Due to the ongoing globalisation and fast changes within the business environment companies are forced to adapt more quickly to customer needs. Therefore, they depend on reliable suppliers which provide them with the necessary goods and services. As a consequence, finding suitable suppliers is of utmost importance for companies. To be able to choose those suppliers companies need to establish criteria on which basis potential suppliers can be evaluate and select afterwards. Against this background, this master thesis researches the supplier selection process from the end manufacturer’s point of view. Hereby, the focus is laid on theoretical supplier evaluation criteria and methods. Due to the lack of investigations in this branch of industry the authors have chosen the sporting goods manufacturing industry within Sweden and Austria as their field of study. They have been supported in their research by the companies the Arctic City Counting House AB, the ATOMIC Austria GmbH, and the HEAD Sports AG which provided them with the essential empirical data. Keeping the above mentioned fact in the back of one’s mind, the authors deduce the following research question: On which basis and how do manufacturers of sports equipment in Sweden and Austria evaluate and select their suppliers? Within the theoretical part the reader of this thesis first of all gets an overview of supplier-buyer relationships and afterwards is informed about the structure of the supplier selection process, starting with the preparation step, followed by prequalification and evaluation steps and resulting in the final selection and the continuous controlling of the suppliers. In addition, common criteria which are necessary to evaluate suppliers are presented. Furthermore, the reader is provided with an insight into general evaluation models whereby four common theoretical methods are explained in detail (AHP, TCO, DCA, and DEA). Out of this theoretical data a conceptual model was created. The empirical part consists of practical information which was provided by the three researched companies mentioned above through questionnaires and interviews. The analysed data concludes that the evaluation criteria which are given in theory are also used in practice. In addition, it was discovered that a further criteria category is applied within the researched companies. The values of the evaluation criteria depend on the goals of the respective company. The theoretical evaluation models on the other hand are not used by the examined sporting goods manufacturers. All of them use their own methods which are presented in the empirical as well as in the analytical part of this thesis. Finally, this thesis ends with a conclusion and with the answer of the research question. Based on this thesis sporting goods manufacturers get an insight in specific supplier evaluation methods and thus gain the chance to learn how other companies within this industry evaluate and select their suppliers.

<p>Based on current competitive market, supply chain becomes to be more and more important to overall corporate strategy. Finding good suppliers makes much more senses for the companies nowadays as purchasing is one of the basis parts on the upstream of the supply chain.</p><p>China has been very successful on turning itself into a production powerhouse in just two decades, so how to find and select the convenient suppliers in China is a very important and modern topic.</p><p>The thesis has been starting with the introduction part, where the importance of outsourcing, Chinese current manufacturing capabilities and some other factors will be introduced. Besides, the purpose of this thesis is to study and analysis the criteria and processes are used by PCH International on the selection of suppliers in China. The authors try to understand how foreign companies find the right Chinese suppliers based on a case studying, which is PCH International, an Irish company.</p><p>Within the theoretical framework part, the authors discussed the supplier selection criteria firstly, which are very important and necessary to evaluate suppliers’ performances. Then the thesis was provided with an insight into some common theoretical methods, which followed by the supplier selection processes. Total Cost of Ownership, Data Envelopment Analysis and Mathematical Programming are presented in basic term. The part in the theoretical review was informed about the structure of the supplier selection process, starting with the preparation step, followed by prequalification and evaluation steps and resulting in the final selection of the suppliers.</p><p>In the methodology part, the approach for the research will be presented, it will be divided into four parts, which are choice of topic, choice of method, data collection, research’s validity and reliability.</p><p>The empirical finding part consists of practical information which was provided by the case company mentioned above through questionnaires and interviews. The values of the evaluation criteria are depend on the respective goals.</p><p>For data analysis, the theoretical evaluation models, on the other hand, are not used by this case. The company uses their own methods which are presented in the empirical part as well as in the analytical part of this thesis, the reasons will be describe carefully in this chapter.</p><p>Finally, this thesis ends with a conclusion, which with the answer of the research question.</p>

