Improving supply chain lead time and performance in practice
Marjamäki, Samuli Matti Kimmonpoika (2015)
2015
Tuotantotalouden koulutusohjelma
Talouden ja rakentamisen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2015-05-06
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201504221210
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201504221210
Tiivistelmä
The reduction of lead time and improvement in supply chain efficiency was the main goal of the company in this research. Company also wanted to find ways to decrease costs and operate in a challenging environment of Scandinavia. Demand of graphic papers was decreasing, customers requested for better service and shorter lead times. The main research purpose was to find the modern Supply chain management practices best fit the company supply chain.
Action research methodology was selected for the research. The research was divided into three different phases. First the situation was analyzed through company supply chain data and together with the employees in the supply chain. Then the idea was to gather practical improvement ideas that help in reducing lead time and improving supply chain performance in Scandinavia. This was done at three different workshops, which each had three different focus areas selected by researcher and employees in the supply chain. Finally the goal was to implement the ideas to daily operation quickly after each workshop and follow the implementation and gather experiences to find out which improvement methods or ideas fit the company supply chain best.
In the situation analysis many constraints for company supply chain performance were found. Earlier research also supported the findings. Logistics issues, conflicting interests inside the supply chain, information flow, inefficient operating policies and metrics were the main improvement areas in the company supply chain found in situation analysis. The company environment in Scandinavia had also affection to supply chain performance. In the workshops the amount of new improvement ideas and methods was larger than expected. The most effective and practical ideas were implemented almost immediately as a part of daily action. It was also found that these ideas had a positive effect to company supply chain performance and customer satisfaction. Some ideas were not possible to implement at the limits of the thesis, but they remain in further consideration at the company. Key finding was also that best improvement ideas do not require wide and cross-organizational coordination. Best supply chain improvement ideas and methods had affection to operation only at single function level and were easy to implement.
Action research methodology was selected for the research. The research was divided into three different phases. First the situation was analyzed through company supply chain data and together with the employees in the supply chain. Then the idea was to gather practical improvement ideas that help in reducing lead time and improving supply chain performance in Scandinavia. This was done at three different workshops, which each had three different focus areas selected by researcher and employees in the supply chain. Finally the goal was to implement the ideas to daily operation quickly after each workshop and follow the implementation and gather experiences to find out which improvement methods or ideas fit the company supply chain best.
In the situation analysis many constraints for company supply chain performance were found. Earlier research also supported the findings. Logistics issues, conflicting interests inside the supply chain, information flow, inefficient operating policies and metrics were the main improvement areas in the company supply chain found in situation analysis. The company environment in Scandinavia had also affection to supply chain performance. In the workshops the amount of new improvement ideas and methods was larger than expected. The most effective and practical ideas were implemented almost immediately as a part of daily action. It was also found that these ideas had a positive effect to company supply chain performance and customer satisfaction. Some ideas were not possible to implement at the limits of the thesis, but they remain in further consideration at the company. Key finding was also that best improvement ideas do not require wide and cross-organizational coordination. Best supply chain improvement ideas and methods had affection to operation only at single function level and were easy to implement.