This thesis intended to evidence the need for change in a SME to reduce levels of inventory based on their process related to their supply chain management. This research focused on CPFR which is a process innovation tool that stands for collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (Cassivi, 2006). The idea behind this process is to make collaborative actions on all members of the supply chain to come up with a share vision and objective. Based on the core concept of this process partners along the supply chain share information based on customer trends and needs to create a single forecast that is visualize at all times by its members to react accordingly to sudden changes in demand. The research´s main objective is to describe the main process needed for CPFR implementation in actual SME that is struggling in a supply chain that is under constant pressure and obtain insight on the benefits involved in this process to reduce levels of inventory. The research was made based on the concept of CPFR through the use of databases such as Google scholar to come up with a first idea of the concept and examples of other companies implementing CPFR as a their main process for their supply chain. The second approach was to contact the companies involved in our case and use questionnaires to identify the relationship and the problems involved in their supply chain structure. This methodology was used to establish a comparison between what has been done in other companies and what is needed in our case company. The companies involved in the research are a SME and a large manufacturer. The large manufacturer is working under CPFR but with final retailers setting aside the value of incorporating upstream suppliers. Due to bullwhip effect upstream suppliers are incrementing their warehousing facilities to react to changes on the demand. This is incrementing the cost of the operation and it is creating an unstable supply. The research demonstrated companies in where CPFR is proven to reduce stockouts, markdowns, levels of inventory, time to market, strengthen the relationship and overall reduce costs. Based on the discoveries in the retail industry it was clear the benefits from this process. Companies such as Condis revealed important information based on incorporating upstream suppliers. At the end observations were made based on implementation strategies such as following the 9 step guidelines set up by VICS, developing pilot programs, reducing the number of SKU´s at the beginning, working on seasonal products rather than standard products, and developing and implementing better IT systems to manage the level of information needed.

Background: Higher global competition and more demanding customers force manufacturing companies to develop and adopt new collaborative strategies; the collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment concept allows stronger supply chain cooperation, cost saving, improved efficiency and performance. Purpose: Exploratory, to study the criticality of factors that can affect the feasibility of a potential a CPFR implementation in Sweden, from the perspective of a manufacturer in a pre-CPFR implementation stage.Method: Qualitative research, using a multiple case method of two manufacturing firms operating in Sweden. Using content analysis, it revolves around studying factor criticality, all the while showing differences and commonalities in terms capabilities, and future feasibility of CPFR between the two case studies. Findings: High degree of interconnectivity between the factors; the critical success factors for Sweden are relationship and trust, goal alignment, KPI’s and costs, with very important factors such as cross-functional communication, top management support, and lower impacting factors such as IT infrastructure and change management. Relationship and trust, cross-functional communication and change management are developed factors that the Swedish manufacturing firms possess. Implications: The study’s contributions are related to the criticality of factors that can affect CPFR implementations in Sweden’s manufacturing sector, showing the importance of each, contributing academically in attempting to fill in the gap related to CPFR in Sweden, and practically by allowing better strategic decision-making in relation to future implementations. This is even more relevant due to a thorough lack of research in this area.

