Industrial Engineering Letters www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6096 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0581 (online) DOI: 10.7176/IEL Vol.9, No.2, 2019 11 Influence of Supply Chain Management on Performance of Textile Firms in Kenya, A Case of Nairobi City County Dr. Noor Ismail Shale John Kiari Osoro Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, School of Human Resource and Development PO Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya Abstract This study intended to establish the influence of Supply chain management on performance of textile firms in Nairobi City County.. This study used descriptive research design. Both qualitative and quantitative research design was used to complement each other. The target population of this study was 120 respondents from the textile firms in Nairobi City County. This is the unit of analyzes. My unit of observation was the seven textile firms. For this study the unit of analysis comprised: two senior textile managers, two senior procurement officers and one senior officer from finance in each of the firms. The study opted to do a census survey since the firms were very few. A purposive random sampling technique was used to pick the right respondents. Pilot test of 10 % was done for the purpose of confirming reliability and validity of the research instruments: Keywords: Claims, Delivery, Administration DOI: 10.7176/IEL/9-2-02 Publication date:March 31 st 2019 1.1 Introduction In supply chain management production planning is the process of determining a tentative plan for how much production will occur in the next several time periods, during an interval of time called the planning horizon. Production planning also determines expected inventory levels, as well as the workforce and other resources necessary to implement the production plans. Production planning is done using an aggregate view of the production facility, the demand for products and even of time (ex. using monthly time periods). Production planning is commonly defined as the cross-functional process of devising an aggregate production plan for groups of products over a month or quarter, based on management targets for production, sales and inventory levels (Lysons & Farrington, 2013). According to Jeffreys and Thomas (2010), this plan should meet operating requirements for fulfilling basic business profitability and market goals and provide the overall desired framework in developing the master production schedule and in evaluating capacity and resource requirements. In supply chain management production scheduling defines which products should be produced and which products should be consumed in each time instant over a given small time horizon; hence, it defines which run-mode to use and when to perform changeovers in order to meet the market needs and satisfy the demand In Nairobi city county textile firms have gained huge recognition due to its potential in play a key role in employment and increasing economic diversification for Kenyan citizens hence in the long run offering new opportunities for Kenyan businesses to get an increasing share of the global market. The textile sector played a substantial role in underpinning the African Growth and opportunity act. It also shows there is offers more opportunities for growth and job employments to the young citizens through the increased value capture and logistics systems that are streamlined (Toroitich, Mburugu & Waweru, 2017). The textile sector in Kenya grew at 3.5% in 2015 and 3.2% in 2014, contributing 10.3% to gross domestic product (GDP). On average, however, textile has been growing at a slower rate than the economy, which expanded by 5.6% in 2015. This implies that the share of textile in GDP has been reducing over time. As a result, it can be argued that Kenya is going through premature deindustrialization in a context where textile and industry are still relatively under-developed. Kenya seems to have ‘peaked’ at a point much lower than in much of Asia (Chandra, 2010). 2.1 Inventory Management Inventory is the total amount of commodities or materials contained in a store house or warehouse at a given time. It can refer to both the total amount of commodities and the act of counting them (Subba, 2016). Inventory management refers to the tracking and management of commodities which includes the monitoring of commodities moved into and out of stockroom locations and the reconciling of the inventory balances. Inventory management plays a crucial role in providing efficient flow of materials from upstream side of the supply chain to the downstream. In the long run this ensures the required goods and services for the textile firm are readily available to the market at an affordable prices. In the firm, all inventory policies must be of benefit by driving period operating expenses and working capital requirements (Solomon & Ayebale, 2017). According to Simiyu (2016), inventory management involves all activities put in place to ensure that the customer has the needed product or service. Inventory management coordinates the manufacturing, procuring