A comparative study of market potential for logistics outsourcing in Estonia and Finland

Improving supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product development

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to improve supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations have struggled a lot to maintain the supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions in the organizational benefit. However, in this context, the organization’s agile new product development (ANPD) process must be aligned with this requirement by maintaining the inventory and jobshop scheduling. As a result, identifying ANPD indicators, performance metrics and developing a structural framework to guide practitioners at various stages for smooth adoption is essential to improve the overall performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify jobshop scheduling, inventory management and ANPD indicators along with the performance metrics, and the hierarchical structure is developed with the help of expert opinion. The modified stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and weighted aggregated sum product assurance (WASPAS) techniques, along with expert judgement, are used in this study to calculate the weights of the indicators and the ranking of the performance metrics.

Findings

As per the weight computation by SWARA method, the strategy indicators have the highest relative weight, followed by the product design indicators, management indicators, technical indicators, supply chain indicators and organization culture indicators. According to the ranking of performance metrics obtained through WASPAS, the “frequency of new product development is at the top”, followed by “advances in product design and development” and “estimated versus actual time to market”.

Research limitations/implications

It is believed that the framework developed will help industrial practitioners to plan effectively to improve supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.

Practical implications

The outcomes of the present study will be extremely beneficial for the industry practitioners to improve the supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.

Originality/value

A unique combination of modified SWARA–WASPAS technique has been used in this study which would be beneficial for organizations willing to adopt the jobshop scheduling and inventory management and ANPD for improving supply chain performance.