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Of great concern today is how to collect and recycle post‐consumer
waste efficiently. Reports the results of a study of 47 collection
schemes for household waste which examined their logistical
characteristics. An extensive literature review revealed that much
recycling research suffers from a lack of theory. Discusses why and how
logistics theory can contribute to the understanding of what is
happening in reverse distribution channels. Suggests a number of
propositions on relationships between logistical characteristics and
performance. Of particular interest is whether separation of waste is to
take place at the source by the consumer or in a central processing
facility. Suggests that postponing separation to a separation facility
can enhance performance by reducing cost and increasing service.

PurposeVendor managed inventory (VMI) is a model for supply chain collaboration gaining ground in multiple industries around the world. Forecasting is one of several means to predict future demand. The purpose of this paper is to identify what types of advance demand data would be valuable to the supplier for successful replenishment planning in cases of VMI, frequency and means of information exchange.Design/methodology/approachThe work is based on a literature review and a multiple case study where both successful and unsuccessful VMI collaboration programs are studied. In all cases, the supplier or the customer was a manufacturer. The discussion is based on case‐observations of causes and effects that are compared with existing literature.FindingsIt is found that current inventory status and sales forecasts are the most important kinds of information to be made available to the supplier in a VMI relationship. This also conforms with the general perception of the literature review. Some kinds of information are found valuable while other kinds are found not to be of importance. It was also found that kinds of information differ with the type of supply chain activities being performed by the customer, i.e. there is a different kind of information recommended when the customer makes to stock than when he is a wholesaler or a manufacturer making to order. This observation has not been discussed in the literature reviewed.Research limitations/implicationsThe value of generalization from case studies is subject to general discussion. The cases applied in this research encompass Norwegian suppliers and dyads at the upstream end of the value chain. Geographically related cultural differences might limit the applicability of this work.Originality/valueThe findings support the existing literature and this paper takes a practitioner's perspective on information sharing. The aim is to offer a comprehensive yet educational view of information sharing and VMI.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the advantages, challenges and uncertainties of collecting and analyzing data using participant observation in logistics research.Design/methodology/approachExperiences from a participant observation study of an interorganizational radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation in an international environment are presented and reflected on. The RFID implementation included complex interactions between three leading companies.FindingsThe results appear to support an increased use of participant observation in qualitative logistics research, particularly when investigating interorganizational aspects. The analysis highlights values, general limitations and challenges of using participant observation in logistics. The paper illustrates that using participant observation results in significant and detailed findings, which would be difficult to achieve with other methods. Suggestions on how to take advantage of the method's benefits and overcome methodological challenges are provided.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may address experiences from other studies regarding how to analyze and report data from a participant observation study. It may also clarify the role the method is given in case studies and extend the analysis of epistemological aspects conducted in this paper.Practical implicationsThis paper may inspire logistics researchers to consider participant observation, either as sole method or as part of a multi‐methodical case study, in order to make use of its benefits and thus broaden the dimensions of logistics research.Originality/valueA broad literature review indicates that participant observation studies are rather uncommon in logistics research. This paper thus highlights the potential of using this method in logistics research, particularly when investigating the overlooked, but essential, interorganizational aspects of logistics and SCM.

Purpose – In the field of humanitarianism, cluster thinking has been suggested as a solution to the lack of coordinated disaster response. Clusters for diverse functions, including sheltering, logistics and water and sanitation, can be viewed as an effort to achieve functional coordination. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a greater understanding of the potential of cluster concepts using supply chain coordination and inter‐cluster coordination. The focus is on the conceptual level rather than on specific means of coordination. Design/methodology/approach – The cluster concept in humanitarian relief, along with some key empirical issues, is based on a case study. The concept is then compared to the literature on clusters and coordination in order to develop a theoretical framework with propositions on the tradeoffs between different types of coordination. Findings – The results provide important reflections on one of the major trends in contemporary development of humanitarian logistics. This paper shows that there is a tradeoff between different types of coordination, with horizontal coordination inside cluster drawing attention away from important issues of the supply chain as well as the need to coordinate among the clusters. Research limitations/implications – There is a need for more in‐depth case studies of experiences with clusters in various operations. Various perspectives should be taken into account, including the field, responding agencies, beneficiaries, donors, military and commercial service providers, both during and between disasters. Practical implications – The paper presents the tradeoffs between different types of coordination, in which basic aims such as standardisation through functional coordination, must be balanced with cross‐functional and vertical coordination in order to more successfully serve the users' composite needs. Originality/value – The focus on possible trade‐offs between different types of coordination is an important complement to the literature, which often assumes simultaneous high degrees of horizontal and vertical coordination.

