichannel firms need to consider store and online channel requirements and strive to reduce demand variability, extend product shelf life and facilitate item-level shelf life visibility. While flexible logistics capacity and dynamic pricing can mitigate demand variability, the product shelf life extension needs modifications in product design, production, or storage conditions. OCPI executives can also increase the product shelf life visibility through advanced stock monitoring/tracking technologies (e.g. smart tags or more comprehensive barcodes), particularly for the online channel which demands fresher products.

This paper provides a novel theoretical view on perishables in omnichannel systems. It specifies the OCPI performance, beyond typical inventory policies for cost minimization, while discussing its sensitivity to operations and market factors.

The combination of the latest advancements in information and communication technologies with the latest developments in AutoID technologies, especially radio frequency identification (RFID), brings the possibility of high-resolution, item-level visibility of the entire supply chain. In the particular case of retail, visibility of both the stock count and item location in the shop floor is crucial not only for an effective management of the retail supply chain but also for physical retail stores to compete with online retailers. The purpose of this paper is to propose an autonomous robot that can perform stock-taking using RFID for item-level identification much more accurately and efficiently than the traditional method of using human operators with RFID handheld readers.

This work follows the design science research methodology. The paper highlights a required improvement for an RFID inventory robot. The design hypothesis leads to a novel algorithm. Then the cycle of development and evaluation is iterated several times. Finally, conclusions are derived and a new basis for further development is provided.

An autonomous robot for stock-taking is proven feasible. By applying a proper navigation strategy, coupled to the stream of identifications, the accuracy, precision, consistency and time to complete stock-taking are significantly better than doing the same task manually.

The main limitation of this work is the unavailability of data to analyze the actual impact on the correction of inventory record inaccuracy and its subsequent implications for the supply chain management. Nonetheless, it is shown that figures of actual stock-tacking procedures can be significantly improved.

This paper discloses the potential of deploying an inventory robot in the supply chain. The robot is called to be a key source of inventory data conforming supply chain management 4.0 and omnichannel retail.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine two contrasting mechanisms of information asymmetry for cross-listed firms with respect to the information environment and its impact on earnings response.

The study empirically assesses two mechanisms of information asymmetry (“seeing” and/or “believing”) by looking at abnormal returns and volume reactions to international firms’ earnings announcements pre- and post-listing in the USA from 1990 to 2012.

The authors’ findings indicate that investors “seeing” more (media and analyst coverage) decrease the earnings response; however, “believing” more or gaining more credibility has the opposite effects. Based on the results, both mechanisms of information asymmetry can take effect simultaneously.

The study sheds light on the multi-dimensional impact of the improved information environment that non-US firms face when they list their securities on US exchanges.

This study identifies and reconciles these two mechanisms of information asymmetry (visibility and credibility) under one setting and estimates the magnitude of each effect empirically.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current spare parts replenishment system of the Army. This exercise is being done with an aim to assess the capability of the current system to implement a time separated lean-agile system of spare parts replenishment.

The paper is based on a survey conducted on people in managerial ranks, working in the field of military logistics. The survey is thereafter summarised to ascertain the current status of spare parts replenishment system in the Army. The findings of the survey are elaborated at the end of the paper.

The strengths of the current spare parts replenishment system are highlighted. This is followed with the weaknesses of the system in implementing a dynamic lean-agile replenishment system.

The paper is aimed at assessing the capability of the current spare parts replenishment system and its ability to adapt to a novel replenishment system that is lean in peacetime to save money and agile during war to increase reliability of equipment achieved by a certainty of supply. The survey conducted on the persons actually involved in this logistics reveals areas that need emphasis in order to achieve such a time separated lean-agile replenishment system.

Describes BT′s concept of an Information Warehouse, which differs from the more usual one of a large extract database. Highlights the objectives of the system strategy and examines the business benefits for BT.

Due to the introduction of new vaccines in the child immunization program and inefficient vaccine supply chain (VSC), the universal immunization program (UIP), India is struggling to provide a full schedule of vaccination to the targeted children. In this paper, the authors investigate the critical factors for improving the performance of the existing VSC system by implementing the next-generation vaccine supply chain (NGVSC) in India.

The authors design a fuzzy multi-criteria framework using a fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (FAHP) and fuzzy multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (FMOORA) to identify and analyze the critical barriers and enablers for the implementation of NGVSC. Further, the authors carry out a numerical simulation to validate the model.

The outcome of the analysis contends that demand forecasting is the topmost supply chain barrier and sustainable financing is the most important/critical enabler to facilitate the implementation of the NGVSC. In addition, the simulation reveals that the results of the study are reliable.

The findings of the study can be useful for the child immunization policymakers of India and other developing countries to design appropriate strategies for improving existing VSC performance by implementing the NGVSC.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first empirical study to propose the improvement of VSC performance by designing the NGVSC.

