ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is our professional experience that enriched our knowledge to great extent.
During the course of our project, we had the good fortune of being guided by

Mr Aftab Shoukat
With all her magnanimity supervised the project report through all its stages. We have
benefited a great deal from her incisive analysis & crudits suggestions. Our special thanks to
all our friends for their unremitting helps in numerous ways, which deserve adequate
expression on this page. In the end we would like to say that it was a great experience
working on this project.

Executive Summary

We have selected Crawford Industry Sialkot in which we have to observe the supply chain
and its efficiency that either it is achieving its lowest total cost or not. On the basis of over
observation and questions we have to make recommendations for the improvement of supply
chain and how they deal with their customers, how they manage customers demand and
supply. We took a brief interview from their production manager Mr.Umer Butt and ask about
their suppliers, total cost incur in supply chain, logistics, inventory management, procurement
and distribution channels. What is their manufacturing process? We ask from them about their
competitors, from where they purchase their raw materials and why from them. What are
their future plans and also how they overcome different problems in their industry? Crawford
Industry manufactures lot of products like gloves, bats etc. but they are specialized in Cricket
hard balls so they mainly focuses on the production of cricket hard balls of different types,
colors, weight and quality.

Mission Statement
To Grow Our Business by Understanding Our Customer's Needs, Focusing On Operational
Excellence and Driving Product Innovation with Exceptional Price-Value and Superior
Services.

Vision Statement
We Are Committed to Provide the Highest Quality Products and Services That Consistently
Meet Our Valuable Customers Expectations and Our Competitors, Capabilities While
Continuously Improving Our Manufacturing Processes.

OUR CULTURE
We work hard at maximizing individual potential, maintaining an emphasis on product
integrity, and cultivating an environment where creativity can flourish. A fundamental belief
in our people and their abilities continues to be the key to our success. With the guidance of
the seniors and a growing understanding of opportunities and team objectives, associates
commit to projects that match their skills. All of this takes place in an environment that
combines freedom with cooperation and autonomy with synergy.
Everyone can earn the credibility to define and drive projects. We help associates in the
organization that will offer personal fulfillment while maximizing their contribution to the
enterprise.
We follow four basic guiding principles articulated by Forward:

Fairness to each other and everyone with whom we come in contact.

Freedom to encourage, help, allows other associates to grow in knowledge, skill, and
scope of responsibility.
The ability to make ones own commitments and keep them.
Consultation with other associates before undertaking actions that could impact the
reputation of the company.

Introduction
Effective supply chain is the key to the establishment and growth of the business. The key to
successful supply chain is to examine the marketplace environment and profit opportunities
that provide the potential growth and financial viability of the business. Despite the
importance of supply chain, this area is often misunderstood and poorly implemented,
primarily because people focus on the output rather than the process of supply chain.
In every business, supply chain is essential for developing a firm's potential. However, many
small businesses do not recognize the need for long-range plans, because the small number of
people involved in operating the business implies equal responsibility in the planning and
decision-making processes. Nevertheless, the need for planning is as important in a small
business as it is in a large one.

Business Name
Crawford Industry Sialkot Pakistan

Location
Crawford Industries
G.P.O BOX # 1318 DEPUTY BAGH STREET, SIALKOT - 51310 - PAKISTAN.

History
This industry came Into Being in 1969. Mr. Sardar M. Butt and Murad A. Butt were the
Founders Of this Organization. Both were Proficient Artisan Of the particular field of hand
Crafted Cricket Balls with devotion to this Job. They remained concentrated to it and earned
Colossal Repute till they passed away. After The Demise Of Founders The Successors (M.
Sabir Butt As Executive Director) Took Over The Charge Of This Challenging Task
Efficiently With Enthusiasm And The Business Expanded To All Continents. The Present
Organizers Vow to Remain Committed about Quality and Consistency Being the Objective
and Identity of Crawfords Products.

Business Nature
Manufacturers of Cricket Balls

Ownership
This industry is owned by Mr. Sabir Butt and business is running on sole proprietorship

Product Portfolio

Specialization
Crawford Industry are specialized in Cricket hard balls so they mainly focuses on the
production of cricket hard balls of different types, colors, weight and quality.

