Complex Supply Chains and Sustainable Development

Based on the last post, supply chain is a complex system because:

1) It constitutes of several heterogeneous components (agents) which are usually referred to ‘supply chain design’ or ‘supply chain statics’.
Such components can be focal companies, suppliers, customers (B2B and B2C), distribution centers (terminals, hubs, consolidation centers, etc.), warehouses, retailers (outlets), transport actors, logistics service providers, resources (both tangible and intangible), goods (materials, packages, inventories, products, etc.), humans, and so on.

2) There are tremendous interactions among its components (agents) which are usually referred to ‘supply chain operations’ or ‘supply chain dynamics’. Interactions create flows in the chain, namely flows of information, goods (including packages), resources, and money.
Due to dynamic, diverse, and nonlinear interactions, supply chain (s) is (are) preferably called supply network (s). Due to such interactions, demarcation of / defining border for the system is very difficult.

3) Each sub-component (sub-agent) of supply chain components (agents) is a complex system by itself which may have an attribute of complexity or just complication (I will explain the difference of these attributes in another post).
For example, a focal company is by itself a complex system. It may constitute of several assembly lines, work stations, resources (staffs, tools, assets …), departments, and so on and so forth.

4) It may respond to different markets in different ways. Because of different values in different markets, different action/reaction strategies are required. Values can be time, cost, quality, environmentally friendliness, etc.

As supply chain is a complex system, its sustainable development call for complexity thinking. In whole of my PhD program, I will do my best to preserve my complexity glasses on my eyes when I study sustainable development of supply chains and packaging logistics.

For the integration of sustainable development into supply chain management to become reality, models and perspectives in which comprehension, not elimination or reduction, of the emergent complexity needs to be explored, developed, and used.
Concluding, there is great need for models and frameworks that consider the complexity and paradoxes involved, take holistic perspectives, and challenge the basic assumptions underlying most of the research published (i.e. reductionism, positivism and economic growth).

Definition of complex systems!

There are several definitions for complex systems. Giving a sharp definition of a complex system is hard since the term is used in a wide variety of contexts. However, most of the definitions contain the following common parts:

1) Complex systems are those which are composed of many (often heterogeneous) components. The components – they are often called agents- are highly woven together.

2) Complex systems are those which there are interactions among their components. The interactions are dynamic and nonlinear. Interactions make the characteristics of the whole system different than collective characteristics of each component.

3) Complex systems are those which have complex components as well!

4) Complex systems are those which have within themselves the capacity to respond to their environments in more than one way.

The main objective of science of complexity is to figure out how groups of components (agents) work together. A complex system can be our brain, an economy, an ecosystem, Lund University, Packaging logistics, Supply chains, Sustainable supply chains, etc.
Lund University is a good example of a complex system because:

1) It is constituted of many heterogeneous agents namely faculties, departments, divisions, research groups, etc.

2) There are huge interactions among faculties as well as among faculties and industry, society, research organizations, etc. In fact, Lund University is more than just collection of its faculties.

3) Each faculty, or other agents of the university, is a complex system by itself. For example, LTH which is one of the eight faculties has several heterogeneous complex subsystems like departments. Departments are again by themselves complex systems. For example, department of design sciences at LTH is constituted of several complex subsystems like divisions. Divisions are again by themselves complex systems. For example, division of packaging logistics at department of design sciences is constituted of several diverse research groups (like sustainable-, innovative-, intelligent-, traceable-, food-, complex adaptive- packaging logistics, etc). Furthermore, there are massive and diverse interactions among its research groups as well as among research groups and other groups at Lund University, society, politicians, governors, industries, etc.

4) It can respond to different environments in different ways. Such environments can be the society, the country (Sweden), the continent (Europe), or the World.

In the next post, other examples of complex systems will be mentioned and discussed. The examples will be mainly about supply chains and logistics.

Series of characteristics of complex systems!

In the previous posts, I intented to make you familiar with the holy grail of my current research. In general, I mostly deal with three main issues: "Packaging logistics", "sustainable development", and "complexity".
In a series of coming posts, I am going to write about definitions, characteristics and themes of each issue; starting by complexity and complex systems. In addition, I will try to mention examples from several disciplines but mostely from logistics, packaging logistics, and sustainable development. The next post is about 'definition of complex systems'! So, do not forget to follow;

My current research - part 2- Sustainable development of packaging logistics in a complexity perspective

Sustainable development of packaging logistics is both complicated and complex.
Sustainability, logistics, and packaging systems are constituted of various subsystems and variables. For example, environmental part of sustainability can include land, atmosphere, air, water, and natural resources. Logistics system has also gigantic subsystems such as massive processes, inventories, resources (like machines, vehicles, unit load carriers), flow of information, flow of money, and so on and so forth. Packaging system also includes enormous number of customized products, primary, secondary and tertiary packages. These are all indicators of complication of sustaining packaging logistics.

