Title: Least cost supply chain model for automobile industry

Authors: Durairaj Sivakumar; Suresh Jayshree

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, SRM University, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur, 603 203, India ' Department of Management Studies, SRM University, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur, 603 203, India

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to establish the hypothesis model for supply chain logistics cost for automobile products. Literature survey indicates that logistics costs have been studied in automobile sector at various stages of the product development; however, there has been little research conducted on examining logistics costs in the introduction stage. Hence, this paper attempts to establish the logistic cost model of an automobile product which is in launch phase and validates the model using a case study. Structural equation model is used to study the research model and evaluate the model fitness. More than 500 components logistics data are collected and AMOS-SPSS is used to analyse the structural equation model. The evidence indicates that there is a positive relationship between logistics cost and the hypothesis model factors. The study provides an opportunity to reduce the logistics cost by focusing the constructs of logistics cost model.

Keywords: logistics costs; structural equation modelling; SEM; case study; least cost supply chain model; automobile industry; automotive supply chains; product launch phase; automotive products.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2016.074848

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2016 Vol.9 No.2, pp.240 - 252

Received: 18 Mar 2014
Accepted: 29 Jun 2014
Published online: 21 Feb 2016 *

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