Demand uncertainty is one of the most critical factors in supply chain management (SCM). In coping with the uncertainty, the firm should improve the quality of data used for demand forecasting. Such improvement is to a large extent possible through effective collaborative relationships and activities with supply chain partners, especially, downstream ones. Our research is case-based and intends to profile supply chain collaboration strategy in terms of collaborative efforts on the demand uncertainty. We introduce a concept of adaptive collaboration depending on the product life cycle, value concepts of involved partners, and their process complementarities. As a matter of course, we propose a possible research direction for aligning product strategy with supply chain strategy.

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OVOP (One Village One Product) movement originated in Japan has been proved to be an effective model of rural development worldwide, especially in Asian nations. This study, by reviewing regional development theories and international experiences, has discovered a strong link between the key successful factors of OVOP in many typical countries and Porter’s national advantage theory. Based upon this finding, a theoretical framework used to assess the OVOP implementation capacity has been developed, including six main groups of factors: local capacity, handicraft village’s strategy, structure and competitors, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, government, and chances. A case study has been carried out by using this framework to assess the OVOP implementation capacity of Van Phuc silk village in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results contribute a crucial evidence for further application of the framework to assess the capacity of other traditional villages to adopt OVOP movement.

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The Toyota Production System (TPS) exemplifies Japanese manufacturing. It has been further developed and spread in the form of internationally shared global production systems. The authors have proposed the New Japan Global Production Model (NJ-GPM), a system designed to achieve worldwide uniform quality and production at optimal locations - the keys to successful global production at Toyota. Based on NJ-GPM, the authors have further established the Body Auto Fitting Model (BAFM). We have realized innovative unmanning of a fitting line by integrating the technologies utilizing BAFM. The ability to automatically fit and fasten door, hood and luggage compartment panels to the car body, utilizing robotics, vision systems, bolt tightening and product quality management, was achieved. This paper shows the development of the highly reliable production system combining the following three items: (1) panel fitting accuracy, (2) automatic bolt tightening, and (3) integration into flexible assembly line at Toyota.

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When considering improvements in manufacturing industries, reducing inventory and leadtime is regarded as critical issues. This paper is positioned as a starting research based on case study approach towards TLR (Total Lead-time Reduction), which is the lead-time improvement activity based on management cycle. The LT seven tools such as Whole Chain Viewpoint, Straight Flow, Parallel Flow, Stop Push, Seek Pull, Smaller Step, and Neglect Wait are proposed. Four cases are selected as typical case samples based on the procedure and the measure of fluctuation range. The LT seven tools are verified effective for reducing leadtime and inventory through the within-case analysis by applying the tools to four selected cases with the gathered data. The applicability of the LT seven tools is evaluated by the crosscase analysis in terms of similarities and differences. Finally, four propositions are proposedbased on the results of analysis.

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As a case of professional service with the inevitable existence of asymmetric information, an empirical study was conducted to examine the perceived quality evaluation and behavioral intentions of patients in relation to the pharmaceutical guidance provided by community pharmacists. Structural equation modeling was performed to investigate the relative impact of four evaluation dimensions, such as drug usage information, cautionary information, tangible information and understanding the customer, upon the comprehensive evaluation of pharmacists (and pharmacies via pharmacists) under various situations of asymmetric information. The result of the analysis shows that the evaluation structure differs depending on the situation of asymmetric information tested. Specifically, under the situations of the drug first-ever prescribed to a patient or the pharmacist first-ever serving to a patient, the drug usage information has a strong positive impact on the comprehensive evaluation of pharmacist. Under the situations where the patient is in the acute phase and the drug is firstever prescribed, the weights of evaluation structure differ from those of the other situations. On the other hand, under the situations of a patient in the chronic phase, the experience of prescribed drug has little influence on the weights of evaluation structure. Moreover, as the patient has more opportunities to contact with the same pharmacist, the comprehensive evaluation of the pharmacist has greater impact on the behavioral intension. Hence, this study demonstrates the necessity of taking into consideration the situations of asymmetric information to analyze the evaluation structure of professional services.

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