Emerald InsightTheInternationalJournal ofLogisticsManagementSmartsupplychainmanagement:areviewandimplicationsforfutureresearchLifangWuXiaohangYueAlanJinDavidC.YenArticleinformation:To cite this document:LifangWuXiaohangYueAlanJinDavidC.Yen,(2016),"Smartsupplychainmanagement:areviewandimplicationsforfutureresearch",TheInternationalJournalofLogisticsManagement,Vol.27Iss2d)Pp.395-417inPermanentlinktothisdocument:2http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/lJLM-02-2014-0035ADownloadedon:29November2016,At:22:44(PT)二References:thisdocumentcontainsreferencesto96otherdocuments.Tocopythisdocument:permissions@emeraldinsight.com2Thefulltextofthisdocumenthasbeendownloaded957timessince2016*CUserswho downloaded thisarticle alsodownloaded:1(2016)."Towardscloud-basedsupplychainprocesses:Designingareferencemodelandelementsofaresearchagenda",TheInternationalJournalof LogisticsManagement,Vol.27Iss2pp.438-462http://dx.doi.0rg/10.1108/lJLM-09-2014-0139O(2016),"Assessingthe impactofbusinessuncertaintyonsupplychain integration",The3internationalJournalof LogisticsManagement,Vol.27Iss2pp.463-485http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/8IJLM-11-2014-0175SJOEAccesstothisdocumentwasgrantedthroughanEmerald subscriptionprovidedbyemerald-srm:313548[]uForAuthorsIfyouwouldliketowriteforthis,oranyotherEmeraldpublication,thenpleaseuseourEmeraldforAuthors serviceinformationabouthowtochoosewhichpublicationtowriteforandsubmission1guidelinesareavailableforall.Pleasevisitwww.emeraldinsight.com/authorsformoreinformationAboutEmeraldwww.emeraldinsight.comUMOCEmeraldisaglobalpublisherlinkingresearchandpracticetothebenefitof society.Thecompanymanages aportfolioof more than29o journals andover2,350books andbook series volumes,aswellasprovidinganextensiverangeofonlineproductsandadditionalcustomerresourcesandservices.EmeraldisbothCOUNTER4andTRANSFERcompliant.TheorganizationisapartneroftheCommitteeonPublicationEthics(COPE)andalsoworkswithPorticoandtheLOCKSSinitiativefordigitalarchivepreservation.*Relatedcontentanddownloadinformationcorrectattimeofdownload
The International Journal of Logistics Management Smart supply chain management: a review and implications for future research Lifang Wu Xiaohang Yue Alan Jin David C. Yen Article information: To cite this document: Lifang Wu Xiaohang Yue Alan Jin David C. Yen , (2016),"Smart supply chain management: a review and implications for future research", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 27 Iss 2 pp. 395 - 417 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-02-2014-0035 Downloaded on: 29 November 2016, At: 22:44 (PT) References: this document contains references to 96 other documents. To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 957 times since 2016* Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: (2016),"Towards cloud-based supply chain processes: Designing a reference model and elements of a research agenda", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 27 Iss 2 pp. 438-462 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-09-2014-0139 (2016),"Assessing the impact of business uncertainty on supply chain integration", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 27 Iss 2 pp. 463-485 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ IJLM-11-2014-0175 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emeraldsrm:313548 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. Downloaded by Huazhong University of Science and Technology At 22:44 29 November 2016 (PT)
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htmSmartsupplySmart supply chain management:chaina review and implicationsmanagementfor future research395Lifang WuWilliamsCollege ofBusiness,XaierUniversity,Cincinnati, Ohio,USAReceived 9 September 2013Xiaohang Yue1Revised 27 February 20143 March 2015SheldonB.Lubar Schoolof Business,University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee18 May 2015Milwaukee,Wisconsin,UsAAccepted 5 Jume 2015Alan JinDepartment of Management,Wiliams College ofBusiness,Xavier University,Cincinnati,Ohio,USA, andDavid C. YenSUNYCollege atOneonta,Oneonta,NewYork,USAAbstractPurpose -As traditional supply chains are increasingly becoming intelligent with more objectsembedded with sensorsand better communication,intelligent decisionmaking and automationcapabilities,the newsmartsupplychainpresents unprecedented opportunitiesfor achievingcostpuereduction and enhancing efficiency improvement.The purpose of this paper is to studyand explore thecurrents status and remaining issues of smart supply chainmanagement.Design/methodology/approach-A literature review is conducted to synthesize the earlier work in品this area, and to conceptualize and discuss the smart supply chain characteristics.Further, the authorsformulate and investigate five key research topics including information management,ITSinfrastructure,process automation,advancedanalytics,and supplychain integration.Findings - Studies in those aforementioned subject fields are reviewed, categorized, and analyzedbased on the review questions defined in the study.It is notable that while thetopics of converging3atoms withdigits areincreasinglyattractingattentionfrom researchers and