Dynapac GmbH is a manufacturer of road construction equipment and has historically been acquired and merged with several companies, resulting in an expansion of their supplier base. Currently, they are experiencing a large supplier base within direct material causing a decrease in the effectiveness and efficiency in the management of the suppliers. Dynapac GmbH therefore wishes to lower the number of suppliers in order to obtain desired effects, such as cost savings, reduction of administrative workload, higher control, higher quality and improved communication with suppliers. The purpose of the study is therefore to develop a methodology that describes all the activities needed to successfully reduce the number of suppliers. At the moment, approximately 80 percent of the total purchasing budget is allocated to only 14 percent of the supplier base. The supplier base can therefore be assumed to consist of a high number of suppliers supplying only a few products with a low turnover. Based on this, it can be concluded that the supplier base includes several opportunities for supplier base reduction. The action of reducing the supplier base is perceived as being in line with the sourcing strategy as well as the business strategy and the needed support is therefore believed to be present in order to succeed with performing supplier base reduction. Based on existing research, a conceptual model for supplier base reduction was created. The current situation at Dynapac GmbH was thereafter analysed in order to enable a customization of the model. Interviews were held to obtain input regarding the model and the activities. The overall view on the model was positive and all activities were considered to be relevant to include. Possible customizations of the activities were discussed during the interviews, which resulted in a customized model consisting of activities with either two types of customizations: (1) defined variables or (2) developed processes. Lastly, the model was validated in a pilot test before it was reconfigured and handed over as a methodology. The finalized methodology included a thorough description on how to conduct supplier base reduction from beginning to end, consisting of 14 activities corresponding to five different phases. The first two phases intend to lay the basis for enabling a reduction of the supplier base and the third phase aims at implementing it in practice. The fourth phase consists of analysing the result of the implementation followed by the last phase with focus on continuous improvement of the supplier base.

Omega Pharma is a distributer of over the counter products, selling thousands of products produced at more than 200 manufacturers and sold in most European countries. The company was founded in Belgium in 1987 and has since then had a high market focus and expanded through acquisitions of brands and products. The company has in recent years started working towards centralization and supplier base management. A project team has been set up to work strategically by choosing key manufacturers and by reducing the supplier base. A first step in this is to look more closely at products with a low turnover and that are not strategically important in order to evaluate if the product is profitable and which products that could be moved to other manufacturers or cancelled from the portfolio. Therefore the purpose of the study is to: Create an evaluation model based on revenue, total cost and manufacturer performance to evaluate a product and if cost reductions can be achieved by ending the production of the product or moving the product to a different manufacturer. A four step approach for analyzing total cost was followed in order to, in a structured way, create the model and identify the relevant elements related to revenue, total cost and manufacturer performance that were to be present in the model. The four steps were: In a first step elements and costs were identified that might be relevant for the model. This was done based on previous research, holding interviews at the company and reviewing documents. The second step was to adapt the elements to the model. In the third step, it was decided how the elements and costs that were to be in the model would be calculated and presented as well as looking into how the model would be built. The fourth step consisted of doing test runs and a sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the model. The result handed over to the company is in the form of the evaluation model created based on the above stated purpose. Within the model, there are 4 manufacturer performance parameters and 1 for revenue. When it comes to costs, the amount varies depending on the case analyzed. To evaluate product profitability there are 7 cost elements containing 20 identified costs. When evaluating moving a product to another manufacturer there are the same costs, however an additional element for transfer is added containing 5 costs. For the situation ending a production, there are 2 costs. In order to facilitate the use of the model, estimations were done to the costs to the extent possible. From test runs the model was further adapted to the company as it was identified what values connected to a product where possible for the user to find in the system and in what units of measure. The sensitivity analyses showed that none of the estimated values would, if the estimation was not accurate, affect the evaluation of the product. They could however affect the cost element of that cost.

Global supply chains have become increasingly complex and a critical source of competitive advantage, which makes the understanding of how supply chains create and distribute value an essential task. Prior literature on concentration risks has primarily focused on customer concentration and has overlooked the challenges posed by the major upstream supply chain partners. In addition, CEOs with an optimal mix of technical and behavioral abilities can shape the strategic decision-making process to obtain an advantage against the nonfinancial stakeholders. The existing literature has also overlooked the significant role of the CEO in reducing the impact of supplier-base/customer-base concentrations. Utilizing objective supply chain relation data collected from Bloomberg SPLC and Compustat, we map the supplier base and the customer base for each electronic and chemical manufacturing firm publicly listed under S&P1500 for the fiscal year 2017. We then construct objective measures of supplier and customer concentrations and examine their impacts on the focal firm's financial performance measured by Tobin's Q, gross profit margin, and net profit margin. The performance metrics also include the focal firm's payable period (against the supplier-base) and receivable period (against the customer-base). We also collect information related to the CEOs appointed by the focal manufacturing firm, such as gender, age, and tenure from Execucomp, and consequently investigate their impacts on the supplier concentration and the customer concentration. Our empirical analysis shows contradictory results in the context of supplier-base/customer-base concentrations: higher supplier-base concentration is observed to harm the focal firm’s financial performance, but higher customer-base concentration leads to an increase in the focal firm’s profitability. Although CEO characteristics such as tenure and age did not have any notable impact, female CEOs are found to reduce the adversarial impact of supplier-base concentration and are assumed to exercise a voluntary power restraint against the cooperative customer-base.

