Arun Kanda

Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) of IT‐enablers for Indian manufacturing SMEs

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the issue of information technology (IT) adoption and implementation in Indian manufacturing small‐ and medium‐scale enterprise (SMEs) towards enhancing the capabilities of their supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – Extracts of recently completed case‐based research for ten SME units are utilized for the identification of IT‐enablers. To support the logical deduction of the factors, diagnostic techniques like force‐field analysis, situation‐actor‐process and learning‐action‐performance are used. Further, key managerial insights were obtained by developing an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) model for the set of factors, specific to Indian context.Findings – ISM delivers interrelationships among the factors which were utilized for deriving managerial insights. Further, these factors are classified into four categories, namely, autonomous, driver, dependent, and linkage to understand their relative impact on the implementation of IT in Indian SMEs.Practic...

Supply chain performance measurement framework for small and medium scale enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated supply chain performance measurement framework for the case of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) using set of qualitative and quantitative insights gained during the case study research.Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops the supply chain performance measurement framework using the facts revealed through case study analysis, secondary data specific to various SME clusters in India and detailed contemporary studies reported on supply chain management in SMEs. It integrates the salient features of balanced scorecard (BSC) and supply chain operation reference (SCOR) model to deliver a comprehensive performance measurement framework for SMEs.Findings – This paper reports set of performance indicators for the supply chain processes like “source,” “make,” and “deliver” in SMEs. It also relates the measures with various supply chain cycles like “procurement,” “manufacturing,” “replenishment,” and “customer order.” As a result, ...

A framework for evaluation of coordination by contracts: A case of two-level supply chains

A supply chain consists of disparate but inter-dependent members who are dependent on each other to manage various resources (such as inventory, money and information). The conflicting objectives and lack of coordination between these members may often cause uncertainties in supply and demand. Coordination may help in managing inter-dependencies and reducing uncertainties. Typically, a mechanism is required to streamline the whole supply chain and motivate all the members to be a part of the entire supply chain for sharing risks and rewards through supply chain contracts. The objective of this paper is to explore the applicability and benefits of the contracts. A two-phase framework is proposed consisting of a decision support tool and a graph-theoretic model for evaluation of coordination in a two-level supply chain. In Phase I, an analytical model is proposed based on the classical newsboy problem. Various contract mechanisms have been explored through a decision support tool based on the simulation. The effectiveness of these contracts is evaluated through a graph-theoretic model in Phase II. It is expected that by designing the contracts as per the requirements of the supply chain members as well as the whole supply chain, supply chain performance may be improved.

A Review on Supply Chain Coordination: Coordination Mechanisms, Managing Uncertainty and Research Directions

The Supply Chain (SC) members are dependent on each other for resources and information, and this dependency has been increasing in recent times due to outsourcing, globalization and rapid innovations in information technologies. This increase in dependency brings some extent of risk and uncertainty too along with benefits. To meet these challenges, SC members must work towards a unified system and coordinate with each other. There is a need to identify the coordination mechanisms which helps in addressing the uncertainty in supply chain and achieving supply chain coordination.

Supply chain management in SMEs: development of constructs and propositions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on supply chain management (SCM) practices in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and outlines the key insights.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes a literature‐based research that has sought understand the issues of SCM for SMEs. The methodology is based on critical review of 77 research papers from high‐quality, international refereed journals. Mainly, issues are explored under three categories – supply chain integration, strategy and planning and implementation. This has supported the development of key constructs and propositions.Findings – The research outcomes are three fold. Firstly, paper summarizes the reported literature and classifies it based on their nature of work and contributions. Second, paper demonstrates the overall approach towards the development of constructs, research questions, and investigative questions leading to key proposition for the further research. Lastly, paper outlines the key findings an...

Evaluation of buyer‐supplier relationships using an integrated mathematical approach of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and graph theoretic matrix

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology for evaluating and comparing supply chain relationships, specifically when, small and medium scale enterprise (SME) is considered as focal company.Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes a mathematical solution based on interpretive structural modeling and graph theory matrix to determine the supply chain relationship index. The application is demonstrated for the case of Indian automotive SMEs based on the secondary data reported.Findings – Solution determines supply chain buyer‐supplier index for upstream and downstream. Based on which coefficient of similarity and dissimilarity are determined to evaluate the net pool of buyer‐supplier relationship on focal small and medium scale automotive component manufacturing industry.Practical implications – Developed approach and results will help SMEs in general and Indian automobile component manufacturing SMEs to rethink on their supply chain relationships and identify the reasons behind ...

An integrated production-inventory-distribution model for manufacture of urea : a case

Abstract This paper presents the application of an integrated production-inventory-distribution model incorporating many realistic conditions such as set-up time and cost, lead times, losses during production and distribution and recycling of production losses as well as backlogging. A mixed-integer-programming formulation to minimize total system cost is formulated. A case study of large public sector organization manufacturing urea fertilizer is reported using the model. Adoption of the proposed model to the case study reported is outlined. The model enables to determine optimal production and distribution quantities through various channels as well as optimal inventory levels at various production stages and warehouses over a six-month planning period. The results obtained are explained and important insights gained are reported.

Supply chain coordination issues: an SAP‐LAP framework

Purpose – Supply chain coordination is concerned with managing dependencies between various supply chain members and the joint efforts of all supply chain members to achieve mutually defined goals. There are different coordination mechanisms reported in the literature that have been discussed in isolation like information sharing, information technology, long‐term partnerships, and joint decision making which help in coordinating supply chain members. Various coordination models have been proposed considering isolated activities of the supply chain. There is a need to consider a holistic perspective of coordination in the entire supply chain. This paper sets out to analyze a case study of XYZ, a leading automotive parts manufacturer in India, to throw light on the status of coordination in its supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – A situation‐actor‐process (SAP)‐learning‐action‐performance (LAP) model has been applied to analyze the case study of XYZ. The situation represents the present scenario of ...

Environmentally responsive supply chains

Purpose – The arrival of global manufacturers has brought about new challenges such as environmental concerns and sustainability of supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to identify implementation level, major drivers, various practices and performance of environmentally and socially‐conscious supply chain management (SCM) in the context of the automobile industry in India.Design/methodology/approach – The literature is reviewed to understand various challenges/barriers to the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices; statistical analysis of various drivers, practices and performance of environmentally and socially conscious supply chain is carried out in the case of an automobile cluster in central India. Personal interviews are conducted and a structured questionnaire is used for data collection from 30 organizations including original equipment manufacturers, first‐ and second‐tier suppliers.Findings – Environmentally and socially responsive supply chains are in the early adopti...

Coordination in supply chains: an evaluation using fuzzy logic

Supply chain coordination (SCC) is an effective approach to improve supply chain (SC) performance. The coordination can be achieved when interdependent entities work together by sharing resources and information to achieve common objectives aligned to maximise customer value for the entire SC. There are a number of mechanisms by which the SC members can coordinate, e.g. contracts, information sharing, information technology and collaborative initiatives. To communicate frequently and effectively, the partners are required to have good information systems and capability to share information. To coordinate with each other the SC members are required to have capabilities to implement coordination mechanisms effectively. In this paper, a model is proposed to measure the effect of these mechanisms on the extent of coordination. Currently, there is no scale of measurement reported in the literature to measure the SCC. A fuzzy logic approach combined with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is proposed to evaluate the extent of coordination. The proposed methodology is demonstrated through a case study of an automotive parts manufacturer.