Purpose of Visit
Our main purpose of visit is to know about practical work that how a business runs. How they
deal with daily difficulties and problems and what is their supply chain and what they are
doing to achieve lowest total cost of supply chain, procurement strategies, distribution and
logistical operations. How they increase their profit and reduce their cost of production. How
they manage their record and how they deliver superior values to their valuable customers.

Raw material for cricket balls

For preparing cricket balls following things are required:

Leather
Cork Balls
Chemicals
Thread
Packing Material

Suppliers for raw materials

They have different suppliers for different types of raw materials like Yaqoob
Leather Industry Sialkot and Master leather house for leather, they import Cork Balls from
Portugal and in Portugal they had three main suppliers. They purchase chemicals from ICIC
paints, thread from local market and packing material from Ad-zone digital printing Sialkot.
We ask them that why they dont change their suppliers? In reply they said that due to high
quality of raw material, good relations and credit terms, they are happy with their suppliers.

Leather suppliers:-

Yaqoob
Leathers
Crawford
Industries

Master
Leathers

Cork Balls

Supplier 1

Crawford
Industries

Supplier 2

Supplier 3

Thread:Faisalabad

Crawford
Industries

Chemicals & colors:ICI Paints

Crawford
Industries

Packing Material:-

Ad-Zone
digital

Crawford
Industries

Manufacturing of Cricket Balls

Here we are discussing only cricket balls because they only focus on manufacturing of cricket
balls. They have machinery only for Leather cutting. They have 4 presses for it. All other
process is done through human resource (handmade).There are eight basic steps which are
involved in the manufacturing of cricket ball.
Step 1

Dying Process
In this step washing of leather pieces is done with different chemicals and color combination.
This process is called dying of Leather. Color of ball is totally dependent on leather quality
and its dying process.

Step 2

Drying of Leather
After washing the leather it is kept under sunlight. This process is very important because if
the leather got more sunlight its surface will become hard and rough. To avoid from this it
needs moderate sunlight and a measurable quantity of chemicals which were used in dying
process.

Step 3
Cutting of Leather
After drying the leather in sunlight the next step is called cutting of leather into semi oval
shape by hand. Leather is cut with special knife which has a very sharp blade. For this step
highly skilled workers are required and Crawford Industry have employees working from last
20-25 years.

Step 4
Preparation of Cork Ball
In this step process preparation of cork ball takes place. For this purpose they use good
quality of cork ball and special type of thread which is used in jersey and sweaters. Thread
which has been used is wet and after preparing a cork ball its weight is very high, to reduce
its weight they use a heat chamber where the ball will be hang around 10-12 hours at 40'C45'C.

Step 5
Joining of Leather and Cork ball
When cutting process of leather has been done the semi oval pieces of leathers are joined
with each other by special thread and its looks like a half bowl. This half bowl shape is made
with a heavy presser. Crawford has total number of four presser for this process. After that
Cork Ball is fitted inside pair of leather.

Step 6
Stitching Process
After drying the cork ball we are moving towards the basic stitching process. A cricket ball is
made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string, and covered by
a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. In a top-quality ball suitable for the highest
levels of competition, the covering is constructed of four pieces of leather shaped similar to
the peel of a quartered orange, but one hemisphere is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the
10

other. The "equator" of the ball is stitched with string to form the ball's prominent seam, with
a total of six rows of stitches.
The remaining two joins between the leather pieces are stitched internally. Lower-quality
balls with a 2-piece covering are also popular for practice and lower-level competition due to
their lower cost. For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5 1/2 and 5 3/4 ounces
(155.9 and 163.0 g) and measure between 8 13/16 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in
circumference. In women's cricket the ball must weigh between 4 15/16 and 5 1/16 ounces
(139.9 and 143.5 g) and measure between 8.3 and 8.9 in (210 and 225 mm) in circumference.
A plastic cricket ball (known as a "Kwik cricket ball") is often used in matches for players
who are or younger than 9 years old. Matches for 10 to 13 year olds are played with a ball
weighing between 4 11/16 and 5 1/16 ounces (132.9 and 143.5 g). Cricket balls are
traditionally dyed red, and red balls are used in Test cricket and First-class cricket. White
balls were introduced when one-day matches began being played at night under floodlights,
as they are more visible at night. Professional one-day matches are now played with w9 hite
balls, even when they are not played at night. Other colors have occasionally been
experimented with, such as yellow and orange (Glowing composite) for improved night
visibility, but the coloring process has so far rendered such balls unsuitable for professional
play because they wear differently from standard balls.

