INTEGRATED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN THE GOVERNMENT

ENVIRONMENT
R.K. Gupta* and Pravin Chandra**

ABSTRACT
With the fall of East European Socialist-Bloc and opening up of the Asian markets, the trade barriers began
falling during the 1980s and continued throughout the 1990s. This development lead to organizations
having a supply chain, that criss-crossed the whole globe. The proliferation of trade agreements has thus
changed the global business scenarios. The Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM) is now not only a
problem of integrated logistics (as a process) but also demands that the supply chain management (SCM)
must look into the ramifications of these arrangements on the cost of transportation (including tariffs or
duties) of products within a trade zone and outside it, besides, developing logistics strategies. The field has
thus developed in the last few years for bridging the gap between demand and supply vis--vis efficiency
and cost trade-offs. The SCM now not only involves the management of logistic function, as was done in
the past (to achieve internal efficiency of operations) but, includes the management and co-ordination of
activities, upstream and downstream linkage(s) in the supply chain. The integrated supply chain
management, in particular include :
Planning and Managing supply and demand; Warehouse Management; Optimal Inventory control;
Transportation and Distribution, Delivery and customers delight following the basic principles of supply
chain management viz. working together; Enhancing revenue; Cost control; Assets utilization besides,
customers satisfaction.
The last two decade has seen the rise of a plethora of acronyms always used in conjunction with
production, operational management and control. To name a few JIT (Just-In-Time); TQM (Total-QualityManagement); ZI (Zero-Inventory); ECR (Efficient Consumer Response); VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory).
All these have now been integrated within the domain of Supply Chain Management Process.
With the growth in the Information Technology and easy accessibility of computing power, The development
and implementation of objective based modelling system(s) have been changed to a new environment, for
integrating quantitative and simulation models, as a backend system for both horizontally diversified and
vertically integrated Supply Chain Management System(s).
Though, the SCM have found the versatility of applications, more so in the private sector enterprises
(business environment) for cost cutting and for having a competitive advantage. In the government set-up
though the basic objective, is not maximization of profit, but the social-economic development of people.
Even, if the objectives of these two mutually exclusive categories of enterprises, are different, they share
some features:

Satisfying the end-consumer(s) by providing the right product, in right condition at the right time to fulfil
the social obligation towards society.

The optimum allocation of limited resources.

Thus, the SCM has many applications in the government environment too. The paper highlights some of the
typical applications in the government sector of the SCM paradigm. What is essential in the SCM is to
establish operationally feasible link(s) between various key component for achieving overall efficiency and
cost trade-off. The use of quantitative methods in SCM is evaluated, embedding of these models in Decision
Support System (DSS) have been discussed. The major component of SCM is multi-objective transportation
and distribution function for time and cost trade-off. The Multiple Criterion Decision Making (MCDM) model
for the component of SCM viz. Transportation and Distribution, system as a DSS have been described in
detail - a major backend system of Integrated Supply Chain Management process (ISCMP).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Senior Technical Director and Head, Analytics and Modelling Division, National Informatics Centre, A
Block, CGO, Lodhi Road, N. Delhi - 11003, Tel. : 4362530 (O) 4672885 (R) Email : rkg@hub.nic.in Or
gupta@amdiv.delhi.nic.in

**

M.Tech. Trainee at NIC during June-December 1997, and at present Assistant Professor (Information
Technology), Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Shastri Sadan, Sector - III, R.K.Puram,
N.Delhi - 110022, Tel. 6172407 (O) 91-532971 (R) Email : lbsim@delnet.ren.nic.in

Introduction
Supply Chain Management (SCM) can be best described as the natural extension of the
downsizing (right-sizing) and re-engineering performed by the organization(s) in the past.
Downsizing and re-engineering transformed the enterprises into lean and mean competitive
units, by cost cutting and process simplifications. These operations (of downsizing and reengineering) involved the optimization (in terms of the number of persons involved, the time
taken, the complexity of the work etc.) of business units (functional and/or administrative
domains) over which the organizations had full control. These strategies did lead to increased
productivity and profitability of the organizations but as the benefits of these levelled off, it was
realized that the approach to the way organizations work needed to be changed. The above
changes were a by-product of the isolationist (closed system) world picture of the enterprises
involved in the full value chain; with organizations (the system) trying to survive in an hostile
environment; assuming that all other participants in the value chain were adversaries with whom
the organization must compete, even though the operations performed by the separate
organizations may be supplementary in nature rather than complementary. The realization that
this world picture was an impediment to the growth of organizations prompted the enterprises to
start seeking strategic alliances with other organizations. The formation of these alliances
required a basis (a common ground) which would be acceptable to each and every partner in the
alliance. This common basis is/was supplied by the participation of the organizations in the value
chain (the demand-supply chain). The participants in the chain, suppliers, sub-contract suppliers,
inhouse product processes, transportation, distribution, warehouses, and the end customer,
generally, perform mutually exclusive tasks and thus do not compete directly with each other.
The present paper explores the following issues:
-

The need for supply chain management.

