IJCSCM

The Role of Digital Manufacturing in Supporting the Smart Supply Chain: An Exploratory Study of Managers’ Perspectives at Al-Kindi Factory

Author's Name:

Yasameen Taha Abdulrazzaq


Nineveh Technical Administration Institute/Nineveh, Northern Technical University, Mosul-41001-Iraq

Dheyaa Muzahem Rashid


Nineveh Technical Administration Institute/Nineveh, Northern Technical University, Mosul-41001-Iraq

Ibrahim Abdlkhaleq Ibrahim


Nineveh Technical Administration Institute/Nineveh, Northern Technical University, Mosul-41001-Iraq

The present investigation seeks to analyse the contribution of digital manufacturing (DM) to the enhancement of the smart supply chain (SSC) at Al-Kindi Factory in Mosul, operating under the General Company for Communications and Power Equipment. The study is centred on the core issue of how DM can be leveraged to strengthen the SSC in order to create a manufacturing setting that improves supply chain adaptability and responsiveness to evolving market dynamics. A descriptive–analytical research design was employed to achieve the study objectives. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, which constituted the principal tool for the empirical component of the research. The instrument was administered to managerial personnel at Al-Kindi Factory in Mosul, resulting in 90 valid responses deemed appropriate for statistical analysis. The obtained data were subsequently processed, and the proposed hypotheses were examined using established statistical software, specifically SPSS version 26. The empirical findings led to several key conclusions. Most notably, DM was shown to facilitate real-time data acquisition and processing, thereby enhancing the speed and quality of managerial decision-making and reinforcing SSC performance. This, in turn, supports cost minimisation and waste reduction. In light of these outcomes, the study puts forward a number of recommendations, including the modernisation of the examined factory through the adoption of advanced technologies such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), with the aim of strengthening immediate communication across production lines and the broader supply chain network.

Keywords: Digital Manufacturing, Smart Supply Chain, Internet of Things.