Future Trend in Supply Chain Practices in Cement Industry

Indian cement Industry is world second largest producer with immense growth opportunity has generated excitement among cement producers to adopt world class practices to sustain competitive advantage.The key challenges in front of Indian cement industry is to reduce cost and improve profitability.However in the year 2010 & 2011 the input cost has increased due to meteoric rise in fuel price.The hike in diesel and petrol has also forced industry to revise their road freight.In such situation only by controlling logistics cost will not improve the situation. In such case cement industry has to adopt an integrated approach towards managing the entire supply chain.Here in this research authors has clearly defined the kind of supply chain strategies to be adopted by this industry whose demand and supply pattern varies from season to season. The constraints of wagon availability during peak season,high overhead expenses,non-uniformity in tax structure and intense competition has triggered the need for "innovative supply chain practices".