practitionersalikethereBuoaremanymoreinterestingresearchquestions needingtobeaddressedzenOriginality/value -The paper provides original and relevant guidance for supply chain二management researchers and practitioners on developing smart supply chains.KqKeywords RFID, Supply chain managementaeooPaper type Literature review1.IntroductionSupplychain management (SCM) speaks of"having theright item in theright quantity attherighttimeat the rightplacefor theright price in theright condition totherightcustomer"(Mallik,2010).However,duetothecomplexity,uncertainty,andotherfactorsinvolved,mostof thereal supplychains areknownforhavingmany supply-demandmismatchproblems suchas overstocking,stockout,anddeliverydelays whichhavelongEmeraldbeenpopularresearchtopicsinthebusinessmanagementliterature(Wongetal,20o12)Asalways,cheaper,faster,and betterhasbeenthemantraforsupplychainmanagersThe Intermational Journal ofMeanwhile,supplychainsarebecomingmorecomplex,costly,uncertain,andvulnerableLogistiVol 27 No. 2, 2016To deal effectively with the increasing challenges, supply chains must become a lotpp. 395-417smarter (Butner,2010).Taking full advantage of improvements in such areas asCEmerald Group Publishing Limited0957-4098semiconductor,computer science,andotherengineeringtechnologies,thenewversion ofDOI 10.1108/JLM-02-2014-0035
Smart supply chain management: a review and implications for future research Lifang Wu Williams College of Business, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Xiaohang Yue Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Alan Jin Department of Management, Williams College of Business, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and David C. Yen SUNY College at Oneonta, Oneonta, New York, USA Abstract Purpose – As traditional supply chains are increasingly becoming intelligent with more objects embedded with sensors and better communication, intelligent decision making and automation capabilities, the new smart supply chain presents unprecedented opportunities for achieving cost reduction and enhancing efficiency improvement. The purpose of this paper is to study and explore the currents status and remaining issues of smart supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is conducted to synthesize the earlier work in this area, and to conceptualize and discuss the smart supply chain characteristics. Further, the authors formulate and investigate five key research topics including information management, IT infrastructure, process automation, advanced analytics, and supply chain integration. Findings – Studies in those aforementioned subject fields are reviewed, categorized, and analyzed based on the review questions defined in the study. It is notable that while the topics of converging atoms with digits are increasingly attracting attention from researchers and practitioners alike, there are many more interesting research questions needing to be addressed. Originality/value – The paper provides original and relevant guidance for supply chain management researchers and practitioners on developing smart supply chains. Keywords RFID, Supply chain management Paper type Literature review 1. Introduction Supply chain management (SCM) speaks of“having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer” (Mallik, 2010). However, due to the complexity, uncertainty, and other factors involved, most of the real supply chains are known for having many supply-demand mismatch problems such as overstocking, stockout, and delivery delays which have long been popular research topics in the business management literature (Wong et al., 2012). As always, cheaper, faster, and better has been the mantra for supply chain managers. Meanwhile, supply chains are becoming more complex, costly, uncertain, and vulnerable. To deal effectively with the increasing challenges, supply chains must become a lot smarter (Butner, 2010). Taking full advantage of improvements in such areas as semiconductor, computer science, and other engineering technologies, the new version of The International Journal of Logistics Management Vol. 27 No. 2, 2016 pp. 395-417 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0957-4093 DOI 10.1108/IJLM-02-2014-0035 Received 9 September 2013 Revised 27 February 2014 3 March 2015 18 May 2015 Accepted 5 June 2015 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm 395 Smart supply chain management Downloaded by Huazhong University of Science and Technology At 22:44 29 November 2016 (PT)