Management and risk techniques within industries have been studied from various disciplines in nondefense-affiliated industries. Given the assumption that these techniques, strategies and mitigations used in one industry apply to other similar industries, this paper examines the defense industry for risk assessment. We characterize interactions for onward application to risk identification in the defense industry.

This research employs a systems theory approach to the characterization of industry interactions, using three dimensions including environment, boundaries and relationships. It develops a framework for identifying relationship types within system-of-systems (SoS) environments by analyzing the features of interactions that occur in such environments.

The study’s findings show that different systems environments within the defense industry SoS exhibit different interaction characteristics and hence display different relationship patterns, which can indicate potential vulnerabilities.

By employing interaction as a means for evaluating potential risks, this research emphasizes the role played by relationship factors in reducing perceived risks and simultaneously increasing trust.

This paper intends to develop an initial snapshot of the relationship status of the Swedish defense industry in light of the global consolidation in this industry, which is a relevant contextual contribution.

The cost of providing healthcare is spiralling up in recent times. On the one hand, patients expect the highest quality of service, while on the other hand, the managers of the healthcare services want to minimise the total operating expenses. Hence, healthcare organisations implement lean thinking (LT) to achieve these twin objectives. LT reduces the eight wastes that are prevalent in the healthcare processes and functions. In particular, if the wasteful inventories related to expensive medical supplies are reduced, the resulting cost savings can help in providing affordable and accessible healthcare.

Hence, in this paper, a case study of a hospital is presented where LT is implemented. One of the projects was related to inventory reduction in the store of the catheterisation laboratory (cath lab). A hybrid methodology called multi-unit selective inventory control (MUSIC) that combined these three dimensions (3D), namely, consumption value, criticality and lead time or ease of availability was used to classify the medical supplies into different categories.

Based on the results obtained, various inventory systems and the associated tools and techniques of LT were proposed. For example, a deep dive into the A-class items revealed that some of the medical supplies fell under both vital and scarce categories. Hence, it was recommended that the case hospital should follow the economic order quantity (EOQ) with safety stock approach as these items were to be shipped from other states in India. Subsequently, the focus should be on developing a local supplier and attempts should be made to establish a kanban system with adequate information sharing.

This study demonstrates the step-by-step methodology of MUSIC-3D which would guide the procurement managers to apply the same in their organisation. It also helps them in identifying appropriate elements of LT for inventory reduction before the actual deployment.

None of the papers has utilised the MUSIC-3D methodology as a precursor for inventory reduction, specifically within the domain of LT. Similarly, identifying and proposing different type of inventory systems and various LT practices based on this unique method is a novel attempt.

This paper aims to focus on the unique goal of understanding how marketing spending, a proxy for firm visibility, moderates the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strengths and concerns on stock returns in the short and long terms. In contrast to the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, the visibility theory, based on stakeholder awareness and expectations, offers asymmetric predictions on the moderation effects of marketing spending.

The predictions are tested based on data from KLD, Compustat and Center for Research in Security Prices from 2001-2010 and panel data based regression models.

Two results support the predictions of the visibility theory over those of the RBV. First, strengths are associated with higher stock returns, for low marketing spending firms, and only in the long term. Second, concerns are associated with lower stock returns, for high marketing spending firms, also only in the long term. A profiling analysis indicates that high marketing spending firms have high R&D spending and are more likely to operate in business-to-customer than business-to-business industries.

The two findings highlight the importance of coordination among chief marketing, sustainability and finance officers investing in CSR and marketing for stock returns, contingent on the firm’s marketing and R&D spending and industry characteristics.

This paper identifies conditions under which CSR is and is not related to stock returns, by uniquely considering three variables omitted in most past studies: marketing spending, CSR strengths and concerns and short- and long-term stock returns, all in the same study.

Perceived as an antidote to poor execution, interest in radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled visibility has grown. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how RFID-enabled visibility with item-level tagging improves store execution.

The authors conducted three field-based experiments in collaboration with two Fortune 500 retailers.

RFID-enabled visibility resulted in a sizable decrease in inventory record inaccuracy and out-of-stocks for inventory held in both the backroom and on the sales floor. The decrease in inventory record inaccuracy and out-of-stocks was even greater among products stored primarily on the sales floor suggesting the benefits from increased visibility accrue to sales floor inventory management processes. In contrast, the authors found no significant improvement in inventory record inaccuracy and no substantive improvement in out-of-stocks among products stored primarily in the backroom suggesting that increased visibility does not improve backroom management processes.

The authors recommend retailers focus on sales floor inventory management when seeking to improve store execution through the adoption of RFID-enabled visibility. In the context, only partial evidence exists that backroom inventory management improves with RFID-enabled visibility.

Retailers seeking to invest in RFID technology must estimate potential performance improvements before making firm-specific cost-benefit analyses. They must also understand where and how these performance improvements will accrue. This research uniquely presents the results of a three field experiments that quantify the changes in retail execution associated with RFID adoption.