隨著全球化營運的佈局以及企業追求時效與速度的壓力下、企業開始重視其上游、下游廠商之快速反應與連結性、以能及時提供對企業有利的資訊以提供全球化的競爭力。由全球供應鏈協會(Supply Chain Council)所提出的SCOR(Supply Chain Operations Reference-model)，主要強調提升企業現有流程並整合其類似產業之管理活動與資訊系統以達到未來最佳化之供應鏈管理模式。此外近年來VIC所提倡的協同商務之新發展模式CPFR®（Collaborative Planning、Forecasting、Replenishment---協同、規劃、預測、補貨），是以全方位的思維與協同合作方式，來為供應鏈中的各企業夥伴降低供應鏈成本，增加整體利潤；其目標為藉由共同務實的方法，以提高內部企業合作的利益。 近來國外各大製造商紛紛推行CPFR前導作業(Pilot project)， 國內企業如中環(CMC)、力山集團(Rexon)也開始通行CPFR各項流程活動，但由於CPFR目前的指示書(Roadmap)與其九大步驟只分別對於導入流程有統略性的解釋，並無詳細導入流程步驟解釋，這使得企業導入CPFR®時需要花費長時間了解其CPFR之精隨。 有鑑於此，本研究透過文獻探討彙整的方式，以瞭解企業成功導入CPFR之方法，；接著，利用模式推導方式，並結合SCOR企業流程模式與CPFR協同商務模式，提出適合企業導入CPFR商業流程模式之參考模式及建議，將其參考模式針對個案公司之情境作流程上的模擬 ； 再者本研究將以製造業為例，對事先選定之個案公司透過深入訪談、實際觀察、企業內部文件及檔案資料收集方式，輔以非結構化問卷進行個案研究 ； 最後，對此個案研究所得之結論與參考模式模擬之結果，以供未來國內企業導入CPFR之參考。 / Under the trend of globalize marketing, business firms are facing the challenges of operation efficiency and speed. Enterprises starting to get more attention on the capabilities of upper and lower-stream partners, abilities like quick response, connectivity and able to provide useful information for the company to gain greater advantage on globalize market. The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference-model) from Supply Chain Council provided the integration of supply chain management activities, which includes current business activities, business process activities and IT enabling activities. Furthermore, VIC advocated a new collaborative SCM model CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment) to decrease costs and increase sales by putting all members of partner in supply chain in a collaborative environment. Concerning on the CPFR deployment we have found that CPFR only provided a general process model, no further explanation on each process function and lack of specific detail activities. Therefore deployment of CPFR sometimes occur difficulty. In order to realize the critical factors for a company to successful deploys CPFR, several literature reviews were conducted in this thesis. In this research, we tend to develop an implementation methodology that contains both spirits from SCOR process model and CPFR collaborative model. Furthermore, this methodology will be test and verify in real-case process simulation in order to adjust our reference model from real case situation. At last, research results such as 1) Industrial CPFR implementation reference model, 2) Current state of domestic CPFR deployment, 3) Environmental factors between overseas and domestic CPFR deployment and 4) Key successful factors to be implement CPFR for domestic companies, will be generate for future domestic CPFR deployment.

企業採用RFID將是一種未來的趨勢，它受到環境、技術、組織等因素的影響，都將牽動企業採用RFID技術的速度和廣度。本研究將從企業採用新技術的應用考量因素，尤其是大量使用條碼的商業流程，若導入RFID的應用，勢必對原有作業產生極大的影響。其次是它帶來的效益不是只有技術的引進，而是必須在整個作業流程上要有所突破，佐以另外的作業流程改變。因此如何應用CPFR的架構模型導入3C流通業，才是真正能達成RFID技術的被採用。 自從VICS(The Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards)於1988 年提出協同規劃、預測與補貨(Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment；CPFR)後，目前台灣3C 流通業導入CPFR 模式的應用尚在起步階段。因此本研究將依據VICS 所提出的CPFR 九大步驟，輔以個案公司的實際執行狀況，來探討CPFR 模式是否適用於目前國內的3C 流通業。 本研究發現，個案公司在實際導入CPFR 後，確實能減少庫存、提高商品的週轉率及降低不必要的人工作業時間，但另方面卻發現CPFR並沒有顧及到兩個重要議題為：製造商與零售商的預測尚未整合、協同合作是從開出訂單後才開始的問題。另一方面，本研究也發現 CPFR 在中小企業林立的台灣因受到營運成本、專業人員流動大、技術更新及管理不易的限制，加上企業間原本就互信基礎薄弱及資訊與利益的分享無法建立共識之下有執行上的困難。因此，本研究將以一個合理的假設情境，從個案導入的過程中，分析供應商從通路商的銷售端 ( CRM 資料庫)中取得訂單預測與存貨管理的狀況，結果發現以 CPFR 模式執行，不但在銷貨及訂單的預測比傳統模式更加精確，尚可以降低門市庫存的波動、減少通路商的安全庫存及存貨的成本，避免供應鏈中「長鞭效應」(bullwhip effect) 的發生，真正達到 RFID 的功效，也驗證了 CPFR 架構的必要性。 / Using RFID will be one kind of trend in the future among the enterprises. It is affected by enviorment, technology and organization. All factors will affect using speed and breadth of the enterprises. This study considerate the factors of the enterprises applying new technology, especially heavy use of bar code business process. If RFID is applied, it must be a greatly impacts among the existing operation. Second, the benefits of using RFID are not only the application of new technology, but also a breakthrough of the whole processes. Therefore, the structure of how to apply CPFR model into 3C logistic business is the key factor to make the RFID technology applied successfully. Since 1988, the VICS (The Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards) proposed CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment), the application of CPFR in 3C logistic business in Taiwan is in the beginning. Therefore, this study would base on the nine steps of CPFR proposed bu VICS, supplemented by cases of actual applied status of company, to explore whether the CPFR model is suitable for 3C logistic business in Taiwan or not. This study discovers that case company can reduce the inventorys, enhance the turnover rate and reduces the nonessential operating time after CPFR model is applied. But on the other hand, there are two important issues were not taken into consideration in CPFR model: the forcasts of manufacturers and retail merchants are not integrated, and collaborative cooperation is beginning after orders are placed. Besides, applying CPFR is difficult because of following reasons. Small and medium enterprises (SEMs) are so many in Taiwan, and they have the limitation of operating cost, the changes of spceialists, update of new technology and management difficulties, in addition to the weak on the mutual confidence foundation and few in common of sharing the information and benefits. Consequensely, base on a reasonable assumption, in the process of CPFR applied, this study analyze the situation of order forcasts and inventory management which are got from retailers (CRM database) by suppliers. The result finds out that executing in CPFR model, not only the forcasts of selling and orders are more precise than traditional model, but also the volatility of inventories and the cost of safety inventory can be reduced. The bullwhip effect in supply chain can be avoided, achieving the effect of RFID and the necessity of CPFR constructure is confirmed.

