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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Finally, this thesis ends with a conclusion, which with the answer of the research question.

<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>

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.

<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>

Predictive decision theory explains how humans should make decisions in practice given that they are not always perfect rational decision makers. Based on the prescriptive decision theory, this study addresses criticism of universal decision making models for supplier selections which have the notion of being used uniquely in all types of supplier choice situations. Issues raised are whether this performance is correct and how a dynamic decision-making model could create a more customized decision-making model which does not add much responsibility to the decision maker's judgment. A case study at Logosol, a small industrial company identifies by process mapping a complex supplier selection process consisting of three steps; prototype creation, null-series and production, based on test manufacturing. The supplier selection process is used as the basis for the creation of a dynamic decision making model. Dynamic decision-making models have the basic principle of learning from a decision and using that information in the next decision, which is considered useful in the business case as they not only use test manufacturing for product testing but also for collecting information about the supplier. Finally, the created dynamic decision model shows that universal decision-making models cannot be used in many complex supplier selection processes involving a plurality of steps. The model must be adapted to the company's individual process, however the identification method or some parts of the model used in this study may be used to create a dynamic decision model for other companies or organizations. / Preskriptiv beslutsteori säger hur människan borde fatta beslut i praktiken givet att de inte alltid är perfekt rationella beslutsfattare. Utifrån den preskriptiva beslutsteorin riktas i denna studie kritik mot universella beslutsmodeller för leverantörsval vilka har föreställningen om sig att användas kunna användas universellt i alla olika typer av leverantörsvalssituationer. Frågeställningar som väckts är om denna föreställning stämmer, samt hur en dynamisk beslutsmodell skulle kunna skapa en mer anpassad beslutsmodell vilken inte lägger lite mycket ansvar på beslutsfattarens omdöme. Genom en fallstudie hos Logosol ett litet industriföretag identifieras med hjälp av processkartläggning en komplex leverantörsvalsprocess innefattande tre steg; prototypskapande, nollserieskapande samt produktion utifrån testtillverkning. Fallföretagets leverantörsvalsprocess används som grund för skapande av en dynamisk beslutsmodell. Dynamiska beslutsmodeller har den grundläggande principen att medta lärdom från ett beslut in i nästa, vilket anses användbart för fallföretagets leverantörsvalsprocess då dom inte bara använder testtillverkning för test av produkt utan även för insamling av information om leverantören. Studien visar att föreställningen stämmer, den skapade dynamiska beslutsmodellen visar att universella beslutsmodeller inte är särskilt användbara i många komplexa leverantörsvalsprocesser innefattande ett flertal steg. Modellen måste anpassas för företagets individuella process, dock kan identifieringsmetoden eller vissa delar av modellen som använts i denna studie möjligtvis användas för att skapa en dynamisk beslutsmodell för andra företag eller organisationer.

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.

Many multinational corporations find themselves frequently in the dichotomous question of whether to make or buy a given component; but when those companies are operating with a global purchasing strategy, oriented to high levels of centralization and dealing simultaneously with the implications of purchasing and producing the same item, the approach to take the decision becomes difficult to find, even with the current literature and practitioners knowledge This master thesis addresses in a comprehensive proposal the way to undertake this kind of make-or-buy decisions. Through the literature review done, regarding global purchasing strategy, purchasing models, supplier selection methods and make-or-buy frameworks; it was found a convenient model to merge those concepts with the empirical experiences of a single case study in the Italcementi Group, one of the largest Cement producers in the world. The model proposed considers both strategic and economic elements and is designed as an iterative algorithm that evaluates several alternatives in order to arrive to the best make-or-buy approach. The methodologies selected and combined to solve the problem are mostly quantitative, but keeping the importance of qualitative elements within the analysis. The outcome of the thesis is a contribution to academicians and practitioners aiming to turn the existing knowledge about make-or-buy decisions into practical solutions for business management.