Study of Technology-Based Innovations in Supply Chain Management Function of Indian Firms

Abstract

Supply Chain Management (SCM) has gained importance in recent years. Innovation and technological interventions in SCM would be required to remove inefficiencies. It has become imperative for firms to undertake new innovations in SCM to remain competitive. This chapter focuses on physical and digital innovation in Indian market context in the context of SCM . The authors explore the strategic imperative of technology-based SCM innovation by performing detailed literature review regarding new automated technological innovations in SCM to understand the new set of business gains to be incurred from SCM. The authors then carried out, through a semi-structured questionnaire, in-depth personal interviews of the 24 SCM experts in the study. Thematic content analysis was done. The main finding of the study was that physical innovation in SCM has occurred at a slower pace as compared to digital innovation. Digital innovation was perceived to be helping firms more than physical innovation in SCM. The major challenge has been the integration of the new system with the existing SCM system.