Tag Archives: transport uncertainty

The causes of logistics uncertainty

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Revised on: 2015-09-09

Logistics uncertainty – a new research strand in supply chain risk research? So it would seem, as this is the fourth time I’ve come across the authors of today’s article. In their most recent article  Evaluating the causes of uncertainty on logistics operations, just out, Vasco Sanchez-Rodrigues, Andrew Potter and Mohamed M. Naim further explore their transport uncertainty triad model which they started on some years ago, and whose articles have been mentioned on this blog in previous posts. It is only recently, though, that I have become aware of their research that links up perfectly with my own research in supply chain disruptions in sparse transportation networks, and it most definitely is a research that I intend to follow closely.

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Flexing your SCM muscles

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Revised on: 2015-09-12

A supply chain is never stronger than its weakest link, and that (having a weak link) is perhaps the greatest supply chain risk. Rigid supply chains are particularly weak, unlike flexible supply chains that can bend and adapt to new situations. Flexible supply chains can indeed “flex” their supply chain management muscles (pun intended) and show the strength that lies in them. With transportation being a key ingredient in any supply chain, much of this strength comes from flexibility in transportation, that is flexibility in node, in link and in time, as Mohamed M. Naim, Andrew T. Potter, Robert J. Mason and Nicola Bateman write in their 2006 article on the role of transport flexibility in logistics provision. Adding flexibility reduces supply chain uncertainty and takes away many supply chain risks.

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Transportation – the forgotten staple

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Revised on: 2015-10-03

What a difference a title makes. I only found this article because it was referenced in another article.  Why? Because it  never occurred to me to search for articles on “risk” using “uncertainty” as a keyword. Bummer. Risk is undeniably linked to uncertainty, but I have never made that mental connection and never searched for articles on  “supply chain risk” using the term “supply chain uncertainty”. Perhaps I should have, because Establishing a transport operation focused uncertainty model for the supply chain illustrates very well how transportation is a staple ingredient in supply chains and how uncertainty is a staple ingredient in risk assessments, and consequently,  transportation uncertainty is a staple ingredient in supply chain risks.

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