Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to identify the multiple types of data that can be collected and analyzed by practitioners across the cold chain, the ICT infrastructure required to enable data capture and how to utilize the data for decision making in cold chain logistics. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis based literature review of 38 selected research articles, published between 2000 and 2016, was used to create an overview of data capture, technologies used for collection and sharing of data, and decision making that can be supported by the data, across the cold chain and for different types of perishable food products. Findings: There is a need to understand how continuous monitoring of conditions such as temperature, humidity, and vibration can be translated to support real-time assessment of quality, determination of actual remaining shelf life of products and use of those for decision making in cold chains. Firms across the cold chain need to adopt appropriate technologies suited to the specific contexts to capture data across the cold chain. Analysis of such data over longer periods can also unearth patterns of product deterioration under different transportation conditions, which can lead to redesigning the transportation network to minimize quality loss or to take precautions to avoid the adverse transportation conditions. Research limitations/implications: The findings need to be validated through further empirical research and modeling. There are opportunities to identify all relevant parameters to capture product condition as well as transaction data across the cold chain processes for fish, meat and dairy products. Such data can then be used for supply chain (SC) planning and pricing products in the retail stores based on product conditions and traceability information. Addressing some of the above research gaps will call for multi-disciplinary research involving food science and engineering, information technologies, computer science and logistics and SC management scholars. Practical implications: The findings of this research can be beneficial for multiple players involved in the cold chain like food processing companies, logistics service providers, ports and wholesalers and retailers to understand how data can be effectively used for better decision making in cold chain and to invest in the specific technologies, which will suit the purpose. To ensure adoption of data analytics across the cold chain, it is also important to identify the player in the cold chain, which will drive and coordinate the effort. Originality/value: This paper is one of the earliest to recognize the need for a comprehensive assessment for adoption and application of data analytics in cold chain management and provides directions for future research.
While systematic literature reviews (SLRs) have contributed substantially to developing knowledge in fields such as medicine, they have made limited contributions to developing knowledge in the supply chain management domain. This is due to the ontological and epistemological idiosyncrasies of research in supply chain management, which need to be accounted for when retrieving, selecting, and synthesizing studies in an SLR. Therefore, we propose a new paradigm for SLRs in the supply chain domain that is based on both best practice and the unique attributes of doing supply chain management research. This approach involves exploring existing studies with attention to theoretical boundaries, units of analysis, sources of data, study contexts, definitions and the operationalization of constructs, as well as research methods, with the goal of refining or revising existing theory. This new paradigm will push supply chain management research to the frontier of current methodological standards and build a foundation for improving the contribution of future SLRs in the supply chain and adjacent management disciplines.
What Is the Issue?
Sustaining long-term growth requires marine suppliers to define their pricing strategies in a holistic fashion. However, pricing is an under-managed activity in many companies. Especially when moving towards servitization, services or integrated solutions are frequently underpriced or promised at performance levels that cannot be delivered profitably.
Why Is It Important?
Pricing is one of the most important elements for all business and everything in the business works to justify the input value for a price and turn it into a profit. It therefore has a dramatic but frequently underappreciated effort on achieving profitability and keeping business thriving.
What Can Be Done?
The marine supplies industry needs radical change in pricing by thinking about customer’s needs and aligning the incentives between suppliers and customers for long-term relationship. Value-based pricing is the way forward. An intensive discussion has been made with regard to the key challenges of applying value-based pricing in the marine supplies industry. Understanding these challenges is crucial for a move towards value-based pricing and will shed light on how to tackle these challenges.
Supply chain researchers are confronted with a dizzying array of research questions, many of which are not mutually independent. This research was motivated by the need to map the landscape of research themes, identify potential overlapping areas and interactions, and provide guidelines on areas of focus for researchers to pursue. We conducted a three-phase research study, beginning with an open-ended collection of opinions on research themes collected from 102 supply chain management (SCM) researchers, followed by an evaluation of a consolidated list of themes by 141 SCM researchers. These results were then reviewed by 10 SCM scholars. Potential interactions and areas of overlap were identified, classified, and integrated into a compelling set of ideas for future research in the field of SCM. We believe these ideas provide a forward-looking view on those themes that will become important, as well as those that researchers believe should be focused on. While areas of research deemed to become most important include big data and analytics, the most under-researched areas include efforts that target the “people dimension” of SCM, ethical issues and internal integration. The themes are discussed in the context of current developments that the authors believe will provide a valuable foundation for future research.
