Effect of Supply Chain Practices on Lead Time in Textile and Apparel Industry in Kenya

This paper investigates the effect of supply chain practices on lead time in textile and apparel industry in Kenya. Specifically, the study focussed on four supply chain practices i. e. modularity based manufacturing, supply chain integration, supply chain relationship management and supply chain responsiveness. The study targeted all the 59 textile firms in Kenya, with one key informant selected from each firm was selected purposively based on their knowledge of the performance measures the firms use. The findings revealed that modularity based manufacturing, supply chain relationship management and supply chain responsiveness have a negative and significant relationship with lead time. Further the results also showed that supply chain integration has non-significant and positive relationship with lead time. The study highlight the importance of supply chain responsiveness, modularity manufacturing and supply relationship management on reducing lead times. The study recommends that textile firms adopt modularity based manufacturing, supply relationship management and supply chain responsiveness as a way of reducing lead time.