PurposeThe objective of this study is to revise and enhance existing inventory control models in a way that allows them to be used more efficiently in environments with short lead times.Design/methodology/approachA simulation approach has been chosen to assess the efficiency of the developed model. This simulation is based on randomly generated demand data with a compound Poisson type of distribution.FindingsResults from the simulation show that traditionally used inventory control methods fail to ensure that desired service levels are attained in environments with short lead times. The simulation also shows that, by using the developed model, the differences between desired and attained service levels can be reduced to fall within limits acceptable in practice.Originality/valueThe study provides an enhanced inventory control model that can be used in environments with short lead time to increase service level performance.

This paper addresses the question of trade‐offs in supply chains by exploring the roles of packaging in distribution networks. Taking a starting point in the logistical role of packaging and the potential trade‐offs with its marketing and environmental roles, the paper illustrates some difficulties with integrated systems. The paper discusses the concept of packaging as an integrated system and presents a case study of a transport package, a roll‐rack, for distribution of fresh milk. The analysis shows that although it fulfils well all its three roles for milk, the roll‐rack's efficiency is decreasing as continuously larger volumes of products for which it was not designed, are distributed through the network. Because it is so integrated in the milk‐chain and adaptations have developed between the roll‐rack and other resources such as vehicles, terminals and display facilities in the stores, it is difficult to use for other products. As similar adaptations have developed within the other package/product chains, it is also difficult to replace other transport packages with the roll‐rack. The paper contributes to the understanding of use and development of logistics resources, trade‐offs between adaptation and adaptability, integration and standardisation.

PurposeDistribution arrangements are becoming increasingly complex and dynamic in business as well as in consumer markets. The purpose of the present paper is to explore and discuss the theoretical frameworks available to interpret these distribution arrangements, to uncover how they are interrelated and to suggest extensions.Design/methodology/approachA survey of extant research is undertaken, starting with the literature on supply chain management (SCM). It turns out that prior to the launch of the SCM concept in the early 1980s, two separate research streams coexisted which both pertain to aspects of distribution. These two research streams are described and traced back to a common root.FindingsIt is suggested that SCM may be regarded as an attempt to unite the two separate research streams known as business logistics and marketing channels, respectively. These two approaches have focused on different aspects of distribution arrangements, but both are preoccupied with managerial challenges faced by individual companies. The managerial focus is also very clear in SCM. The paper traces the common roots of all of these approaches to the marketing discipline in the first half of the twentieth century and suggests that this constitutes a basis for the future development.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper is twofold: first the overview of the different streams of literature dealing with distribution arrangements and how they are interrelated has not been spelled out so clearly before. Second, the discussions undertaken suggest that future research would benefit from going "back to the future" in the sense that one can learn from frameworks developed for the purpose of understanding the supply system as a whole, the role of the individual participants in that system, and the underlying economics of such a system.

PurposeIn the field of humanitarianism, cluster thinking has been suggested as a solution to the lack of coordinated disaster response. Clusters for diverse functions, including sheltering, logistics and water and sanitation, can be viewed as an effort to achieve functional coordination. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a greater understanding of the potential of cluster concepts using supply chain coordination and inter‐cluster coordination. The focus is on the conceptual level rather than on specific means of coordination.Design/methodology/approachThe cluster concept in humanitarian relief, along with some key empirical issues, is based on a case study. The concept is then compared to the literature on clusters and coordination in order to develop a theoretical framework with propositions on the tradeoffs between different types of coordination.FindingsThe results provide important reflections on one of the major trends in contemporary development of humanitarian logistics. This paper shows that there is a tradeoff between different types of coordination, with horizontal coordination inside cluster drawing attention away from important issues of the supply chain as well as the need to coordinate among the clusters.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for more in‐depth case studies of experiences with clusters in various operations. Various perspectives should be taken into account, including the field, responding agencies, beneficiaries, donors, military and commercial service providers, both during and between disasters.Practical implicationsThe paper presents the tradeoffs between different types of coordination, in which basic aims such as standardisation through functional coordination, must be balanced with cross‐functional and vertical coordination in order to more successfully serve the users' composite needs.Originality/valueThe focus on possible trade‐offs between different types of coordination is an important complement to the literature, which often assumes simultaneous high degrees of horizontal and vertical coordination.

