International Journal of Services Operations and Informatics 

About: International Journal of Services Operations and Informatics is an academic journal published by Inderscience Publishers. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Supply chain & Supply chain management. It has an ISSN identifier of 1741-539X. Over the lifetime, 193 publications have been published receiving 1153 citations. The journal is also known as: Services operations and informatics & IJSOI.

Statistical process control for multistage manufacturing and service operations: A review and some extensions

Abstract: Manufacturing and service processes today usually involve more than one process stages and operations. With an emphasis on achieving satisfactory product and service quality, multistage processes surveillance and fault diagnosis has become a necessity. Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods have been widely recognised as effective approaches for process monitoring and diagnosis. However, most conventional SPC methods focus on single-stage process without considering the multistage scenario. In this paper, we attempt to offer comprehensive references of statistical control methods for multistage manufacturing and service operations. Existing methods are compared and some future research topics are discussed.

Development of supply chain network robustness index

Abstract: As an event-driven system, a supply chain network will face not only the uncertainties in the supply chain, but also the unexpected events outside the supply chain network such as contingency, disruption, disaster and terrorism. These uncertainties and unexpected events have negative impacts on the survival and performance of a supply chain network. Robustness of supply chain networks is an important research issue as a vulnerable supply chain network may not be able to operate at all. While there has been extensive work on the measurement of supply chain performance, little of this work has focused on measuring a supply chain's robustness, that is, the ability to cope with deviation and disruption. This paper presents a system-wide approach to quantifying robustness index of supply chain networks. This approach considers both network structural robustness and network functional robustness. A hypothetical supply chain network is employed to demonstrate the proposed approach.

Adding value of food traceability to the business: a supply chain management approach

Abstract: The food industry is under pressure of managing food safety 'from farm to fork'. Food traceability has become an essential task for the food industry in supplying food products with adequate quality and safety assurance. However, it could be a daunting task if the effort on traceability systems is separated from profitable strategies of managing supply chain operations, as traceability will add extra costs for producers and for the food sector as a whole. This paper aims to develop an effective strategy for the integration of traceability initiatives with supply chain operations and create competitive advantages. Two industrial cases are presented to illustrate the proposed applications. It provides the insight into the value of food traceability and its relationship with supply chain management and helps food organisations choose an appropriate traceability solution.

Worldwide development and application of automated guided vehicle systems

Abstract: The automation of transportation in the production, trade and service sectors is a key point in the optimisation of intralogistics. For this task, Automated Guided Vehicle Systems (AGVS) provide special benefits. Applications exist in all fields of industry and trade. Typical examples are the use in assembly lines, warehouses, order picking systems and production plants. Based on the AGVS-Statistic Europe, which is created and administrated by the Department of Planning and Controlling of Warehouse and Transport Systems of the University of Hannover, the main application of AGVS and the sectors in which they are used are analysed. Furthermore, this paper discusses the development of AGVS in China. The first successful implementations as well as the future trends and possibilities are presented.