Type of supply chain management model(s)

Framework of the supply chain management model(s).

Issues in the design of supply chain management framework.

Quantitative methods and supply chain management (SCM).

Information technology as a supply chain management enabler.

Design of a Multiple Criteria DSS for transportation and distribution.

Relevance of the supply chain management paradigm to the government sector / publicsector enterprises.

Issues in SCM
A supply chain encompasses all the activities, functions and facilities involved in producing and
delivering a product and/or service, from suppliers (and their suppliers) to the customers. The
supply chain management (SCM) paradigm is geared towards optimizing each component of
what used to be called (Production and) Operations management (production, warehousing,
inventory, transportation and distribution etc.) and the inter-links between these components
synergistically [21]. In the 70s and the 80s, various models for production and operations control
and management were developed : Just-In-Time (JIT) Inventory management model, Vendor
Managed Inventory (VMI) model, Zero Inventory (ZI) model, Total Quality Management (TQM)
etc[1]. These models focussed on the various components of the supply chain in isolation, this
implies that these models were oriented towards the optimization of a sub-part of the system
whereas the SCM paradigm aims at the optimization of the full chain. This leads to trade-offs
among the different components of the supply chain. For example, JIT would require a factory to
keep inventories low and produce and distribute products in a timely manner, however JIT ignores
many other aspects which cannot be seen independently, e.g. if the availability of the input
materials is uncertain and irregular, the factory may need to insure smooth and continuous
production. Similarly, regional stocking may permit reductions in transportation costs through
increased shipment consolidation, as well as expanded sales through better delivery performance.
These improvements may be accomplished with only moderate increases in inventory and
warehousing cost(s). However, in an environment where different functional units manage the
various logistics activities independently, an organization is less likely to properly analyze such
important trade-offs.

Fig. -1 : Interdependence of supply chain with other functional domains in an enterprise.

Moreover, these models also ignore the interdependency of production and operations functions
with other domains within an organization, such as marketing and finance. Marketing decisions
have serious impact on logistics function and vice-versa. For example, a marketing promotion
campaign should be coordinated with production planning, since a higher demand may be
expected. On the other hand, when raw materials are cheap, or when the factory temporarily has
an over-capacity, the marketing department may decide to cut prices and/or start other promotion
campaigns during these periods to increase demands. Also, financial decisions are driven by
production and logistics decisions. Production of new products require the investment in raw
materials and consume other change-over costs. Financial managers have to be aware of the
increased demand for capital to finance the production plan. Likewise, the delivery of finished
products generate financial income, so the forecast demand can be used to calculate/forecast the
accounts payable and receivable in the future. The above description means that production,
finance and marketing decisions cannot be made independently (fig.1). All these decisions are
driven by the activities in the supply chain of a manufacturing company [1]. Fig.-1 shows a simple
representation of the interdependence of the supply chain and the other functional domains in the
organization. The links between the (other) functional domains - marketing, sales, human
resources etc. - are not shown. The linkage between the supply chain components and the other
functional domains relies heavily on information sharing to have an effective impact.

One other major factor in the current scenario is the globalization of the supply chain. With the fall
of the East-European socialist bloc and the opening of the Asian market, the trade barriers began
falling in the 1980s and the 90s. This lead to organizations having a supply chain that crisscrossed the globe. The proliferation of trade agreements - EC, ASEAN, NAFTA, APEC, etc. - has
changed the global market. SCM now has become not only a problem of logistics but also
demands that supply chain management must look into the ramifications of these agreements on
the cost of transportation (including tariffs or duties) of products within a trade zone and outside
it[1].
Furthermore, organizations now acknowledge that efficient consumer response (ECR) can lead to
competitive edge. SCM is tantamount to coordinating all the operations of an organization with
the operations of the suppliers and customers. Effective SCM strategies are essential for
successful implementation of ECR programmes [22]. Thus, a production planning and control model
that focuses on all the aspects of the operations and distribution activities and links with other
functional domains such as finance and marketing is needed. The supply chain management
model should also perform the task of managing and coordinating activities upstream and
downstream in the supply chain. Of course, such a model in its entirety becomes very complex
and can not be used without a sufficient computational infrastructure.

