Development of Holistic Framework Incorporating Collaboration, Supply-Demand Synchronization, Traceability and Vertical Integration in Agri-Food Supply Chain

Abstract

Successful implementation of food supply chains in improving the productivity and operational efficiency by some companies made many other firms and researchers courteous about this fast developing field. For successful strategies, organizations in agri-food business are aiming to bring all its stakeholders in close cooperation. The agri-food supply chain aims at optimal warehousing and location design, supply-demand synchronization, checking price variations and ultimately minimizing waste and improving productivity at every stage leveraging Information Technology (IT). This research reviews the supply chain status in agri-food sector, categorizes available literature, assesses the influential articles, and proposes the holistic framework in agri-food supply chain. From the literature review, it is observed that the research articles have addressed agri-food supply chain up to a certain point and confined to the apt ideas of supply projections, demand projections, supply-demand disparity, traceability, collaborations etc. There is a need for extensive research to reconsider warehouse and location design, supply-demand projections and gap analysis, transshipment strategies and traceability in an integrated manner. The present study proposes holistic framework addressing the issues of supply-demand synchronization, warehouse design, transportation optimization, traceability, vertical integration and farmer’s credit facility.

E-grocery supply chain management enabled by mobile tools

“…Many authors develop and validate RFID-based traceability systems for perishable products and cold chain monitoring (Chen et al , 2014; Sharma and Patil, 2011; Todorovic et al , 2014). The use of the information collected by these systems to support decision-making and distribution strategies is also investigated (Shi et al , 2010).…”

Vertical Integration Dynamics to Innovate in Technology Business

“…Specifically, it is suggested that the use of IT for integration with suppliers has a greater impact on operational performance than integration with customers. Sharing the same idea, Cheng [27] found that buyers benefit more from the exchange of information with suppliers than with customers, and that a possible explanation would be the existence of an incentive for suppliers to adopt the same type of technologies, due to the desire to want to keep the business. An example is what happened to the multinational Wal-Mart, which, in order to improve its operational performance, asked its main suppliers to adopt the same information systems and technologies, and they in turn made the same request to their suppliers.…”

Impacts of Collaborative Partnership on the Performance of Cold Supply Chains of Agriculture and Foods: Literature Review

“…To name a few, Hobbs et al [132] examine the vertical scope of partnerships between Integrators-Contracting Firms-Retailers-Consumers to enhance the client satisfaction (trust). Under the same scope, Sharma and Patil [127], Kalykova et al [74], and Imami et al [143] explore the collaboration among Farmer-Processor, Processor-Retailer, Wholesaler-Exporter, and Farmers/Primary Producer-Transporter-Logistics Provider-Processor-Distributor-Consumer. Hardman et al [149] examine the spectrum of relationship and point out that when improving the collaboration among Producers-Packers-Exporters, the production planning, delivery scheduling and quality control of the CSCs will be improved.…”