11

In this step stitching of cricket ball is started and their main concern in this step is that the
shape of ball must be globular if its shape looks like d-shape then they will use an electrical
compressor for getting its original shape and its weight is measured after each step to
maintain is standard weight. The Weight of ball lies between 156g-160g.

Step 7
Finishing of Ball
In this step a special chemical is used on the whole surface of cricket ball. This chemical is
used to shine the ball. Shine of the ball is used for outswing and inswing. This chemical is
skin sensitive and Crawford has provided working gloves to their employees to maintain their
health and safety.

Step 8
Packing of Balls
This is the last and final step, in which balls are packed in a box. Each box contains 6 pieces
of balls. In packing a piece of soft paper and a small size of plastic bag are used to protect the
balls from moisture and scratches.

12

Complete Supply Chain of Crawford Industries:-

Criteria for selection of Suppliers:Nowadays companies hope to establish a longer-term working relationship with the
suppliers. Therefore, supplier selection is one of the main parts of decisions in supply
chain management. Because there are many suppliers with many criteria, so it is
impossible to find the best way to evaluate and select suppliers. Evaluation of
suppliers is a process that leads companies to select their desired suppliers. This
process has two main aims, which are to reduce all costs of purchasing and to increase
the overall value of the purchasing. Regarding to the costs of evaluating the suppliers
(such as time and travel budget), companies basically evaluate those suppliers that
have a good chance of qualifying for purchasing from them. In this process, formally,
companies send expert teams to the supplier site, and with evaluating different criteria
and factors, they will do an in-depth evaluation.
There are different steps that must be done in the process of supplier evaluation and
selection. In order to evaluate and select the suppliers, companies must identify some
important things such as methodologies, criteria, and problems (strategies). Regarding
to multi criteria decision-making concept of supplier selection problems, one of the
main parts of this process is to define related factors and criteria. There are many
criteria such as price, quality, and process capability and on time delivery, availability
and long term relationship, which can affect selecting the proper supplier. These all
factors are considered by the Crawford industries while selecting their suppliers.

13

Quality:It is one of the major aspects which is considered by the Crawford industries.
Quality not only means the quality of product but quality in each and every
level. Quality is one of the main criteria for supplier evaluation and supplier selection.
Crawford industries define quality as:

(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Quality refers to the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or

exceed customers expectations.
Quality means getting what you have paid for.
Quality is not something that is adopted as a special feature; instead, it is an
integral part of a product or service.

Assessing quality as one of the main factors for supplier selection is so important.
In order to assess the quality, there are many factors and methods that can be used.
Quality of customer and support services is another criterion in order to evaluate
the quality of suppliers. This criterion is a sign of implementing customer-based
systems in organizations.

Availability:It is also one of the important factor to choose a supplier. Frequent availability of
raw material makes process easy for Crawford industries. They select supplier who
can deliver raw material timely. Availability reduces the cost of raw materials and
efforts. Crawford industries sent a team that ensures the availability by checking
past record, their market worth and their inventory management and inventory
levels.

Personal Relationships:Personal relationship is also one of the criteria for the selection of suppliers. They
built long term relationships with their suppliers to get prior services and quality.
This relationship also ensures timely availability and also helps to reduce cost of
raw materials. E.g. Crawford industries had personal relationship with Ad-zone
digitals. From them they get packing material on discounted price.

Credit terms:The most important criteria for selection of a supplier are credit terms. They also
keep an eye on that supplier which gives them good credit terms. Good credit
terms help an organization to operate other operations effectively. It's always worth
making sure your supplier has sufficiently strong cash flow to deliver what you want,
when you need it. A credit check will also help reassure you that they won't go out of
business when you need them most.
14

Integrated Service Providers:Firms develop the practice of outsourcing work to businesses that are specialist in the
performance of specific functions. Crawford also uses this concept to get specialized
work and reduce cost. There are two types of integrated service providers, one is asset
based and other one is non asset based. They uses both types of services. For export they
use DHL and for the information of their customers they get data from different
companies.

