Operations Management
Sustainable supply chains
Introduction
The article, “Sustainable supply chains: An introduction journal of operation management”, offers significant information about the relationship between sustainability and supply chains on environmental management of operations (Linton, et al., 2007). The researchers also provide crucial information through new questions and research directions on supply chain perspective. Most of the information offered by the authors relating to sustainability and supply chains is fundamentally interdisciplinary in nature. However, some of the research results presented on the article relates directly to operation management. The researchers also consider the challenges and implications of sustainability in a variety of fields where the interdisciplinary nature is evident. Moreover, the researchers also address the issue of interaction between sustainability and supply within the growing sustainable supply chains.
While addressing both of the above-mentioned issues in the article, the researchers first focus on sustainability. The article indicates that sustainability is generally using various resources with the aim of meeting the needs of the present without comprising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs (Linton, et al., 2007). However, the researchers indicate that there have emerged various different interpretations defining sustainability. All the interpretations have raised a number of critical questions focusing on environmental management and operations.
The researchers deeply address the issue of interaction between sustainability and supply chains. On this issue, through extensive study and research work, the researchers indicates that the managed to figure out various important issues. One of these issues is that the focus on optimizing various operations has moved from a specific facility or organization to the entire supply chain (Linton, et al., 2007). The other issue that the researchers managed to figure out according to the article is that a focus on supply chains is a step towards the broader adoption and development of sustainability (Kamauff, 2010). The reason behind this fact is that the supply chain considers the product from initial processing of raw materials to deliver to the customer. Moreover, the researchers point out that there is a need for sustainability to integrate various issues and flows that extend beyond the core of supply chain management (Linton, et al., 2007).
One of these issues that sustainability ought to integrate includes product design. On this issue, the researchers point out that through sustainability, various techniques that include life cycle assessment tend to assist in the determination of how to design a product (Linton, et al., 2007). This is mostly done with the intention of minimizing the products environmental impact over its usable life and afterwards. Another significant importance of product design is that it helps in considering resource depletion and as well as environmental impacts (Linton, et al., 2007).
The other issue that requires integration of sustainability as addressed by the researchers is manufacturing of by-products. In order to play a significant role in addressing the issue of environment maintenance, there is a need to consider extension supply chain. The extension includes the reduction and elimination of by products. This is possibly done through cleaner process technologies, quality, and lean production techniques (Linton, et al., 2007).
Sustainability also ought to integrate the issue of by-products produced during product use. On this issue, the researchers managed to figure out that with the help of sustainability manufactures can be able to provide various significant services that may assist in supporting and supplementing sale of the original product (Linton, et al., 2007). The reason behind this fact is that sustainability offers a significant opportunity in product management.
The researchers also address the issue of product life extension as another issue that requires integration of sustainability. On this issue, the researchers indicate that various techniques are used with the aim of extending the life a product (Linton, et al., 2007). The importance of addressing this issue is that the depletion of resources through the production of new products is avoided (Linton, et al., 2007). Moreover, the researchers indicate that this approach tends to increase the value created by an individual product (Linton, et al., 2007).
Other issues that require sustainability integration addressed by the authors include product end-of -life where industries ought to consider use of environmental friendly processes (Linton, et al., 2007) Moreover, the materials used in making of a product also ought to be those that do not affect the environment during product end-life. Sustainability also ought to integrate the issue of recovery processes at end-of-life. On this issue, the researchers managed to figure out that there is a need for the manufacturing firms to employ various means that are environmental friendly and economical the recover processes at end-of-life (Yan Ma et al., 2008).
The other main issue addressed on the article is about linking sustainability and the supply chain. On this issue, the researchers managed to come-up with various opinions. One of them is that changes in policy play a significant role in improving sustainability of operations across the supply chain (Linton, et al., 2007). However, the researchers point out that change in policy can also affect the development of sustainable supply chain. The researchers also managed to figure-out that sustainability plays a crucial role in stretching the concept of supply chain management to look at optimizing operations at a broader perspective (Linton, et al., 2007).
In relations to social-economic issues, sustainability introduces less quantifiable considerations. Moreover, the researchers managed to depict the same factor on sustainability in relation to natural environment issues. Some of the environmental issues that include noise pollution and carbon dioxide emissions play a crucial part in logistics where the researchers indicate that sustainability tends to control their effectiveness (Linton, et al., 2007).
The article supports most of the content of BX2062 in various ways. For example, the article indicates that sustainability plays a crucial role in supply chain management. Supply chain management offers support to the business operations where organization manages to create high customer value (Coyle et al., 2008). This is possibly done with the available resources and the main purpose of the activity is to provide a competitive advantage. In order to meet this goal, organizations require applying all the concepts of sustainability addressed in the article (Linton, et al., 2007). These concepts assist organizations working together to optimize their overall activities with the intention of creating more goods and services through enhancing supply chain management. Authors of the article managed to figure out that when organizations take in to considerations the concepts of sustainability; they are able coordinate the supply chain management. This means that all the significant factors that connect the organizations with potential customers are considered. Moreover, organizations are able to address all the significant issues from the raw material suppliers to the end customers (Linton, et al., 2007).
There are various challenges that tend to emerge in operation management and operation management functions. One of these challenges is that most of the organizations tend to fail in paying attention to product flow channel (Coyle et al., 2008). The other challenge is that some of the organizations tend to pay little attention to total demand chain inventory values. Moreover, some of the organizations fail to pay attention to upstream channels of the supply chain. All these issues indicates that when organizations fail to pay attention to them, the supply chain fail to be effective.
References
Coyle, J. J, Langley, C. J, Gibson, B. Novack, R. A & Bardi, J. E. (2008). Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. New York. Cengage Learning.
Kamauff, J. W. (2010). Manager's guide to operations management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Linton, J.D. et al., (2007). Sustainable supply chain: An introduction journal of operation management.
Yan Ma, Deokjai Choi, Shingo Ata. (2008). Challenges for next generation network operations and service management: 11th Asia-Pacific Network Operations and Management Symposium. New York: Springer.