In recent years, many researchers investigated a new class of computer architecture, called intelligent memory (IRAM), to reduce the performance gap between the CPU and memory. In order to increase the flexibility of designing parallel applications, we develop the communication mechanisms for FlexRAM, one of the IRAM architectures. The communication protocol is called CPFR (Communication Protocol for FlexRAM). For the reason of lacking whole communication mechanism in the original FlexRAM architecture, we construct CPFR by using the features of shared-memory and the notification primitive centrally controlled by the main memory processor (P.Mem). In addition, we provide a uniform programming interface in CPFR for the programmers. An example is also used to demonstrate the usage of our communication protocol in detail.

A gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, suas complexidades e os desafios relacionados à interação entre os elos, que são formados geralmente por empresas de culturas e estruturas diferentes, trazem desafios quanto à interação desses elos. Algumas iniciativas de gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, com conceitos de colaboração são utilizadas, com propósito de oferecer maior interação ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos. Uma dessas iniciativas denominada CPFR, propõe uma concepção colaborativa nas atividades de planejamento, previsão e reposição, e vem sendo adotada entre varejos e fornecedores. Seus resultados, suas vantagens, suas barreiras e os processos para a sua implantação através de uma metodologia adotada pela VICS® são expostos, entretanto, pouco se tem evidenciado nestes trabalhos a relação quanto à maturidade necessária para implantar uma atividade colaborativa na cadeia de suprimentos varejista. A colaboração talvez exija esforços que podem ser constituídos além das questões estruturais de uma organização. Este trabalho tem como objetivo propor uma avaliação destes aspectos colaborativos na implantação do CPFR. Para isso, o tema CPFR e a concepção da colaboração na cadeia de suprimentos foram revisados e foram utilizados multi-casos de uso onde o CPFR foi implantado no varejo brasileiro. Os resultados obtidos por esses estudos de casos apontam maiores dificuldades aos aspectos da colaboração exigidos na implantação do CPFR ou durante ela, do que os aspectos estruturais ou tecnológicos. Assim, o entendimento desses aspectos colaborativos em uso com a metodologia baseada no modelo da VICS® ou qualquer outra empregada, evidencia que o entendimento dos aspectos colaborativos ao implantar o CPFR nas empresas de varejo é um importante apoio ao processo de implantação. / The management of the supply chain, its complexities and challenges related to the interaction between the links, which are usually formed by companies from different cultures and structures, bring challenges to the interaction of these links. Some initiatives in supply chain management with collaboration concepts are used, with the purpose of providing greater interaction along the supply chain. One such initiative called CPFR, we propose a design in collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment, and has been adopted between retailers and suppliers. Their results, its advantages, its processes and barriers to its implementation through a methodology adopted by VICS® are exposed, however, little has been evidenced in these studies the relationship in terms of maturity required to deploy a collaborative activity in the retail supply chain. The collaboration may require efforts that can be made in addition to structural issues within an organization. This work aims to propose a collaborative evaluation of these aspects in the implementation of CPFR. For this, the theme and design CPFR collaboration in the supply chain have been reviewed and were used multi-use cases where CPFR has been deployed in Brazilian retail. The results of these case studies point to the most difficult aspects of collaboration required in the implementation of CPFR or during her than structural or technological aspects. Thus, the understanding of these aspects in use with the collaborative methodology based on the model of VICS® or any other employee, shows that the understanding of the collaborative aspects when deploying CPFR in retail businesses is an important support the deployment process.

A gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, suas complexidades e os desafios relacionados à interação entre os elos, que são formados geralmente por empresas de culturas e estruturas diferentes, trazem desafios quanto à interação desses elos. Algumas iniciativas de gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, com conceitos de colaboração são utilizadas, com propósito de oferecer maior interação ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos. Uma dessas iniciativas denominada CPFR, propõe uma concepção colaborativa nas atividades de planejamento, previsão e reposição, e vem sendo adotada entre varejos e fornecedores. Seus resultados, suas vantagens, suas barreiras e os processos para a sua implantação através de uma metodologia adotada pela VICS® são expostos, entretanto, pouco se tem evidenciado nestes trabalhos a relação quanto à maturidade necessária para implantar uma atividade colaborativa na cadeia de suprimentos varejista. A colaboração talvez exija esforços que podem ser constituídos além das questões estruturais de uma organização. Este trabalho tem como objetivo propor uma avaliação destes aspectos colaborativos na implantação do CPFR. Para isso, o tema CPFR e a concepção da colaboração na cadeia de suprimentos foram revisados e foram utilizados multi-casos de uso onde o CPFR foi implantado no varejo brasileiro. Os resultados obtidos por esses estudos de casos apontam maiores dificuldades aos aspectos da colaboração exigidos na implantação do CPFR ou durante ela, do que os aspectos estruturais ou tecnológicos. Assim, o entendimento desses aspectos colaborativos em uso com a metodologia baseada no modelo da VICS® ou qualquer outra empregada, evidencia que o entendimento dos aspectos colaborativos ao implantar o CPFR nas empresas de varejo é um importante apoio ao processo de implantação. / The management of the supply chain, its complexities and challenges related to the interaction between the links, which are usually formed by companies from different cultures and structures, bring challenges to the interaction of these links. Some initiatives in supply chain management with collaboration concepts are used, with the purpose of providing greater interaction along the supply chain. One such initiative called CPFR, we propose a design in collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment, and has been adopted between retailers and suppliers. Their results, its advantages, its processes and barriers to its implementation through a methodology adopted by VICS® are exposed, however, little has been evidenced in these studies the relationship in terms of maturity required to deploy a collaborative activity in the retail supply chain. The collaboration may require efforts that can be made in addition to structural issues within an organization. This work aims to propose a collaborative evaluation of these aspects in the implementation of CPFR. For this, the theme and design CPFR collaboration in the supply chain have been reviewed and were used multi-use cases where CPFR has been deployed in Brazilian retail. The results of these case studies point to the most difficult aspects of collaboration required in the implementation of CPFR or during her than structural or technological aspects. Thus, the understanding of these aspects in use with the collaborative methodology based on the model of VICS® or any other employee, shows that the understanding of the collaborative aspects when deploying CPFR in retail businesses is an important support the deployment process.

資料挖掘與關聯式分析在許多案例中都有成功的應用，而對於零售商來說，除了將關聯式分析的資訊應用在銷售策略上以獲得更好的利潤之外，若能在進行銷售預測時便考量此要素，也許能更有效的提升準確度；因此本研究提出考慮產品關聯性的銷售預測模型，除了希望能夠對預測有所幫助，此外也能瞭解產品關聯性對於銷售預測的影響程度。

