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To achieve sustainable development, manufacturing firms should consider both environmental protection and customers’ growing personalised demands in supply chain management. Although research on sustainable manufacturing with focus on green supply chain management is increasing, only a few studies have emphasised the significance of mass personalisation. This study proposes a novel supply chain configuration approach that effectively combines the two aspects. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process evaluation method is developed to rank suppliers into different green levels. Based on this, a supply chain scheduling optimisation model is established to match supply with demand. Simulation results show that the optimal solution for a scheduling scheme can not only satisfy customers’ personalised requirements on products, services functions, and completion time, but also improve the green management performance of the entire supply chain by selecting suppliers with high green levels and enabling them to achieve economies of scale, thereby verifying the reliability and validity of the model. The corresponding algorithm also shows good calculation efficiency. This study contributes to the research on sustainable manufacturing by integrating firms’ demands on green supply chain management and customers’ demands on personalisation into one research framework and provides an effective decision-making tool for managers.

The circulation of online shopping commodities generally involves many entities, such as online manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and customers. Goods from manufacturers to consumers undergo several exchange stages involving different economic entities. The logistics cost increases in certain supply chain nodes and the risk of backlog or running out of stock is high because of the different income and risk expectations of entities, as well as the varying degrees of information sharing between them. Clearly, a one-stop delivery mode crossing numerous transaction links in online shopping can effectively solve these problems and save social resources. However, realising this one-stop mode requires a series of specific premises, appropriate software and hardware technology support. This study introduces the Physical Internet into the one-stop delivery mode as an important logical and technical support, analyses the operating mechanism of the Physical Internet and discusses the operating conditions of one-...

Scheduling in the mass customization (MC) of global producer services is a typical multiobjective dynamic optimization issue, which is constrained by stochastic demand and resources. Such scheduling frequently challenges the cross-border decision-making processes of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The academic literature has yet to examine this optimization, although studies on the MC of tangible product provision are numerous. To address this challenge effectively, we construct a novel stochastic multiobjective dynamic scheduling model by considering the key features of the MC of global producer services, namely, stochastic demand, distinctive characteristics of customization orders, special stage classification, economies of scale, stochastic service capabilities, and pressures for global integration versus local responsiveness. We improve the ant algorithm to solve the scheduling problem and illustrate the feasibility, validity, and applicability of the new model and algorithm using the case of an MNE that provides seismic acquisition services for oil companies. The results suggest that the proposed algorithm can achieve the flexibility and balance of multiobjective optimization. The major optimization indicators suggest that the scheduling improved the overall economies of scale on the supply chain, which is a key factor in ensuring the success of the MC of global producer services. By incorporating the methodology of operational research and the perspective of international business, this study contributes to the literature of operational research by developing a novel scheduling model for the MC of global producer services.

B2C online shopping companies must optimise their supply chain resources integration (SCRI) to provide service capacities, improve the experiences of their customers and introduce satisfactory customised services. These companies need to determine how to achieve an effective SCRI according to different customised service modes, improve their utilisation of resources and solve special problems in online shopping. This study discusses the dynamic equilibrium between the supply and demand service capacities by analysing the characteristics and service modes of SCRI in B2C. A discussion of these capacities must not only consider the traditional optimisation objectives, but also evaluate the suitability of resources from the angles of general service, emergent service and strategic potential capacities to achieve an effective SCRI. Therefore, this study considers the capacity target orientation consistency of the resource (cooperator) as an important optimisation objective and evaluates such consistency by ide...

How to deal with the contradiction between mass production effect and customized demand is the key problem on mass customization (MC). With the development of supply chain management, we can settle the contradiction through flexible and effective supply chain operation and it relies on rational supply chain resource integration (SCRI). However, supply chain operation in MC has special characters, mainly reflected in the random order information and the outstanding changes of collaborative benefits and risks which will influence the SCRI process and the collaborative psychology and negotiation state between two integration sides. Through analyzing the integration framework from the relations of integration input and output, this paper gives a deep analysis on multi-stage dynamic game process about SCRI in MC from the view of balancing the benefits and risks among both negotiation sides and points out that the integration is a collaborative game process. Through dividing the game process reasonably, this paper describes the game stage features and the index changes of resource individuals' psychological expectations and appeals of their benefits and risks by fuzzy membership functions, and then puts forward a dynamic game decision method. Finally, testing by an application case, the method is feasible and effective.