Supply-Demand Nexus
To have an effective supply chain management framework; organizations must have a clear
understanding of the supply - demand nexus and its implications for strategy and implementation.
There is an interdependent relationship between supply and demand; organizations need to
understand customer demand so that they can manage it, create future demand and, of course,
meet the level of desired customer satisfaction. Demand defines the supply chain target, while
supply side capabilities support, shape and sustain demand [1].
When one considers how tangentially marketing and operations area of an organization typically
interact (in practice), it becomes obvious that putting together the supply-demand can only occur

in the context of overall perspective. The wide gap between the supply and demand sides of an
organization can only be bridged by a comprehensive umbrella strategy. This can be done by
developing a holistic strategic framework that leverages the generation and understanding of
demand effectiveness with supply efficiency. Such a framework provides a strategic anchor to
prevent the supply and demand components of a business from drifting apart.
The basis of such a holistic strategy framework is the integrated supply and demand model (Fig.2). The model is designed around two key principles. First, in the present scenario where vertically
integrated supply chains (VISC) are a rarity, if not non-existent; organizations must bring a multienterprise view to their supply chains. They must be capable of working co-operatively with other
organizations in the chain rather than seeking to outdo them. Secondly, they must recognize the
distinct supply and demand processes that must be integrated in order to gain the greatest value.

Fig. -2 : The Integrated Demand-Supply Model

Source: This model is based on the work done by Bill Copacino.[5]

Thus involving three key elements :

the core process of the supply and demand chains viewed from a broad cross-enterprise
vantage point rather than as discrete function. To gain the maximum benefits, organizations
need to identify the core processes across the demand and supply chain, as well as exploring
the impact of each of these processes on the different functions.

Fig. -3 : Integrating processes in the supply and demand chains

Source : This model is based on the work done by Jeff Beech[1]

the integrating processes that create the links between the supply and demand chains (fig 3). This implies that the planning processes (which involves development of channel
strategies, planning of manufacturing, inventory, distribution and transportation, demand
planning and forecasting; and marketing and promotional planning) and service processes
(which includes functions such as credit, order management, load planning, billing and
collection, etc.) must be integrated. This integration must be done across the boundaries of
the enterprises. If each participating organization in the chain formulates its own plans on the
basis of its own private information, then there is no way to integrate the supply and demand
chain processes that they share.

the supporting information technology (IT) infrastructure that makes such integration possible.
While information technology is needed to handle routine transactions in an efficient manner,
it can also play the a critical role in facilitating the timely sharing of planning, production and
purchasing information; capturing and analyzing production, distribution and sales data at new

levels of detail and complexity. Information technology provides an integrating tools that
makes it possible to convert data into meaningful pictures of business processes, markets
and consumers that are needed to feed company strategies in order to develop competitive
advantage.
On the administrative side, such elements as flow path economics, which help organizations
understand the real drivers of costs, and new performance and measurement standards that align
functions in accordance with total process goals that are critical to achieving integration.

SCM Framework
A framework to understand the various issues involved in SCM is provided by the pyramid
structure for the SCM paradigm (fig. 4) The pyramid allows issues to be analysed on four levels:

Strategic : On the strategic, level it is important to know how SCM can contribute to the
enterprises basic value proposition to the customers? Important questions that are
addressed at this level include : What are the basic and distinctive service needs of the
customers? What can SCM do to meet these needs? Can the SCM capabilities be used to
provide unique services to the customers? etc.

Structural : After the strategic issues are dealt with, the next level question(s) that should be
asked are : Should the organization market directly or should it use distributors or other
intermediaries to reach the customers? What should the SCM network look like? What
products should be sourced from which manufacturing locations? How many warehouses
should the company have and where should the be located? What is the mission of each
facility (full stocking, fast moving items only, cross-docking etc.)? etc.

Functional : This is the level where operational details are decided upon. Functional
excellence requires that the optimal operating practices for transportation management,
warehouse operations, and materials management (which includes forecasting, inventory
management, production scheduling, and purchasing) are designed. These strategies should

keep in view the trade-offs that may need to be made for the overall efficiency of the system.
Achieving functional excellence also entails development of a process-oriented perspective
on replenishment and order fulfillment so that all activities involved in these functions can be
well integrated.

