METHODOLOGY FOR POSITIONING MULTIPLE DECOUPLING POINTS IN HYBRID MANUFACTURING SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEM

Manufacturing companies are hard pressed to produce products faster and keep their cost at possible minimum. Manufacturers are always in search to fit their supply chains both internal (within manufacturing) and external to meet the challenge of competitive market. The delivery time is one of the most critical factors which influence management of the supply chain networks and cost of the product. To respond to a given lead time, manufacturing firms need to adjust their supply chain networks and design an effective interface for decoupling points in the supply chain based on the cost to be incurred. In this paper, a modified cost model is proposed for a hybrid supply chain networks of a manufacturing firm which is applied for determining positions for decoupling points in the entire manufacturing supply chain networks. The cost model is useful in evaluating performance of the supply chain in terms of cost for a given delivery lead time and helps draw a line of multiple decoupling points in the networks which is supposed to yield best possible cost. The application of the model has been demonstrated through an example for its usefulness. The results shows effectiveness of the proposed model and leads to recommendations for developing a comprehensive and integrated methodology for designing interface for hybrid manufacturing supply chain networks for quick response to the delivery lead time