In a world with highly competitive markets and economic instability due to capitalization, industrial competition has increasingly intensified. In order for many industries to survive and succeed, they need to develop highly effective coordination between supply chain partners, dynamic collaborative and strategic alliance relationships, and efficient logistics and supply chain network designs. Consequently, in the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest among academic researchers and industrial practitioners in innovative supply chain and logistics models, algorithms, and coordination policies. Mathematically distinct from classical supply chain management, this emerging research area has been proven to be useful and applicable to a wide variety of industries. This book brings together recent advances in supply chain and logistics research and computational optimization that apply to a collaborative environment in the enterprise.

In order to experience significant improvement in business processes, successful organizations must launch, implement, and maintain effective transformation programs. Such programs enable companies to fully maximize benefits and avoid potential failures. Optimization of Supply Chain Management in Contemporary Organizations discusses best practices and methods in transformation initiatives that improve the overall functionality and success of supply chain processes. Focusing on performance measurement, change management, and strategy development, this book is an essential reference source for executives, managers, advanced-level students, and professionals working in the field of business transformations and supply chain development.

Focused on the logistics and transportation operations within a supply chain, this book brings together the latest models, algorithms, and optimization possibilities. Logistics and transportation problems are examined within a sustainability perspective to offer a comprehensive assessment of environmental, social, ethical, and economic performance measures. Featured models, techniques, and algorithms may be used to construct policies on alternative transportation modes and technologies, green logistics, and incentives by the incorporation of environmental, economic, and social measures. Researchers, professionals, and graduate students in urban regional planning, logistics, transport systems, optimization, supply chain management, business administration, information science, mathematics, and industrial and systems engineering will find the real life and interdisciplinary issues presented in this book informative and useful.

This book presents a perspective for the future development of logistics, especially in an European context. The structure is a flow from inbound to reverse logistics with emphasis on logistics development, as well as transportation and information systems. The book is strategic, both external and internal, with special emphasis on the many new and important fields of logistics management. The book provides an understanding between the various logistics activities, and it shows how business logistics is connected to the overall strategy of a company. Some descriptions are on a more general level, while others look more closely at special logistics activities as part of a supply chain.

Companies across different industries are launching technology-enabled (digital) business transformation programs to improve their strategic, tactical, and operational supply chain processes. The greatest challenges that they are facing include the lack of preparation and knowledge of the digital transformation life cycle and poorly addressing or neglecting the “people-related” aspects of them. Therefore, improvement initiatives have been short-lived or incomplete, and expected business benefits have not been achieved or materialized. Technology Optimization and Change Management for Successful Digital Supply Chains is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the application of digital business transformation programs to improve strategic, tactical, and operational supply chain processes. While highlighting topics such as maturity models, predictive analysis, and communication planning, this publication explores the limited literature in the field of digital supply chain optimization and business transformation, and complements it with practical and proven tactics from the industry. This book is ideally designed for program managers, engineers, students, and practitioners seeking current research on the field’s latest best practices on digital supply chain enablement.

This book aims to help engineers, Masters students and young researchers to understand and gain a general knowledge of logistic systems optimization problems and techniques, such as system design, layout, stock management, quality management, lot-sizing or scheduling. It summarizes the evaluation and optimization methods used to solve the most frequent problems. In particular, the authors also emphasize some recent and interesting scientific developments, as well as presenting some industrial applications and some solved instances from real-life cases. Performance evaluation tools (Petri nets, the Markov process, discrete event simulation, etc.) and optimization techniques (branch-and-bound, dynamic programming, genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, etc.) are presented first. Then, new optimization methods are presented to solve systems design problems, layout problems and buffer-sizing optimization. Forecasting methods, inventory optimization, packing problems, lot-sizing quality management and scheduling are presented with examples in the final chapters.

Our rapidly changing world has forced business practitioners, in corporation with academic researchers, to respond quickly and develop effective solution methodologies and techniques to handle new challenges in supply chain systems. Supply Chain Optimization, Management and Integration: Emerging Applications presents readers with a rich collection of ideas from researchers who are bridging the gap between the latest in information technology and supply chain management. This book includes theoretical, analytical, and empirical research, comprehensive reviews of relevant research, and case studies of effective applications in the field of SCM. The use of new technologies, methods, and techniques are emphasized by those who have worked with supply chain management across the world for those in the field of information systems.