Challenges in telecom industry supply chain to achieve responsiveness and efficiency

Abstract

Pakistan is the forty third largest country in terms of GDP (nominal) and is growing fast. Operational challenges such as: Globalization, uncertainty of SC, shorter life cycles of products, Globalization etc. have inclined corporations to look elsewhere. The main queries that they face are opting for the right supply chain partners, working along appropriate performance indicators and coming up with the appropriate system metrics for assessing performance. SCM: The means, by which corporations engage to create, distribute, and sell products, and join hands to form a network with amatchless competitive advantage has come up as the most powerful business- improvement. SCM has a direct impact on corporations and if an individual or group differs then it needs to be updated and corrected. The scope of SCM is to remove ineffectiveness, excessive costs inventories from the supply pipeline: which is a chain that continues from the customer back to his retailer/supplier and vice versa. Here the whole process is controlled by the customer and it is assumed that excessive inventories, caused by uncertain demand and sluggish response, will be ominously eliminated. The exploratory study done is centered on both observation and secondary data. The researcherhas captured facts and qualitative responses with reference to infrastructure, logistics and SC practices. The emphasishas been on SC collaboration, structure, network design of facilities, logistics and transportation and the role of ICT. A visit to a major telecom firm in Pakistan was also carried out during 2013. The researcher has analyzed and assessed currentSC practices and differentiatesdeveloping trends and those that of high concern. The research discernments how the organizations and their SCs in Pakistan deal with major logistics and SC issues? Theircurrent practices and the practices they need to focus on?The study also highlights and then addressesissues related to SC managers and policy makers. The paper has been penned down to comprehend the Supply Chain Management and what are the challenges that are being faced in SCM regarding efficiency and responsiveness? How the maximum level of customer satisfaction can be achieved through SCM? Also addressing the core issues overcoming which will leadto maximizing both profits and customer satisfaction.