Research Article

Supply Chain Flexibility Evaluation Based on Matter-Element Extension

Table 1

Supply chain flexibility evaluation indicator system.

Primary indicatorsSecondary indicatorsSecondary indicator descriptionIndicator nature

Service category and quantity flexibility, Customer order missing rate, c1Number of service delivery failures/total number of service products availableQuantitativeNegative
Average delayed order rate, c2Number of delayed services/total number of service products availableQuantitativeNegative
Average early delivery service rate, c3Number of services provided in advance/total number of service products availableQuantitativePositive
Average customer waiting rate, c4Number of customers waiting for service/total number of times to receive service productsQuantitativeNegative
Human resource flexibility, Skill flexibility, c5The classification of evaluation criteria can be referred to the previous studies, for example, it can be divided according to the following dimensions:
(1) The number of effective skills currently possessed by human resources
QualitativePositive
(2) The speed of human resources learning new and effective skills
(3) The ability to quickly reintegrate and reconfigure multiple skill value chains
Behavioral flexibility, c6The classification of evaluation criteria can be referred to the previous studies, for example, it can be divided according to the following dimensions:
(1) The ability of human resources to “script” beneficial behaviors
QualitativePositive
(2) The ability to coordinate and integrate multiple behavioral “scripts”
Capital flexibility, Financing capacity flexibility, c7Fund use fee/(total amount of financing − financing expenses)QuantitativeNegative
Profitability flexibility, c8Operating profit/sales revenueQuantitativePositive
Price flexibility, c9Average market price of products − product actual costQuantitativePositive
Logistics flexibility, Inventory turnover, c10Cost of sales/average inventory balanceQuantitativePositive
Diversity of transportation channels available, c11The division of the evaluation criteria can be referred to the China statistical yearbook on transportation, for example, it can be divided into the following sections:
(1) Be able to select five modes of transportation to cope with the change of service demand, scoring range
QualitativePositive
(2) Be able to select more than three modes of transportation to cope with the change of service demand, scoring range
(3) Only two or more modes of transportation can be selected to cope with the change of service demand, scoring range
(4) Single transportation channel, only able to meet the most basic needs of customers, scoring range
Distribution accuracy, c12Number of orders delivered correctly/number of delivered ordersQuantitativePositive
Partner flexibility, Trust mechanisms’ build capacity, c13The evaluation criteria can be divided according to the previous studies, for example, they can be divided into the following intervals:
(1) Have a common strategic goal and can share risks in a complex environment
QualitativePositive
(2) In the event of divergence of interest, it is necessary to resolve the conflict through consultation and discussion
(3) It has a normal cooperative relationship on the premise of not violating the signed contract or contract
(4) There are often disagreements and contradictions in the decision-making of key issues
Knowledge sharing rate, c14The amount of knowledge shared by enterprises in time and accurately/the amount of knowledge enterprises should shareQuantitativePositive
Number of partners that can be selected in time, c15Number of partners with fast access + number of partners that can exit quicklyQuantitativePositive
Production equipment flexibility, Production equipment trouble-free continuous operation efficiency, c16Production equipment trouble-free operation time/total operation time of production equipmentQuantitativePositive
Maintenance rate of production equipment, c17Number of production equipment actually maintained/total production equipmentQuantitativeNegative
Actual productivity of production equipment, c18Actual capacity of production equipment/maximum capacity of production equipmentQuantitativePositive
Technical flexibility, Original technology, c19The classification of evaluation criteria can refer to previous studies, for example, it can be divided according to the following dimensions:
(1) The degree to which a product and/or service can be added
QualitativePositive
(2) Scope of application to a variety of products and technologies
(3) It helps to improve customers’ sense of identity with products and technologies
New technique, c20The classification of evaluation criteria can refer to the previous studies, for example, it can be divided according to the following dimensions:
(1) Ability to develop new technologies
QualitativePositive
(2) The ability to introduce new technology into enterprise activities
(3) Innovation and transformation ability of new technology
Time flexibility, Degree of timely response, c21Response time of the supply chain to customer’s demand/average response time of other supply chains in the same industry to customer demandQuantitativeNegative
Delivery capability, c22Delivery time that can be shortened/total time required to complete deliveryQuantitativePositive
Service supply flexibility, Hybrid flexible range, c23Types and quantities of products that can be provided by enterprises in each link of the supply chain in a certain period of timeQuantitativePositive
Hybrid flexibility time, c24The transition time required to change from one product mix type to anotherQuantitativeNegative
New service flexibility time, c25Time required to introduce a new service portfolioQuantitativeNegative
New service flexibility cost, c26Cost of introducing new service productsQuantitativeNegative
Information response flexibility, Information response time, c27Information acquisition time + processing time + feedback timeQuantitativeNegative
Information response range, c28The total number of information that an enterprise can respond effectively/number of members that an enterprise can connect toQuantitativePositive
Information distribution accuracy, c29Number of accurate information/number of all informationQuantitativePositive