The value chains for offshore oil and gas and offshore wind are both basically driven by the demand for energy. This is heavily dependent on a number of factors including the price of various energy sources and the policy making of the states which influence legislation, indirect subsidies and direct investments. At the center of both value chains are the energy companies. The energy companies have a number of suppliers and sub suppliers which provide a range of equipment and services to the offshore operations. The supply industry is characterized by horizontal cooperation (between suppliers at the same level) and vertical cooperation (between suppliers in different layers). Finally the suppliers and the energy companies are supported by a number of companies which are usually not considered as part of the offshore sector but are important none the less. These companies provide a number of services including includes legal advice, financing, insurance etc. The two value chains have a number of activities in common. Both include (1) a tender and concession phase where the energy company obtains the right to explore and produce energy from the authorities. (2) An exploration phase where the physical location is examined and the installation is planned. (3) An installation phase where the equipment is produced and transported to the site where it is installed. (4) An operation phase where the energy is produced or the energy source is extracted and (5) a decommissioning phase where the field is abandoned. Most suppliers are positioned in several links of one or both value chains, at various levels (direct supplier, sub supplier, 3rd tier supplier etc.) and providing a variety of services. A supplier can move to new positions within the value chain. The increased servitization is a good example. Traditional manufacturers are often 2nd or 3rd tier suppliers in the installation phase. But by providing after sales services these companies also become direct suppliers to the energy company in the operations phase. Finally a supplier can have different positions in different geographical markets. A supplier can thus be a direct (1st tier) supplier in one market but needs to go through a local contractor (as a 2nd tier supplier) in another market – even if the provided service is exactly the same in both cases.
This report has examined the concept of value creation in the maritime chain of transportation. A maritime transport chain can best be conceptualized as a network through which carriers (e.g. shipping companies and haulage providers) and third parties (e.g. terminal operators, freight forwarders, brokers and agents) provide services for the movement of cargo provided by shippers. The main actors in the maritime chain of transportation are the carriers who add value to the shipper by moving goods from areas with excess supply to areas with excess demand. In this process a number of (independent) third parties may provide a number of services. The shipper and/or carrier will employ these agents if the rise in costs is more than compensated by the value of the service. The third parties can thus only exist if they provide value added services to the carrier and/or to other third party service providers. From a financial perspective value is created when a business earns revenue that exceeds the expenses. In many sectors, however, value is increasingly being created by more intangible drivers such as research, innovation, branding, ideas and networks which usually provide indirect rather than direct benefits (Kaplan & Norton, 2004a; 2004b). This is also the case within maritime logistics. According to Johansson et al. (1993) third parties may add value through (1) improve the level of service, (2) quality, (3) cost and (4) time reduction. The chartering agent’s network and market knowledge allows him to speed up the search time and match process for shippers and carriers (time reduction). The port agent’s local network allows him to speed up port operations (time reduction) and make the necessary arrangement on behalf of the carrier (service). Freight forwarders may take over part of the production chain and provide services which manufacturers don’t consider their core business (service). This includes assembly, quality control, customizing and packing of goods, pest control and after sales services. Third party ship management companies may reduce costs through economies of scale (cost reduction) and increase quality of crew and equipment maintenance through specialization (quality). Just to mention a few. While the report has investigated the concept of value creation, the question of value capturing has not been addressed in this study. Value capturing depends on the individual transactions between the actors in the chain. A port agent may add value to a carrier by securing smooth port operations and thus reduce waiting time. The added value may, however, be captured by a freight forwarder who forces the carrier to lower the price or more likely be distributed among several actors. The business model literature may provide a fruitful lens for exploring this in greater depth. The maritime chain of transportation is becoming increasingly complex and involves an increasing number of actors. The services of some actors are furthermore overlapping. Inland haulage can thus be provided by shippers, freight forwarders, independent liner agents, in-house liner sales offices, or by an independent haulage provider. Freight forwarders are increasingly overtaking functions in the value chain from manufacturer etc. In order to successfully navigate this network is it important to have an overview of the chain of transportation at a more general level