GP TOPICS CONCEPT NOTE

SUBMITTED BY-
HARSHITA TIWARI
KAARTHIKAYA
B.FTECH 7th SEMESTER NIFT KOLKATA
PROJECT IDEA 1

Topic-

Development and implementation of a vendor ranking and selection model for a sustainable
supply chain using TOPSIS method

Problem-

Maintaining a good and long-lasting relationship with suppliers is a strategic problem in

every organization. Supplier selection is considered pivotal to managing and developing an
effective and efficient supply chain since a firms’ competitiveness highly depends on its
suppliers increasing the strategic role they play in the supply chain.[1] There is an emerging
consensus among researchers and practitioners that supply chains need to shift focus from
merely considering economic factors to include broader, social, and environmental
dimensions of sustainability. The consideration of the economic factors simultaneously with
environmental and social factors defines the triple-bottom-line (TBL) approach to
sustainability. In recent years, sustainability has been a major focus of fashion business
operations because fashion industry development causes harmful effects to the
environment, both indirectly and directly. The sustainability of the fashion industry is
generally based on several levels and this criteria should be kept in mind while evaluating
and selecting vendors. Following the ground rule that sustainable development is based on
the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Thus, one has to create the structure of suppliers who are able
to provide necessary products regarding reliability and high quality of delivery performance
as well as the competitive market price.[2]

Managing a vendor base is a cost in itself. Organizations have teams who support vendors
at every step besides making investments in their success. Many organizations implement
various tools to manage work with their vendor base. ERP, PLM and Proprietary sourcing
tools are some of the examples of how vendors are connected to sourcing teams. If risks
associated to product sourcing are not managed the right way, organizations can potentially
lose a good amount of money and resources due to performance of its vendors.[3]

 Vendor’s financial incapability may lead to failures and non-compliance with defined
regulations

 Over-dependency on specific suppliers is a huge risk, the risk usually will be absorbed
by the purchaser

 If risks are not identified and mitigated, it could lead to eroding of a company’s
brand value and reputation
Multiple Criteria Decision Making methodology, which derived from the operational
research, is a mathematical method supporting the decision making process. It is applied to
evaluate different aspects of the considerate variants (hardly comparable) in order to select
the best alternative.[4] Such method supports decision maker (DM) (person who defines
decision problem) with rules, tools and methods in solving complex decision problems,
considering several often contradictory points if view . Multiple criteria analysis facilitates
decision making process, starting with defining the objectives, creation of the variants and
finally, selection of the most desired one. In general, Multi Criteria Group Decision Making
(MCGDM) problems are frequently evaluated. To solve problems related to decision making
several optimization methods are used in practice. But, in case where decision activity is
based on similar options it becomes critical to analyse various factors, alternatives with
similar category

Fuzzy TOPSIS is a method that can help in objective and systematic evaluation of
alternatives on multiple criteria.The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal
Solution (TOPSIS) is a multi-criteria decision analysis method, which was originally
developed by Hwang and Yoon in 1981 with further developments by Yoon in 1987 and
Hwang, Lai and Liu in 1993.[4]

TOPSIS is based on the concept that the chosen alternative should have the shortest
geometric distance from the positive ideal solution (PIS) and the longest geometric distance
from the negative ideal solution (NIS). It is a method of compensatory aggregation that
compares a set of alternatives by identifying weights for each criterion. As the parameters
or criteria are often of incongruous dimensions in multi-criteria problems it may create
problems in evaluation. So, to avoid this problem a need of Fuzzy system is necessary. Using
Fuzzy numbers in TOPSIS for criteria analysis make it simple for evaluation. Any fuzzy
number can be thought of as a function whose domain is a specified set (usually the set of
real numbers, and whose range is the span of non-negative real numbers between, and
including, 0 and 1000. Each numerical value in the domain is assigned a specific "grade of
membership" where 0 represents the smallest possible grade, and 1000 is the largest
possible grade.

