The Role of ICT in the Supply Chain of Ciudad Juarez Industrial Sector

Abstract

Procurement and inventory represent two of the most important stages that integrate the supply chain (SC), if there is a mistake or problem in one of them, it can lead to total failure of the chain, therefore, generate losses to the companies among other issues. To avoid that kind of problems, multiple companies have decided to invest in information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve and facilitate communication, as well as simplify the management of their inventory. In that sense, the objective of this paper is to identify the importance of ICT related to the procurement and inventory of the Mexican industrial sector, specifically, in the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. To gather data, a questionnaire was developed and it was administered to that sector, obtaining 306 valid questionnaires. In addition, to measure the relationship between variables, a structural equation model was developed using partial least squares by the WarpPLS V.5® software, which integrates three hypotheses. Finally, the results indicate that ICT has a direct and positive effect on the procurement process; however, its explanatory power is greater for the inventory.