Biqing Huang and Xiao Xue
The purpose of this paper is to give some theoretical suggestions and practical approaches in support of the implementation of “cluster supply chain” (CSC), which is a new…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give some theoretical suggestions and practical approaches in support of the implementation of “cluster supply chain” (CSC), which is a new management paradigm and enhances the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through integrating the advantages of supply chain and industrial cluster.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of cluster supply chain is carried out applied to JingCheng Mechanical and Electrical Holding Co. Ltd (JCH), which explains the advantages and challenges of implementing the new business pattern. Data presented and analyzed include pre‐CSC and CSC performance of participants.
Findings
The paper clarifies the following questions: When do small firms use cluster supply chain to run a business? How do small firms use cluster supply chain? What effects does the application of CSC strategy have on SMEs' competitive performance?
Practical implications
The application of CSC strategy can help SMEs to face the global challenges through all kinds of collaborations. Meanwhile, core enterprises can also extend their business at a lower cost by means of this business pattern.
Originality/value
This paper bridges the gap between academic theoretical studies and practical realization through the case study of JCH, which can encourage and lead to managerial ideas and insights to service system realization and avoid deficient or erroneous grounds in the planning, implementation and evaluation of cluster supply chain.
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Biqing Ye, Kebiao Zhang, Qiang Zuo, Li Zhang and Xiaohang Shan
The purpose of this paper is to test and analyze the friction torque of double-row angular contact ball bearings under vacuum or ordinary pressure environment, horizontal or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test and analyze the friction torque of double-row angular contact ball bearings under vacuum or ordinary pressure environment, horizontal or upright installation mode, and different rotational speeds, and to provide theoretical bases for the development of aerospace equipment.
Design/methodology/approach
The experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of vacuum or ordinary pressure environment, horizontal or upright installation mode and different rotational speeds on bearing friction torque. To explore the relationship between working conditions and bearing friction torque, firstly, based on the generation source of friction torque, the test principle was determined, a test system was developed and the reliability of data was verified. Secondly, the friction torque of bearing was tested, and the values under various working conditions were obtained. Finally, this paper compared and discussed the test results.
Findings
The test results show that the friction torque value of vacuum environment horizontal installation condition is the largest at different rotational speeds, and the rotational speed has the most significant influence on the friction torque.
Originality/value
The friction torque test system of double-row angular contact ball bearing under vacuum environment was designed and built. The influence rules of vacuum or ordinary pressure environment, horizontal or upright installation mode and different rotational speeds on bearing friction torque were obtained.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ILT-08-2023-0259
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Rambabu Lavuri and Rajendra Kumar Gopi
This study aims to evaluate the impact of product complexity, product involvement and product diagnosticity on shaping webrooming behavior in emerging fashion retailing, with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the impact of product complexity, product involvement and product diagnosticity on shaping webrooming behavior in emerging fashion retailing, with product knowledge acting as a moderator and information processing, and uncertainty reduction theory contributing as the theoretical foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 371 responses were collected from fashionable consumers who had recently purchased fashion products via a purposive sampling approach, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results illustrated that product complexity had a significant impact on product involvement and product diagnosticity, and consumer attitude. Attitude, in turn, had a favorable impact on webrooming behavior. Likewise, product diagnosticity and product involvement had a positive mediating association between product complexity and consumer attitude. Product knowledge significantly moderated the relationship between product complexity, product involvement, and consumer attitude, but it exhibited a negative moderation association between product complexity, product diagnosticity, and attitude.
Originality/value
This study represents a novel research endeavor, shedding light on webrooming from the perspective of product attributes in fashion retailing. It contributes to the growing body of literature on fashion marketing by analyzing the rapidly evolving phenomena of webrooming behavior within the multichannel context of the fashion industry.
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Vahid Kayvanfar, Mohsen S. Sajadieh, S.M. Moattar Husseini and Behrooz Karimi
In this paper, a multi-objective multi-echelon supply-distribution model is proposed to optimize interactions of entities located within an Industrial Cluster (IC) including…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, a multi-objective multi-echelon supply-distribution model is proposed to optimize interactions of entities located within an Industrial Cluster (IC) including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using a third-party logistics provider (3PL)-managed supply-demand hub in industrial cluster (SDHIC) as a specific public provider of warehousing and logistics services.
Design/methodology/approach
The three considered objectives are minimizing the total logistics costs, maximizing the rate of demand satisfaction and maximizing the quality of delivery. Because some parameters such as “demand of customers” are naturally fuzzy because of incompleteness and/or inaccessibility of the needed information, the triangular fuzzy number is applied for all fuzzy parameters to handle this difficulty. The proposed model is primarily changed into a correspondent supplementary crisp model. To solve such a model, a revised multi-choice goal programming (RMCGP) approach is then used with the purpose of finding a compromise solution.
Findings
Experimental results demonstrate that all enterprises involved in such a supply chain benefit with several advantages using SDHIC by consolidating shipments and merging the storage space of inventories. The applicability of the presented model is shown by conducting these experiments over an applied industrial case study.
Originality/value
The main contributions of this research are proposing a practical mathematical approach to the supply chain of ICs using a specific public warehouse managed by a 3PL, called SDHIC, bridging the existing gaps with respect to the already published researches in this area by applying real-world assumptions such as uncertainty; optimizing the interactions of involved entities in the supply chain of an IC, comprising suppliers, SMEs as manufacturers and customers; minimizing the total incurred logistics costs to such a system through optimum usage of lands, facilities, labors, etc. and boosting the satisfaction of customers through maximizing the service level criteria, illustrating the positive consequences of cooperation of 3PL with the SMEs/manufacturers in an IC, showing the applicability of the adopted approach by implementing it on an applied industrial instance.
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Nachiappan Subramanian, Angappa Gunasekaran, Thanos Papadopoulos and Pie Nie
Firms within industrial clusters are subject to challenges such as globalization, limited resources, volatility of international markets and financial instabilities. 4th party…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms within industrial clusters are subject to challenges such as globalization, limited resources, volatility of international markets and financial instabilities. 4th party logistics (4PL) service providers are supporting individual firms to overcome such challenges by using collaborative operational capabilities from within an industrial cluster to their enhance competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to focus on China and proposes a collaborative operational capabilities framework to illustrate the role of 4PL in industrial cluster competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows an extensive literature review and structured interviews in two types of clusters, drawing on resource-based view and importance-performance matrix analysis.
Findings
The paper proposes six elements (that is, synergy of logistics, expansion of industrial chain, financial ability, creativity and innovation ability, cooperation of companies and flexibility of supply chain) that comprise collaborative operational capabilities, and highlights the role of “creativity and innovation ability” and “supply chain flexibility” in the use of 4PL for industrial cluster competitiveness in Chinese context.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focusses on China and hence it could also be tested in the developed countries’ context with the support of large-scale empirical data to investigate further its usefulness and to identify other constraints.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the 4PL literature in that it proposes a framework that extrapolates the importance of 4PL in industrial cluster competitiveness in China.