B.S. Sahay

Supply chain collaboration: the key to value creation

As global markets grow increasingly efficient, competition no longer takes place between individual businesses, but between entire supply chains. Collaboration can provide the competitive edge that enables all the business partners in a supply chain to prevail and grow. This paper presents a framework for customer‐supplier collaboration that facilitates effective and efficient supply chain operation. The paper reveals that the level of involvement of customers and suppliers differs across different supply chain processes and also across different sectors. While the involvement of customers is high in demand management and product development, the involvement of suppliers is high in transportation and inventory management processes. The paper also reveals that about 50 percent of the organizations surveyed indicate that suppliers and customers have little or virtually no role in the demand management, inventory management, and product development processes.

Real time business intelligence in supply chain analytics

Purpose – Rapid innovation and globalization have generated tremendous opportunities and choices in the marketplace for firms and customers. Competitive pressures have led to sourcing and manufacturing on a global scale resulting in a significant increase in products. The paper tries to identify the need for real time business intelligence (BI) in supply chain analytics.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides argument and analysis of the advantages and hurdles in BI.Findings – The paper focuses on the necessity to revisit the traditional BI concept that integrates and consolidates information in an organization in order to support firms that are service oriented and seeking customer loyalty and retention. Enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of supply chain analytics using a BI approach is a critical component in a companys ability to achieve its competitive advantage.Originality/value – This paper furthers understanding of the issues surrounding the use of BI systems in supply chains.

Supply chain management practices in Indian industry

Increasing uncertainty of supply networks, globalization of businesses, proliferation of product variety and shortening of product life cycles have forced Indian organizations to look beyond their four walls for collaboration with supply chain partners. With a gross domestic product (GDP) of over US

Managing supply chains for competitiveness: the Indian scenario

474.3 biilion, the Indian industry spends 14 percent of its GDP on logistics. Considering this scenario, it is necessary to study the supply chain practices being followed by the Indian industry and to suggest areas for improving the same. This paper is based on a joint survey, covering 156 organizations, carried out by Management Development Institute, Gurgaon and KPMG India. The paper primarily focuses on the status of four major supply chain dimensions. The paper recommends that the Indian industry should align supply chain strategy with business strategy, streamline processes for supply chain integration, form partnerships for minimizing inventory and focus on infrastructure and technology deployment to build a India‐specific supply chain.

3PL practices: an Indian perspective

Purpose – The paper aims to analyse research conducted for assessing the current state of supply chain management practices followed by Indian organisations and identifying important areas that need to be addressed in order to increase their competitiveness.Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins by proposing a framework for evaluating the supply chain strategy of an organisation along the three key dimensions – supply chain objectives, supply chain processes, and management focus on supply chain activities. Data collected through survey questionnaire for the three dimensions have been used to assess the alignment of supply chain strategy with the overall business strategy through statistical analysis.Findings – The research findings reveal that most of the Indian organisations have aligned their supply chain objectives with their business objectives. They are now on course of aligning their processes and management focus. Enhanced level of competitiveness would require Indian organisations to mana...

The '' Indian'' supply chain architecture

Purpose – To carry out a comprehensive survey on 3PL practices in India and to establish the impact of usage of third party logistics services on business results.Design/methodology/approach – Begins by analysing the studies carried out on 3PL practices and establishing a research framework. The input variables to the research framework depict the organization‐specific characteristics, such as the extent of usage of 3PL services, the reasons for outsourcing and the impact of the usage of 3PL services. The output function of future usage of 3PL services is influenced by the three input variables. Data collected through survey questionnaire on the input and output variables are used to establish impact of usage of 3PL services on business performance through statistical analysis.Findings – The usage of 3PL services reveals positive and significant impact on business performance though 3PL practices are still at a nascent stage in India. Additionally, results clearly indicate that significant increase in out...

Multi‐factor productivity measurement model for service organisation

With close to 22 percent of aggregate industry sales tied up in inventories in the entire supply chain network, what is it that ails Indian industry? Is it the way Indian supply chains are configured – their orientation to processes to streamline business activities; their fusion of information technology to speed up business transactions; their approach to supply chain strategy to improve bottom line results – that has restricted them from achieving global standards? The article, based on a recently concluded nationwide study titled “Supply chain management practices in Indian Industry: 2000”, throws up glaring facts about the current architecture of supply chains in India. The article concludes that though some Indian organizations are moving fast towards improving supply chain efficiencies, most of them are still far from realising its effect on business performance.

Supply chain partners' trust building process through risk evaluation: the perspectives of UAE packaged food industry

Purpose – To discuss the concept of productivity in the service sector and to present a multifactor productivity measurement model for a service organisation.Design/methodology/approach – Employs a case study approach, featuring a service organisation which provides a range of engineering services to different industries. The model focuses on objectives of the organization and overall results rather than the individual departmental activities.Findings – The case study shows how different factors of static, dynamic and development parameters can be taken into account to calculate the total productivity of an organisation.Research limitations/implications – The case study organization represents only one industry sector. However, it is claimed that the generic model for productivity measurement described may be used by any type of service organisation. Warns that it is not always possible to assess the nature and extent of bias introduced by the measures selected and the weightages assigned to these measure...

Developing Indian grain supply chain cost model: a system dynamics approach

Purpose – This paper seeks to identify the up‐stream supply chain members (manufacturers, suppliers, suppliers service providers) characteristics, economics, dynamic capabilities, technology and institutional perspectives of risk in relationship to develop a trust building model through risk evaluation and to address the issue: should a supply chain member strive to build the trust or strive to reduce the risk with its members and from which perspectives?Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework was developed considering five key perspectives (characteristics, economics, dynamic capabilities, technology and institutions) to evaluate the members risk in relationship and derived the hypothesis from the framework. A survey was conducted in UAE packaged food industry upstream supply chain covering senior managers of 102 companies. Data were analysed using multiple regression analyses through SPSS. The selected supply chain members of this industry include packaged food products companies as manu...

Trust building in supply chain partners relationship: an integrated conceptual model

Purpose – The objective of the present study is to model the total supply chain cost (TSCC) of an Indian grain chain in order to understand and predict the future outcome of each supply chain model in different situations and to devise policies accordingly to reduce TSCC.Design/methodology/approach – The system dynamics (SD) approach is used to model the TSCC model of an Indian grain chain, which takes care of the dynamic interaction of the cost variables.Findings – The major findings of the paper are the reduced cost ratios in the different scenarios. A total of nine scenarios are evaluated, which are the cooperative model, contract farming and a collaborative supply chain based on optimistic, pessimistic and most likely views.Practical implications – The practical implications are the action plans suggested to reduce TSCC in each of the future scenarios of the supply chain model that are developed in the paper.Originality/value – The TSCC model is beneficial not only for organizations entering into the ...