Evaluating supply chain risk in Indian dairy industry: a case study

Abstract

Risk and uncertainty have been found to be one of the indispensable parts of any manufacturing or service supply chain. No matter how strong is the supply chain, risk and uncertainty come into the picture by disrupting the operational flow. The situation further gets complicated, if the nature of the material the supply chain deals in, is perishable requiring conditioned transportation and storage. In this context, dairy-food supply chain is not a deviation. The empirical paper describes the risks and uncertainties of a dairy-food supply chain case in India. The study involves all the stakeholders in the system to identify the potential risks for the entire chain and strategies to address the same. The data, from 1,063 sample respondents, at different levels of the supply chain, are collected and assessed to detect major operational risks for the dairy industry. In total, 15 significant risks are identified throughout the supply chain of which eight are assessed to be critical ones. Strategies to minimise the high risks are also mentioned at different levels so as to increase the efficiency of the supply chain.