Benefits of Supply Chain Process Improvement Initiatives: A Structured Literature Review

Abstract

There is growing interest across industries to apply Business Process Improvement (BPI) initiatives in supply chains. Academic literature and standard industry practices indicate that these initiatives are undertaken subject to technological advancements. This paper aims to set the context for BPI initiatives by presenting the first structured literature review explaining how different organisations perceive the benefits, confront challenges, and realise critical success factors in the context of supply chain management. A tool-supported four-phase literature review approach was adopted as the methodology for this research and 81 papers were considered for analysis based on their relevance to the scope of this research. The analysis comprises benefits of different process improvement initiatives, classified under procurement process improvements, manufacturing process improvements, warehousing and distribution process improvements, and miscellaneous improvements. Furthermore, this study elaborates the general success factors and challenges that could be considered for any process improvement initiative. The paper concludes by summarising findings and suggesting future research directions to expand the role of BPI initiatives in decision-making.