Study on Coordination Issues for Flexibility in Supply Chain of SMEs: A Case Study

As a result of globalization and liberalization, Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been passing through a transitional period. With slowing down of economy in India and abroad, countries like China is giving tough competition by offering quality products at lower cost. To face this tough competition of open global markets, SMEs must have coordinated and flexible supply chain (SC). Supply chain management (SCM) can help any organization when implemented effectively. A coordinated and flexible SC increases the SC profitability. SMEs in India lack resources and guidance for SCM implementation. In this paper authors have tried to discuss SCM implementation in an illumination sources manufacturing Indian SME. Situation-actor-process (SAP)–learning-action-performance (LAP) model has been applied for this case study. The situation represents the present scenario of the organization. Actors are the participants, influencing the situation to evolve different business processes. Based on SAP, various learning issues have been analyzed which will help in identifying suitable action for improving the performance. From case study it is observed that on time delivery, innovativeness, flexibility of manufacturing system, location of suppliers and customers, management of transportation system are main priorities for case organization while forming SC strategy.