Estimating supply chain length: A study on biscuit companies

Abstract

Estimating the length of the supply chain is vital to manage surplus or shortage situation at the point of sale. Managing change in demand is linked with the performance of firms. One method to estimate the length of the supply chain is by summing up the number of days taken to transit raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods. The other method of estimating the length is via data collected from retailers (Shah, 2016). In this research, a survey on three brands of biscuits (Parle, Britannia, and Cadbury) was conducted at 18 grocery shops located in Ahmedabad city to estimate the length of the supply chain using stock of the biscuits available and monthly average units sold. This method helps in estimating supply chain length when data about days of raw material and work-in-process from suppliers and manufacturers are not available. The result shows that the average length of the supply chain for Parle, Britannia, and Cadbury was 48, 45, and 46 days respectively. The study will be useful to the supply chain managers in moving faster in the competition and making stock available at the right time for the buyers.