Yousef Amer, University of South Australia, Yousef.amer@postgrads.unisa.edu.au
Lee Luong, University of South Australia, lee.luong@unisa.edu.au

Muhammad Azeem Asharaf, University of South Australia, MdAzeem.Ashraf@postgrads.unisa.edu.au

Sang-Heon Lee, University of South Australia, sang-heon.lee@unisa.edu.au

William Y C Wang, University of South Australia, yuchung.wang@unisa.edu.au

Supply chain management aims to add value across the supply chain and Customer service is now a major strategic issue. Supply chains are complex and subject to variables of forecast, supply, process, and transportation which can lead to problems such as the bull whip effect, product lateness, damaged goods and stock outs. A key issue facing companies today is how to monitor and control performance across the chain. This paper presents Design for Six Sigma which focuses on customer requirements from the onset, as an effective methodology for monitoring and controlling supply chain variables, optimising Supply chain processes and meeting customer’s requirements. By applying Design for six sigma methodology to the key supply chain process of Order fulfillment, a customized representation of detailed activities of Order fulfillment processes is demonstrated providing key performance indicators. A theoretical transfer function for predicting the performance of the Perfect Order incorporating fuzzy set theory provides a way of monitoring supply chain performance.

Rodrigo Cambiaghi Azevedo, Université Laval, rodrigo.cambiaghi@centor.ulaval.ca

Sophie D’Amours, Université Laval, sophie.damours@forac.ulaval.ca

Mikael Rönnqvist, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration , Mikael.Ronnqvist@nhh.no

The Order Fulfillment Process (OFP) is considered one of the most important SCM processes. Its responsibility is to perfectly fulfill customers’ orders by making an optimal use of all business units of the supply chain. Although it is subject to intensive academic discussion and practical implementation, there is still not a consensus regarding the scope of the OFP. This article analyzes the main definitions for the OFP found in the literature, discusses their similarities and divergences and finally proposes a definition of OFP scope in the context of supply chain management. It also further contributes with the understanding of the OFP through a discussion of its flexible character and by analyzing the impact of some business variables over the process configuration inside organizations.