Hence, Fuzzy TOPSIS is simple, realistic form of modelling and Compensatory method which
include or exclude alternative solutions based on hard cut-offs. TOPSIS method is a
technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution. The ideal solution (also called
positive ideal solution) is a solution that maximizes the benefit criteria/attributes and
minimizes the cost criteria/attributes, whereas the negative ideal solution (also called anti-
ideal solution) maximizes the cost criteria/attributes and minimizes the benefit
criteria/attributes. The so-called benefit criteria/attributes are those for maximization, while
the cost criteria/attributes are those for minimization. The best alternative is the one, which
is closest to the ideal solution and farthest from the negative ideal solution.
Linguistic variables and fuzzy sets - A linguistic variable is a variable whose values are words
or sentences in a natural or artificial language . For instance, age is a linguistic variable if its
values are assumed to be the fuzzy variables labeled as “not young”, “young” and “very
young” rather than the actual numbers. The concept of a linguistic variable provides a
means of approximate characterization of phenomena which are too complex or too ill-
defined to be amenable to description in conventional quantitative terms.

Following are the steps involved in the algorithm-

METHODOLOGY-

 Criteria development-
The criteria for evaluation is developed. It includes all the parameters related to the
basic quality requirements by vendors as well as several criteria related to the
economic, environmental and social sustainability. In the economic aspect, cost,
 quality, on-time delivery and control of rejection rate are selected as the criteria and
they are also generally applied as the “traditional criteria” in the supplier selection
process. Thus, in the criteria framework, C1 includes the cost-based criteria (i.e., the
lowest value has the highest preference), and the other criteria are benefit-based
criteria (i.e., the highest value the highest preference).
 The decision making team for evaluating the criteria’s intensity of importance and
supplier performance will be made.The questionnaire will be prepared and
distributed among the experts team for evaluation of criteria and suppliers. The
expert members will be asked to evaluate each criterion using the linguistic scale
provided in the questionnaire to determine its intensity and evaluate the supplier’s
performance based on the selected criteria.
 The TOPSIS methodology is applied to solve the decision making problem. Triangular
fuzzy linguistic scale will be used to quantify the expert’s opinion on criteria
evaluation and supplier performance over the criteria.
 The best sustainable supplier is selected based on the highest closeness coefficient
value.
 This approach is applicable, easily customizable, and implementable in practice. It
can be performed on basic platforms like MS -Excel itself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY-

[1]- MULTIPLE CRITERIA EVALUATION OF SUPPLIERS IN COMPANY OPERATING IN CLOTHING

INDUSTRY , By- Barbara and Maciej Bielecki , October 2017

[2]- Supplier Selection Problems in Fashion Business Operations with Sustainability

Considerations -Peng Jia, Kannan Govindan , Tsan-Ming Choi and Sivakumar Rajendran ,
2015

[3]- An Ideal Vendor Performance Management System , by Lyda Mageen , 27 april 2015

[4]- “A Simplified Description of FUZZY TOPSIS Method for Multi Criteria Decision Making”
Miss. Neelima B. Kore, Prof. Dr. K. Ravi, Asst. Prof. Mr. S. B. Patil , International Research
Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056 Volume: 04 Issue: 05 |
May -2017

PROJECT IDEA 2-
Title of Proposed Study: To reduce the lead time of retail supply chain by identifying and
reducing or eliminating non value added processes.

Area of Study:

Supply chain management, Different department of the company and their interlinking,
vendor study and selection, Buying behaviour of target customer.

Literature Review:

The best companies around the world are discovering a powerful new source of competitive
advantage. It's called supply-chain management and it encompasses all of those integrated
activities that bring product to market and create satisfied customers. The Supply Chain
Management Program integrates topics from manufacturing operations, purchasing,
transportation, and physical distribution into a unified program. Successful supply chain
management coordinates and integrates all of these activities into a seamless process. It
embraces and links all of the partners in the chain. In addition to the departments within
the organization, these partners include vendors, carriers, third party companies, and
information systems providers.

Within the organisation, the supply chain refers to a wide range of functional areas. These
include Supply Chain Management-related activities such as

• inbound and outbound transportation,

• warehousing, and

• inventory control.

