Title: A framework for managing supply-chain flexibility using a neural network

Authors: Young Hae Lee, Jung Woo Jung, Dong Won Cho

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Hanyang University, 1271 Sa-1 Dong, Ansan, Gyeonggi-Do, 426-791, South Korea. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Hanyang University, 1271 Sa-1 Dong, Ansan, Gyeonggi-Do, 426-791, South Korea. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Hanyang University, 1271 Sa-1 Dong, Ansan, Gyeonggi-Do, 426-791, South Korea

Abstract: The objective of this study is developing a method for measuring supply chain flexibility. It was considered to overcome the drawbacks of previous measures, including the use of after-the-fact measures. Three unilateral measures were suggested for each company: time flexibility, quantity flexibility and cash-flow flexibility. Then, supply chain flexibility was expressed as a weighted sum of the three unilateral measures. Neural network theory was used to find the weighting among three unilateral measures and the profit-to-revenue ratios for all companies in the supply chain, and the resulting weights were used to develop a single measure of supply chain flexibility.

Keywords: supply chain flexibility; neural networks; supply chain management; SCM; time flexibility; quantity flexibility; cash-flow flexibility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2010.032945

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2010 Vol.6 No.4, pp.415 - 430

Published online: 05 May 2010 *

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