Fig. -4 : SCM Framework Pyramid

Source : Based on work done by William C. Copacino[5]

Implementation : Without successful implementation, the development of SCM strategies

and plans is meaningless. Of particular importance are the organizational and information
systems issues. Organizational issues centers on the overall structure, individual roles and
responsibilities, and measurement systems needed to build an integrated operation.
Information systems are enablers for supply chain management operations and therefore
must be carefully designed to support the SCM strategy. Supply chain managers must
consider their information needs relative to decision support tools, application softwares, data
capture, and the systems overall structure.

It is important to note that the decisions made within the SCM strategy pyramid are
interdependent. That is, it must be understood what capabilities and limitations affect the

functional and implementation decisions and consider those factors while developing a supply
chain management strategy and structure.
The SCM models used in practice lie in a continuum between two extreme models : on one end of
the spectrum lies the vertically integrated supply chain model in which the organization has direct
control over each and every component of the supply chain, while on the other end of the
spectrum lies the horizontally diversified supply chain model (ideally) in which the number of
participant is as large as the number of distinct parts of the supply chain. In an vertically
integrated supply chain system, the organization can control every component of the chain and
can make various changes to the system to optimize the chain very easily. But in a horizontally
diversified supply chain the tendency will be to optimize only the functions that the organization is
involved in, thus conscious efforts must be made by the various participants in the supply chain
for the integration of their respective components in the supply chain. If an organization can be
identified as the major/dominant partner in the supply chain, then this organization has to take an
initiative in seeking the co-operation of the other participants in the supply chain.
The type and structure of the supply chain that is established depends on many factors, some of
the major factors are :

Geographical : If the supply chain is stretched across the globe then it may not be possible
to incorporate some of the principles of lean production like JIT delivery, flexible
manufacturing, and co-ordination among suppliers and customers. It can lead to uncertain
transportation schedules, unpredictable lead time and may need larger inventory carriage.

Cultural : The difference in the culture of the participants in the chain (the difference can be
due to geographical factors or corporate practices) can lead to friction and distrust. This may
hamper the development of close ties.

Government Legislation : The laws of the country may prohibit the sharing of information
about some facet of the supply chain and thus, may lead to a restrictive participation by one
or more participant in the supply chain.

10

Fig. -5 : Spectrum of alliances in the supply chain.

Time : Just as among individuals, organizations require time before trust can be built up. The
first phase in any relationship is manifest as confrontation, that essentially means that
participants in the chain try to win at the cost of other participants. And, the last phase is
exemplified by total trust and working together of organizations. The information sharing
behaviour in the first phase is almost zero, while in the integrated relationship the information
sharing is mutual and free about the common concerns. In between the two phases lie a
continuum of phases (see fig. 5).

Quantitative Methods and SCM

SCM requires extensive decision support tools for the effective monitoring, control and
management of the supply chain, that is tools for channel design, transportation and distribution

11

planning, inventory control etc. Various analytical and quantitative methods form the core of these
decision support system(s). The quantitative models used in SCM are in general large linear
programming models viz. model(s) for job scheduling, transportation and distribution,
warehouse/facility location etc. All these models have one intrinsic limitation : they are, more
often than not, single objective/criteria optimization methods. But, it is very rarely, in real life, that
one encounters single criterion problems, by default all real life problems are multiple criteria
decision making (MCDM) problems.
The MCDM solution methodologies address the multiple objective programming problem, viz.
max { f i((x) = zi } , 1 i k
such that x S
where k (> 1) the number of criterion to be optimized, zs are the criterion functions and S is the
constraint set. Without the knowledge of the decision makers utility function, the methods search
the space of trade-offs among the criterion to arrive at a pareto optimal solution to the problem
using only the implicit information present [3,9,12, 24,25]. In practice, interactive procedures have
proven to be the most effective in searching the trade-off space for the final solution. MCDM has
two distinct halves. One half is multiple-attribute decision analysis and the other half is multipleobjective mathematical programming. Multiple-attribute decision analysis is most often applicable
to problems with a small number of alternatives in an environment of uncertainty. Multipleobjective mathematical programming is most often applied to deterministic problems in which the
number of feasible alternatives is large. MCDM techniques have not yet become widespread in
managerial decision making (except maybe, the use of goal programming techniques). Below we
review some of the areas (related to supply chain) where the use of MCDM methods have been
reported:
The use of multiple objective have been reported for production planning in a multiple product,
multiple period aggregate production planning by Jasskelainen [11], Lee and Jasskelainen[18]; by
Wallenius[26] to solve a single product aggregate production planning. The classical Holt

