Use of information technology in supply chain management in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka : a study of two major players

Abstract

Currently, most of the companies attempt to find the ways to improve their flexibility, responsiveness and turn com petiveness by changing their operations strategy, method and technology which includes Information Technology (IT) in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Literature reveals that many organizations have managed to improve efficiency, responsiveness and reduce inventory level, overall cost by using IT in SCM. However, the level of IT usage for SCM in ceramic tiles industry is not known. Therefore, the research objectives were to identify the level of IT usage to facilitate SCM process and the potential barriers that affects the IT implementation and adoption for SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka. Based on the user views and literature, a conceptual model was developed in order to meet research objectives. The qualitative and quantitative data collected from sixty three executives/managers in two major tile manufacturing companies, top thirty suppliers and thirty two dealers/distributors in tile industry through multiple questionnaires and direct interviews. The results of the exploratory interviews and the survey highlighted that both companies indicate super performance in terms of several best practices in SCM. However both companies demonstrated weakness in several areas. The majority of the weaknesses have arisen out of information related cause. Furthermore, it was identified that the level of overall IT adoption in both companies are not satisfactory level. These results lead to investigate the barriers that affect slow down IT adoption for SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka. The finding reveal that technological barriers, organizational barriers and external barriers have been contributed towards the slow down IT implementation and IT adoption in SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sri