Research

Building Innovative capability

Review of the Australian Textile, Clothing and Footwear Industries, 2008, vols. 1 and 2.

See particularly pages 40 and 76

Link to Review of the Australian Textile, Clothing & Footware Industries Vol 1

See particularly the chapter on ‘ Supply Chain Considerations for the Australian TCF Industries’, by  John Gattorna and Deborah Ellis, with assistance of Kate Hughes, Vol. 2, pps. 95-112.

Link to Review of the Australian Textile, Clothing & Footware Industries Vol 2

New business models for supply chains

The increasingly competitive operating environment is forcing enterprises to look for fundamentally new ways of organizing their respective businesses, that go well beyond Levels 1 and 2 of the Performance/Capability Continuum. New business models (NBMs) such as 4PLs; Managed Supply Chain Operations (MSCO); Joint Services Companies (JSC); and Virtual Network Consortia (VNC), and combinations of these, are all potentially viable outsourcing models which will be closely researched over the next 2-3 years as a mainstream activity of the Supply Chain Research Centre (SCRC), Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong. See also report on latest research into 3PL/4PL in Australia - www.laa.asn.au. See also www.frost.com

Improving internal and external 'alignment'

Improving the performance of supply chains is all about finding smart new ways to allocate the limited resources of the enterprises ie., human, financial, technology, information, knowledge, and infrastructure.

The SCRC will continue to research and develop this important topic using the 'Strategic Alignment' model, and seek to better understand how the behavioural forces in an organization impact on the cost-effective delivery of products and service to customers. At least two doctoral candidates are currently conducting advanced research in this area, and more will be encouraged to focus on the topic in the future.