<p>Background:Scholars tend to view global sourcing as a one-way street, whereby multinational manufacturers from developed countries purchase low-cost materials and products from developing countries. Undoubtedly, one of the purchasing bases for them is China because of its abundant resources and cheap labor. That is why China is aptly called the “Global Factory.” Conversely, few Chinese manufactures currently adopt a global sourcing strategy. However, the higher demand for technical quality and an increase in manufacturing cost is driving more Chinese manufacturers to adopt a global sourcing strategy in order to improve their competitive advantage. This would help them to optimize the use of global resources.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze what problems and challenges Chinese manufacturing companies face in the implementation of a global sourcing strategy.</p><p>Research Method: Our study shall analyze the situation and problems encountered when Chinese manufacturers implement a global sourcing strategy. To achieve this deep understanding we need to perform a qualitative investigation of some Chinese manufacturers. Hence, we chose qualitative research as our methodology of this thesis.</p><p>Conclusion:Pursuing global sourcing is a process which takes a long time and involves many obstacles to be overcome. In this complicated situation, there is not a universal compass to pursue global sourcing. Inexperienced Chinese manufacturers have to deal with each problem in order to develop an advanced level of global sourcing and to face the challenges from logistics capabilities, selecting foreign sources, protectionism, regulations, and so on.</p>

<p>Due to the ongoing globalisation and fast changes within the business environment companies are forced to adapt more quickly to customer needs. Therefore, they depend on reliable suppliers which provide them with the necessary goods and services. As a consequence, finding suitable suppliers is of utmost importance for companies. To be able to choose those suppliers companies need to establish criteria on which basis potential suppliers can be evaluate and select afterwards.</p><p>Against this background, this master thesis researches the supplier selection process from the end manufacturer’s point of view. Hereby, the focus is laid on theoretical supplier evaluation criteria and methods. Due to the lack of investigations in this branch of industry the authors have chosen the sporting goods manufacturing industry within Sweden and Austria as their field of study. They have been supported in their research by the companies the Arctic City Counting House AB, the ATOMIC Austria GmbH, and the HEAD Sports AG which provided them with the essential empirical data.</p><p>Keeping the above mentioned fact in the back of one’s mind, the authors deduce the following research question:</p><p>On which basis and how do manufacturers of sports equipment in Sweden and Austria evaluate and select their suppliers?</p><p>Within the theoretical part the reader of this thesis first of all gets an overview of supplier-buyer relationships and afterwards is informed about the structure of the supplier selection process, starting with the preparation step, followed by prequalification and evaluation steps and resulting in the final selection and the continuous controlling of the suppliers. In addition, common criteria which are necessary to evaluate suppliers are presented. Furthermore, the reader is provided with an insight into general evaluation models whereby four common theoretical methods are explained in detail (AHP, TCO, DCA, and DEA). Out of this theoretical data a conceptual model was created.</p><p>The empirical part consists of practical information which was provided by the three researched companies mentioned above through questionnaires and interviews. The analysed data concludes that the evaluation criteria which are given in theory are also used in practice. In addition, it was discovered that a further criteria category is applied within the researched companies. The values of the evaluation criteria depend on the goals of the respective company. The theoretical evaluation models on the other hand are not used by the examined sporting goods manufacturers. All of them use their own methods which are presented in the empirical as well as in the analytical part of this thesis. Finally, this thesis ends with a conclusion and with the answer of the research question.</p><p>Based on this thesis sporting goods manufacturers get an insight in specific supplier evaluation methods and thus gain the chance to learn how other companies within this industry evaluate and select their suppliers.</p>

Supplier selection plays an important role in any organisation. This study investigates and examines supplier selection criteria and the impacts on buying firm performance; specifically focusing on the telecommunications industry in Malaysia. Previous studies in this area have focussed on the criteria such as quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management and decision making tools and techniques. However, little research has been undertaken to include government policies and business ethics as elements in the supplier selection criteria. After a literature review and interviews, the development of conceptual frameworks and a number of hypotheses were put forward. To achieve an in-depth study, four major telecommunications service provider companies in Malaysia were chosen as a case study. A questionnaire was used as the main instrument in gathering data. The questionnaire is principally concerned with the understanding of supplier selection and its criteria; based upon the variables that are used for the model and hypothesis testing. The study also investigates the relationship between supplier selection and the impact of supplier selection to the company performance. This model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique with the AMOS software application. Results indicated all of the criteria include quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management, decision making tools and techniques, government policy and business ethics as valid constructs. A good model fit was also established. The findings of this research conclude that the influencing criteria to supplier selection in the telecommunications industry in Malaysia are supplier delivery performance standards and supplier relationship management even when considering the remainder of the above mentioned elements.The price factors were found to be less important due to this factor possibly leading to unhealthy competition in the market in terms of price wars among the suppliers in order to win the business. Most of the criteria are also interrelated to each other and affect the supplier selection decision. This model has added new perspectives to the study of supplier selection in the supply chain management field. As for future research it is suggested that intangible elements such as political, cultural and social influences are included in the conceptual framework; as this would offer important insight for management bodies in organisation, academia and public policy fields alike.

