Analysis of supply chain risk in ceramic industry: a case study

Abstract

Risk management has emerged as an important issue in managing supply chain effectively in the presence of uncertainties that result from unexpected variations along the supply chain. Assessing and managing supply chain risk are getting significant attention to practitioners and academics. At present, the ceramic industry of Bangladesh is growing. Thus, managers in the ceramic industry need to properly assess supply chain risks in order to mitigate them. This thesis identifies and analyzes various supply chain risks occurring in a ceramic factory of Bangladesh. A model is proposed based on technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy-TOPSIS method for evaluating supply chain risks. Twenty supply chain risks factors were identified through an extensive literature review and consulting with experts from the ceramic factory. TOPSIS and fuzzy-TOPSIS contributed to the analysis and assessment of those risks. Sensitivity analysis was performed to understand the stability of ranking of risks. The result of this research indicates that lack of operational quality, lack of material quality and damage in inventory risks are the major risks. The outcome of this research is expected to assist industrial managers and practitioners in the ceramic sector to take proactive actions to minimize supply chain risks.