Optimization of supplier portfolio of a water bottling plant
Montoya Sanavia, Elsa (2016)
2016
Talouden ja rakentamisen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Built Environment
This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2016-08-17
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201608024358
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201608024358
Tiivistelmä
Suppliers are important nowadays since they are involved in every part of the business and that is why they are key elements of an organization.
This thesis focuses on the optimization of supplier portfolio of a specific company. The aim of the study is to analyze the supplier base of a company and proceed with a supplier selection elaborated by three different methods. The objective is to see if the actual contracts achieve the company’s priorities by comparing our solutions with the real one and find the differences between the three methodologies that can be applied. The company’s main business area is water bottling therefore the study focuses in the food and drink industry.
The research question is: What is an optimal supplier portfolio for a water bottling plant? Which lead us to know how a water bottling plant could optimize it. The optimal supplier portfolio has been overall defined by some criteria about supplier features and company requirements; and it is reachable thanks to the scientific selection methods provided by several authors.
Based on the literature, a survey instrument was developed to collect data, which allowed us to provide a reliable analysis and subsequent recommendations. This survey collects information about three main groups of suppliers: Equipment, services and raw materials. This data is about 34 suppliers that belong to these three buckets. All suppliers are scored according to the ten selected supplier characteristics: Proximity, post- sales services, quality, lead times, flexibility, financial status, communication, past experience, technical capacity and delivery. In addition, the supplier features have been also ranked in these questionnaires for each group since it is considered that the dimensions may have not the same importance according to the supplier function.
The methods used for reaching the final recommendations are AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process, Checklists and portfolio maps. The aim of using several tools is to compare the different solutions they provide.
The results show us similarities and differences between the company solution and the obtained by applying the methodologies. These allowed us to make some recommendations in order to optimize the portfolio. In addition, some conclusions about methods are included based on the results we obtained.
This thesis focuses on the optimization of supplier portfolio of a specific company. The aim of the study is to analyze the supplier base of a company and proceed with a supplier selection elaborated by three different methods. The objective is to see if the actual contracts achieve the company’s priorities by comparing our solutions with the real one and find the differences between the three methodologies that can be applied. The company’s main business area is water bottling therefore the study focuses in the food and drink industry.
The research question is: What is an optimal supplier portfolio for a water bottling plant? Which lead us to know how a water bottling plant could optimize it. The optimal supplier portfolio has been overall defined by some criteria about supplier features and company requirements; and it is reachable thanks to the scientific selection methods provided by several authors.
Based on the literature, a survey instrument was developed to collect data, which allowed us to provide a reliable analysis and subsequent recommendations. This survey collects information about three main groups of suppliers: Equipment, services and raw materials. This data is about 34 suppliers that belong to these three buckets. All suppliers are scored according to the ten selected supplier characteristics: Proximity, post- sales services, quality, lead times, flexibility, financial status, communication, past experience, technical capacity and delivery. In addition, the supplier features have been also ranked in these questionnaires for each group since it is considered that the dimensions may have not the same importance according to the supplier function.
The methods used for reaching the final recommendations are AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process, Checklists and portfolio maps. The aim of using several tools is to compare the different solutions they provide.
The results show us similarities and differences between the company solution and the obtained by applying the methodologies. These allowed us to make some recommendations in order to optimize the portfolio. In addition, some conclusions about methods are included based on the results we obtained.