Economical Assessment of the Benefits of the Supply Chain Management: A Forestry Industry Example

Abstract

Nowadays, companies collaborate in a supply chain (SC), achieving superior results. Nevertheless, these benefits are not usually equally distributed among SC members. However, previous approaches generally address the profits of the entire system as a performance measure. In this way, a counterpoint arises between the optimality of the overall results and the benefits perceived by each of the participants. In this work, the differences between the global results and the individual benefits of each of the SC members are assessed to weigh the true impact of the integrated operation of the SC. A mixed integer linear programming model is presented to evaluate the SC performance for the forest industry, considering the strongly integrated and competitive operations among its members. Through examples, differences between integration and individual concerns are assessed, and an approach based on goal programming is proposed to effectively manage them. Conclusions can be easily extended to other contexts.