JLMsupply chain seeks to establish a large-scale intelligent infrastructure for merging datainformation,physical objects,products,and business processes together (Schuster et al.27,22007).Forexamplethefactoriesequippedwithsmartequipmentandinstrumentscanfulfill orders withglobal teams, intelligent analytics,and dynamic systems allacross thefarthest stages of the valuechain(Hessman,2013).For sure,companiesthat takeadvantageoftheseaforementionedcapabilitiesstandtogainagainstcompetitorsthatdo396not.Nowonder thereareabundant examples of smart supplychainapplications inexistence,forexample,smarttransportationmanagementsystem,and smartfactory.In the literature,a number of distinctive termswere used to describethenewaeacommunicatedglobal business systemstofulfillcustomerorders,suchas e-supply chain(AkyuzandRehan,2009),ambientintelligence(Klochetal.,2010),InternetofThings(loT)(Ma, 2011), industrial intermet (Evans and Annunziata, 2012),physical internet(Montreuil,2011),smartfactory (Hessman,2013),smartenvironment(Weiseretal,1999)and smarter supply chain (Butner,2010).While e-commercepromotes transactionsperformed on thetraditional internet,theconcept of“e-supply chain"makes one furtherstepto integrateprocessesacrosssupplychainstages(AkyuzandRehan,2009).Further,IoT referstothe nextgeneration internet whereconnectingphysical thingsthroughanetworkhasthecapabilityofexchanginginformationaboutthemselvesandtheirsurroundings(Gubbietal,2013).Thesethingsmay includeartifacts,machines,productsand gizmos (unstable, modifiable things) (Sundmaeker et al, 2010). It is evident in theliteraturethatthecurrentloTresearchfocussesontechnologies (suchassignal,networkcommunication,security)and applications (Sundmaekeretal,2010).GE's industrialinternet convergesglobal industrial systems with thepowerof advanced computinganalytics,low-cost sensing,and newlevels of connectivity permitted by theinternet(Evans and Annunziata,2012).Inaddition,a smartenvironment is definedas“thephysical world that is richly and invisibly interwoven with sensors, actuators, displaysandcomputationalelements,embeddedseamlesslyintheevervdayobjectsofourlivesand connected through a continuous network"(Weiser et al,1999).IBM particularlyproposes three characteristics (e.g. instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent) for thenextgenerationsmartersupplychains(Butner,2010)It is evident that these aforementioned concepts such as e-supply chain, IoT, smartfactory,and industrial internet, havebeenused to represent larger and morecomplicatedbusinesssystems:from isolated RFIDapplicationto local IoTimplementation,to smartfactory,and then topart oftheglobal supply chainnetworkwithinthesamecompany.Followingthistrend,weintendtodefinea"smartsupplychain"as the new interconnectedbusiness systemwhichextendsfrom isolatedlocal,and single-companyapplications to supply chain wide systematic smartimplementations.Thesmart supply chain would possessmostof thefeatureswediscussedabove,includingtechnologies suchasloT,smartmachines,andintelligentinfrastructure,and capabilities such as interconnectivity,fullyenablingdata collectionand real-time communication across all supply chain stages, intelligent decisionmaking,and efficient and responsiveprocesses to better serve customers.Asthephysicalworlditselfisbecomingatypeofinformationsystemwheresensorsandtinydevicesarelinkedthroughwiredand/orwirelessnetworks,businessmodelsbased on today's largely static-information architectures face many challenges as newwaysofcreatingcustomervaluearise(Bughinetal,20i0).Thedeepintegrationofthedigital world with the physical world holds the potential to bring a profoundtransformation toglobal supply chains.However,despitetheconsensus on thegreatpotentialofthesmartconceptandthesignificantprogressinanumberofenabling
supply chain seeks to establish a large-scale intelligent infrastructure for merging data, information, physical objects, products, and business processes together (Schuster et al., 2007). For example, the factories equipped with smart equipment and instruments can fulfill orders with global teams, intelligent analytics, and dynamic systems all across the farthest stages of the value chain (Hessman, 2013). For sure, companies that take advantage of these aforementioned capabilities stand to gain against competitors that do not. No wonder there are abundant examples of smart supply chain applications in existence, for example, smart transportation management system, and smart factory. In the literature, a number of distinctive terms were used to describe the new communicated global business systems to fulfill customer orders, such as e-supply chain (Akyuz and Rehan, 2009), ambient intelligence (Kloch et al., 2010), Internet of Things (IoT) (Ma, 2011), industrial internet (Evans and Annunziata, 2012), physical internet (Montreuil, 2011), smart factory (Hessman, 2013), smart environment (Weiser et al., 1999), and smarter supply chain (Butner, 2010). While e-commerce promotes transactions performed on the traditional internet, the concept of “e-supply chain” makes one further step to integrate processes across supply chain stages (Akyuz and Rehan, 2009). Further, IoT refers to the next generation internet where connecting physical things through a network has the capability of exchanging information about themselves and their surroundings (Gubbiet al., 2013). These things may include artifacts, machines, products, and gizmos (unstable, modifiable things) (Sundmaeker et al., 2010). It is evident in the literature that the current IoT research focusses on technologies (such as signal, network, communication, security) and applications (Sundmaeker et al., 2010). GE’s industrial internet converges global industrial systems with the power of advanced computing, analytics, low-cost sensing, and new levels of connectivity permitted by the internet (Evans and Annunziata, 2012). In addition, a smart environment is defined as “the