Supply chain design in the delocalization context: Relevant features and new modeling tendencies

This paper presents the important factors that should be considered in the design of supply chains in the delocalization context. The methodology adopted in this work consists firstly in determining the characteristics of the delocalization problem by proposing an appropriate definition of the phenomena, reviewing its theoretical background, and distinguishing between the different manufacturing strategies of delocalization. Based on this study, we determine the important features (decisions, cost factors, and constraints) that must be considered in an analytical model for the supply chain design in the delocalization context. Existing supply chain design models are then classified according to these features to see how well they are adapted to the delocalization problem. Overall, we conclude that existing models cannot support the delocalization decisions. Hence, we finally provide some guidelines and recommendations that can help deciders elaborate an analytical supply chain design model which is adapted to the delocalization context.