Modeling Supplier Development barriers in Indian manufacturing industry

Abstract

In the current scenario, the manufacturers' perspectives and their corresponding business practices in dealing with the suppliers have been vastly transformed and are evolving at a faster rate. Even supplier specific investments are committed for strategically developing and aligning the suppliers' capabilities so as to competitively meet the growing needs of the end customers. In this regard, Supplier Development (SD) has been proven to be one of the effective sourcing strategies that manufacturers can practice to befittingly mold their supply bases. However, operating on a global platform and having variegated interests among the stakeholders, the SD Programs (SDPs) have to deal with different challenges to ensure definite return on SD investments. Due to the ever increasing complexity of the supply chains, different circumstances are prescribing the course of SDPs. Thus in the current study, a pragmatic survey was conducted in Indian manufacturing industry to explore the interactions among the barriers to SDPs. The study has comprehensively incorporated the prominent barriers originate from different sides (i.e. supplier, manufacturer, manufacturer-supplier and external environment) and provided a basis for a manufacturer to effectively conduct the SDPs.