Dear Sampath,

While you have requested for a ‘state of supply chain logistics’ implying some sort of extensive literature review without narrowing the scope (Industry specific), there are a number of studies that have examined the concept of ‘supply chain logistics’ under the broader umbrella of ‘Supply Chain Management’ in India. The following highlighted might point you in the right direction.

The first four are not ‘Indian’ specific but still relevant on the ‘state of the art’ on SCM in general (which includes supply chain logistics):

[1] Mandal, S. (2014) "Supply chain resilience: a state-of-the-art review and research directions", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 5 Iss: 4, pp.427 – 453.

[2] Singh, J. and Singh, H. (2012) "Continuous improvement approach: state‐of‐art review and future implications", International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 Iss: 2, pp.88 - 111.

The one by Singh and Singh (2012) also includes an overview of the history, evolution and existing research on continuous improvement (CI) whereas the next one by Soni and Kodali (2013) includes about 57 SCM framework articles.

[3] Soni, G. and Kodali, R. (2013), "A critical review of supply chain management frameworks: proposed framework", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 20 Iss: 2, pp.263 – 29.

[4] Kamal , M.M. and Irani , Z. (2014) "Analysing supply chain integration through a systematic literature review: a normative perspective", Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 19 Iss: 5/6, pp.523 – 557.

The next two are more specific to the context that you seek:

[5] Jharkharia, S. and Shankar, R. (2006) "Supply chain management: some sectoral dissimilarities in the Indian manufacturing industry", Supply Chain Management: an International Journal, Vol. 11 Iss: 4, pp.345 – 35.

[6] Natarajarathinam, M., Capar, I. and Narayanan, A. (2009) "Managing supply chains in times of crisis: a review of literature and insights", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 39 Iss: 7, pp.535 - 57.

You might also wish to look up some of the published articles from the following Journals: (1) Supply Chain Management: an International Journal; (2) International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management; (3) The International Journal of Logistics Management; (4) Journal of Business Logistics Management; and (5) Benchmarking: An International Journal, among others.

Kind regards,

Nicholas

First of all, I recommend you the following paper because there is a lot of papers that confuses between supply chain logistics and supply management:

Ronald H. Ballou, (2007) "The evolution and future of logistics and supply chain management", European Business Review, Vol. 19 Iss: 4, pp.332 - 348

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09555340710760152

Downloads:

The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 9130 times since 2007.

I agree logistics is important.

On supply chain management, you may find this paper interesting. It dwells on efficiency, cost containments, time to market aspects, etc..

Sharing responsibilities with suppliers in a concurrent engineering organization

Article Sharing responsibilities with suppliers in a concurrent engi...

Tata Steel is a prime implementer of Theory of Constraints applications (manufacturing, supply chain, project management, etc.).  I think part of the difference in cost between shipping within India and from India to London is one is by water where hundreds of tons are moved at one time versus one is by truck where a few tons are moved at one time.  A number of other companies in India use TOC supply chain concepts such as Dr. Reddy's Lab, Liberty Shoes, Fleetguard and others.  To determine the state-of-the-art in supply chain management and a better understanding of the underlying logistics concepts (used by Tata) check out the TOCICO website where videos of these companies presentations are housed.  Tata and these firms have presented at the TOCICO annual conferences (video taped). The Liberty Shoes and Fleetguard stories are given in the APICS Magazine .  Dr. Reddy has appeared in the India Business newspaper:

The Right Prescription; Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Discusses Their Complex Supply Chain By Pamela Cheema

http://logisticsweek.com/feature/2011/07/the-right-prescription-dr-reddy’s-laboratories-discusses-theircomplex-supply-chain/

Fleetguard   Cox, James F., Viable Vision: Making Profits a Reality in a Global Recession. APICS Magazine. May-June 2011, 28-31.

Liberty Shoes  Gupta, Mahesh and James F. Cox III, Build to Buffer. APICS Magazine. July- August 2012, 28-31.

You might also look at the Goldratt India website:http://www.goldrattindia.com/index.html

OR Vector Consulting India.I did a search of this site for Tata and several papers were referenced.  See below.

http://www.vectorconsulting.in/search_result.php?cx=000104635111176308952%3Arffakb9ulv4&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&q=Tata&sa.x=0&sa.y=0

The consultants at Vector seem to have worked with Tata and can probably respond to your questions with certainty.  Case studies on Tata Metaliks and Tata Bluescope Steel Limited are listed on this site.  I worked with the consultants at Vector Consulting India in writing the articles above.

Tata has its on Goldratt Theory of Constraints Management Center to teach TOC concepts. 

You might also search the Tata website if you have additional information on your quote and identify who gave the quote and contact them directly. 

Hope this is helpful. 

Jim

CSCMP Global Perspectives on India is probably the most comprehensive report (see link below). 

The World Bank Country Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking has got some good statistical data that can also be compared regionally and globally (see link below).

Also, attached is a forthcoming publication in Journal of Supply Chain Management specifically investigating implementation challenges of supply chain technologies in India (we used the 2010 version of the CSCMP Global Perspectives and the LPI reports so some of that needs updating).

http://cscmp.org/member-benefits/global-perspectives

http://lpi.worldbank.org/international/global