Responsiveness:Responsiveness refers to the sensitivity level of the firm to the customers demand.
Crawford industries uses response based business model which starts with selling or
marketing research.
Buy
Compone

Manufa
cture

Deliver

Sell

To bring responsiveness in supply chain they uses a postponement method called

manufacturing postponement.

Manufacturing postponement:In these Crawford industries delays their work till the reception of their customers order. Here
they use the concept of JUST IN TIME. Whenever they receive order from their customers,
they start their manufacturing process.

Articles
What is logistics?
"Logistics means having the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.
The branch of military operations that deals with the procurement, distribution, maintenance,
and replacement of materiel and personnel.
the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and
storage of goods, services, and related information from point of origin to point of
consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements."

15

What is Supply chain management?

Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as
they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.
Supply chain management involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and
among companies. It is said that the ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management
system is to reduce overall company cost.

What is the Relationship between supply chain management and logistics?

"Logistics refers to activities within a single organization and supply chains refer to networks
of companies that work together. Also, traditional logistics focuses on activities such as
procurement, distribution and inventory management. Supply chain management also
includes marketing, new product development, finance, and customer service"
Structure of supply chain network

Structure of logistics organization

16

Elements of logistics cost in supply chain management

The elements of cost of logistics in supply chain management can be following:

Transportation
36%
Inventories
25%
Losses
14%
Packaging
11%
Handling and warehousing 9%
Customers shopping 6%

Types of logistics
There are two main types of logistics
1. Inbound logistics
2. Out bound logistics
.

17

Inbound logistics
Receiving, storing and disseminating incoming goods and material for use
Sourcing

Order
placement
Vendor
Supplier

Receiving

Transportation

18

Out bound logistics

Movement of material associated with storing, transporting, and distribution a firm's goods to
its customers.

Activities in distribution performance

cycle
Customer

Order

Order

order

transmission

processing

DISTRIBUTION
Customer
Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for use or
Order
Order
consumption by a consumer or business user, using direct means, or using indirect
Delivery
means
with intermediaries. TheTransportation
other three parts of the marketing mixSelection
are product,
pricing, and promotion.

It is important to make a wise, informed decision about how extensive your

businesss distribution channel shall be. If you want to achieve wider distribution,
then the cost will be a lot lower if you use intermediaries. In fact, the vast majority of
product manufacturers are unable to sell directly to customers, as it would be way too
costly for them. The bigger the producer, the more intermediaries should be used in
order to have a cost effective operation.

Most of the concepts surrounding distribution channels are related to costs. Many of
the practical matters relating to distribution channels, however, have to do with
customer control. A lot of businesses think that by selling their product in to the
distribution channel, their role in the matter has come to an end and they no longer
have to do any work. But in order to be effective, it is vital for businesses to take a
market-oriented approach and manage every level of their products distribution until
it arrives at the end user.

Performance cycle

19

Problems in distribution

Increasingly distributors are replacing direct sales forces in industrial marketing. They
cost less, they absolve the manufacturer from the burdens of credit control and they
provide a wide geographical spread of stocking points. But in appointing distributors
the manufacturer loses control of the sharp end where the sale takes place.

The first indication of a weak distributor could be a fall in his sales performance. The
manufacturer has the advantage of being able to compare the sales of each distributor
and plot all their performances over time. A weak distributor can be spotted as one
whose sales performance is out shone by others.

Of course relative sales performance may not tell the whole story. Distributors live in
a competitive environment and some may suffer exceptional competition from other
firms in their area. Nevertheless the warning bells will be sounded, and the principal
will be able to discuss the problem with the distributor in good time.

service, poor back up, high prices, etc? The complaints can be logged and become an
important discussion point for resolving with the distributor.

A third means of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of distributors is to pose as a

customer.