Conventionally, the focus during supplier evaluation has been to assess cost, quality and delivery effectiveness due to their impact on profitability. In recent years, there has been increased emphasis on promoting more sustainable business practices that focus on reducing environmental impact and improve societal well-being, in addition to economic benefits. However, most of the existing supplier evaluation methods in literature as well as those used by leading companies fall short of comprehensively assessing suppliers from a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) perspective. TBL defined as holistically looking at the economic, environmental, and societal aspects of an entity. This paper presents a review and selection of metrics for economic, environmental and societal sustainability evaluation. In addition, this work proposes a methodology for combining the scores into a comprehensive score that can be used to compare two entities performance relative to the TBL.

This thesis attempts to integrate the three supplier processes- supplier segmentation, supplier selection/evaluation and order allocation- based on a case study of a white goods manufacturer. These processes are dealt with in a hierarchical manner, where the decisions at an earlier stage (supplier segmentation) may affect on the results of later stages (supplier selection/evaluation and order allocation). Based on a wide set of variables gathered from the supplier segmentation literature and from the framework developed by the case company, a factor analysis is performed. The resulting eight factors (complexity and criticality, supply market dynamism, supplier&rsquo / s economic dependence, buyer&rsquo / s supplier dependence, uncertainty, supplier capabilities, supplier&rsquo / s specialization to white goods manufacturer and possibility of harm to user) are used for clustering analysis with the K-means method. Three different clustering schemes (4-clusters, 8-clusters, and 18-clusters) are analyzed to see the effect of number of clusters on the cluster means. A supplier selection model is constructed by the PROMETHEE method as was done in a former study at the same company. Two different scenarios are considered in the supplier selection phase: First, data from the former study are kept as they are. The second scenario considers a change of criteria weights. As a result, the qualified suppliers were found to be the same in both scenarios, but the rankings and net flows, which were inputs to the order allocation model, changed. The effects of these changes were discussed at a conceptual level, due to a lack of case data for the order allocation model.

A disseminação de sistemas de aquisição de dados sobre a qualidade e o desempenho de produtos e processos de fabricação deu origem a novos tipos de dados. Dado funcional é um conjunto de dados que formam um perfil ou uma curva. No perfil, a característica de qualidade é uma função dependente de uma ou mais variáveis exploratórias ou independentes. A análise de dados funcionais é um tema de pesquisa recente praticado em diversas áreas do conhecimento. Na indústria, os dados funcionais aparecem no controle de qualidade. A ausência de métodos apropriados a dados funcionais pode levar ao uso de métodos ineficientes e reduzir o desempenho e a qualidade de um produto ou processo. A análise de dados funcionais através de métodos multivariados pode ser inadequada devido à alta dimensionalidade e estruturas de variância e covariância dos dados. O desenvolvimento teórico de métodos para a análise de dados funcionais na área de Engenharia da Qualidade encontra-se defasado em relação ao potencial de aplicações práticas. Este trabalho identificou a existência dos dados funcionais tratados por métodos ineficientes. Os métodos atuais para controle de qualidade de dados são adaptados a situações específicas, conforme o tipo de dado funcional e a fase do monitoramento. Este trabalho apresenta propostas para métodos de análise de dados funcionais aplicáveis a questões relevantes da área de pesquisa em Engenharia da Qualidade, tais como: (i) o uso da análise de variância em experimentos com dados funcionais; (ii) gráficos de controle para monitoramento de perfis; e (iii) a análise e seleção de perfis de fornecedores em projetos inovadores. / The dissemination of data acquisition systems on the quality and performance of products and manufacturing process has given rise to new types of data. Functional data are a collection of data points organized as a profile or curve. In profile, the quality characteristic is a function dependent on one or more exploratory or independent variables. The functional data analysis is a recent research topic practiced in various areas of knowledge. In industry, the functional data appears in quality control. The lack of suitable methods can lead to use of inefficient methods and reducing the performance and quality of a product or process. The analysis of functional data by multivariate methods may be inadequate due to the high dimensionality and variance and covariance structures of the data. The development of theoretical methods for the analysis of functional data in Quality Engineering area is lagged behind the potential for practical applications. This work identified the existence of functional data processed by inefficient methods. Current methods for data quality control are adapted to specific situations, depending on the type of functional data and the phase of monitoring. This paper presents proposals for functional data analysis methods applicable to relevant research questions in the area of Quality Engineering such as: (i) the use of analysis of variance in experiments with functional data; (ii) control charts for monitoring profiles; and (iii) the analysis and selection of supplier profiles on innovative projects.

