Military supply chain flexibility measures

摘要

Purpose - So far, the author lacks a comprehensive definition of military supply chain (SC) flexibility, as well as performance measures to evaluate it. This paper aims to address these gaps. It seeks to develop performance measures to assess the flexibility of a military SC. Design/methodology/approach - Volume flexibility is measured as the coefficient of variation of the demand quantity. Delivery side is measured in two stages using two ratios: customer satisfaction ratio and delivery flexibility ratio. Findings - Building on the flexibility literature, novel performance measures were developed to assess the volume flexibility (the ability to change the level of moved products) and delivery flexibility (the ability to meet short lead times). Research limitations/implications - This study characterizes the behaviour of a military SC by focusing on the volume and delivery sides. Efficiency, for example, is not within the scope of this analysis. Practical implications - The results of this paper could serve as a means to compare between SCs with drastically different sizes. Originality/value - This paper presents a novel ways to examine the flexibility of a military distribution process. The developed measures of flexibility are relevant, simple, dimensionless, and action-oriented.