physical world that is richly and invisibly interwoven with sensors, actuators, displays, and computational elements, embedded seamlessly in the everyday objects of our lives, and connected through a continuous network” (Weiser et al., 1999). IBM particularly proposes three characteristics (e.g. instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent) for the next generation smarter supply chains (Butner, 2010). It is evident that these aforementioned concepts such as e-supply chain, IoT, smart factory, and industrial internet, have been used to represent larger and more complicated business systems: from isolated RFID application to local IoT implementation, to smart factory, and then to part of the global supply chain network within the same company. Following this trend, we intend to define a “smart supply chain” as the new interconnected business system which extends from isolated, local, and single-company applications to supply chain wide systematic smart implementations. The smart supply chain would possess most of the features we discussed above, including technologies such as IoT, smart machines, and intelligent infrastructure, and capabilities such as interconnectivity, fully enabling data collection and real-time communication across all supply chain stages, intelligent decision making, and efficient and responsive processes to better serve customers. As the physical world itself is becoming a type of information system where sensors and tiny devices are linked through wired and/or wireless networks, business models based on today’s largely static-information architectures face many challenges as new ways of creating customer value arise (Bughin et al., 2010). The deep integration of the digital world with the physical world holds the potential to bring a profound transformation to global supply chains. However, despite the consensus on the great potential of the smart concept and the significant progress in a number of enabling 396 IJLM 27,2 Downloaded by Huazhong University of Science and Technology At 22:44 29 November 2016 (PT)
technologies,there isageneral lackofan integrated vision onhowtorealize thesystemSmart supplyand theassociated value (Lopezet al, 2012).chainWe intend to conduct a systematic review in this paperto examine the relevantmanagementliteratureonsmartsupplychainmanagement(SSCM):businessmanagementtopicsrelatedto thedesign, management,and improvement of smart supplychainsSpecifically,thepaperaims at summarizing thekey SSCMresearch findings in existenceand discussing397the remaining research issues. In particular, this paper has the following objectives:(l)to complete a surveyof the literatureassociated with SSCM;)9100(2)to conceptualize thekey issues and develop a framework pertinent to SSCM;(3)to identify several key emerging phenomenon in the smart supply chainapplications and toassociatethe prior academic research with thesedevelopments; and(4)to highlight the remaining research issues in this field.The reminder of the paper is structured as follows. The next further introduces themethodologicalaspectsoftheliteraturereview.Thisisfollowedbythecontentanalysisoftheliteratureineachofthefivekeyresearchareasincludinginformation,IT,processautomation,advancedanalytics,and supplychainintegration.Then,adiscussionofcurrent statusandremaining research issues of SSCM is presented Thepaperconcludes by summarizing the key findings of the review and identifying theimplicationsforpractitionersandresearchers.Lpue2.ReviewmethodologyA literature review is a systematic, transparent, and reproducible design foridentifying,evaluating,and interpreting theexisting literature(Fink,2005).Thecriticalanalysis ofthe research papers identifies systematic patterns, synthesizes knowledge,reveals unnoticed trends, and gaps in the literature, all contributing to theorydevelopment (Meredith,1993).We recognize that SSCMisa quickly evolving conceptthat is researched and discussed in many relevant disciplines, e.g, isolated smartoaeohardwareapplicationsareoftenstudiedinengineeringfield,andadvancedanalyticsisrepeatedly investigated in data analysis and information system research.The researchfield has been quite fragmented and divergent. In order to guide our literature review,we begin with defining the following review questions:RQ1.What is the current status of smart supply chain research and applications?RQ2.What arethemajorissues and debates about thetopics?Theanswers to theabove questionscan providebuilding blocks for a conceptualframeworkalongwithabasisoftheorydevelopment.Whiletryingtoplacethestudyinabroadercontext,weadmitSSCMhasdeeprootsinmanytraditionalfieldssuchoptimizationand supplychainnetwork.Whenconductingliteraturesearch,wefindusing generic search words such as inventory,network, logistics, and e-businessresultedinanoverwhelmingnumberofarticleswhicharelessrelevanttoSSCMandrelatively outdated.Instead, weuse a retrospective approach to find the most recentarticlesonsmartsupplychainandworkbackwardstorefineoursearchkeywords.which include supply chain,smart,information system,loT,advanced analytics,bigdata,automation,and supplychain integration.Thesekeywordsarefrequentlyused intherecentsmartsupplychainliterature
