The Digital Supply Chain of the Future: Applications, Implications, Business Models

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    Behind the Blackbox of Digital Business Models
    ( 2020-01-07) Ahmad, Mashood ; Botzkowski, Tim ; Klötzer, Christoph ; Papert, Marcel
    In recent years global competition has undergone significant change as a result of the increasing digitalization or digital transformation of business and society. New forms of value creation have emerged, particularly through the emergence of companies such as Google and Facebook, and other digital disruptors. As a result of these developments, established companies face the challenge of aligning their business model with the new circumstances. One way of doing this is digitalization of the existing business model or designing a completely new digital business model. In this context, however, there is no commonly accepted definition and understanding of the nature of digital business models representing the context of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems, and the Internet of Things. So, this work is based on a literature review to help understand the concept of a digital business model. With this contribution, we enable scientific added value for business model research and at the same time help business practice to understand exactly what a digital business model is and which levers of transformation need to be considered.
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    Digitalization of Supply Chains: Focus on International Rail Transport in the Case of the Czech Republic
    ( 2020-01-07) Kolar, Petr ; Schramm, Hans-Joachim ; Prockl, Günter
    The digitalization of supply chains presents a complex subject for research based on different geography setups, legal policy frameworks and a focus on technology. The paper discusses potential and issues in regards to the digitalization implementation in supply chains of the future with a focus laid on rail transport as one of the transport modes in freight distribution. The authors analyze empirical data for the Czech Republic as a geographically scoped case study by analyzing interviews with business practitioners that are active in the rail transport market. The research outcomes interlink the development of the legal framework in international rail transport with the emergence of electronic transport documentation as an important practical aspect of digitalization. Finally, it raises questions related to the critical preconditions of digitalization of supply chains.
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    Autonomous Trucks: A Supply Chain Adoption Perspective
    ( 2020-01-07) Sternberg, Henrik Steen ; Chen, Haozhe ; Hofmann, Erik ; Prockl, Günter
    Autonomous trucks can potentially have a huge impact on supply chain networks. Though gaining a lot of attention in the industry, the topic has gained sparse interest from academia. This paper sets out to answer the question: What factors could potentially predict autonomous truck adoption? Though it is inherently difficult to make predictions for the future, we have conducted scenario analysis based on input from key experts in the field. Our findings suggest that technological maturity and regulation will be the two most important factors to observe, while also being very uncertain.
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    The Foundation of Distributed Ledger Technology for Supply Chain Management
    ( 2020-01-07) Roeck, Dominik
    Distributed ledger technology (DLT) appears to be one of the most promising technologies in the field of supply chain management (SCM). However, as the technology is still evolving, only limited empirical evidence has been analyzed, managers and scientific scholars alike seek to understand how DLT can help improving SCM. This study aims to shed light into the current DLT applications in SCM to identify the foundation of the technology for SCM and uncover what DLT brings to the table. It develops seven foundational characteristics of DLT in SCM that describe both the nature of DLT and its characteristics for SCM. The study reveals that DLTs are interorganizational information systems that are diverse in their realizations and enable modular platform ecosystems. Nowadays application in SCM build on steady data availability, selective transparency, high authenticity and a source of mutual trust.
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    Identifying Business Potentials of Additive Manufacturing as Part of Digital Value Creation in SMEs – An Explorative Case Study
    ( 2020-01-07) Hiller, Simon ; Weber, Patrick ; Rust, Hendrik ; Lasi, Heiner
    Additive Manufacturing allows the production of parts based on layer by layer, three-dimensional printing. With a unique set of characteristics, Additive Manufacturing is an important technology regarding the digital transformation and digital value creation of the manufacturing domain. Particularly small and medium sized enterprises are challenged by digital transformation processes and decisions on where to invest their limited resources. This paper identifies business potentials of Additive Manufacturing based on a recent case study conducted during collaborative workshops with five small and medium sized enterprises. Considering the special capabilities of Additive Manufacturing technology, business potentials are examined alongside the entire product lifecycle. It was found that these potentials appear primarily on a digital level and are therefore not limited to the physical domain. The potentials may channel enterprise transformation and enable the purposive generation of digital value.
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    Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Supply Chain Complexity
    ( 2020-01-07) Haghighat Khajavi, Siavash ; Flores Ituarte, Inigo ; Jaribion, Alireza ; An, Jia ; Chee Kai , Chua ; Holmstrom, Jan
    This paper aims to determine whether additive manufacturing (AM) always simplifies the supply chain. The advent of AM as a final-parts production method can radically impact supply chains. Due to AM’s inherent characteristics that suit customised production and complex geometries, utilization of this technology continues to expand into various industries (e.g. aviation, defence, automobile, medicine). Some of the crucial areas that AM can contribute to are cost reduction and simplification of organizations’ supply chains. An objective examination of the entire supply chain rather than merely focusing on production cost is important when studying the impact of switch-over from conventional to additive manufacturing. Supply chain complexity is caused by the proliferation of products, processes, suppliers, and markets, resulting in additional costs and decreased company profit. Therefore, to clearly illustrate the benefits and shortcomings of a switch-over to AM, it is necessary to investigate this transition in depth. In this paper, we analysed supply chain complexity before and after the implementation of AM in three case companies from distinct industries by conducting interviews or utilizing publicly available information. Our findings underline the simplification of supply chain in one of the cases, after the switch to AM, while it resulted in slightly higher complexity in another case. In the third case, the impact of switching to AM on the supply chain complexity is dependent on several variables. We contribute to the literature by elucidating on the common belief that AM simplifies the supply chain. We found that the implementation of AM is not a silver bullet to reduce the complexity of every supply chain.
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    Introduction to the Minitrack on The Digital Supply Chain of the Future: Applications, Implications, Business Models
    ( 2020-01-07) Prockl, Günter ; Chen, Haozhe ; Pflaum, Alexander ; Bodendorf, Freimut