How to reduce/ remove those problems

The golden rule for helping a distributor improve its operation is "explain and train".
Before raising criticisms of the distributor's business, however, the principal should
attempt to understand the nuances of each locality. There may well be causes which
are temporary or peculiar to a distributor, and these must be taken into account in any
recommended changes.

20

A common weakness among distributors' sales staff is their failure to discover a

customer's needs and relate the benefits of products to them. The sales person may fail
to probe to find what the customer wants; may concentrate only on selling what the
company has to offer. It may be thought easier to sell on price rather than push the
benefits. The sales person needs training but this may not be within the facility of a
small distributor. The principal should therefore assume the responsibility for both the
sales product training and showing how to approach and convert prospects.

The Procurement Process Implementing the Plan

Bidding or Negotiation?
Purchase Approval
Blanket Purchase Orders
Update Supplier Scorecard
Continuous Improvement
Bidding or Negotiation:

Purchaser sends a request for quotation (RFQ).

Bids are evaluated based on lowest price, so price must be the major criteria.

If non-price variables exist, negotiation may be more appropriate.

Bidding may also be used to narrow the field prior to a negotiation.

Competitive bidding is effective when:

Volume is high enough to justify this method of business

21

The specifications or requirements are clear to the seller

Negotiation is appropriate when:

Any of the previously mentioned criteria for competitive bidding are missing

For example, the item may be a new and/or technically complex item with
only vague specifications

2 The purchase requires agreement about a wide range of performance factors, such as price,
quality, delivery, risk sharing, and product support
3 The buyer requires early supplier involvement

Purchase Approval:

Purchase Orders
Reasons for departments to have visibility to purchase orders and incoming receipts:

The accounting department gains visibility to future accounts payable obligations. It

also has an order against which to match a receipt for payment when the material arrives.

A blanket purchase order is an open order, effective for a year, covering repeated
purchases of an item or family of items.
22

Blanket orders eliminate the need to issue a purchase order whenever there is a need
for material.

Update Supplier Scorecard

Continuous Improvement
Establishing, maintaining and improving business relationships with suppliers is another way
procurement adds value to an organization.
Key factors procurement consider to ensure successful supplier relationships need to be:
1 Ensuring all business requirements are fully understood and met
2 Ensuring collaborative work practices are implemented to ensure a joint approach to problem
solving and the identification of improvement opportunities

Structure

Crawford Industries uses flexible structure for their distribution

It is the combination of both Echlon and Direct structure

In this structure product/goods are located near to the customers so that when
customer place the order we can give immediate response without any delay

23

Components of Logistics:Inventory:Inventory is the raw material, finished goods and work in progress of any firm. It is very
much necessary for an organization to prepare goods timely and correctly. Inventory
management is equally important as the selection of supplier is important. Crawford
industries maintain their inventory level according to their core customer segmentation. They
divided their customers in to two major types:
Primary customers: - In this category they include their international customers to whom they
export their product. E.g. Customers from Europe, America, Bangladesh etc.
Secondary customers: - This category includes their local customers.
Crawford industries gives priority to their primary customers and they maintain their
inventory levels according to the needs and wants of their primary customers. However they
also serve their secondary customers but they keep focus on secondary customers during off
season to accommodate their total fixed cost.

Time base performance: Crawford industries very much believes on time accuracy and quality products. Basically it is
the degree of commitment to deliver products to their customers rapidly to meet customers
requirements. They consider it as a competitive edge for them. Timely delivery of products
creates a positive image and helpful for building long term relationships with their valuable
customers.

Lead time in Crawford

In bound lead time

24

 Raw materials (Leather, thread, Chemicals) are received within two to four days.
They are importing cork balls from Portugal the delivery time of cork ball is 12-15
days.
Mostly they are importing cork balls in bulk quantity.
Out bound lead time
Crawford delivery time within the Pakistan is 2-4 days.
Delivery time outside Pakistan depends upon the destination point.
Average lead time outside Pakistan is 10-15 days.

Competitive performance:When there is competition in the market, firms always try to improve their strategies
continuously. Inventory strategies cant be created in vacuum. Crawford always focuses to
improve their delivery system to be the best in the market. For this purpose they are in very
close touch with other players of supply chain and they consider them as their partners.

