Future of supply chain planning: closing the gaps between practice and promise

Abstract

The purpose is to develop a research agenda for supply chain planning (SCP) relevant to practice. Design/methodology/approach: We critically evaluate academic literature on SCP in order to understand how problems are addressed in their particular context, what the outcomes are, and the mechanisms producing the observed outcomes. Four categories of SCP are studied: sales and operations planning (S&OP), supply chain master planning, supply chain materials management, and collaborative materials management. We introduce the concept of enabling mechanisms to identify specific innovations in materials management and production management that can facilitate the future improvement of SCP. Findings: The critical evaluation of current SCP theory presents very limited results that are of practical relevance. SCP is not presented as an intervention and the results are not in a form that is actionable for practitioners. The body of literature is almost absent in addressing problems according to context, it presents limited evidence of intended outcomes, and it fails to identify unintended outcomes. As a consequence, research is unable to bolster theoretical understandings of how outcomes-both intended and unintended-are achieved. In our forward-looking research agenda we leverage our understanding of the enabling mechanisms in order to propose research to make mature S&OP and novel types of SCP implementable. Research implications: The paper is an example of a structured approach to developing a research agenda that is relevant to practice and can be used more widely in logistics and supply chain management. Practical implications: This paper presents a research agenda to close the gap between practice and promise in SCP. Originality/value: We operationalize what constitutes practical relevance for an established field of research.

Developing a Framework for Supply Chain Planning in Construction

“…Jonsson and Holmström (2016) "as an implemented operations planning and control framework, system, process, or method with a supply chain scope." (Jonsson and Holmström 2016: 63) This definition is quite vague, where SCP can be seen as a framework, system, process, or method as long as it has a supply chain scope.…”

“…(Jonsson and Holmström 2016: 63) This definition is quite vague, where SCP can be seen as a framework, system, process, or method as long as it has a supply chain scope. However, Jonsson and Holmström (2016) also point out that SCP consists of four parts: sales and operations planning for coordinating supply and demand in the supply chain, network production planning for several plants, planning and control of inventory and replenishment in the supply chain, and information sharing and collaboration. A similar perspective of SCP is the one described by Fleischmann et al (2008), reproduced in Figure 4.…”

“…Fleischmann et al 2008, Lummus and Vokurka 1998, Sodhi 2003 is also recognised in this definition. The strategic part incorporates the process of long-term planning about where to localise production (Jonsson and Holmström 2016) and to identify which markets to focus on and which suppliers to collaborate with (Lambert and Cooper 2000). These are questions that have to be planned on a long-term basis often with a planning horizon of several years.…”

“…Finally, the operational part of planning covers controlling the daily inventory levels and material replenish (Fahimnia et al 2015, Jonsson andHolmström 2016). Usually the operational planning has a planning horizon about days or weeks.…”

“…These are also relevant for SCP. As Jonsson and Holmström (2016) elaborate on, SCP literature often lacks in identifying outcomes. If the outcome is unclear it also means that the input is unclear, as the outcome controls what input is needed.…”