This paper reports a study on the importance of enablers in order for IT to support effective supply chain management, as perceived defined by different positions in the supply chain. In the study, a significant difference for the enabler “Funds for IT enablement” is found between the supplier position and other positions. Furthermore relations between the enablers are examined and research is done into why certain factors are being perceived more important than others.
Lake Kivu is experiencing unprecedented decline in production of Tanganyika Sardine (Limnothrissa miodon). This study sought to characterise the value chain of this fish species so as to chart its sustainable utilisation. The study performed in 2015 found two chains; an informal chain that takes 30% of the production and a formal chain that handles 70%. The average catch of sardine was 30 kg/day in the high production season and <15 kg/day in the low season. Two thirds of the fishers were not aware of the governing law. Fishing malpractices included fishing in prohibited sites, beach seining and fishing during moratorium period. Majority of fishers were not satisfied with the price offered in the market as costs involved in fishing was 701 Rwanda Francs/kg caught. This is despite the shift in time since the study was performed. Therefore, there is need for re-training of value chain actors, increasinglake surveillance, strengthening internal controls of the Fishers’ Cooperatives and improving information sharing and communication among value chain actors.
MULTIFILE
With this project we strived to contribute to structural reduction of post-harvest food losses and food quality improvement in the Kenyan avocado and dairy value chains through the application of technical solutions and tools as well as improved coordination in those food chains. The consortium had four types of partners: 1. Universities (2 Kenyan, 4 Dutch), 2. Private sector actorsin those chains, 3. Organisations supporting those chains, and 4. Network partners. The applied research has been implemented in cooperation with all partners, whereby students at involved universities conducted most of the field studies and all other consortium partners support and interact depending on the phases.The FORQLAB project targeted two areas in Kenya for both commodities, a relatively well-developed chain in the central highlands and a less-develop chain in Western-Kenya. The research methods were the business to business and multi-stakeholder (living lab) approaches to increase the potential for uptake of successful interventions in the chain. The project consisted of four phases: 1. Inventory and inception, 2. Applied research, 3. Spreading research outputs through living lab networks, 4. Translation of project output in curricula and trainings. The outcomes were: two knowledge exchange platforms (Living Labs) supported with some advice for sustainable food loss reduction, a research agenda, proposals for ICT and other tech solutions and an implementation strategy; communication and teaching materials for universities andTVETs; and knowledge transfer and uptake.
MULTIFILE
Collaborative networks for sustainability are emerging rapidly to address urgent societal challenges. By bringing together organizations with different knowledge bases, resources and capabilities, collaborative networks enhance information exchange, knowledge sharing and learning opportunities to address these complex problems that cannot be solved by organizations individually. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the apparel sector, where examples of collaborative networks for sustainability are plenty, for example Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals, and the Fair Wear Foundation. Companies like C&A and H&M but also smaller players join these networks to take their social responsibility. Collaborative networks are unlike traditional forms of organizations; they are loosely structured collectives of different, often competing organizations, with dynamic membership and usually lack legal status. However, they do not emerge or organize on their own; they need network orchestrators who manage the network in terms of activities and participants. But network orchestrators face many challenges. They have to balance the interests of diverse companies and deal with tensions that often arise between them, like sharing their innovative knowledge. Orchestrators also have to “sell” the value of the network to potential new participants, who make decisions about which networks to join based on the benefits they expect to get from participating. Network orchestrators often do not know the best way to maintain engagement, commitment and enthusiasm or how to ensure knowledge and resource sharing, especially when competitors are involved. Furthermore, collaborative networks receive funding from grants or subsidies, creating financial uncertainty about its continuity. Raising financing from the private sector is difficult and network orchestrators compete more and more for resources. When networks dissolve or dysfunction (due to a lack of value creation and capture for participants, a lack of financing or a non-functioning business model), the collective value that has been created and accrued over time may be lost. This is problematic given that industrial transformations towards sustainability take many years and durable organizational forms are required to ensure ongoing support for this change. Network orchestration is a new profession. There are no guidelines, handbooks or good practices for how to perform this role, nor is there professional education or a professional association that represents network orchestrators. This is urgently needed as network orchestrators struggle with their role in governing networks so that they create and capture value for participants and ultimately ensure better network performance and survival. This project aims to foster the professionalization of the network orchestrator role by: (a) generating knowledge, developing and testing collaborative network governance models, facilitation tools and collaborative business modeling tools to enable network orchestrators to improve the performance of collaborative networks in terms of collective value creation (network level) and private value capture (network participant level) (b) organizing platform activities for network orchestrators to exchange ideas, best practices and learn from each other, thereby facilitating the formation of a professional identity, standards and community of network orchestrators.
The COVID19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability in supply chain networks in the healthcare sector and the tremendous waste problem of disposable healthcare products, such as isolation gowns. Single-use disposable isolation gowns cause great ecological impact. Reusable gowns can potentially reduce climate impacts and improve the resilience of healthcare systems by ensuring a steady supply in times of high demand. However, scaling reusable, circular isolation gowns in healthcare organizations is not straightforward. It is impeded by economic barriers – such as servicing costs for each use – and logistic and hygiene barriers, as processes for transport, storage and safety need to be (re)designed. Healthcare professionals (e.g. purchasing managers) lack complete information about social, economic and ecological costs, the true cost of products, to make informed circular purchasing decisions. Additionally, the residual value of materials recovered from circular products is overlooked and should be factored into purchasing decisions. To facilitate the transition to circular procurement in healthcare, purchasing managers need more fine-grained, dynamic information on true costs. Our RAAK Publiek proposal (MODLI) addresses a problem that purchasing managers face – making purchasing decisions that factor in social, economic and ecological costs and future benefits from recovered materials. Building on an existing consortium that developed a reusable and recyclable isolation gown, we design and develop an open-source decision-support tool to inform circular procurement in healthcare organizations and simulate various purchasing options of non-circular and circular products, including products from circular cascades. Circular procurement is considered a key driver in the transition to a circular economy as it contributes to closing energy and material loops and minimizes negative impacts and waste throughout entire product lifecycles. MODLI aims to support circular procurement policies in healthcare organizations by providing dynamic information for circular procurement decision making.