Transportation:It is the operational area of the logistics that geographically moves and position inventory.
Because of its fundamental importance and visible cost, transportation has traditionally
received managerial attention. With speedy transportation, consistency and cost efficiency is
also required. To export their products they uses DHL services. DHL service is expensive as
compare to other services but through this Crawford achieves speed up delivery, cost
efficiency and consistency. Whereas for their local customers they uses local transportation
services which are less expensive as compare to DHL.

Material handling/Ware housing/Packaging:It is one of the important component of the logistics. Crawford industries had their own
warehouse where they handle, sort, segregate and store their raw materials.

Procurement perspective
Minimizing inventory investments
In the past Crawford industries maintain larger inventory levels to satisfy their customers.
Maintaining large inventory volume is an expensive activity and utilizes capital that might be

25

used elsewhere in the organization. Now Crawford uses just in time concept and two bin
system to maintain continuous supply with minimum inventory investment possible.

Quality improvement
Procurement can play a vital role in the quality of organization product. Quality of finished
product is completely dependent on the quality of raw materials and parts. For that purpose
Crawford focuses on the quality of each raw material regardless of its importance. Crawford
achieves ISO 9001 quality award which reflects the importance of quality in the firm.

Facility network

Crawford Industry has 5 basic operations Departments

Washing & Cleaning Department

Cutting Department

Stitching Department

Finishing Department

Packing Department

First the leather for ball is washed and cleaned with special chemicals and different color
combination. Then after that leather is sent to cutting department where highly skilled
workers cut the leather into pieces. Next step of ball making is stitching department where
leather is stitched into half bowl shaped and cork is fitted inside it. Now the ball is sent to
finishing department where ball is cleaned properly with different chemicals for its shine.
After that last step is packing in which balls is packed into boxes. Each box contains 6 balls.

26

P
h
s
W
u
C
t
S
n
i
F
k
c
a
g
How Crawford Industries achieving lowest total cost in their
supply chain

It is very important for every business to achieve lowest total cost in their
supply chain. By achieving lowest total cost in the supply chain the overall
performance of the business also increases. Crawford industries achieves their
lowest total cost on the basis of following factors.

Highly Skilled Labor

Strong Supplier Relationship
Integrated service providers.
Just in Time

Highly skilled Labor

They have very skilled labor for the manufacturing of cricket balls. In manufacturing
department highly skilled workers are required and Crawford Industry have 15-20 employees
who are working from last 20-25 years in manufacturing department. They are satisfied with
the policies and all other facilities which provided by the Crawford to their employees.
Crawford Industries provide the food, medical and accommodation facilities to their
employees. They also give the incentives to their employees on special occasions like Eid etc.
Crawford industries also announced the bounces for their employees on their monthly
performance. By providing these facilities to their employees it is the main factor Crawfords
employees are very committed with it and these factors are increased their satisfaction levels.
They are fully satisfied with the policies of Crawford Industries due to this their work
efficiency is very high.

27

Strong Supplier Relationship

They have a very strong relationship with their suppliers. Crawford industries is working very
well and they had very good reputation in the market. They are working in close relationship
with their suppliers and consider them as their partners. Crawford is in this business line for
more than 50 years and because of their market worth they had good credit terms with their
suppliers. Crawford gets raw material from their suppliers timely and cost is also reasonable.
This good relationship with their suppliers makes the supply chain cost effective.

Integrated service providers

Now a days most of the firms are using the concept of out sourcing. Out sourcing had great
impact on the cost of supply chain. Crawford industries uses 3PLs for the transportation of
the finished goods. This outsourcing helps Crawford to transport their goods on destination
timely and cost effectively. For the export, they uses the services of DHL and for local
customers they uses local services.

Just in time
Just in time means that ordering of raw material after receiving customers order. Crawford is
using this concept as we already mentioned that they are using response based business
model and to bring responsiveness, they are doing manufacturing postponement. This
concept reduces the chances of delays and over production. Because of the strong relationship
with their suppliers, they get raw material timely and due to which they can produce and
deliver products to their customers on time.

