Application and evaluation of packaging postponement strategy to boost supply chain responsiveness: a case study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how packaging postponement can be effectively leveraged in a dynamically changing diverse retail market where responsiveness is key. The study also guides about the empirical evaluation of how packaging postponement affects the performance in the sanitary pads supply chain by considering operating measures. The focal company belongs to the Indian Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector, hygiene products category. It examines the measures that are critical to a responsive supply chain and presents a comparative analysis of selected measures before and after implementation. The findings illustrate that the packaging postponement not only improves competitive advantage but also significantly contributes to improving product proliferation and supply chain responsiveness. The study provides understanding of drivers and obstacles for packaging postponement strategy with operational insights about ‘how-to’ implement. Most of modelling-based research studies justify the adoption of postponement through savings in inventory only and underplay on other operating measures. While justifying, studies emphasise ‘form’/manufacturing aspects and underestimate the packaging aspects of postponement. This paper addresses these gap areas by systematically highlighting prerequisites and demonstrates the benefits of adopting a packaging strategy to handle variety and responsiveness in an emerging economy.

Keywords:

• postponement
• inventory
• lean
• supply chain responsiveness
• packaging

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their sincerest thanks to the learned referees for their constructive criticisms that led to the considerable improvement of the earlier versions of this paper. We also wish to put on record our indebtedness to the editor Dr S.J. Childe for the opportunity to revise the paper and to Dr R.P. Mohanty for his help and guidance.