INFLUENCE OF TRANSPORTATION PROCESS ON SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN RWANDA A CASE OF ADMA INTERNATIONAL

Background: This research aimed to assess the influence of transportation on supply chain performance of manufacturing industries in Rwanda, a case study of ADMA International. This research: examined the effect of fleet management process on supply chain performance in ADMA International assessed the effect of route planning on supply chain performance in ADMA International and determined the effect of order processing on supply chain performance in ADMA International. Materials and Methods: Both descriptive survey and correlational research designs were used in this study in order to facilitate the accomplishment of the aforementioned goals. The target population of this project was 141 people that included 21 ADMA International employees working at the head office and 120 customers (suppliers and distributors) of ADMA International that operate in each of the secondary cities in the country including Kigali city. The other cities were: Huye, Musanze, Nyagatare and Rubavu. This study made use of a variety of methods, including surveys, interviews, written records, and other institutional reports, in order to collect research data. SPSS, a software used for descriptive statistics, was used to examine the data in order to determine whether transportation has an impact on supply chain performance of manufacturing industries in Rwanda. In this study, we considered both inferential and regression analyses in order to assess the strength of the link that exists between the study variables. Results: From the findings, the following were discovered: (β1= 0.410, t=2.108, p = 0.013<0.05 β2= 0.206, t= 1.779, p =0.017<0.05 β2= 0.425, t= 1.214, p =0.011<0.05). This refers to the fact that 1 per cent increase in transportation practices in form of fleet management, route planning and order processing will lead to 0.410, 0.206, 0.425 and 0.558 increase in supply chain performance of ADMA International. Therefore, the regression model showed that supply chain performance was 1.347+ 0.410 Fleet management + 0.206 Route planning + 0.425 Order processing. From these findings, all the hypotheses were rejected. In accordance with the studys conclusions, the researcher suggested that ADMA management be engaged for the supply chain and prerequisite in order to handle the complexity and rising customer expectations. The supply chain processs planning and control should be strengthened by ADMA management. Furthermore, ADMA management ought to keep developing a competitive infrastructure, utilizing global logistics, and matching supply and demand. In summary, the research findings suggest that raw material transportation has an impact on the supply chain of manufacturing businesses at ADMA based on an analysis of the data collected there. Conclusion: While ADMAs product quality and quantity are important competitive advantages in the market, the research shows that competitive transit times and dependable raw material suppliers that dont require longer than four weeks for delivery, depending on the source, should distinguish the ADMA supply chain. The transportation of raw materials is correlated with the supply chain of manufacturing industries at ADMA, according to research using the Pearson correlation.