An easily employable quantitative supply chain complexity (SCC) measure.

What is it about?

The complexities of the present day supply chain are increasing due to globalization, customization, innovation, flexibility, sustainability, and uncertainties.For example, a recent product recall by Toyota Motor Corp. is an outcome of the supply chain complexity (SCC) which resulted in a loss of $2 billion (Bode and Wagner, 2014). Similarly, the decision to recall and permanently halt the production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphone by Samsung Electronics is attributed to the increasingly complex network of suppliers. Measures of complexity in the supply chain contribute to their manageability and controllability. We proposed a graph theory-based approach to measure SCC.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The authors propose an integrated method that can be readily applied to measure and quantify SCC considering the significant dimensions of complexity as well as the interdependence and the inheritance of the SCC drivers that contribute to those dimensions. This index further helps to compare the complexity of the supply chain which varies between industries.