An appraisal of uncertainties in the Western Australian wine industry supply chain

Wine is one of the significant export items of Western Australia. In 2001/2002, the State’s wine exports amounted to about A$42 million. Despite its economic importance research on the supply chain aspects of WA wine industry is rather limited. This paper presents the sources of uncertainties in WA wine supply chain based on the results of an electronic focus group study with WA wine industry stakeholders. The group identified 74 items of uncertainties, which were then grouped into 26 unique major headings. It was revealed that sources of most of the uncertainties are operational with ‘storage/transport/logistics’ topping the list.