Under the carbon cap-and-trade mechanism, we consider an emission-dependent supply chain consisting of a supplier, a manufacturer, and a 3PL firm that adopts variable transportation fee strategy. Five models on the basis of the supplier and manufacturer with or without capital constraints are considered to discuss members&rsquo, optimal decisions. The insights are obtained as follows. First, the ordering quantity under 3PL financing service is larger than that under two firms are well-funded when the transportation fee or carbon emission is less than a certain constant. The variable transportation fee strategy and members&rsquo, carbon emission reduction behavior are beneficial to each supply chain participant. Second, the carbon emissions of members decide whose capital constraint is more beneficial to 3PL firm, and 3PL prefers to cooperate with a medium rich manufacturer (rich supplier). Third, the external financing modes are analyzed to get the 3PL financing service can create new value for the manufacturer and 3PL if the transportation fee is below a threshold, and this threshold increases with the manufacturer&rsquo, s carbon emission. When the transportation fee is larger than a threshold, a capital-constrained supplier will choose bank financing, and this threshold decreases with the supplier&rsquo, s carbon emission. Finally, we demonstrate that the manufacturer&rsquo, s loss aversion (carbon cap) can increase (decrease) its bankruptcy threshold.

How to deal with the contradiction between mass production effects and customised demand is the key problem of mass customisation (MC). With the development of supply chain management, we can probe a new way to solve this problem through the excellent character of supply chain scheduling (SCS). However, SCS in MC has special characters, mainly reflected in the random information of customer orders and the outstanding collaborative benefits and risks which can cause many complicated contradictions in operation. Based on earlier work about solving these contradictions, this paper introduces the collaborative benefit and risk analysis into scheduling and emphasises it not only for short-term but also for long-term collaboration. A dynamic and multi-objective optimisation model and an algorithm are set up for the scheduling optimisation of co-operator selection and task allocation. The model and algorithm not only reflect the operating requirements for the scheduling selection process in MC, but also reflect ...

Traditionally, the ‘postponement strategy’ is a better way to solve the contradiction between ‘scale production effect’ and ‘customised demand level’ in mass customisation (MC). In higher customisation situation, the conflict between the role of postponement and the higher level of customised demand must be outstanding. When MC operates in supply chain, the excellent flexible characters of the supply chain system will create better conditions to solve the conflict from a new perspective, but the operating combination of MC and the supply chain with uncertain characters will lead to various complicated contradictions and bottlenecks. In this article, we discuss the supply chain scheduling optimisation in MC based on dynamic profit preference to solve these contradictions and bottlenecks, establish a special optimisation model to implement the scheduling. We make a computational industrial case study to illustrate the method application and show the benefits of solving the key contradiction in MC by the sup...

In recent years, the successful operation of the fourth party logistics (4PL) in practice has gradually demonstrated that it is an effective mode to integrate the complicated resources of a supply chain reasonably, efficiently and flexibly. However, there are no effective quantitative methods to guide the resource integration practices of enterprises and this situation will inevitably limit the practical application of 4PL and will become a major bottleneck of showing its superiorities. To solve this operational bottleneck in 4PL, this paper analyzes thoroughly the characteristics of the supply chain resource integration in 4PL mode from a quantitative view, set up an operational framework by case studies of surveyed enterprises combined with the empirical analyses of the supply chain resource integration. On this basis, this paper puts forward a decision optimization method of supply chain resource integration in 4PL based on the discovery, analyses and judgment about the dominant factors in the integration operations, then, sets up a mathematics optimization model for integration decision and an improved ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to solve the decision problem. Finally, the paper uses a case simulation to illustrate that the optimization method and algorithm are feasible and valid.

How to deal with the contradiction between scale production effect and customized demand is the key problem on studying mass customization (MC). When MC is operating in supply chain environment, on one hand, the excellent operating character of the supply chain will give conditions for solving this problem. On the other hand, it will bring out several complicated contradictions and increase the difficulties of the analysis and research on the supply chain operating and scheduling, so it is important to settle the contradictions. Based on our earlier work, the dominant contradictions of the supply chain scheduling in MC and the ways to relieve them are briefly summarized in this paper. A dynamic and multi-objective optimization mathematical model and the appropriate solving algorithm are set up by introducing these relieving methods into the operating process. It is pointed out that the characteristics of the model and algorithm cannot only reflect the unique operating requirements for this special production mode, but also merge with the thought of relieving the dominant contradictions. The feasibility of the model and algorithm in practical application to improve the scheduling efficiency and to settle the key problem mentioned above ultimately gets validated through the analysis of an application case we followed and through the algorithm simulation of a numerical scheduling case.

For an online-shopping company, whether it can provide its customers with customized service is the key to enhance its customers’ experience value and its own competence. A good customized service requires effective integration and reasonable allocation of the company’s supply chain resources running in the background. Based on the analysis of the allocation of supply chain resources in the customized online shopping service mode and its operational characteristics, this paper puts forward an optimization model for the resource allocation and builds an improved ant algorithm to solve it. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of the optimization method and algorithm are demonstrated by a numerical simulation. This paper finds that the special online shopping environments lead to many dynamic and uncertain characters of the service demands. Different customized service patterns and their combination patterns should match with different supply chain resource allocations. The optimization model not only reflects the required service cost and delivery time in the objective function, but also considers the service scale effect optimization and the relations of integration benefits and risks. The improved ant algorithm has obvious advantages in flexibly balancing the multiobjective optimizations, adjusting the convergence speed, and adjusting the operation parameters.

