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This paper explores the effect of port's service time, particularly the mean and variability, on shippers' total landed costs to determine the competitive position of the port and derive recommendations for the strategic design of port services.

The competitive position of a port is estimated considering the service level offered to the end-users of the port such as port service time, its variability and its effect on the total landed costs observed by the port users. The proposed methodology is meant to help ports to determine the required service time levels to maintain or gain a competitive advantage against other ports, in terms of attracting common hinterland's customers.

Results show the advantages of considering service levels factors to determine the competitive position of a port, and what are the minimum characteristics required to capture more traffic volumes, that can help port managers to take strategic design decisions to better position the port in the current fierce market.

The proposed methodology is illustrated by considering a case study, which is the Port of Guaymas in Mexico. Data was not directly collected by the port, but based on interviews with shippers and public information, a representative case is presented. Due to a confidentiality agreement with the Port, specific references for most of the data used to estimate the model's parameters are not provided. The analysis is intended to show the potential value of this mechanism and can be used for evaluating the competitive position, from a high-level perspective, of any port to determine potential hinterland by improving the service level of the port.

The existing literature on port choice and port competition has not previously considered the effect of port service levels under the perspective of total landed costs of the users, being this paper a contribution to fulfill this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the components required for more robust landed cost models given the now widespread interest in sourcing finished goods, components for assembly, and basic raw materials from global sources. This study also seeks to establish the need for broad‐based participation in operationalizing such models.

Interviews are conducted with several major firms that import a range of merchandise into the USA to develop in‐depth case studies. A taxonomy of variables found in increasingly comprehensive forms of landed cost models is developed from the case studies. These variables are assembled into modules and analyzed with the use of an expert panel consisting of executives responsible for import activities at major firms.

Most major firms are relatively unsophisticated in their approach to making offshore sourcing decisions. Few employ models that are sufficiently detailed and some do not even embrace the basic logistical elements of price, transportation, and inventory. The administrative overhead required for offshoring is seldom considered nor are the potential risks associated with sourcing globally that may result.

The study considered only imports into the USA. Even with a relatively broad range of industries represented and the in‐depth research design, there are very few data points. Hence, this is theory building research upon which a more broad‐based methodology will be found.

With firms of all sizes and industries seeking to employ offshore sources of supply, a rational approach needs to be developed to support such decisions. Historically, such actions were taken on the basis of price alone; however, such an approach is clearly suboptimal. Many firms need to develop the ability to collect the requisite data, allow sufficient time to conduct proper analysis, and establish the cross‐functional mechanism for decision making.

This paper provides a range of modules, the more sophisticated potentially useful for supporting effective offshore sourcing decisions. It also advances the idea that while cost advantages may be present, there may be certain risk factors that obviate offshore sourcing alternatives.

Untimely delivery of goods and services, especially in a post-COVID landscape, is a critical harbinger of end-to-end fulfillment. Existing literature in supplier delivery modeling is focused on penalizing suppliers for late deliveries built into a contractual transaction, which eventually erodes trust. As such, a holistic modeling technique focused on long-term relationship building is missing. This study aims to design a supplier evaluation model that analytically equates supplier delivery performance to cost realization while replicating a core attribute of successful supply chains – alignment, leading to long-term supplier relationships.

The supplier evaluation model designed in this paper uses delivery deviation as a unit of measure as opposed to delivery duration to enhance consistency with enterprise resource planning protocols. A one-sided modified Taguchi-type quality loss function (QLF) models delivery lateness to construct a multinomial probability penalty cost function for untimely delivery. Prescriptive analytics using simulation and optimization of the proposed mathematical model supports buyer–supplier alignment.

The supplier evaluation model designed herein not only optimizes likelihood parameters for early and late deliveries for competing suppliers to enhance total landed cost comparisons for on-shore, near-shore and off-shore suppliers but also allows for the creation of an efficient frontier toward supply base optimization.

At a time of systemic disruptions such as the COVID pandemic, global supply chains are at risk of business continuity. Supplier evaluation models need to focus on long-term relationship modeling as opposed to short-term contractual penalty-based modeling to enhance business continuity. The model offered in this paper is grounded in alignment – a cornerstone of successful supply chain integration, and offers an interesting departure from traditional modeling techniques in this genre.

The results from this analytical approach offer flexibility to a supply manager toward building redundancies in the supply chain using an efficient frontier within the supply landscape, which also helps to manage disruption and maintain end-to-end fulfillment.

The model offered in this paper is grounded in alignment – a cornerstone of successful supply chain integration, and offers an interesting departure from traditional modeling techniques in this genre. The authors offer a rational solution by creating an evaluation model that uses penalty cost modeling as an internal quality measure to rate suppliers and uses the outcome as a yardstick for negotiations instead of imposing penalties within contracts.

With the “internationalisation” of tastes amongst wine consumers, the need to export wine has become ever more acute for wine producers worldwide. As an example of how wine producers have attempted to gain access to overseas markets, this case study examines the export drive of a major Australian winery.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a benchmarking framework for assessing the performance of the distribution models adopted by the local branches of National Health Services (NHSs) for delivering health technologies to patients at a local level, and to derive prescriptions for enhancing design and optimal management of the distribution models.

