AGILE SUPPLY CHAIN: STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to explore the concept of agile supply chain and to determine the link between agile supply chain and competitive advantage. The 21st century has led to increase in global competition and customer demands, with higher levels of turbulence and volatility in the mar- ket place. Businesses, economics and political environments are increasingly subjected to unex- pected shocks and discontinuities. As a result of these uncertainties, organisations today are faced with a number of challenges in the supply chain which include among others the ability to meet up with changes in demand variability, service improvements, lowering inbound costs, improving on- time delivery and shorter customer lead times. In order to survive, companies need to respond to ever-increasing levels of volatility in demand and focus their efforts upon achieving greater agility. Agility has the ability to rapidly respond to changes in market and customer demands as the bearer of competitive advantage. Therefore, companies need to re-design their supply chain to tackle issues of agility in order to stay ahead in a highly competitive global market