Process modelling in demand-driven supply chains: A reference model for the fruit industry

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Abstract

The growing importance of health in consumption is expected to result in a significant increase of European fruit demand. However, the current fruit supply does not yet sufficiently meet demand requirements. This urges fruit supply chains to become more demand-driven, that is, able to continuously match supply capabilities to changing demand requirements. Realisation of such dynamic supply chains requires the design of customised supply chain configurations and subsequently the engineering of enabling information systems. Reference process models can be valuable means to support this. Based on a case study in four European countries, this paper presents a reference model for designing business processes in demand-driven fruit supply chains. The model consists of a reference modelling framework and an application of the framework to fruit supply chains. The framework defines process models at different levels of abstraction and includes a method of how they can be composed from a repository of building blocks. The applied model comprises a definition of the model building blocks in fruit supply chains and a set of pre-configure models (templates). Together, they combine fruit-specific knowledge with the reuse of generic knowledge as captured in cross-industry standards. The developed reference model bridges the gap between supply chain design and information systems engineering by providing a consistent set of process models that are on the one hand understandable for business managers and on the other hand serve as a basis for information system implementation.

Introduction

Fruit is an essential component of a healthy diet. The increasing awareness of consumers, combined with new lifestyles and higher income, is expected to result in a significant increase of European fruit demand (FAO/WHO, 2005). However, the relatively low fruit intake indicates that fruit supply often does not yet meet demand requirements including variety, quality, safety, convenience, and year-round supply of fresh produce (Hall, 2008, Trienekens et al., 2008). This urges fruit supply chains to become more demand-driven, that is, being able to continuously match supply capabilities to changing demand requirements (Day, 1994, De Treville et al., 2004). In a demand-driven supply chain, all actors involved are sensitive and responsive to demand information of the ultimate consumer and meet those varied and variable demands in a timely and cost-effective manner (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990, Vollmann et al., 2000, Cecere et al., 2004). As a consequence, information must be shared timely throughout the supply chain and the early alerted firms have to respond quickly to changes in demand or supply (Lee and Whang, 2000, Li et al., 2007). This imposes stringent demands on the interoperability and flexibility of the enabling information systems.

Realisation of demand-driven supply chains is a complex task (Selen and Soliman, 2002). Any customer requirement may trigger the execution of a different set of business processes performed by a specific network of contributors (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). Consequently, supply chains must be highly dynamic networks having different modes of cooperation, control and coordination. Companies must be able to take part in different supply chain configurations concurrently and to switch rapidly to new or adjusted configurations. This requires the design of customised supply chain configurations and subsequently the engineering of enabling information systems (Fine, 2000, Lambert and Cooper, 2000, Cooper and Tracey, 2005). Fruit supply chains are facing additional complications due to some food-specific characteristics such as long production lead times, seasonable production, quality variations between producers and between lots, short required delivery time due to product freshness, and special packaging demands (van der Vorst et al., 2001, Taylor and Fearne, 2006, van Donk et al., 2008).

Reference process models can be valuable means to support the challenges in the design and implementation of demand-driven fruit supply chains. Process models represent specific ordering of work activities across time and place, including clearly identified inputs and outputs (Davenport, 1993, pp. 5). Reference process models are predefined models used for the construction of other process models (Thomas, 2006). They improve the speed and efficiency of modelling because of knowledge reuse and enhance shared understanding by providing a common language. Reference process models can also provide insight in the possible variety of supply chains processes and translate high-level supply chain designs into detailed information systems architecture. Additionally, they can support the rapid instantiation of specific supply chain configurations from a repository of standard building blocks, i.e. reusable model components.

Reference process modelling has been an important subject in agri-food since the emergence of architecture as a basis of software engineering (Zachman, 1987, Martin, 1989). For example, the Dutch INSP reference model included detailed process models of different agricultural branches, including fruit production (Bos, 1987). However, although the models were used intensively in the design of software applications, they were not used to guide the workflow in run-time information systems. Furthermore, if implemented models were adapted, it was mostly done without taking into account the overall coherence and consistency as specified in the reference model. This resulted in a lack of active usage of reference models and, after some time, they were no longer maintained (Wolfert et al., 2010). Currently, to the best of our knowledge, there is no active example of a reference process model for fruit supply chains.

The present paper aims to contribute to the development of reference process models in the fruit industry. It addresses the following research question: “How can reference process models be designed that enable the modelling of demand-driven fruit supply chains and the implementation of supporting information systems?” In order to answer this question, the objective is to propose a reference process model for fruit supply chains that consists of two main parts:

  • A reference modelling framework, which defines process models at different levels of abstraction and includes a method of how they can be composed from a repository of building blocks.

  • An application of the framework to fruit supply chains, which comprises a definition of the model building blocks in fruit supply chains and a set of pre-configured models (templates).

The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. In section 2, the applied research method is described. Subsequently, section 3 provides some conceptual background on reference process modelling and demand-driven supply chains. Section 4 maps the structure of the investigated fruit supply chains and defines the main fruit-specific process characteristics. Next, the research results are introduced. Section 5 introduces the designed reference modelling framework. Section 6 applies this framework to fruit supply chains. The paper concludes by summarising the main results and discussing implications for future research.

Section snippets

Research method

The research followed a design-oriented methodology. Design-oriented research is typically involved with “how” questions, i.e. how to design a model or system that solves a certain problem (Hevner et al., 2004, van Aken, 2004). We applied a design-testing approach, which is comparable with theory testing methods in traditional empirical science, c.f. Eisenhardt (1989). In such an approach, generic design knowledge is developed based on deductive reasoning and after that the design is tested by

Reference process modelling in demand-driven supply chains

This section summarises results of the literature review on reference process modelling and supply chain management in order to provide some background on the theoretical positioning.

Analysis of fruit supply chains

This section summarises the main findings of the case study investigation. It defines the specific characteristics of fruit processes and the diversity within the fruit industry that must be covered by the reference process model.

Framework for process modelling in demand-driven supply chains

The designed reference model consists of a generic framework for process modelling in demand-driven supply chains and an application of the framework to fruit supply chains. This section elaborates on the framework. First, the basic requirements to the design are summarised from the literature review and the case study as presented previously. Then the different process model types of the framework are introduced.

Reference process model for fruit supply chains

The generic framework is applied to fruit supply chains based on the case study investigation. In addition to the framework, the applied model provides for each identified process model type:

  • 1.

    The building blocks that are necessary for modelling business processes in fruit supply chains (i.e. reusable model components).

  • 2.

    Pre-configured models (templates) that cover the basic variety of business processes in fruit supply chains.

Discussion and conclusions

In this section, we will discuss the designed model, identify opportunities for future development and research, and finally summarise the main conclusions.

Acknowledgements

The research is co-financed by the EU-Sixth Framework Integrated Project ISAFRUIT. The authors greatly acknowledge the involved partners and companies for their support in the data collection and for providing their knowledge of the European fruit sector. Moreover, we kindly thank Frugicom for the review and comments that significantly improved the quality of the design. Last but not least, we thank Hayat Nurhussen Nuru for her valuable contribution to the process modelling as part of her MSc

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