The authors focussed the study on the distribution of absorbent devices for incontinence, adopting the analytic hierarchy process as a tool for developing the benchmarking framework. The authors applied the framework to the context of the Italian NHS with respect to the Lombard Local Health Authorities, assessing their performance in terms of operational efficiency and service quality.

The developed framework constitutes a novel contribution, and it allows for generating prescriptions. Through its application to the context studied the authors found that a “one-size-fits-all” distribution model cannot be proposed, as regards both efficiency and effectiveness, since process standardization does not provide benefits or savings in all contexts. Rather, a total landed cost approach in the evaluation of the distribution practices must be adopted.

This paper offers to managers and decision makers an innovative approach to the design of distribution models for health technologies. It provides policy makers with prescriptions to develop regulations fostering a comprehensive view of the factors for an optimal health technologies distribution at a local level.

Given the dearth of scientific publications focussed on the distribution at the local level of health technologies, this paper significantly contributes to the existing body of knowledge and it offers an innovative framework which can be proficiently replicated in manifold contexts.

Facility location and re-location decisions are critical managerial decisions in modern supply chains. Such decisions are difficult in this environment as managers encounter uncertainty and risks. The study investigates establishing or moving distribution facilities in the global supply chain by considering costs, fulfilment, trade uncertainties, risks under environmental trade-offs and disruptive technologies.

This paper combines the possibilities and probabilistic scenarios for a supply chain network by proposing the novel Robust Optimisation and Mixed Integer Linear Programming (ROMILP) method developed under the potential uncertainty of demand while considering the costs associated with a four-tier supply chain network. ROMILP has been solved in a real-time logistics environment by applying a case study approach.

The solution is obtained using an exact solution approach and provides optimality in all tested market scenarios along the proposed global logistics corridor. A sensitivity analysis examines potential facility location scenarios in a global supply chain context.

Logistics managers can apply the ROMILP model to test the cost-benefit trade-offs against their facility location and relocation decisions while operating under uncertainty. Future research is proposed to extend the literature by applying data from the OBOR logistics corridor.

This study is the first to examine sustainable dimensions along the global logistics corridor and investigate the global container traffic perspective. The study also adds value to the Middle East logistics corridor regarding facility location decisions.

Numerous research articles and industry reports are currently available that deal with global sourcing, however, few articles and reports can be specifically found on sourcing packaging materials in the consumer packaged food (CPF) industry. The purpose of this paper is to understand and develop the supplier selection process and overall cost modeling that facilitates the selection of a high‐quality global supplier for low‐cost packaging materials used in large quantities for CPF products.

To gain information relating to packaging material sourcing, a comprehensive literature search was conducted. Additionally, interviews with packaging material sourcing managers and directors were performed at a major global CPF products manufacturer. Knowledge gained from literature, industry interviews and available business data was used to develop a generic strategic outsourcing model and a closed loop business framework for selection of global suppliers of packaging material. This framework utilizes the proposed total cost of ownership model for global sourcing and weighted qualitative criteria matrix demonstrating how it is used in global supplier selection.

The results of this study show a standardized supplier selection process and the total cost of ownership model for a CPF manufacturer which incorporates the different logistic costs such as tariffs, duties, inventory carrying levels and cost of quality. These two models are then merged into a selection matrix to determine with which supplier to enter into a long‐term supply relationship.

The paper combines both the relevant closed loop supplier selection modeling framework and the total cost of ownership model in the selection of supplier for low‐cost high‐volume CPF materials. It adds rigor regarding cost of ownership and emphasizes the need for a strategic rationale when entering into long‐term global supply relationships between CPF products manufacturers and packaging material suppliers.

The complexity, uncertainty, and diminished control found in global operations hinder the development of world‐class competencies. For example, as a firm rationalizes manufacturing, logistical challenges increase. As a result, cost advantages achieved through production sharing are often offset by higher logistics costs. This multi‐method explores the cross‐functional development of quality and cost competencies in an international production sharing setting. Overall, the study found that information and planning capabilities are vital antecedants to cost and quality competencies. The impact of cost on a firm’s performance is direct, while the impact of quality is indirect, through productivity enhancements.

Both logisticians and tax lawyers design global supply chains – but based on different logics. If they do not align each other's perspectives, problems might occur in different areas. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the impact the tax system could have on supply chain design, reflect (from both perspectives) on how the rules function, and propose a common communication platform for supply chain issues and tax issues.

This interdisciplinary research is based on a systems approach, combining logistics system descriptions (based on interviews, workshops and company data) with legal analysis. Main principles of the tax system were applied to the system descriptions (the principle approach).

Logistics and tax systems interact. Issues of implementing drop shipment in different global contexts are shown. One issue is cross‐border rerouting leading to unnecessary environmental impact. Hence interaction between the domains should be improved before starting to optimize global logistics or tax structures. A combined platform for mapping flow charts jointly is proposed.

Practitioners from both domains acquire increased understanding of each other's perspectives and a joint tool for flow mapping, combining facts both sides need in their overall analysis. Logisticians will gain better insight into general fiscal principles.

Societal inefficiencies due to extra cross‐border transports instead of drop shipments were the result when the fiscal rules were applied in reality in certain contexts. This was probably not desired from the policy makers' perspective, so it might lead to policy makers to better try to understand the combined impact of the domains.

The paper usefully combines legal and logistics approaches.