A supply chain diagnostic study for carpet industry : a case study of a leading carpet company

Abstract EN

Today’s competitive business environment requires collaborative supply chain management (SCM) practices between supply chain (SC) partners to ensure competitiveness and better organizational performance.

This research aims at providing procedures to conduct a diagnostic study of carpet supply chain through assessing the level of coordination and integration among different SC partners and the internal SC functions.

As a methodology, first, an introductory phase was conducted to analyse the current SC structure in terms of suppliers’ analysis, internal SC analysis, customer analysis, SC functions and ABC analysis.

Then, a survey was designed to assess the level of coordination and integration among different SC partners and the internal SC functions, while illustrating the weaknesses and areas of improvements.

A case study of a world leading carpet manufacturer was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed procedures.

It is found that the ABC analysis should be performed based on purchased quantities, where the majority of the items are recommended to be class C.

In addition, the ABC analysis should take place based on items’ annual consumption.

This will define the fast moving items (F), Medium moving items (M) and Rare moving items (R).

Other findings are that the current KPIs measure the employees’ appraisal rather than the company’s goals, and there is a lack of coordination and integration in the internal SC.

Tailored training courses are needed for the carpet company staff to be able to carry out all needed improvements.