Title: Assessment of supply chain readiness for transformation

Authors: Faisal Aqlan; Sarah S. Lam; Sreekanth Ramakrishnan

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, The Behrend College, Pennsylvania State University, Erie, PA 16563, USA ' Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA ' IBM Corporation, Littleton, MA 01460, USA

Abstract: In the era of accelerated change and increased competitiveness, readiness for transformation of supply chains is an important factor for their success. Understanding the significance of different improvement areas in the supply chain and the interactions among these areas is critical for successful transformation. This paper proposes a framework to assess supply chain readiness for transformation. The proposed framework consists of five main steps: identification, measurement, prioritisation, testing and implementation, and monitoring and control. The readiness factors are divided into two main categories: leading indicators (supplier, people, process, technology, leadership, and environment) and lagging indicators (customer and financial). The proposed framework is elucidated with an illustration and a case study from a high-end server manufacturing supply chain. Simulation-based analysis is conducted to test the improvement strategies before their implementation.

Keywords: transformation readiness; supply chain assessment; performance measurement; balanced scorecard; BSC; organisational culture; supply chain management; supply chain transformation; high-end servers; server manufacturing supply chains; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPSCM.2016.078562

International Journal of Business Performance and Supply Chain Modelling, 2016 Vol.8 No.3, pp.181 - 200

Received: 18 Jun 2014
Accepted: 23 Mar 2015
Published online: 24 Aug 2016 *

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