Sustainability of packaging logistics (let’s call it here SPL) is also complex! One aspect of such complexity is nonlinear emergent interactions between packages and their environments in their logistic life. For example a tiny change in packaging logistics system can have tremendous effects on its environment and vice versa. Another problem in this case is that such effects can be in several and diverse ways.
Difficulties in demarcation of SPL reveal complex attributes, too. Can we depict, in reality, boundaries and borders for our dynamic and adaptive logistics or packaging systems? Can we define where the environment begins and ends? Such difficulties make control, management, and development of SPL fairly complex.
Another important source of complexity of SPL is existence of paradoxes. By paradoxes, I mean conflicting objectives which exist at the same time! For example, in transport of packages, it is optimal to increase utilization of our resources like pallets and vehicles. On the other hand, higher utilization means higher weight and as a result more fuel consumption and emissions! Isn’t it surprising? Another paradox can be seen in social and environmental sustainability. For example, building infrastructure may lead to social sustainability but at the same time encouraging more usage of cars and vehicles and as a result higher emissions and environmental non-sustainability!

Diversity of subsystems, interactions, paradoxes, and so on makes sustainable development of packaging logistics system fairly complex. Study and investigation of such development call for thorough systematic and holistic models which reflect adaptive, emergent, paradoxical, and evolutionary characteristics of the system. One part of my research is developing such model.
I am also eager to study and investigate role of tools and concepts of complexity theory (like agent-based-modeling, adaptation) on sustaining (at first environmentally) logistic life of packages.
So, the second part of my research aims to answer the following question:

How can we develop environmental sustainable packaging logistics in a complexity- theory perspective?

My current research - part 1 - Sustainable Packaging Logistics

Please turn your head, for a while, around the table that you have sat! What do you see? Four chairs, three cutleries, a box of Swedish pepparkaka, a dish of prinskorv and sill, and a bunch of other things? That’s great! Now, imagine that all these objects were without any kind of package! In this case, could you maintain, preserve, protect, or handle them? Definitely not! This is the basic role of packages and packaging.
More interesting is when your surrounding objects and their packages move! Another role of packages and packaging is that they make transport, shipment, and distribution of products and objects, possible. Combination of all such roles of packages constitutes packaging system. In general, packaging system includes design and development of products, primary packages (those which are in direct contact with the product), secondary packages (which contain several primary ones), and tertiary packages (assembly of a number of primary and secondary packages on a pallet or roll container).

Do you know that packages have life? Please do not be surprised if I tell you that they are born, live, and die. They can be even reused and recycled after their life and be born again!!! Please do not be shocked if I tell you that they have even logistic life! In fact they are transported, stored and warehoused, sorted, purchased, and sold. Logistic life of packages calls for integration, control, and management of their communication and movements. It also necessitates thorough analysis of interactions between packaging system and logistics system. My colleagues and I at division of packaging logistics at Lund University investigate such interactions by analyzing effects of logistics system (like transportation, communication, warehousing, inventory methods, and movement of resources (like unit-load-carriers) and money) on packaging system (products design and development as well as primary, secondary, and tertiary packages) and vice versa.

My current research is about developing sustainability of logistic life of packages. By this, I mean developing effective and efficient logistic life for our packages in a way that does not compromise logistic life of future generations of our packages. It is usually discussed that such development asks for harmonizing environment, society and economy of our packages in their logistic life.
Worth mentioning, my research focus is mainly on developing environmental sustainability of logistic life of our products (goods) and their packages. Such development calls for sustainable environment for sustainable logistic life of our sustainable packages.
In regard to this, I am analyzing effects of logistics (like distribution, transport, storage, reuse, and recycle) of our products and their packages on their environments (consider their ambience and surroundings) and vice versa.
To make a long story short, this phase of my research deals with design and development of environmentally sustainable packaging logistics. Such sustainability is mostly explored in interactions between packaging system, logistics system, and environment.My first research question can be considered as follow:

How can we design and develop environmental sustainable packaging logistics?

My current research (Follow it in the two coming posts)!

Dear readers of this blog!
I hope you have started a prosperous 2010.

During the recent months, I received some questions about my current studies and reserach. At the moment, I do reserach on sustainable packaging logistics in a complex theoretical perspective. I do beleive that packaging logistics and its sustainable development are some of the best platforms for real world application of complexity thinking.

In the following posts,I am going to explain briefly some of the relationships between packaging system, logistics system, sustainable develeopment, and complexity thinking. In the two following posts, I discuss mostely about two parts of my research which are:
1) Sustsinable packaging logistics,and
2) Sustainable development of packaging logistics in a complexity paradigm.

So, please do not forget to pursue and read the two coming posts!