• Sourcing,

• procurement, and

• supply management.

• Forecasting,

• production planning and scheduling,

• order processing

• customer service etc.

Importantly, it also embodies the information systems so necessary to monitor all of these
activities.

Supply chain encompasses all of those activities associated with moving goods from the
raw-materials stage through to the end user.[1]
Need of the project:

In the ancient Greek fable about the tortoise and the hare, the speedy and overconfident
rabbit fell asleep on the job, while the "slow and steady" turtle won the race. That may have
been true in Aesop's time, but in today's demanding business environment, "slow and
steady" won't get you out of the starting gate, let alone win any races. Managers these days
recognise that getting products to customers faster than the competition will improve a
company's competitive position. To remain competitive, companies must seek new
solutions to important Supply Chain Management issues such as modal analysis, supply
chain management, load planning, route planning and distribution network design.
Companies must face corporate challenges that impact Supply Chain Management such as
reengineering globalisation and outsourcing.

Importance of Time Definite SCM Service for Retailers:

With an all-round boom in the retail sector, the psyche of the consumers is also rapidly
evolving. Consumers today, know what they like, go for what they want, and expect
impeccable services. This consumer evolution has stirred the retail sector and to keep up
with the pace; retailers are coming up with ways to minimize the operational cost as much
as they can, without hampering the quality of the product, time management and keeping
up with the demand forecasting.

Providing the right product at the right time is the need of the hour. Management of the
transition of products from manufacturing to the point-of-sales is key. Achieving this by
itself would ensure the smooth functioning of any retail organization. From the planning of
inventory, transition of products and the point of sales, SCM deals with the proper control
of it all. A slight shift for the worse to any of the processes in the supply chain could cause
dissatisfaction of consumers and lead to major risks in business.

Key Terms –

Inventory management, manufacturing operations, purchasing, transportation, end user,

warehousing, Sourcing, procurement,

Objectives of the Study :

The objective of the study is to understand the working process of retail apparel industry
and tried to find out the key internal issues in the lead time, its causes and suggestions
which can help the company to deliver the goods in time to the consumer and efficiently
synchronize the delivery with the demand.

The following are the key needs of the study:

 Delivering the merchandise to consumers on right time always gives an edge for the
company in current cut throat competition.
 Even a single day delay amongst any of the process would adversely affect the
further processes.
 Shrinkage in product life cycles demand shorter lead times.
 Lead-time reduction strategies are responses to numerous logistical chain problems
such as procurement, manufacturing, and distribution problems in warehouse.
 To remain competitive in the global market, the most important task for garment
industry is to reduce the lead time which is also important for long term stable
development

Supply Chain Management becomes a tool to help accomplish following strategic objectives:

• reducing working capital,

• taking assets off the balance sheet,

• accelerating cash-to-cash cycles,

• increasing inventory turns

Bibliography:

[1]An Investigation into Indian Apparel and Textile Supply Chain Networks, by Prabir Jana

http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/121/1/198495_Prabir%20Final%20-%20printers%20version.pdf

[2] Study on Factors Delaying Lead Time in the Apparel Supply Chain Management: A Case Study on
the Order of Execution Strategies of a Garment Factory in Bangladesh , by Sabbir Ahmed Abbir, 31
jan ,2020

PROJECT IDEA 3
1. Title of Proposed Study: Improvement in vendor-buyer quality gap and reduction in frequency
of rework/return to vendors

2. Area of Study: Merchandising , Supply Chain Management , Buyer-Vendor relationship

Management

3. Statement of the Problem:

The major reasons for the delay in production plan in garment industry include delays from the
vendor /supplier end (delays in sourcing of raw materials and quality issues with the sourced goods
and defects in work done by sub contractors ). It is seen that many a times major quality
issues/defects are found in the raw materials or the contracted work , hence leading in rework or
rejection by the buyers/retailer. Rework ,specially in the pre-production stages leads to delay in the
whole production plan and delays further in the supply chain. Also , the frequency of returns to
vendor , if high , results in spoilt relationship between vendor and the buyer .