Purpose: There is a need for theory development within the field of humanitarian logistics to understand logistics needs in different stages of a crisis and how to meet these. This paper aims to discuss three dimensions identified in logistics and organization theories and how they relate to three different cases of humanitarian logistics operations - the regional concept of the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies, the development and working of the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre and coordination challenges of military logistics in UN mandated peacekeeping operations. The purpose is to build a framework to be used in further studies. Design/methodology/approach: A framework for the study of humanitarian logistics along three dimensions is developed, followed by a discussion of the chosen cases in relation to these dimensions. The framework will be used as basis for the case studies to be undertaken for the purpose of understanding and identification of new questions and needs for other or revised concepts from theory. Findings: The paper shows the relevance of a wide literature to the issues pertinent to humanitarian logistics. There is considerable promise in extant literature on logistics, SCM and coordination, but this needs to be confronted with the particular issues seen in the humanitarian logistics setting to achieve further theory development. Originality/value: The major contribution of the paper lies in its breadth of theoretical perspectives presented and combined in a preliminary theoretical framework. This is applied more specifically in the three case studies described in the paper. ; Article

PurposeIn the literature authors state that there is a positive relation between supply chain integration (SCI) and performance. They claim that this relation is widely discussed and supported empirically. Other authors, however, suggest that integration might be more difficult in practice than in theory, that it should be differentiated and that it is more rhetoric than reality. As integration has been core of logistics and supply chain management since the 1980s, the purpose of this paper is to investigate these somewhat contradictory statements and analyse prior studies regarding definitions and measures of integration and performance as well as the reported empirical evidence on their relation.Design/methodology/approachBased on an extensive and systematic review of integration articles within four highly ranked academic journals in logistics, supply chain and operations management, this paper presents and discusses the results of prior empirical studies on relations between integration and performance.FindingsThe analysis of the relevant articles indicates that empirical evidence cannot permit to clearly conclude and that integration as well as performance is defined, operationalised and measured in different and often limited ways. This might be a problem and the paper concludes with a provoking question of whether SCI might be the Emperors' New Suit of business.Originality/valueThe paper's departure point is a controversial hypothesis: the contribution of SCI is not as obvious as logistics and supply chain researchers usually think. The rigorous selection and analysis of previous studies contributes with systematic knowledge within an important question.

PurposeThis paper aims to further the understanding of planning and carrying out logistics operations in disaster relief.Design/methodology/approachTopical literature review of academic and practitioner journals.FindingsCreates a framework distinguishing between actors, phases, and logistical processes of disaster relief. Drawing parallels of humanitarian logistics and business logistics, the paper discovers and describes the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics while recognizing the need of humanitarian logistics to learn from business logistics.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is conceptual in nature; empirical research is needed to support the framework. The framework sets a research agenda for academics.Practical implicationsUseful discussion of the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics. The framework provides practitioners with a tool for planning and carrying out humanitarian logistics operations.Originality/valueNo overarching framework for humanitarian logistics exists in the logistics literature so far. The field of humanitarian logistics has so far received limited attention by logistics academics.

This research explores supply resilience through an equifinality lens to establish how buying organizations impacted differently by the same extreme event can strategize and all successfully secure supply. We conduct case study research and use secondary data to investigate how three European governments sourced for ventilators during the first wave of COVID-19. The pandemic had an unprecedented impact on the ventilator market. It disrupted already limited supply and triggered a demand surge. We find multiple paths to supply resilience contingent on redundant capacity and local sourcing options at the pandemic's onset. Low redundancy combined with limited local sourcing options is associated with more diverse strategies and flexibility. The most notable strategy is spurring supplier innovation by fostering collaboration among actors in disparate industries. High redundancy combined with multiple local sourcing options is associated with more focused strategies and agility. One (counter-intuitive) strategy is the rationalization of the supply base.

PurposeLogisticians have always viewed standards as solutions for improving operational compatibility and coordination. This paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of how standards, upon which logistics systems are designed, developed and coordinated, interact with each other and with other resources in a logistics network for the purpose of improving efficiency and effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review permits: defining standards as a coordination mechanism focusing on development, use and evolution of interconnected standards; pointing out the importance of standards for logistics efficiency and effectiveness; and analysis of interrelatedness referring to increasing returns, basic technology and dominant design. The empirical evidence is based on a meta‐case from the automobile industry with information collected from nine case studies based on observations, documents, drafts of standards and interviews.FindingsThe case study illustrates major points in prior literature and provides new propositions that enrich the theory and have important managerial implications. Main findings include a better understanding of how standards interact over time, and how they help, as well as hinder technological development in logistics networks. Being exploratory in nature, the paper concludes with theoretical propositions for further research.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the understanding of an issue is been important, but still not much addressed in prior logistics literature: the use of standards. The combining of literature from three streams of research: logistics, industrial networks and technology development provides interesting insight on which the case analysis is based and from which further research can be developed.