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<p> </p><p><strong>Degree Project Advanced Level - Business Administration, Linnaeus Business School at Linnaeus University, Business Process and Supply Chain Management, 4FE02E, Spring 2010.</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Muhammad Rizwan ul Haque, Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh, Kamonmarn Jaenglom, Zaheer Tariq</p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong> Petra Andersson</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Title: Supplier Selection Process Improvement through Six-Sigma DMAIC (A case of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Background: </strong>Cement industry is considered to be an intensive supplier base industry. Cement manufacturing involves several types of suppliers ranging from general utilities to large plant equipments. Also, supply chain performance is significant topic in many cement organisations. The supply chain department at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) wants to inspect and improve their supplier selection process. The intended objective of this inspection is two folded. First, LPCL wants to develop a competitive supplier base out of bulk suppliers available in the market that would result in competitive advantage over its competitors. Second, they want to improve their supplier selection process so that there would be low variance and exclusion of unnecessary activities that would ultimately help in achieving the cost, quality and service enhancement objectives.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Research question: </strong></p><p>How can the existing supplier selection process at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) be improved by applying Six-Sigma DMAIC?</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong></p><p>This thesis is a descriptive case study and was conducted with a deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaire. The scientific credibility of this thesis was secured by using many sources, avoidance of assumptions, studying a common process and following standardized steps of supplier selection.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p><p>The existing process of supplier selection at LPCL was defined and mapped to understand the process characteristics and capabilities. The existing process was then analysed to identify problem areas, variations and unnecessary activities. Corrective actions were recommended to deal with problem areas and an improved supplier selection process for LPCL was suggested with process coordination and control measures.</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong></p><p>Based on the findings of this thesis, we suggest that the further research for LPCL could be done in the area of sourcing and suppliers relationship management. Sourcing; a study could examine the sourcing policy at LPCL on purchasing practises of products. It would also be interesting to focus more on this area which leads to excellent cost reduction. Using scenario method could compare and analyse regional, national and worldwide sourcing. Supplier Relationship Management; a study could investigate supplier relationship management that leads to creating a competitive advantage for LPCL through the development of supplier performance monitoring and supplier development programme. More details could continuously move towards cost reduction, increased reliability and risk mitigation, transparency of supplier costs and quality, and enhanced efficiency of sourcing process.</p>

Degree Project Advanced Level - Business Administration, Linnaeus Business School at Linnaeus University, Business Process and Supply Chain Management, 4FE02E, Spring 2010.   Authors: Muhammad Rizwan ul Haque, Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh, Kamonmarn Jaenglom, Zaheer Tariq Tutor: Petra Andersson   Title: Supplier Selection Process Improvement through Six-Sigma DMAIC (A case of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited)   Background: Cement industry is considered to be an intensive supplier base industry. Cement manufacturing involves several types of suppliers ranging from general utilities to large plant equipments. Also, supply chain performance is significant topic in many cement organisations. The supply chain department at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) wants to inspect and improve their supplier selection process. The intended objective of this inspection is two folded. First, LPCL wants to develop a competitive supplier base out of bulk suppliers available in the market that would result in competitive advantage over its competitors. Second, they want to improve their supplier selection process so that there would be low variance and exclusion of unnecessary activities that would ultimately help in achieving the cost, quality and service enhancement objectives.   Research question: How can the existing supplier selection process at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) be improved by applying Six-Sigma DMAIC?   Methodology: This thesis is a descriptive case study and was conducted with a deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaire. The scientific credibility of this thesis was secured by using many sources, avoidance of assumptions, studying a common process and following standardized steps of supplier selection. Conclusion: The existing process of supplier selection at LPCL was defined and mapped to understand the process characteristics and capabilities. The existing process was then analysed to identify problem areas, variations and unnecessary activities. Corrective actions were recommended to deal with problem areas and an improved supplier selection process for LPCL was suggested with process coordination and control measures. Suggestions for future research: Based on the findings of this thesis, we suggest that the further research for LPCL could be done in the area of sourcing and suppliers relationship management. Sourcing; a study could examine the sourcing policy at LPCL on purchasing practises of products. It would also be interesting to focus more on this area which leads to excellent cost reduction. Using scenario method could compare and analyse regional, national and worldwide sourcing. Supplier Relationship Management; a study could investigate supplier relationship management that leads to creating a competitive advantage for LPCL through the development of supplier performance monitoring and supplier development programme. More details could continuously move towards cost reduction, increased reliability and risk mitigation, transparency of supplier costs and quality, and enhanced efficiency of sourcing process.