Supply chains structured as networks with external suppliers, manufacturers, distribution centers, multiple retailers, and transportation assets have become in the last two decades increasingly global. They create more and more complex systems that moved from tightly coupled to loosely coupled structures. The challenge in designing supply chain systems is to reduce costs related to inventory storage, manufacturing activities, and transportation. There is no doubt that, for most manufacturers, increased supply chain complexity means significantly increased costs. In this regard, supply chain complexity measures and models can be effective tools for making optimization decisions assuming that complexity is reduced without losing functionality. In principle, the complexity is reduced when physical integration is utilized, for example, through modularization. Then, in terms of axiomatic design theory, related information quantity is reduced and the best design is the one with minimum information. However, there are different design characteristics of systems for which information content has to be defined based on given specifics. Therefore, the complexity problems call for novel specific approaches and measures of this system’s attribute.

We invite authors to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will demonstrate the continuing effort to understand the complexity of supply chain processes and let readers of this journal know more about supply chain networks optimization.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Endogenous uncertainty of supply chain (SC) networks
• Exogenous uncertainty of SC networks
• Topological complexity measures of SC networks
• Uncertainty drivers in SC networks
• The impact of SC complexity on manufacturing plant performance
• Implications of SC complexity on delivery performance
• Product complexity and its impact on supply chain design
• Complexity management and supply chain performance assessment
• Algorithms and computational complexity measures for SC networks
• Models for understanding supply chain networks
• Decision-making methods for logistics outsourcing in SC networks
• Complexity issues of logistics services
• Operational problems related to the complexity of product variety in SC networks
• Evaluation of complex supply chain structures
• Decision models in global SC management
• Transaction complexity of global SC networks