Supply Chain Issues

Supply Chain is a systematic approach to making an organization's workflow more effective,
more efficient and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. Supply chain
management is a field in operations management that focuses on improving corporate
performance by managing and optimizing a company's business processes. It can therefore be
described as an " optimization process." It is argued that SCM enables organizations to be
more efficient, more effective and more capable of change than a functionally focused,
traditional hierarchical management approach. These processes can impact on achieving
lowest total cost and revenue generation of an organization.
As a managerial approach, SCM sees processes as strategic assets of an organization that
must be understood, managed and improved to deliver value-added products and services to
clients. This approach closely resembles other Total Quality Management or Continuous
Improvement Process methodologies and SCM proponents also claim that this approach can
be supported, or enabled, through technology.

28

Stock handling
Good Quality Leather
Procurement strategies
Procurement segmentation

Stock Holding
No mention of any ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or Inventory Control Systems has
been made over the telephonic interviews. Crawford Industries main sports items are cricket
balls, cricket kits and football kits. In case of cricket balls if they are holding its stock for
three to four month then there is a chance of d-shape of cricket balls maybe reduces its
shinning. But both of these attributes are considered very important for cricket balls. In wet
session the holding of cricket balls is very difficult .In case of football kits and cricket kits its
maybe out of fashion.

Good Quality Leather

In case of the cricket balls they needed good quality of leather. But in local market of leather
in Pakistan its business is very high after Eid-ul-Azha during this time period Crawford can
easily buy good quality of leather. In others days it is very difficult to buy good quality of
leather from local market. But if they import leather from other countries then their
production cost is increased.

Procurement Strategies
Procurement strategy of Crawford industries is also one of the issue in the supply chain as
they had number of different suppliers for different type of raw materials. It is very difficult
to handle number of suppliers and to build long term relationship with them.

Procurement Segmentation
Crawford also not segmented their raw material on the basis of importance due to which
sometimes they use more effort and resources than the of importance of the material.

Recommendations to make supply chain more effective

Crawford industries needs to improve their material handling by using different technologies.
e.g During Eid-ul-Azha season they purchase more than their need.
They should also adopt new procurement strategies like volume consolidation, supplier
operational integration, value management and other concepts to make supply chain more
effective and to achieve lowest total cost.
They should also segment their procurement according to the importance of their raw
material.
Pareto effect: Crawford should use this concept. Giving priority on the basis of importance.
More the importance, more efforts and resources should be utilized on them.

29

They should be needed to offer some discount or packages to their customers on bulk
purchases.

It is very important of them to hire some special staff for handling of stock especially in wet
session.

Conclusion
Crawford Industries has been in the sports industry for multiple generations. It will be an
understatement that Crawford has achieved a good status in the market. A status which is
highlighted by credibility developed over the generations. The product line of Crawford
Industries is perhaps not one of the most diverse and extensive ones as we see in its
competitors, but however some believe that Deepening is better than Expanding.
Crawford Industries, affected by some common problems of trading in a Pakistani context,
has faced quite similar problems as we have observed in multitudes of other proprietorship
business types. But judging from the survival and sustainability of the business, one would
say that apart from all the odds, Crawford has still got what it takes to thrive in the sports
industry of Pakistan. Survival in Pakistani businesses is sometimes not by emphasizing on
mere facts and statistics. It is in fact a force that governs human nature that is dominant in
such businesses. Trust and Credibility is of course neither a fact nor a constituent of a
statistical data. Trust is what governs day-to-day transactions of SMEs such as Crawford.
Supply chain issues do affect Crawford. But one thing that dominates all of the above is a
formidable patronage. A credible organization as Crawford has a lot of opportunities in any
market. By making a few tweaks in its strategy, Crawford can overcome a few of the hurdles
whilst maintaining a rapport with its clients for which it has been known for decades.

Limitations of the Report

A telephonic interview was conducted with the production manager of the company. The
company is situated in Sialkot so visit was proving to be problematic due to reasons induced
by such circumstances. Therefore, only one member was able to make a visit to the site office
and record useful information for this report.

References of Articles:

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https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-procurement-process-eprocurement-procurement-a-tutorial
http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/tags/articles/supply-chain-management/
https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/scm-terms

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