The importance of a satisfactory logistics system is becoming increasingly apparent as a consequence of growing competition and rising customer requirements regarding, amongst others, lead times, flexibility and delivery dependability. The increasing demands reduce profit margins and increase logistics costs, accelerating the importance of a well-functioning logistics system. A way to meet the increased customer demands is to tailor the logistics solution by segmenting customers according to their unique needs. Segmenting the customers has the potential to reduce a company's logistics costs, partly because delivery service can be bespoke to the customers' different requirements, instead of offering all customers the best possible performance. When making changes to a logistics system, it is therefore also important to take customer satisfaction into account, as reduced customer satisfaction otherwise risks leading to lost sales. A company that faces challenges with increased customer demands regarding the logistics solution in parallel with a quest for reduced logistics costs is ASSA ABLOY, a company that manufactures and sells security solutions and security systems worldwide. Based on the above situation, the research purpose of the study is to \textit{through customer segmentation develop strategy proposals to reduce the total cost of ASSA ABLOY's logistics solution, taking customer satisfaction into account}. To create an understanding of the building blocks of the research purpose: logistical change, total cost analysis, customer segments and customer satisfaction, literature was examined in the mentioned areas. To link the study to ASSA ABLOY's unique situation, multiple unstructured and semi-structured interviews were conducted with people at, among others, ASSA ABLOY with good insight into the logistics solution. Based on the interview outcomes, a list of six strategy proposals for customer segmentation was produced. Based on additional interviews as well as the study's frame of reference, the list of strategic proposals was shortened to three strategies based on implementability. The total cost of the strategy proposals and the customer satisfaction impact were analyzed using empirical data in the form of data from interviews as well as order and cost data for 2021. During the analysis, constant discussions were held with supervisors at ASSA ABLOY to ensure the analysis' connection to reality. The results of the study were summarized into three strategy proposals that through data analysis could be demonstrated to lead to potential cost savings. The customer segmentation option \textit{accepted lead time} showed the by far largest potential cost saving, followed by \textit{geographical position} which also showed great savings potential. For both alternatives, customer satisfaction was estimated to slightly be improved. The third analyzed strategy proposal, customer segmentation based on \textit{average order value} indicated the lowest cost-saving and with a slight deterioration in customer satisfaction, which is why it was considered to be the worse of the three analysed strategic alternatives.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-187019 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Sandberg, Daniel, Trolme, Axel |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Logistik- och kvalitetsutveckling |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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