Supply Chain Management Strategies Approach for the UK Textile Industry

Abstract

This study focuses on the specific types of supply chain strategies throughout the UK textile industry as extant literature has either emphasised on the fashion apparel industry or on sub-industry of fast fashion. A combination of normalised local priority weights of criteria and sub-criteria is used with respect to successive hierarchical levels which modelled in an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) at different levels. This helped in obtaining global composite priority weights for all the sub-criteria at third level of AHP model. The changes in different factors are observed with respect to digitalisation in sensitivity analysis at different levels of variations in the weight for which marginal changes are noted in the following variables: development of key suppliers, supplier capability auditing, and long-term orientation with suppliers. Supply base optimisation and purchasing integration showed changes at all levels of variations. Purchasing and production strategy was crucial as primary criteria for accomplishing the goal of the supply chain management future. There was substantial evidence from the three companies participating in the research that purchasing and production strategies play equally significant roles in successful digitalisation, identification, and delivery.