APMS 2013 International Conference
Sustainable Production and Service Supply Chains
September 9 -12, 2013 – State College, PA, USA
Special Session
Value Chain Challenges and Opportunities in a Volatile Market
Session Organizer:
Roberto Pinto – University of Bergamo (IT)
Ming Lim – University of Derby (UK)
You are cordially invited to participate in the special session on “Value Chain Challenges and
Opportunities in Volatile Contexts” in the International Conference on Advances in
Production Management Systems (APMS) 2013, taking place at the Penn State Conference
Center Hotel (State College, PA), 9‐12 September 2013.
1. Description
Today’s value chains are facing an unprecedented volatile context, in which companies have to
plan for their survival and at the same time, take advantage of emerging opportunities in the
market. Value chains collaboration, for example, is a hot topic: it calls for joint management
initiatives and partnerships that usually span over a long period of time, in order to allow the
establishment of a trust-based partnership among companies and reduce the possibility of
opportunistic behaviors. However, the heightened volatility experienced in day-by-day
operations requires more flexible approaches, where the winning strategy may be the ability to
re-configure in a short time the whole value chain – including both relationships and material
flows – from the very beginning to the end customers.
Shortened product life cycles, erratic customers’ behavior, pressing competition from low cost
countries (LCC) manufacturers, extended supply chains and the like contribute to the volatility,
requiring a different approach to the management of the value chain. Furthermore,
collaboration in volatile contexts must address a host of new risks, including the possibility of
being tied in a relationship with a supplier no longer able to perform as required or needed.
2. Topics:
The objective of this special session is to foster the exchange of ideas and experience in the area
of value chains covering the following topics (but not limited to):
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New collaboration framework in volatile markets
Value chain modelling and simulation
Tools and models for value chain re-configuration
Collaborative value chain assessment
Risk identification and assessment approaches
Information sharing and “big data” analysis
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Optimisation approaches in value chain
ICT support for value chain collaboration (including RFID)
Education and talent management in volatile contexts
Cases studies and surveys on collaborative value chain
We invite papers employing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
3. Organizers of the Special Session
Roberto Pinto graduated in 2001 in Management and Production Engineering at Politecnico of
Milan, he received his PhD in Design and Management of Integrated Production and Logistics
Systems from the University of Brescia. He is currently Assistant Professor at the University of
Bergamo - Department of Engineering, where he lectures on Logistics and Supply Chain
Management. He is a member of the Faculty of the Master Executive in Industrial Maintenance
Management (meGMI) and of the PhD in Logistics and Supply Chain Management of the
University of Bergamo. He has been a member of the Faculty of the Master on Supply Chain
Management of the University of Brescia.
Ming Lim recevied his PhD in Manufacturing Systems and Management from the University of
Exeter (UK). He is currently Head of Centre for Supply Chain Improvement and Reader in
Logisitcs at the University of Derby (UK). His research expertise is in the areas of radiofrequency identification (RFID) applications – www.therfid.com, lean & agile manufacturing,
responsive & reconfigurable manufacturing/supply chain, green/sustainable supply chain and
logistics, multi-agent systems, cost & system optimisation, and system modelling & simulation.
Since obtaining his academic position at Aston University (UK) in 2006, Ming has been
providing consultancy to companies from manufacturing and logistics sectors in enhancing
production and supply chain competitiveness, as well as in the implementation of RFID
technology. He has close collaboration with large organisations, such as DHL, UK Health Sector
NHS, Tesco Express and Caterpillar, and a range of SMEs across different industries.