Complexity

Special Issue on
Complexity Measures and Models in
Supply Chain Networks

CALL FOR PAPERS

Supply chains structured as networks with external suppliers, manufacturers, distribution centers, multiple retailers, and transportation assets have become in the last
two decades increasingly global. They create more and more complex systems that
moved from tightly coupled to loosely coupled structures. The challenge in designing
supply chain systems is to reduce costs related to inventory storage, manufacturing
activities, and transportation. There is no doubt that, for most manufacturers,
increased supply chain complexity means significantly increased costs. In this
regard, supply chain complexity measures and models can be effective tools for
making optimization decisions assuming that complexity is reduced without losing
functionality. In principle, the complexity is reduced when physical integration is
utilized, for example, through modularization. Then, in terms of axiomatic design
theory, related information quantity is reduced and the best design is the one with
minimum information. However, there are different design characteristics of systems
for which information content has to be defined based on given specifics. Therefore,
the complexity problems call for novel specific approaches and measures of this
systems attribute.

Lead Guest Editor

Vladimir Modrak, Technical University
of Koice, Koice, Slovakia
vladimir.modrak@tuke.sk

We invite authors to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that
will demonstrate the continuing effort to understand the complexity of supply chain
processes and let readers of this journal know more about supply chain networks
optimization.

First Round of Reviews

Friday, 19 May 2017

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

Endogenous uncertainty of supply chain (SC) networks
Exogenous uncertainty of SC networks
Topological complexity measures of SC networks
Uncertainty drivers in SC networks
The impact of SC complexity on manufacturing plant performance
Implications of SC complexity on delivery performance
Product complexity and its impact on supply chain design
Complexity management and supply chain performance assessment
Algorithms and computational complexity measures for SC networks
Models for understanding supply chain networks
Decision-making methods for logistics outsourcing in SC networks
Complexity issues of logistics services
Operational problems related to the complexity of product variety in SC
networks
Evaluation of complex supply chain structures
Decision models in global SC management
Transaction complexity of global SC networks
Authors can submit their manuscripts through the Manuscript Tracking System at
http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/complexity/cmscn/.

Guest Editors
Petri Helo, University of Vaasa, Vaasa,
Finland
Petri.Helo@uwasa.fi
Dominik T. Matt, Free University of
Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
dominik.matt@unibz.it
Manuscript Due
Friday, 24 February 2017

Publication Date
Friday, 14 July 2017