Evaluation of postponement-speculation and transportation strategy for inkjet supplies supply chain

• Main Author: Lee, Yoke Lay.
• Other Authors: Rajesh Piplani
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Industrial engineering::Supply chain
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/18833
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The intense competition in today’s economy forces companies to improve their operations in order to keep up with the increase in customer expectations regarding cost and services. In recent years, the upward trend of oil prices has raised to attention to the transportation and manufacturing strategy. Finding the perfect mix of supply chain strategy to meet the complexity and fragmentation of the marketplace has gained much interest among researchers and practitioners. This study is about finding the right supply chain for the right product, market and time for inkjet supplies business. Two distinct market segment, i.e. commercial and consumer are selected for the case study. In this study, the product life cycle, demand characteristics of the products and various supply chain strategies are considered and the performance of each configuration is observed to fine the best fit of supply chain model for the products. The result from this study can provide useful guideline and information for trade-off so that the supply chain managers can choose the best option that suit their organization needs. For products at growth stage which requires high service level and short order to delivery cycle time, manufacturing postponement seem to be the best option to reduce total supply chain cost with some trade off in longer delivery lead time. Other factors that will influence the supply chain design include manufacturing cycle time performance, improved packaging density, and changes in crude oil price.