Lack of detailed information from the buyer end , lack of quality awareness in vendor , and
difference in SOP from vendor to vendor are some of the major reasons for this. Hence , there is a
need to bridge the gap of quality between vendors and buyers and develop a strategy to reduce the
returns and improve buyer-vendor relations.

4. Objectives of the Study-

(a)To reduce return to vendor frequency by identifying recurring defects

(b)To bridge the gap of quality between vendors and buyers

(c) To improve the communication between vendors and buyers

(d) To reduce the delays in the supply chain by minimizing reworks

5.Proposed Research Design, Methods/Procedures –

 Primary and Secondary Data Collection

 Pareto Analysis of Data

 Identification of defects (recurring ones)

 Devising of standards for better vendor and buyer communication

 Finding solutions for the defects
 Training and Implementation of solutions
6.Bibliography-

[1]Reasons that fail production plan and cause shipment delay , article by Prasanta Sarkar-
December 26, 2011

[2] Article on Buyer-vendor relationship in apparel industry ,2017 , Fibre2Fashion.com

1.Title of Proposed Study: Development of strategies for more sustainable fashion
manufacturing and merchandising by reducing waste using 3R
2.Area of Study: Green Merchandising , Sustainability in Fashion , Lean Implementations
3.Background study:
Sustainability has become a common concern for all industrial sectors. Government
and the industrial sector should come forward with different suitable strategies to
minimize the risk at all levels and make a project for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a complex multi-dimensional concept which has
environmental, economic, social and health issue. Second to oil, the clothing and
textile industry is the largest polluter in the world.
United Nations Climate Change News states, The fashion industry contributes 10% of
global greenhouse gas emissions due to its long supply chains and energy intensive
production.
In 2018 the fashion industry produced 2.1 billion tonnes CO2eq. This represents 4%
of global carbon emissions – an emissions’ share larger than that of France, Germany
and the UK combined.Nearly 20% of global waste water is produced by the fashion
industry.
4.Problem:

Reasons of wastage The main causes of wastage in garment industry can be stated below :

o In efficient, obsolete and conventional technologies.

o Motion.

o Delay/waiting.

o Lack of technical skills and awareness in terms of quality.

o Over processing o Over production o Inventory

  Benefits of managing wastage- Saving resources and energy; Reducing pollution;
Increasing the efficiency of production.
 Waste minimization means, preventing the waste from occurring in the first
place, rather than treating it once it has been produced by end-of-pipe treatment
methods. That is, it is a technique that can be applied to all inputs to and outputs
from, a process. Prevention is the primary goal, followed by reuse, recycling,
reatment and appropriate disposal .
 Waste minimization can be defined as “Reducing waste at source technically and
a systematic way”, which means:
 Prevention and reduction of waste generated;
 Efficient use of raw materials and packaging;
 Efficient use of fuel, electricity and water;
 Improving the quality of waste generated to facilitate recycling;
 Encouraging re-use, recycling and recovery.

4.Objectives of the Study-

(a)To develop strategies for waste reduction
(b)To implement the concept of 3R-Reduce Reuse Recycle wherever possible in the
industry
(c) To Reduce waste at source technically and a systematic way
(d) To find the possible feasibility of green merchandising.
5.Proposed Research Design, Methods/Procedures –

 Primary and Secondary Data Collection and study of current processes

 Identification of problem areas
 Devising of standards and strategies
 Training and Implementation of solutions

6.Bibliography –

[1]- A STUDY ON WASTE MANAGEMENT AND MINIMIZATION IN READY MADE GARMENTS

(RMG) INDUSTRY-by Ishrat Jahan , September 2017

[2]- “Green Merchandising”- A Sustainable Approach for Apparel Business: A Review Paper
DAFFODIL INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, VOLUME
14, ISSUE 1, JULY 2019

[3]- https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2014/october/sustainability-the-3-r-s-
rule.aspx#:~:text=The%20three%20R's%20stands%20for,resources%20through%20a
%20priority%20approach