12

quadratic model of the problem of scheduling aggregate production and work force has been
approximated by a linear goal programming model by Goodman [8].
Lawrence and Burbridge[15] use the multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) method for coordinated production and logistics planning. The decision making utilises several key
objectives : a) maximising total sales revenue for specific location and customer; b)
minimising total cost of cost of production and distribution; and c) maximising production of a
particular item at a particular location.
The blending of materials problem is solved by using MOLP and modified goal programming by
Lawrence and Burbridge[16]. Stainton[23] uses a heuristic approach to solve the multiple
objective production scheduling problem for a large food manufacturer. Lee and Moore [19] use
linear goal programming for optimisation of transportation problem while Charnes, Cooper
et.al.[4] present an assignment problem which is a variant of the transportation model.
Other techniques that can be used are : a) Neural network[2,6,10] based techniques for the
evaluation of alternatives in conjunction with MCDM solution generators (using neural networks to
model the decision makers utility function); b) using neural networks for demand forecasting (it
has been experimentally demonstrated that neural network based forecasting techniques are
better and more robust than forecasting methods based on econometric modelling and/or
statistical time series forecasting techniques and c) the use of fuzzy-neural network or genetic
algorithms based[7,13] methods to incorporate uncertainty in the decision making process.
These models can be incorporated in the (standard two-layered) architecture [24] for the
development of interactive decision support system(s). Where the database refers to a repository
of relevant data for the solution of the problem and the modelbase refers to the database of
relevant analytical, fuzzy, neural network or genetic algorithm based models parameters that the
user can choose from to solve the problem. Its the opinion of many that interactive methodologies
are the best for the solution of multiple criteria decision problems.

13

Backend

Frontend

Fig. -6 : Architecture for a DSS

Information Technology and SCM

Information technology (IT) includes a set of powerful tools that can lead to the failure or success
of a supply chain process. With the development of information systems (IS) and information
technologies the use of information sharing and decision making is growing at a very fast pace. IT
solutions are no longer likely to provide strategic advantage, but imply the business basics. The
competitive advantage for organization(s) originates from development of creative information
technology strategies and implementing them. ISs enable existing strategies to be realized,
Information flows provide the linkage that allows the supply chain to operate efficiently.
Technologies like internet, intranet, extranets and groupwares[20] facilitate the sharing of
information using (distributed) common databases (with access control to the database for
checking unauthorized access). These allows sharing the information not just within the functional
divisions of an enterprise but upstream and downstream the supply chain. Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) can be used to place orders, inventory database can be shared between the
manufacturer and the supplies for efficient implementation of JIT inventory; for vendor managed
inventory (VMI) this sharing is a must. The internet and EDI can be used by the customer to
monitor the status of the order placed, request changes in the order and vice-versa, they may be
used to inform the customers about the status of their order, besides being used for billing etc.

14

The internet and EDI can be used not only for information sharing/exchange but may also be used
for marketing of services, products (especially software) and advertisement etc. The internet is
becoming a medium of choice for product marketing, delivery, billing and customer support.
The above was the description of the technology available, below is the description of the supply
chain management tools. These tools include supply chain configuration tools (for strategic
decision making by determining the number, capacity requirements besides location of facilities
etc.); demand planning tools to assist management in understanding the key drivers of demand
using sophisticated analytical tools and with provision for interfacing with external data. Supply planning tools to assist management with decisions such as which products to make, how to make
them, what order to make them in and where to source materials from? These tools use
interactive production planning, Gantt Charts and simulation and also incorporate advanced
constraints such as capacity utilization, customer priority and due dates. Transportation and
distribution planning and management tools to assist in the planning of how much to move- which
item(s) - where? Using which mode of transportation?, support, carrier preference structure
incorporation, consolidation and back-haul opportunity identification; load creation and
sequencing, vehicle-scheduling and utilization optimization, operation within a warehouse, like
order allocation, receiving, radio frequency/hand held scanning inventory control (cycle counting,
aging, lot control, expiry data tracking etc. And lastly, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
software; which provide the transactional data handling support. ERP grew out of MRP - I and
MRP - II by the addition of the more functional domain modules. Generally ERPs provide tools
for the management of the operational aspects of the supply chain management with a few
additional decision support tools. But more and more DSS developers are providing
interfacing/integration capabilities with ERP software for advanced tools of decision making
support.

Design of Multiple Criteria DSS for Transportation and Distribution

Transportation and distribution management is one of the major component of SCM. The success
or failure of a supply chain depends, to a large extent, on the success of the distribution channels.

