Applicerbarheten av produktanpassade supply chain-strategier inom stålindustrin
En fallstudie
AbstractThis study aims to investigate the applicability of well-recognized supply chain strategies based on product characteristics. Choosing the right supply chain strategy can be the difference between winner and loser in today?s competitive climate and science offers several recommendations as to which aspects that should be considered. Fisher (1997) and Christopher and Towill (2002) suggest that supply chain strategies should be based on what kind of product the company is handling and that, in order to know which strategy is the most appropriate, the products must be categorized. Some criteria developed for the categorization are lead time, forecast in demand and profit margin. Critics, however, suggest that an application of these theories might be problematic and based on that a case study has been performed in order to test the applicability of the theories within a steel industry setting. Similar case studies within steel industry have not been performed before and the results of this one show that an application is indeed problematic. Among other findings, the study reveals that Fisher?s (1997) model for product categorization is unbalanced and does not provide an answer for how to go about a product that does not fit into neither of his two categories. Christopher and Towill?s (2002) theory generate some contradictive results on which strategy to recommend for the steel company, but offers the possibility of combining strategies for such situations. Conclusively the study shows that basing a supply chain strategy solely on product characteristics is insufficient and that several other aspects need to be considered, e.g. supply uncertainties and limitations regarding transport possibilities. Therefore companies should choose supply chain strategy based on an evaluation of their operations.