To assess digital supply chain in manufacturing industries (Case study: Bedding industry)

One of the main challenges constantly facing the majority of the organizations is planning to develop and improve processes and operations based on the adoption of new technologies, especially digital technologies, to react to the requirements of markets and competitive environments. Therefore, by using hybrid research approach (qualitative and quantitative), the present study explores the applications of digital technologies in terms of technical needs and business performances in the supply chain network of the bedding industry. The method includes developing an efficient measurement tool to evaluate the digitalization and automation specifications for integrated management of the supply chain operations and flows in manufacturing industries and validating it using the multi-criteria decision-making approach DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP), which is considered the study’s contribution to knowledge and the literature. Therefore, in the first step, the list of influential factors was determined as 6 process areas and a total of 22 related attributes using the desk-based research and Delphi method. Then, the weights and relationships among factors were evaluated using the DANP technique. According to the obtained results, the process area of inventory and warehouse management is considered the most critical factor with the highest weight. However, the process areas of sourcing and buy and business management were identified as the most effective factors in improving critical areas.