Abstract
Sustainability of supply chains has caught attention of researchers worldwide in the wake of problems like global warming and climate change. A revisit to various strategies of supply chains is warranted to assess their impacts on environment and society. Flexibility in supply chains has enabled responsiveness of chains to achieve higher service level, faster delivery and customization of products but cost of achieving these flexibilities has not been generally accounted for and their implication on the environment has been overlooked mostly. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate flexibility of supply chains in the light of sustainability and to find whether flexibility incorporation adversely affects or collaborates with sustainability. A three dimensional composite index based on suitability, scalability and sustainability is proposed to evaluate various flexibility options in the supply chains. A typology of supply chains is also proposed based on flexibility and sustainability.
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Apratul Chandra Shukla is research scholar in Mechanical Engineering Department of Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT), Delhi. He is working in the field of critical analysis of supply chain management in developing world specially in Indian context. His areas of interest cover green and sustainable supply chains and impact of supply chains on micro, small, medium scale enterprises (MSMEs).
S.G. Deshmukh is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. His papers have been published in many reputable international journals like International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Production Planning and Control, International Journal of Production Research, etc. Presently he is director IITM Gwaliar.
Arun Kanda is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. He has published research papers in many reputable international journals like International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, etc.
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Shukla, A.C., Deshmukh, S.G. & Kanda, A. Flexibility and Sustainability of Supply Chains: Are They Together?. Global J. Flexible Syst. Manage. 11, 25–37 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03396576
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03396576