technologies, there is a general lack of an integrated vision on how to realize the system and the associated value (Lopez et al., 2012). We intend to conduct a systematic review in this paper to examine the relevant literature on smart supply chain management (SSCM): business management topics related to the design, management, and improvement of smart supply chains. Specifically, the paper aims at summarizing the key SSCM research findings in existence and discussing the remaining research issues. In particular, this paper has the following objectives: (1) to complete a survey of the literature associated with SSCM; (2) to conceptualize the key issues and develop a framework pertinent to SSCM; (3) to identify several key emerging phenomenon in the smart supply chain applications and to associate the prior academic research with these developments; and (4) to highlight the remaining research issues in this field. The reminder of the paper is structured as follows. The next further introduces the methodological aspects of the literature review. This is followed by the content analysis of the literature in each of the five key research areas including information, IT, process automation, advanced analytics, and supply chain integration. Then, a discussion of current status and remaining research issues of SSCM is presented. The paper concludes by summarizing the key findings of the review and identifying the implications for practitioners and researchers. 2. Review methodology A literature review is a systematic, transparent, and reproducible design for identifying, evaluating, and interpreting the existing literature (Fink, 2005). The critical analysis of the research papers identifies systematic patterns, synthesizes knowledge, reveals unnoticed trends, and gaps in the literature, all contributing to theory development (Meredith, 1993). We recognize that SSCM is a quickly evolving concept that is researched and discussed in many relevant disciplines, e.g., isolated smart hardware applications are often studied in engineering field, and advanced analytics is repeatedly investigated in data analysis and information system research. The research field has been quite fragmented and divergent. In order to guide our literature review, we begin with defining the following review questions: RQ1. What is the current status of smart supply chain research and applications? RQ2. What are the major issues and debates about the topics? The answers to the above questions can provide building blocks for a conceptual framework along with a basis of theory development. While trying to place the study in a broader context, we admit SSCM has deep roots in many traditional fields such optimization and supply chain network. When conducting literature search, we find using generic search words such as inventory, network, logistics, and e-business resulted in an overwhelming number of articles which are less relevant to SSCM and relatively outdated. Instead, we use a retrospective approach to find the most recent articles on smart supply chain and work backwards to refine our search keywords, which include supply chain, smart, information system, IoT, advanced analytics, big data, automation, and supply chain integration. These keywords are frequently used in the recent smart supply chain literature. 397 Smart supply chain management Downloaded by Huazhong University of Science and Technology At 22:44 29 November 2016 (PT)
JLMSubsequently,thesekeywordsare searched in majordatabases includingABI/lnformResearch and Business SourceComplete (EBSCOpublishing).The focus is on searching27,2title, keywords, or abstract in relevant refereed journals with regard to smart supplychains.Thepapers were either selected or rejected after performing a content check basedon these delimiting conditions: papers published in peer-reviewed journals in Englishpapers addressing SSCMand relevantoperational issues.Considering the relative infancy398of the topic, it is not deemed appropriate to exclude unpublished studies, newspaperreports,among others.As such, weusethe samekeywords to search non-academic sourcesincludingthepractitioner journalstocollectthemostrecent smartapplications inpracticeWetake inputs from the literatureto formulate the structural attributes and thencategorize papers into relevant SSCMresearch topics.Thefollowing four-step processisfollowed to perform the content analysis where the first level analyzes the manifestcontentofdocumentsbystatisticalmethodsandthesecondlevelexcavatesthelatentcontent(SeuringandGold,2012):(l)Material collection:the papers were collected and later subjected todelimitingcriteriadefinedearlier(2)Descriptive analysis: formal aspects of the collected material are analyzed toprovidethe base for theoretical analysis.Selected papers are sorted accordingtotheyearof publication,publication outlet, etc.(3)Category selection: structural attributes and corresponding analytic categoriesare selected to categorizethe collectedmaterialStructuralattributes constitutethe analytical categories to form themajor topics of analysis.