15

The solution to the problem of transportation and distribution in a supply chain is usually done
through the use of some variant of the classical transportation problem :
Suppose that there are m sources and n destinations. Let ai be the number of supply units
available at source i(i=1,2,...,m), and let b j be the number of demand units required at
destination j (j=1,2,...,n). Let Cij be the per unit transportation cost on route (i,j) joining
source i and destination j. The objective is to determine the number of units transported
from source i to destination j such that the total transportation costs are minimised.
Let x ij be the number of units shipped from source i to destination j, then the equivalent
linear programming model is given as follows:
m

Minimize

x0 =

i=0

Cij xij

....1a

j=0

Subject to
n

xij = a i

i = 1,2,...m

....1b

xij = b j

j = 1,2,...,m ....1c

j=1

i=1
m

ai =

i=1

xij 0

bj

....1d

j=1

....1e

This model is usually solved by special techniques (called the transportation problem techniques)
which are based on the simplex method. The model can be made more general by relaxing the
equality constraint 1c. But even with these extensions the present problem can not be considered,
as

only the goal of cost minimization is considered in the classical model. In any real life

transportation and distribution problem, the number of goals to be achieved (the number of
criterion/objective) is more than one. The presence of multiple goals imply that the "classical"
transportation model can not be utilized for the solution of the present problem. Owing to the
presence of multiple goals the methodology to be used is Multiple-Criteria Decision Making
(MCDM) problem. In the following part of this section we detail a MCDM model for the use in the

16

design of a DSS for the transportation and distribution plan generation of a public sector
enterprise.
The model is defined as follows :
Suppose that there are M sources, N destinations, P products and R number of
transportation modes. Then let x ijkl be the number of units of product k (k=1,2,...,P)
transported from the source i (i=1,2,...,M) to the destination j (j=1,2,...,N) by the
transportation mode l (l=1,2,...,R). Then we define the following quantities that are
available as constraints/goals:
Aik

is the matrix denoting the amount of the product k available at source i (rigid
constraint, modelled as a less than equal to type goal).

Djk

is the matrix denoting the amount of the product k required at the destination j
(flexible goal, equality type, called the demand goal).

Sijl

is the matrix denoting the distance between the source i and destination j by the
transportation mode l.

Tl

is the matrix denoting the transportation tariff per unit weight per unit distance by
the transportation mode l.

is the transportation budget (flexible goal, less than or equal to type, called the
budgetary goal).

Lil

is the matrix denoting the total number of units of all products that can be handled
(loaded) at the source i for the transportation mode l (rigid constraint, modelled as
a less than or equal to goal).

Ujl

is the matrix denoting the total number of units of all products that can be handled
(unloaded) at the destination i for the transportation mode l (rigid constraint,
modelled as a less than or equal to goal).

17

Cijl

is a matrix whose elements are equal to 1 if the mode l is available for

transportation between the source i and destination j.

Gijk

is the matrix denoting the amount of product k that the decision maker wants to
move from the source i to the destination j (flexible goal, greater than or equal to
type, called the movement goal).

Ejk

is the matrix denoting the minimum amount of the product k the decision maker
wants to supply to the destination j (flexible goal, greater than or equal to type,
called the minimum demand goal).

W ij

is the matrix denoting the maximum amount of all products that decision maker
wants to move from the source i to the destination j (flexible goal, less than or
equal to type, called the maximum movement goal).

The priorities for all the rigid goals is the highest say P 0 (and in the actual implementation,
the user is not allowed to set the priorities for the same), thus the rigid goals/constraints
are fulfilled first and only then is the other goals fulfilled. For the others let the priorities be
as follows:
PD

is the priority for the demand goal.

PB

is the priority for the budgetary goal.

PG

is the priority for the movement goal.

PE

is the priority for the minimum demand goal.

PW

is the priority for the maximum movement goal.

For the sake of exposition/simplicity we take the priorities in the order defined, that is, P 0
is the highest priority, PD is the next highest priority, and PW the least preferred.
We also define the following indices and symbols:i

is the index for source, i=1,2,...,M.

is the index for destination, j=1,2,...,N.

18

is the index for product, k=1,2,...,P.

is the index for transportation mode, l=1,2,...,R.

Sindx

denotes that the summation is to be performed over the subscripts indx to the
symbol S over the appropriate range.