In the circumstances of multi-assortment material supply, the supply chain supplier selection is a rather sophisticated problem. This paper uses a decomposing algorithm which has been widely used in the combinatorial optimization and makes improvement of it to realize the solution of the rational multi-supplier selection. Then, the paper tests the validity and feasibility of the new algorithm through a practical case and achieves satisfied results.

The pull supply chain operating mode is a typical stochastic demand and stochastic resource-constrained dynamic problem. Based on the early research achievements, it is emphatically pointed out and analyzed that the constraint relationship of the dynamic idle production capacity is the main constraint relation in the pull supply chain operating optimization process. The method to solve this problem will be analyzed and an improved dynamic operating mathematics model will be set up. Finally, the validity and feasibility of the model will be tested by a case.

Logistics outsourcing, logistics self-operation and partly outsourcing are major ways of enterprisespsila logistics services organizational modes. In reality, due to the complex objective and subjective condition factors, when enterprises choice their logistics service mode they must consider many factors in order to make a reasonable decision. Therefore, it is very important to study the relations between enterprisespsila logistics operations and decision patterns. Based on the sample survey about the enterprise logistics services activities, starting from the environmental factors, this paper mines the main decision drives of enterprisespsila logistics organizational strategies, uses correspondence analysis to study the relations between different forms of the logistics service modes and the decision motives of enterprises and makes a reference for enterprisespsila logistics service decision actions.

The successful operation of the fourth party logistics (4PL) in practice has gradually demonstrated that it is an effective mode to integrate the supply chain?s complicated resources rationally, efficiently and flexibly at present. In order to guide the operational practice of supply chain resource integration by quantitative analysis of the integration problem in 4PL mode, in our early study achievement we have put forward the integration theory about the dominant factor and analyzed the importance of the soft and hard environmental dominant factors in integration decision process at operational level from the perspective of the value increment theory and systemic integration principles based on 4PL integration framework. In order to rationally selecting the resource individuals in 4PL integration, in this paper, we put forward a resource integration decision method based on dominant factor judgment and discuss the reasonability and feasibility of the method by a case calculation.

At present, the successful operations of 4PL in practice have gradually demonstrated that it is an effective mode to integrate the complex resources efficiently and flexibly in the supply chain. But there are not an effective theory and a quantitative method to guide the enterprises. To solve this bottleneck in the operational expansion of 4PL in practice and to set up a systemic 4PL integration framework to make decision, in this paper, based on the more detailed literature review, the dominant factors which are most important in the decision process of the supply chain resources integration in 4PL are analyzed at operational level from the perspective of value increment theory and systemic integration principles. Then, based on these dominant factors, a series of relations about 4PL integration are discussed, the 4PL integration operational framework and the integration decision optimization flow for this complex integration are analyzed and then an integration decision optimization flow chart are built to guide the practice. The content discussed in this paper is important basis for in-depth quantitative research of the supply chain resources integration in 4PL.

At present, the logistics outsourcing has gradually become a main operational scheme of the logistics service organizational strategy and it is an effective way for enterprises to integrate their external resources. In order to give a comprehensive analysis on the enterprise logistics outsourcing actions from the perspective of the system resources integration, to analyze the main drives of the enterprise logistics outsourcing and their impact degree to the outsourcing actions from the related systemic and environmental factor framework about the enterprise operations, we give survey and analysis to the entity enterprises requiring the logistics outsourcing services. On this basis, by using the related analysis methods of statistics, we make a comparative analysis on the enterprise logistics outsourcing drives from the systemic and environmental factor framework and draw some conclusions in order to give references to plan and guide the actions of the enterprise logistics outsourcing and standardize the orders of the logistics outsourcing market.

Consignment stock (CS) is a special case of vendor managed inventory (VMI). The present literature on CS model has focused on the one-vendor, one-buyer system with or without the presence of product obsolescence. This paper extends the present works from two aspects. One is to change the system to one-vendor and two-buyer. The overlapped effects of the CS mechanism and different transportation policies are analyzed. Results demonstrate that system costs with different transportation policies depend on the demand, cost parameters and production policies. A numerical method to compare system costs is given. Another is to change the product lifetime from determinate to indeterminate. The several production and transportation policies under this setting are analyzed. Results show that high production flexibility and keeping outdated products in the vendor's site could lead to lower system costs.

At present, the successful operations of the fourth party logistics (4PL) in practice gradually demonstrate that it is an effective mode to integrate the supply chain's complicated resources rationally, efficiently and flexibly. In order to thoroughly analyze the supply chain resources integration problem in 4PL from a quantitative perspective and to guide the integration practice, based on the previous study results, this paper takes the multi-objective optimization action of the integration decision as an analysis pivot, builds a improved ant algorithm to resolve the integration decision optimization process. Finally, the reasonability and feasibility of the algorithm are validated through the simulation of a calculation case.