Marek Szwejczewski

Managing suppliers: when fewer can mean more

Shows that manufacturing companies place a strong emphasis on the role of supply‐chain management ‐ the management of supplies, suppliers, inventory and distribution. Much of the literature talks about the trend to reduce supplier base. Database analysis gave empirical evidence of this trend in UK manufacturing companies ‐ 201 companies from different industrial sectors cut their supplier base over the last four years, by 9 per cent in the household products sector and approximately 35 per cent in the process, engineering and electronics sectors. Reports on further research at four companies, looking at their experiences with suppliers and establishes that a key reason for supplier base reduction is to free time to manage the remaining suppliers more effectively. Identifies the criteria used for supplier selection and reasons why single‐sourcing was avoided. Suggests that these findings on supplier management have implications for both researchers and managers in industry.

Performance trade‐offs in manufacturing plants

A sample of 782 manufacturing plants drawn from the UK Best Factor Awards database was used to investigate the nature of trade‐offs between different measures of manufacturing performance. Each plant was ranked within its industry on each performance measure, a high ranking indicating good performance on that measure and a low ranking indicating poor performance. By comparing the ranking of each plant within its industry on each performance measure it was possible to determine the extent to which good performance on one measure was correlated with good performance on other measures. Rankings on added value per employee £, quality consistency, delivery reliability, speed of delivery and the rate of new product introduction were positively correlated, suggesting that good performance on each of these factors is associated with good performance on the rest. Only the extent to which a plant exhibited product variety showed conventional trade‐off characteristics, being negatively correlated with rankings on added value per employee £ and the rate of new product introduction. This implies that, provided that individual operating units can be organized so that each is focused on a relatively narrow product range, trade‐offs can be avoided.

Investigating the meaning of supplier-manufacturer partnerships: an exploratory study

Supplier partnerships can be the key in enhancing the performance of manufacturing companies. Consequently, partnership has been strongly recommended by academics and practitioners alike. Surprisingly, the concept of partnership is only poorly understood. Many authors have identified the advantages that it can bring but far less has been published on the attributes of partnership itself. What is known is that partnerships are “close” relationships and thus, the level of relationship closeness is an appropriate angle for exploring supplier partnerships. Research was conducted using the repertory grid technique with an exploratory sample of ten managers from four German engineering companies. It revealed that supplier partnerships are very different from other forms of relationship and identified five distinct attributes of partnerships. These findings have a number of implications for both practitioners and researchers.

Manufacturer‐supplier relationships: An empirical study of German manufacturing companies

Purpose – Effective management of suppliers is one of the ways manufacturing companies can improve their performance. Typically, it has been argued in the literature that close relationships with suppliers should be developed, in contrast to the traditional price‐driven transactional relationships. However, there has been relatively little empirical research on how supplier management is applied.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents research probing how manufacturers manage their suppliers and takes a sample from Germany – which has a large manufacturing sector. In‐depth interviews with purchasing managers were used to understand whether relationships with suppliers were being utilised.Findings – The analysis of the data indicates that a significant portion of the companies surveyed had experienced a change in their relationship with suppliers in the last few years. In the main, relationships had become closer and the use of partnerships was in evidence.Practical implications – The research re...

Performance measurement and the focused factory: empirical evidence

Reviews the scale and scope of existing survey‐based studies of manufacturing plants and discusses the contribution which the UK Best Factory Awards Database may be able to make. Outlines the process of selecting the winners, proposes a working model which relates performance and strategy, and presents some initial illustrative results from an analysis of the 1993 entrants. Briefly discusses the feedback information which entering plants receive for benchmarking performance. Presents initial research findings which relate to the concept of manufacturing plant focus and indicates an asymmetric relationship for focus concerned with make‐for‐stock versus make‐to‐order/assembly to order foci. The evidence supports the view that dilution of a make‐for‐stock policy has a negative impact on ex‐stock service level while dilution of a make‐to‐order policy does not appear to dilute due‐date performance.

Process variability and its effect on plant performance

This report presents the preliminary findings of a research study to determine the factors which enable a manufacturing plant to simultaneously achieve high labour productivity, fast, reliable delivery and high quality consistency. The conclusions are based on analysis of a database containing details of 953 manufacturing plants in the UK. Based on the performance measures mentioned above, a composite performance measure was calculated for each plant in the database. The plants were then divided into groups of high performers, medium performers and low performers. Using statistical analysis, those differences between the high and low‐performing plants that were significant were identified. The main factors differentiating high‐performing plants from the rest were those associated with low process variability, high schedule stability and more reliable deliveries by suppliers.

A process for managing manufacturing flexibility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a procedure to enable organizations to establish a competitive capability to manufacture flexibly.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of manufacturing businesses and two case studies in separate plants of an international manufacturing company led to the design of a process to improve manufacturing flexibility. The proposed process was subsequently tested and refined in workshops and interviews in additional collaborating companies.Findings – Insight gained from the combination of case study and survey research has identified key steps in a process to improve manufacturing flexibility, which have not been emphasised previously. In addition a framework is proposed which matches operational capabilities with desired dimensions of flexibility; mix and/or volume.Research limitations/implications – Further trials of the proposed process in a range of manufacturing operations are required to establish its robustness and generic value.Originality/valu...

Supplier Base Management: Experiences from the UK and Germany

Streamlining the supplier base is a common approach in many US and UK manufacturing companies. However, is this approach being adopted in Germany as fast as it has in the UK? This paper describes research that answers this question and investigates how German companies are managing contacts with their suppliers. The research was conducted in two stages. First, a postal survey of German and UK manufacturers identified the supplier base trends. Second, a follow‐up telephone survey of a random sample of German plants investigated supplier management processes. The findings show that German manufacturers have not reduced their supplier base by as much as their UK counterparts. However, German manufacturers that have reduced their supplier base perceive significant benefits. Currently, many companies appear to have failed to recognize the potential of working with a reduced supplier base.

Manufacturing strategy and performance

Details the findings of a search for manufacturing “strategic groups” in the engineering industry, that is a set of firms competing within an industry on the basis of similar combinations of business scope and resource commitments. The research methodology used was to adopt stockturns (excluding work in process), as a measure of manufacturing scope. Manufacturing throughput efficiency was selected as a measure of production engineering resource commitment. An initial grouping of companies was accomplished by using these two manufacturing performance variables. Comparisons were then made of the manufacturing practices and performances of the firms in the four strategic groups that were formed. The results show statistically significant differences in the performance of each of the strategic groups formed. They can also serve as benchmarks for the evaluation of manufacturing management performance. The proposed manufacturing strategy and performance matrix provides a practical framework for strategic planning.

A hierarchical model of business competence

Уточняется концепция деловой компетенции, которая широко используется, но не очень четко определена. Предлагаемая иерархическая модель объединяет различные типы компетенции, появившиеся в практике и литературе по менеджменту в последние годы. Более того, вводятся два новых типа компетенции. В работе использованы базы данных Cranfield Best Factory.