Companies have limited human, financial and technical resources, which makes it crucial toallocate them in an efficient way in order to stay competitive in today's market. One way of doing this is to classify a company's suppliers into different categories, and differentiate the management of each supplier category. Previous studies within the field mostly focus on larger, manufacturing companies, and there is a lack of segmentation models suitable for retail firms. Further, existing literature on supplier relationship management fail on giving concrete actions on how to manage different types of suppliers. This study addresses this by extending the literature on supplier segmentation and supplier relationship management in the context of a medium sized retail company offering a diversified product portfolio. The study was performed as a case study on a Nordic retail company that produced both private label products and brand named products, where this study focused on its private label suppliers. The purpose of the study was to develop a supplier segmentation model for guidance in managing supplier relationships for retail companies with diversified product portfolios, and this was met by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data through interviews, workshops, structured questions and archival data. The main findings were a number of identified characteristics of the supplier base of the case company and the determination of different types of buyer-supplier relationships. This ultimately culminated into the empirical contributions of 1) a developed supplier segmentation model suitable for medium sized retail companies offering a diversified product portfolio, and 2) recommended actions on how to manage suppliers, corresponding to each segment in the model. / Företag har begränsade resurser vad gäller finansiellt, tekniskt och humant kapital, vilket gör det ytterst viktigt att fördela sina resurser på ett så effektivt sätt som möjligt för att hålla sig konkurrenskraftiga. Ett sätt att göra detta är att klassificera sina leverantörer i olika kategorier, samt differentiera hur varje kategori ska hanteras. Tidigare studier inom ämnet har mestadels fokuserat på större tillverkningsindustriföretag, och det saknas segmenteringsmodeller som är anpassade för retailföretag. Vidare är befintlig litteratur på supplier relationship management knapphändig i att ge konkreta rekommendationer för hur olika typer av leverantörer ska hanteras. Den här studien adresserar detta genom att utvidga litteraturen på supplier segmentation och supplier relationship management i kontexten av ett mellanstort retailföretag med en diversifierad produktportfölj. Studien genomfördes som en case-studie på ett nordiskt retailföretag som sålde både märkesprodukter och egna märkesvaror, där den här studien endast berörde leverantörer för egna märkesvaror. Syftet med studien var att utveckla ett övergripande ramverk för guidning av hur leverantörsrelationer i retailföretag med diversifierade produktportföljer ska hanteras, och detta uppfylldes genom att samla både kvalitativ och kvantitativ data genom intervjuer, strukturerade frågor, workshops samt arkivdata. De huvudsakliga resultaten var ett antal identifierade egenskaper hos leverantörsbasen av caseföretaget och en bestämd uppdelning av olika leverantörsrelationer. Detta mynnade tillslut ut i två empiriska bidrag i form av 1) en utvecklad leverantörssegmenteringsmodell för medelstora retailföretag som erbjuder en diversifierad produktportfölj, samt 2) rekommenderade handlingar för hur olika leverantörer ska hanteras, som svarar till varje segment i modellen.

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Rapidly changing business environment, increasing and fluctuating customer demand, the recent development and employment of technology are crucial reasons for companies to strive for better quality, shorter lead time and lower costs. The supplier evaluation and selection process is an increasingly important activity in the supply chain in order to enhance the company’s competitiveness by reducing the costs and simultaneously maintaining the same quality of products. The focus of this thesis is on the supplier evaluation and selection process for public procurement in Swedish electricity industry. Specifically, the work combines the literature and the empirical findings gathered from the case company Växjö Energy (VEAB) to develop a supplier evaluation and selection process for the public procurement in Swedish electricity industry. It was concluded that the supplier evaluation and selection process for public procurement has basically four steps. The steps are 1. Identifying the needs and the sourcing method; 2. Setting the pre-requirements; 3. Supplier evaluation and 4. Supplier selection. In addition, the developed supplier evaluation tool innovatively combines the advantages of the value-added model with the advantages of AHP model. Moreover, this developed supplier evaluation and selection process would help the public procurement departments in Swedish electricity industry to improve their current practices in selecting the suppliers by highlighting the important steps and developing the evaluation model in a way that enhance its credibility to provide a more precise and reliable results.

