Rakesh Narain

Productivity gains from flexible manufacturing: Experiences from India

Over the past two decades, interest in the use of flexible manufacturing as a competitive weapon has increased significantly. Globalization and liberalization have forced Indian organizations to aim for globally competitiveness through the use of advanced technology, technical manpower, and innovative research and development. This paper reports the findings of case studies carried out in two large Indian manufacturing organization, and highlights the status of adoption of FMS. These organizations deal in the manufacture of shoes and railway coaches. The studies pay particular attention to the methods used to justify the investment involved. The experience of these firms’ can provide useful insight to other firms interested in implementing FMS.

A study on usage of IT and its implications on e-procurement in Indian organisations

Information technology (IT) plays a crucial role in the adoption of e-procurement. This paper reports the findings of a survey carried out in 36 Indian organisations to ascertain the impact of IT on e-procurement practices. The findings of the survey suggests that the deployment of IT in Indian organisations is of a level that can be quite helpful in improving internal business process efficiency such as better inventory control, reduced cost and time and improved customer service. While the organisations seem to have the necessary strength (IT infrastructure and flexibility) for adoption of e-procurement, the technological barriers (security concerns and incompatibility) are still to be surmounted. Internet security concerns, loss of information sharing, and legal legitimacy issues are the three most important factors that needs to be addressed properly for building trust on internet. However a grey area, as identified by the survey is that use of IT by small and medium enterprises is low and it needs to be increased.

Investigation into barriers to adoption of e-procurement and measures of performance

Electronic procurement (e-procurement) is the purchase of goods and services through internet or any other electronic medium. This paper reports the findings of a survey carried out in 36 Indian organisations to investigate the barriers related to the adoption of e-procurement and the effect of e-procurement on performance measures in Indian scenario. The findings of this paper suggest that the main barriers to the adoption of e-procurement are: 1economic and cultural barriers 2socio-political barriers 3cognitive barriers. There are many challenges in performance measurement of e-procurement systems like: lack of understanding of benefits of performance measurement, indicators not linked with the organisational objectives, and difficulty in information collection for performance measurement. There exist many factors that affect the performance by the implementation of e-procurement, and can be grouped into three categories: 1reduced costs 2increased performance 3reduced number of suppliers.

Identifying critical barriers in the growth of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

Worldwide, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in national economy by contributing significantly in nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment generation and exports. Despite this, this sector is plagued with problems which threaten their survival. This paper is based on a survey carried out in 84 Indian MSMEs to investigate the problems faced by them that affect their performance such as Government policies, taxation rules, power availability, training facility and use of Advance Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) etc. The findings suggest that there exists considerable scope to improve the performance of MSMEs provided they adopt suitable AMT.

A fuzzy ANP based approach in the selection of the best E-Business strategy and to assess the impact of E-Procurement on organizational performance

E-Procurement reduces the cost of purchasing process and takes the activities of purchasing process from an operational to a strategic level. From organizational and inter-organizational perspectives, this study proposes a model to select the best E-Business strategy and to assess the impact of E-Procurement on organizational performance. The proposed model considers the following strategic dimensions: cost reduction, profitability, quality of products/services and IT infrastructure. Fuzzy ANP approach, along with the extent analysis, has been applied to compare E-Procurement with other two E-Business strategies viz; E-Coordination and E-Commerce. The results show that E-Procurement system is preferred over the other alternatives to enhance the efficiency of the organization, improve sales performance and better relationships with trade partners and suppliers.

A survey on adoption of e-procurement in Indian organisations

Electronic procurement is defined as the sourcing of goods or services via electronic means, usually through the internet. It entails use of electronic means to buy products and services over the internet and involves electronic ordering, bidding and rendering via portals, extranets, private platforms, marketplaces and/or electronic data interchange. This paper presents the findings of a survey carried out to access the status of e-procurement and its implementation in Indian organisations. Data have been collected from 36 Indian organisations. The findings of the survey suggest that Indian organisations are using e-procurement to increase flexibility in production and cost reduction, enhance customer satisfaction, improve delivery, better inventory management and offer broad range of products. The adoption of e-procurement in Indian organisations is going to increase in near future, mainly because of the benefits it offers, the pressure of competitive environment in which the organisations are working today and most importantly because of the government regulations, making adoption of e-procurement mandatory in order to bring in greater transparency and elimination of unethical practices in procurement.

A survey on supplier relationship in e-procurement in Indian organisations

A good e-procurement provides a systematic way for open communication and conduct with the suppliers during a business process. This paper reports the findings of a survey carried out in 36 Indian organisations to ascertain the impact of supplier relationship on e-procurement practices. Indian organisations are giving importance to collaborative relationship with their suppliers that leads to better communication and interaction between the buyer organisation and suppliers on every issue. Indian organisations do strongly believe in taking the suppliers into confidence before taking any major decisions or initiating for embarking on any thing new. This approach would definitely build a sense of confidence, pride and belongingness in the minds of the suppliers.

An exploratory study of the SCM practices and IT usage: an emerging market context

Supply chain management has become a critical source of sustainable advantage. Connectivity with all the partners and ability to communicate rapidly and accurately along the supply chain with customers and suppliers, using information technology tools, is essential. This paper reports the findings of a postal survey carried out in 54 Indian manufacturing organisations to ascertain the impact of information technology on supply chain management practices. The findings indicate that the use of electronic means of communication, such as e-markets, electronic data interchange and extranets will increase along with e-mails. The use of supply chain planning and control tools and techniques such as APS, VMI, CPFR etc. are in their infancy stage. The organisations intend to invest heavily in information technology to encourage adoption of e-business. Large organisations are ahead of the small and medium enterprises in the usage of information technology in different functional areas.

Adoption of advance manufacturing technologies in micro, small and medium enterprises of India

Significant contribution of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the nations economy and its competitiveness can be enhanced by successful adoption of suitable advance manufacturing technologies (AMT). This paper is based on a survey of 84 Indian MSMEs. The findings suggest that use of AMT leads to significant quality improvements, decrease in rejection rate, and increase in sales and reduction in labour costs for their products. This, in turn, helps in maintaining and increasing their customer base. Despite the numerous advantages offered by AMT, the adoption of AMT in Indian MSMEs is still not appreciable owing to huge investments along with lack of awareness.

A survey on trends in outsourcing practices in Indian manufacturing organisations

Outsourcing provides a means to adequately address the issues arising from intense global competition and market needs. Issues that need maximum attention are customer-focused strategies, economising on costs, accessing technological advancement, innovation, attainment of total quality in products, process and services, etc. A postal survey of 54 Indian manufacturing organisations has been carried out to ascertain aspects related to outsourcing such as reasons for outsourcing, currently outsourced processes, criterion for supplier selection, etc. The global trends in outsourcing and its impact on India are also discussed. The findings suggest that Indian organisations are vigorously pursuing outsourcing and have attracted world attention towards itself by providing products and services at most competitive prices.