Using these notations we define the goal programming model as:

lex min {
P0(dikA-+dilL-+djl U-),
PD(djkD-+djkD+),
PB(dB-),
PG(dijkG+),
PE(djkE+),
PW(dklW -)
}
s.t.
Sjl Cijl x ijkl + dikASil Cijl x ijkl + djkD- - djkD+
Sijkl Cijl x ijkl Sijl Tl + dBSjk Cijl x ijkl + dilLSik Cijl x ijkl + djlUSl Cijl x ijkl - dijkG+
Sil Cijl x ijkl - djkE+
Skl Cijl x ijkl + dklW all d's 0

Aik
= Djk
B
Lil
Ujl
Gijk
Ejk
W kl

All the right hand side terms are in general matrices, thus in general all the d's (the
deviational terms) are matrices.
This model was used as the backend analytical model to a Transportation and Distribution DSS.
The system was designed in the Windows 95/NT environment. [27]

SCM in the Government sector

To understand the relevance of SCM to the government sector, one must understand the
difference between the objective of a government/public sector enterprise and that of a private
sector enterprise. A government/public sector enterprise objective is not maximization of profit
solely, but also economic development of the nation (as a long term goal) and the welfare of the
society; whereas a private sector enterprise is oriented towards the sole objective of maximization

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of profit. But, even if the objectives, of there two exclusive categories of enterprises, are entirely
different, they share some features:

the satisfaction of their respective consumers by providing the consumer with the right
product, in the right condition and at the right time, at the least cost.

the allocation of limited resources (of the nation and/or enterprise ) for this purpose.

In the government sector (in India) the SCM paradigm can be used by the public sector
organizations involved in:
(a) Petroleum Products : the bulk of the major petroleum product(s) required in the country are
indigenously produced, but at the same time significant proportion of crude and finished
products are being imported to meet the national demand. This requires the construction of a
global supply chain that should withstand the vagaries of the petroleum politics. Petroleum
products are needed through out the country on a priority basis. This requires a well designed
and feasible transportation and distribution network, integrated with the production plan(s);
distribution network; pricing policy; national and regional demand policies etc..
(b) Fertilizer production industry : for the procurement of raw materials, manufacturing and
transportation and distribution to the demand centers through out the country, using the
predicted demand (as the need for fertilizers by consumers is bound to have a regional and
seasonal effect due to the very nature of the product and its use). The SCM methodology can
be used to decide the location of new warehouse(s), the design of the raw material
procurement policy, the design of the optimal distribution plan/channel etc. This industry
generally follows a single sourcing policy for raw material procurement,
(c) Coal and other minerals : These are primary sector industries, supplying to other industries in
core manufacturing (the type of manufacturing that is essential for the development of the
nation like steel, electricity etc.) The consumers of the product of these industries can be any
where in the country, therefore a well designed SCM strategy is an important activity.

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(d) Steel industry : This industry depends on three major categories of supplies for the
procurement of raw materials: (1) Coal/coke, (2) Minerals (iron ore, limestone etc) and (3)
electricity. This industry needs a well designed a methodology for SCM, wherein it may be
controlling the production of the raw materials to an extent, and depending on demand,
supplementing with externally supplied raw material. The supply chain in this case needs to
be totally integrated, as a shortfall in this case can lead to closing of the furnaces that can
lead to their closure, leading to substantial economic and material loss.
(e) The Electricity generating industry : This industry in India faces a situation of demand
exceeding the supply. This demands a rationing system. It must be decided, and planning
must be done for distribution of the load shedding time, so that the basic need of the
consumers are satisfied in the region under consideration. SCM, and more specifically
optimal scheduling methodologies needs to be applied.
(f) Food Grain Procurement and Distributions : There are public sector enterprises involved in
the procurement of food grains and their storage in different parts of the country, As
agriculture is an industry where the type of product produced depends on the geo-physical
characteristic of the region; the grain that is produced in one region of the country may need
to be transported to another region to meet the food requirements in other parts of the
country. Therefore, a policy for the location of warehouses in different parts of the country, a
plan for optimal distribution of the procured foods grains among these warehouses and to
the retail shops under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) and for open market transaction
is required. A failure in any of the links of this procurement - transportation - storage transportation - retail can lead to large scale famine in the affected part of the country. The
organization must also be involved in food grain distribution under exceptional conditions of
famine, flood or earthquake. The SCM concept can be used to manage the routine and extraordinary situations before this industry.
(g) Postal clearance and delivery system : The Post and Telegraph (P&T) department of the
government of India is the organization that handles the major portion of the postal volume