The lifecycle of fashion products get shorter and shorter. Companies in the fashion business needto make sure that they can offer their customers the right products, in the right quantity at theexact right time. The competition on the fashion market today is tough and if companies aregoing to be successful they need to have access to the most reliable suppliers, and also offer theircustomers products with high quality to attractive prices. It is therefore of highest importance toevaluate and choose the right sourcing strategy. Product category and type of organisation aresome of the factors that will determine which strategy that is most appropriate. The purpose withthis study is to investigate the possibilities for Swedish fashion brands to source from thePortuguese and the Chinese supplier markets. Based on selected theories and empirics we havedetermined the advantages and disadvantages for a Swedish company with small quantities andfocus on design on both markets. Since we had the opportunity to visit a Portuguese sourcingcompany the main focus will be on Portugal in this study.We have used a hermeneutic perspective in our study and have alternated between theory andempirics. We have been working close to our objects of the study and tried to put our results intoa bigger perspective to be able to get a greater understanding for the subject. Our empirics arebased on the interviews we made at the Portuguese sourcing company and at their sister companyin Gothenburg. The theory and empirical materials have been analysed and our conclusions arebased on these results.Our conclusion is that both the Portuguese and Chinese supplier market can be a good alternativefor Swedish fashion brands with small quantities and focus on design. Both markets havedifferent advantages and disadvantages regarding supplier performance such as price, quality,flexibility and lead times. We think that the selection of supplier market should be based uponorganizational and product issues like volume and the importance of design. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Motivation: Chinese stated-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an increasingly role in Chinese economy although, its management for its suppliers are yet not in an effective manner in the situation mentioned in this case. Even though the Kraljic (1983) matrix is commonly used as a guideline for how to manage suppliers, there is a lack of studies based on Kraljic that have analysed the situation where the buyer are bound to and unable to switch its suppliers. Purposes: the purpose of this paper is to first to analyse the situation in the case by applying the Kraljic matrix, and second to explore the major challenges in terms of cost, communication and supplier selection in dealing with the supplier relationships. Specifically the analysis concern how factors like political risk, “Guanxi” and CSR restrict the way the case company manage its suppliers. In addition, appropriate supplier management strategies are formulated based on the findings. Research methods: in order to achieve the purposes of this paper, first an extensive literature review related to this paper was conducted. Afterwards, a case study of a subsidiary of Sinopec was carried out. The discussion concerns different types of the suppliers who are categorized according to the Kraljic matrix. Interviews with these two managers are major source of data collection. Findings: as indicated from the purpose the findings from the case confirm that Kraljic matrix is inadequate to capture the case of Chinese SOEs in this paper. The subsidiary does not either select or evaluate suppliers based on cost efficiency. Further, it is shown that political risk “Guanxi” and CSR influence the way the way the firms manage its suppliers. Implications: training design including all levels of managers and exploiting the use of “Guanxi” is two of appropriate strategies recommended for improvements in current situation

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.

This master´s thesis deals with the management of the purchasing strategy in the selected business company. This company sells products to final customers. The purpose of the thesis is to monitor purchasing processes mainly focusing on the supplier selection process. Thesis contains suggestion for a systematic selection process of prospective business partners, which is divided into four phases. Proposed suggestion contributes to higher productivity of the company´s purchasing strategy and considerably eliminates risk of high dependence on the sole supplier.

This thesis explores the supplier perspective of supplier involvement in product development. Supplier involvement in product development is crucial for many companies to increase resource flexibility, access competence, reduce costs and time to market, among others. The existing literature focuses primarily on the customer perspective of supplier involvement, e.g., challenges and critical factors customers should consider. A few studies have focused on the supplier perspective. This research gap is addressed in this thesis by studying the conditions influencing the suppliers’ involvement in customers’ product development. This thesis explores two research questions: “What are the challenges suppliers experience when being involved in customers’ product development?”, and “What mitigating mechanisms and critical factors influence suppliers’ involvement in customers’ product development?”. The identified challenges originated [FF1] both from the customer and the supplier, indicating that both types of challenges must be focused on. The study also identified interdependencies between the challenges, implying that one challenge may lead to the occurrence of other challenges. The study suggests mitigating mechanisms to deal with the identified challenges. The identified critical factors influenced both the efficiency and effectiveness of supplier involvement in product development, e.g., lead-time, development cost, product quality, and cost. The study indicates that adopting a dual perspective and considering the challenges and critical factors for both the customer and the supplier, can support the involved supplier. The results build on findings from a case study including four SMEs.