A disseminação de sistemas de aquisição de dados sobre a qualidade e o desempenho de produtos e processos de fabricação deu origem a novos tipos de dados. Dado funcional é um conjunto de dados que formam um perfil ou uma curva. No perfil, a característica de qualidade é uma função dependente de uma ou mais variáveis exploratórias ou independentes. A análise de dados funcionais é um tema de pesquisa recente praticado em diversas áreas do conhecimento. Na indústria, os dados funcionais aparecem no controle de qualidade. A ausência de métodos apropriados a dados funcionais pode levar ao uso de métodos ineficientes e reduzir o desempenho e a qualidade de um produto ou processo. A análise de dados funcionais através de métodos multivariados pode ser inadequada devido à alta dimensionalidade e estruturas de variância e covariância dos dados. O desenvolvimento teórico de métodos para a análise de dados funcionais na área de Engenharia da Qualidade encontra-se defasado em relação ao potencial de aplicações práticas. Este trabalho identificou a existência dos dados funcionais tratados por métodos ineficientes. Os métodos atuais para controle de qualidade de dados são adaptados a situações específicas, conforme o tipo de dado funcional e a fase do monitoramento. Este trabalho apresenta propostas para métodos de análise de dados funcionais aplicáveis a questões relevantes da área de pesquisa em Engenharia da Qualidade, tais como: (i) o uso da análise de variância em experimentos com dados funcionais; (ii) gráficos de controle para monitoramento de perfis; e (iii) a análise e seleção de perfis de fornecedores em projetos inovadores. / The dissemination of data acquisition systems on the quality and performance of products and manufacturing process has given rise to new types of data. Functional data are a collection of data points organized as a profile or curve. In profile, the quality characteristic is a function dependent on one or more exploratory or independent variables. The functional data analysis is a recent research topic practiced in various areas of knowledge. In industry, the functional data appears in quality control. The lack of suitable methods can lead to use of inefficient methods and reducing the performance and quality of a product or process. The analysis of functional data by multivariate methods may be inadequate due to the high dimensionality and variance and covariance structures of the data. The development of theoretical methods for the analysis of functional data in Quality Engineering area is lagged behind the potential for practical applications. This work identified the existence of functional data processed by inefficient methods. Current methods for data quality control are adapted to specific situations, depending on the type of functional data and the phase of monitoring. This paper presents proposals for functional data analysis methods applicable to relevant research questions in the area of Quality Engineering such as: (i) the use of analysis of variance in experiments with functional data; (ii) control charts for monitoring profiles; and (iii) the analysis and selection of supplier profiles on innovative projects.

Um mercado globalizado altamente competitivo e a crescente horizontalização das cadeias de abastecimento realçam a importância da racionalização dos custos e da adequada seleção de fornecedores. Esses mesmos fatores, no entanto, agravam a complexidade envolvida no desempenhar dessas tarefas. A fim de desatar tais nós, o presente trabalho propõe uma abordagem para a seleção de fornecedores que conjuga técnicas de programação matemática que permitam a exploração de economias de escala e escopo a uma metodologia inovadora para construção de cenários de demanda baseada em conceitos modernos de suprimentos. O resultado desta abordagem foi um modelo de programação inteira mista visando a minimização dos custos por desempenho adquirido. Os resultados obtidos na aplicação a um caso hipotético relevam efetividade na redução dos custos, sem prejuízo à qualidade dos materiais adquiridos. O impacto nos custos decorre da reconfiguração da demanda, aumento do poder de barganha interno e externo e aproveitamento de ganhos de escala e escopo. / A highly competitive globalized market and a growingly horizontalization through supply chains highlight the importance of properly selecting suppliers and managing costs. These same factors, however, increase the complexity in performing such tasks. In order to solve this plot, it is presented in this work an approach for supplier selection connecting mathematical programming techniques, which allow the use of economies of scope and scale, and an innovative methodology that applies modern concepts of purchasing management for constructing new demand scenarios. From this approach a mixed integer programming model derives, with the goal of minimizing costs per performance acquired. The results of its application in a hypothetical case reveal the effectiveness of the approach in reducing the costs with no significant impact on the acquired performance. This is explained by the reconfiguration of the demand, a shift in the bargaining power within and out of the company and the incorporation of economies of scope and scale.