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generated in the country (a small fraction of the net postal volume is carried through the
private courier services). Thus, the transportation and distribution planning is a major
requirement of the organizations involved in the system. A well designed SCM strategy will
go a long way in improving the services for postal clearance and thus increasing efficiency.
(h) Public Health Services : The public health services through the government run hospitals and
dispensaries forms the backbone of the health services offered by the government of India.
The functioning of these organizations needs to be strengthened. Unavailability of essential
drugs and other medical supplies leads to crisis. As the pharmaceutical industry has major
players from the public sector undertakings, the hospitals can have a full-fledged integrated
supply chain involving these PSUs. The SCM paradigm can be applied for the procurement
and distribution of the life saving medical drugs and other medical items.
(i) Import and Export : The government sector is involved in the Import of essential items
needed for the development of the nation, be that petroleum products, steel, coal, food
grains, essential drugs, defense stores etc, and export of products that the public sector
enterprises produce as a surplus, prime examples of these being mineral products like iron
ore, mica etc. This involves the negotiation with the other parties/government organization for
avoiding double taxation and charting an optimal delivery system.
(j) Banking and financial services : With the globalization of the world economy and the
liberalization policies pursued by the government of India, the banking sector was the first to
recognize the need for offering better facilities to the customers. Also, they were the first to
realize the benefits of the use of IT for this purpose. But, the use of IT for integration of the
different branches of the banks was not offered to the customers as to provide a location
independent real-time banking facility. It was primarily used only to automate the routine
working of the banks and for internal administrative purposes. EDI can also be used for
electronic clearance of inter-bank transactions leading to faster and better transfer of funds.
All links in the system needs to be addressed adequately in the design of SCM, to meet the
end objective of providing efficient services.

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The above description is based on the assumption that the government enterprises work in an
isolation. But, generally in the supply chain of these enterprises, the main players are the
government agencies. Thus, the implementation of SCM paradigm in the case of these
enterprises can be effective if one takes care of : a) Trust :- as all the organization involved
belong to the same umbrella organization, the building of trust among theses enterprises can be
fast and more easy. b) Sharing of information can be more often among these organization thus
leading to better understanding of the supply chain by the participant in the chain. c) The transport
sector - the weakest link in the supply chain - is largely under government control (directly and/or
indirectly). d) Infrastructure :- Reliable communication network and information technology
infrastructure needed to deploy the information sharing mechanism do exist to a large extent in
the government sector.
For example, in the public health sector this can lead to faster delivery of medicines which can
help in prevention of epidemics. In situation like flood, drought or any other calamity the relevant
supply chain can be used to provide medical help, food etc. Thus, the application of SCM
paradigm is needed not only by private enterprises engaged in the pursuit of profit but also by
organizations that are involved in providing services for meeting social objectives and for the
welfare of the society at large.

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Conclusion
Supply chain management has become not just a question of efficient logistic process, but is
related to the growth and survival of organization(s). With customers becoming more
demanding in their requirement of services from the suppliers, the construction of a
efficient and integrated supply-chain has assumed paramount importance. Information
technology plays a major role in the formation of the supply chain. Efficient dissemination
of information upstream and downstream is a major requirement for the implementation of
the supply chain, IT provides the this with internet, EDI and GroupWares and other
application softwares. The decision support provided by IT products (ERPs, Network
construction tools etc) can help the decision makers in the development of the supply chain
process and in implementation. The dissemination of the demand (forecast) information
throughout the chain can lead to avoidance of the Bullwhip effect [17]. The quantitative
models embedded in the DSSs for supply chain management are still at a very elementary
stage (in comparison to the theoretical developments), for decision support in the
construction of an integrated demand-supply chain, use must be made of these advanced
techniques. Organizations can gain supply chain related benefits through the use of
internet, namely:

more collaborative, timely product development through enhanced communication between

functional departments, suppliers, customers and even regulatory agencies;

reduction of channel inventory and product obsolescence owing to closer linkage across the
supply chain and better insight into the demand signals to drive product schedules and
ultimately achieve build-to order capability;

reduction in communication costs and customer support costs with more interactive, tailored
support capability inherent with internet technologies;

new channel capabilities to reach different customer segments and further exploit current
markets; and

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ability to enhance traditional products and customer relationships through customisations

driven by internet connectivity and interactivity.

The SCM paradigm can provide the mechanism for the survival of the public sector enterprises in
the changing global scenario, where the globalization of the world economy and the
liberalization of the Indian economy is no longer a buzzword, but a fact. The failure of these
enterprises can be traced to the ad-hocism and the non-application of efficient managerial
practices. This is not to say that these enterprises have lost their relevance in the present
scenario. These enterprises have to adopt change management i.e. to change their style
of functioning, and to form strategic alliances with partner public sector enterprises

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To be presented at the International Conference - OPSCON-98 on Supply Chain Management for
Global Competitiveness, Novemeber 20-21, 1998 at Management Development Institute,
Gurgaon.

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