Bakgrund: Leverantörer har en allt viktigare roll för verksamheter. Med en strävan om att kunna minska lagernivåer krävs det en kontinuerlig påfyllning av lager. För att kunna uppnå det behöver leverantörerna vara flexibla och kunna möta ändringar på kort sikt. Företag vill även försäkra sig om att leverantören kan förse deras behov även i framtiden. Detta gör att företag vill skapa sig en förståelse av hur väl leverantörerna presterar och kunna vidta åtgärder för att förebygga problem, något som kan göras genom prestationsmätning av leverantörer. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att kartlägga Carlsberg Sverige´s process för prestationsmätning av sina leverantörer samt finna brister som påverkar processen. Studien syftar även till att rangordna Carlsberg Sverige’s leverantörers prestationer. Slutligen ska studien ge förbättringsförslag till prestationsmätningsprocessen utifrån funna brister samt undersöka vad Carlsberg Sverige’s kan göra för att vidare utveckla rangordningen av leverantörer. Metod: Studien har genomförts via ostrukturerade intervjuer, semi-strukturerade intervjuer, observationer samt insamling av data från affärssystemet SAP och Supplier Performance. I början av studien genomfördes en processkartläggningen för att identifiera brister som påverkar processen för prestationsmätning av leverantörer. Vidare gjordes en rangordning av Carlsberg Sverige´s leverantörer utifrån deras prestationer. Slutligen presenteras en åtgärdsplan för hur Carlsberg Sverige ska kunna gå vidare med bristerna samt att vidare utveckla rangordningen för deras leverantörer. Slutsats: Författarna av studien har identifierat brister som påverkar Carlsberg Sverige´s process för prestationsmätning av leverantörer och givit förslag på åtgärdsplaner hur man ska gå tillväga för att komma till bukt med bristerna. Brister som 4 identifierats är bland annat att företaget har ett svårhanterligt verktyg för prestationsmätning av leverantörer samt att det saknas incitament att rapportera i verktyget. Det har även funnits brister i arbete med prognoser, produktionsplanering och operativt inköp som påverkar prestationsmätningen. Därefter har också en rangordning av företagets tio viktigaste leverantörer av förpackningsmaterial samt rangordning för de tio viktigaste råvaruleverantörer genomförts. Det har även givits förslag på hur rangordningen av leverantörer kan förbättras i framtiden. / Background: Suppliers nowadays play a large part for producing companies. These companies strive for less inventory and therefore there is a need for continuous replenishment of stocks. To achieve this, the suppliers need to be flexible and able to meet changes in short time demand. Companies also want to ensure that the suppliers can meet their demand of material in the future. It is therefore of great interest for the companies to understand how well the suppliers are performing, which can be done using performance measurements. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to map out Carlsberg Sverige’s process for performance measurement of their suppliers and identify problems affecting the process. The study also aims to find a way to rank Carlsberg Sverige’s suppliers. Finally, the identified problems in the process will be given suggestions of improvements. Likewise, the way of ranking will be given suggestions of improvements. Method: The data for this study has been collected using unstructured interviews. semistructured interviews, but also through observations and data from SAP and Carlsberg Sverige’s developed tool for performance measurement. To identify problems in the process, mapping out the process was essential. After that a ranking was made of the suppliers’ performances. Lastly the suggestions for improvement of the process and the ranking was made. Conclusion: The authors of this study has identified problems in Carlsberg Sverige’s process of performance measurements of suppliers and have created plans for improvement. The problems of the process is for instance that the tool for performance measurements of suppliers is not user friendly and that the users of the tool lack 6 incentives to report deviations. There has also been identified problems in forecasting, production planning and operative purchasing that are affecting the process. Carlsberg Sverige’s ten most important suppliers of packaging materials as well as the ten most important suppliers of raw materials have been ranked depening on their performances. The study also gives suggestions of further developement of the ranking.

Grandes empresas têm adotado a estratégia da desintegração vertical, passando a se concentrar em seu negócio principal e envolvendo um número cada vez maior de fornecedores. Precisam, para isso, estabelecer uma cadeia de fornecimento composta por empresas competentes e confiáveis. O desenvolvimento e a qualificação de fornecedores são necessários, o que requer tempo e recursos. A tese apresenta uma revisão bibliográfica sobre temas relacionados, como desintegração vertical de empresas, desenvolvimento e qualificação de fornecedores, modelos de gestão aplicados a seu desenvolvimento de fornecedores, e apresenta o Prodfor, Programa Integrado de Desenvolvimento e Qualificação de Fornecedores, mantido por doze grandes empresas, sendo um caso de grande sucesso na preparação de fornecedores. Analisa a eficácia de ações para desenvolvimento e qualificação de fornecedores sob o ponto de vista das empresas compradoras e também dos fornecedores, apresentando os resultados de pesquisa de campo com fornecedores desenvolvidos e qualificados, pesquisa com as empresas mantenedoras e, também, estudo de casos com as empresas-destaque. Essas pesquisas permitiram avaliar os resultados proporcionados aos fornecedores, fazendo uma análise comparativa antes e depois da qualificação, sendo possível identificar as características dos fornecedores de destaque e o que fizeram para apresentar os melhores resultados. Constata que os fornecedores de sucesso foram além dos requisitos estabelecidos na norma ISO 9001 e propõe ações para que toda a cadeia de fornecimento seja desenvolvida para os níveis alcançados pelas empresas-destaque em busca da excelência. / Large companies have adopted the strategy of vertical disintegration to focus on its core business and involving an increasing number of suppliers. Therefore, they need to establish a supply chain composed by competent and reliable companies. The development and qualification of suppliers is a must, and requires time and resources. This thesis presents a literature review on topics related, as vertical disintegration, development and qualification of suppliers, models of management applied to their development, and presents the Prodfor - Integrated Program for Development and Qualification of Suppliers, sponsored by twelve large companies, . as a case of great success in the preparation of suppliers. It makes an analysis of effectiveness of development and qualification of suppliers regarding purchasing companies and suppliers, presenting the results of a survey with suppliers developed and qualified by Prodfor, a survey with the Prodfor companies sponsors, and also a case-study with outstanding suppliers. These studies allowed the analysis of the results provided to suppliers, and a comparative analysis before and after the qualification, identifying the characteristics of outstanding suppliers and what they did to achieve better results. This work shows that the successful suppliers went beyond the requirements of the standard ISO 9001, and proposes actions for the whole supply chain development to achieve the same levels as the outstanding companies, seeking excellence.