Historically, South African manufacturers and suppliers to the mass retail environment have been compelled to manage significant business risks as a result of the generic buying strategies employed by the mass retailing format. More recently, best practice initiatives such as SCOR’s collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment have risen to the fore of supply chain management as ways to mitigate the undesired effects of theses generic buying practices for all participants in the value chain.Traditional thinking centred on optimising only the merchandise activities and function, through cost based performance measures, have caused a number of undesired effects and invalid assumptions. These factors in turn have impacted the competitiveness and sustainability of manufacturers and suppliers as well as the supply chain ecosystem as a whole. Systemic theory suggests that in order to identify these conflicting and invalid assumptions one must approach the problem through sufficiency based thinking processes that communicate the core conflict and map out possible solutions for managers. Data for this study was collected based on the widely accepted best practice framework of supply chain management for the mass retail environment. With this in mind, this research aims to provide an academic foundation for deeper collaboration between mass retailers and their vendors, as well as an understanding of the practical implications of decisions for managers and executives, on both the mass retail, and manufacturing and supply sides of the value chain.While statistical variation is a reality in the retailing environment, the mass retailing format and its supply chain partners are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of ‘bullwhip’ due to the large scale of promotional activities undertaken. Much of this problem can be mitigated through collaboration on a meaningful bases that allows not only for responsiveness for supply chain partners but greater profitability for all participant in the value chain. It is argued that an improvement in throughput will have a positive impact on the competitiveness and sustainability of the local supply and manufacturing organisations in South Africa. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

[pt] Colaboração na cadeia de suprimentos (SCC) é um tema que tem sido amplamente discutido na literatura e é aceito que a criação de uma cadeia de suprimentos sincronizada leva ao aumento da capacidade de resposta e a menores custos de estoque. O Planejamento, Previsão e Reabastecimento Colaborativo (CPFR) é considerado por muitos autores como a mais avançada e abrangente iniciativa em SCC. Apesar do crescente número de publicações sobre CPFR, a literatura acadêmica revela a ausência de uma pesquisa que sintetize o estado da arte sobre CPFR. Desta forma, esta dissertação tem como objetivo, por meio da revisão sistemática da literatura, reunir e integrar o conhecimento sobre CPFR como um processo de negócio e como uma prática de gestão. Foram analisados 629 resumos e 47 artigos foram selecionados para a revisão e classificação. A dissertação analisa os modelos de CPFR, apresenta os principais facilitadores e barreiras para a implementação do CPFR e as diferenças entre CPFR e outras iniciativas de SCC e seus impactos no desempenho da cadeia de suprimentos (SC). Um modelo conceitual (framework) é proposto para guiar e organizar a revisão da literatura. A estrutura do framework abrange todos os elementos constitutivos necessários para descrever os elementos individuais do CPFR (contexto, insumos, estrutura e processos e resultados), suas relações e o impacto sobre o desempenho da empresa. O framework também mostra o papel funcional vertical do CPFR em construir uma ponte entre os negócios e planos estratégicos corporativos dos membros da SC com as operações conjuntas na SC. Apesar de existirem vários modelos para o CPFR, não há um consenso sobre as diferentes configurações para o CPFR. Estas diferenças são atribuídas ao estágio de desenvolvimento em modelos de maturidade, a diferentes contextos e estratégias de implementação, de acordo com a pesquisa da contingência em gestão de operações, e a singularidade dos recursos e dependências entre as empresas na cadeia de suprimentos, conforme a visão baseada em recursos e a visão baseada na dependência. A responsividade aparece como o principal objetivo na implementação do CPFR e o custobenefício do CPFR deve ser comparado com os de outras iniciativas de SCC para a escolha da mais adequada à cadeia de suprimentos. Apenas três estudos confirmatórios relatam o impacto do CPFR na cadeia de suprimentos. Esta dissertação contribui para uma melhor compreensão do tema e fornece indicações para futuras pesquisas e práticas em CPFR e SCC. / [en] Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) is considered by many researches to be the most advanced and the most comprehensive Supply Chain Collaboration (SCC) initiative. Despite its relevance and growing number of publications, efforts to synthesise the overall state of the art in CPFR have been rather limited to date. As an effort to fill this gap, this dissertation aims to go beyond the highly dispersed work on CPFR by providing a systematic review of the literature and the key findings on the topic. The dissertation analyses CPFR models, discusses main enablers and barriers for implementation and CPFR and other SCC impact on Supply Chain (SC) performance. A framework is also proposed as an aide to assemble and organise the literature review. The structure of the framework embraces all the constitutive elements required to describe individual CPFR elements (context, inputs, structure and processes, outcomes and results), their relationships and impact upon firm performance. The framework also shows the vertical functional role of CPFR in bridging business and corporate strategic plans from SC members to joint SC operations. This dissertation contributes to a better understanding of the field and provides directions for future research and practice in CPFR and SCC.