(4)Material evaluation:the collected papers are analyzed to find relevant issuesandtrendsintheliterature.The above clear and purposeful structure is followed iteratively to complete the reviewprocess.Our overall researchprocess flow is illustrated in Figure1.The 189 research papers that qualified the delimitation criteria were selected asthemost relevant and significant research relating to SSCM, then analyzed for thedescriptive attributes. It is revealed from the review that most of the literature isfragmented and is in silos thatmakes synthesis a difficultprocess.Among them,most(168) werepublished in the recentten years, with an increasing slope oftwo articles peryearbetween 2003 and 2012.Figure 2 shows thenumberof refereed articles publishedover theyears (until April 2013).TableI presents thelist of thepopular journals thatpublished most of the refereed papers selected in our survey.As a full review of all papers is neither feasible nor does it offer any furtherinsights(SeuringandGold,2012),wefocusontheselected189refereedarticlesforcontent analysis.3. SSCM researchWhy are the smart supply chain applications being quickly developed and used today?Despitethedifficulties andcomplexities,smart supplychainapplications surelyprovidemanybenefitsotherwisenotavailable.For example,unprecedented amountofinformation can be collected and used to make better business decisions.Betterbusinessprocessesaredevelopedtosupporthigherefficiencyandquickerresponse.Inaddition,thedynamiccomplexityhasoutstrippedthepossibilityofhumaninterventiontoidentifyand solvemanysystem issues,smart supplychainscanpossiblytakeoutmuchof thepersistent inefficiencies.As such,it is harderto achieveperformance
Subsequently, these keywords are searched in major databases including ABI/Inform Research and Business Source Complete (EBSCO publishing). The focus is on searching title, keywords, or abstract in relevant refereed journals with regard to smart supply chains. The papers were either selected or rejected after performing a content check based on these delimiting conditions: papers published in peer-reviewed journals in English; papers addressing SSCM and relevant operational issues. Considering the relative infancy of the topic, it is not deemed appropriate to exclude unpublished studies, newspaper reports, among others. As such, we use the same keywords to search non-academic sources including the practitioner journals to collect the most recent smart applications in practice. We take inputs from the literature to formulate the structural attributes and then categorize papers into relevant SSCM research topics. The following four-step process is followed to perform the content analysis where the first level analyzes the manifest content of documents by statistical methods and the second level excavates the latent content (Seuring and Gold, 2012): (1) Material collection: the papers were collected and later subjected to delimiting criteria defined earlier. (2) Descriptive analysis: formal aspects of the collected material are analyzed to provide the base for theoretical analysis. Selected papers are sorted according to the year of publication, publication outlet, etc. (3) Category selection: structural attributes and corresponding analytic categories are selected to categorize the collected material. Structural attributes constitute the analytical categories to form the major topics of analysis. (4) Material evaluation: the collected papers are analyzed to find relevant issues and trends in the literature. The above clear and purposeful structure is followed iteratively to complete the review process. Our overall research process flow is illustrated in Figure 1. The 189 research papers that qualified the delimitation criteria were selected as the most relevant and significant research relating to SSCM, then analyzed for the descriptive attributes. It is revealed from the review that most of the literature is fragmented and is in silos that makes synthesis a difficult process. Among them, most (168) were published in the recent ten years, with an increasing slope of two articles per year between 2003 and 2012. Figure 2 shows the number of refereed articles published over the years (until April 2013). Table I presents the list of the popular journals that published most of the refereed papers selected in our survey. As a full review of all papers is neither feasible nor does it offer any further insights (Seuring and Gold, 2012), we focus on the selected 189 refereed articles for content analysis. 3. SSCM research Why are the smart supply chain applications being quickly developed and used today? Despite the difficulties and complexities, smart supply chain applications surely provide many benefits otherwise not available. For example, unprecedented amount of information can be collected and used to make better business decisions. Better business processes are developed to support higher efficiency and quicker response. In addition, the dynamic complexity has outstripped the possibility of human intervention to identify and solve many system issues, smart supply chains can possibly take out much of the persistent inefficiencies. As such, it is harder to achieve performance 398 IJLM 27,2 Downloaded by Huazhong University of Science and Technology At 22:44 29 November 2016 (PT)