Browsing by Author "Appelqvist, Patrik"

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Designing and Managing Demand-Supply Network in Sport Equipment Industry
(2005) Koskenvuo, Ville
Helsinki University of Technology | Master's thesis
Demand-supply network management has become an important focus of competitive advantage for industrial companies, particularly in industries with a high rate of change in the business environment. Designing and managing demand-supply network in a globally operating Finnish manufacturing company was studied within this thesis. The research problem of the study was: How should a manufacturer in the sport equipment industry design and manage its demand-supply network to improve its delivery capability? A conceptual framework that takes a holistic view on demand-supply network development was developed based on the literature study. The framework presents nine focus analyses related to demand-supply network, operations management and product design. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of performance measurement in guiding demand-supply network development. During the literature study, a formal approach was also developed to estimate the optimal service level, which would minimize the sum of inventory holding and lost sales costs. The created framework for demand-supply network development was used to analyze the demand-supply network improvement potential in the case company and to create concrete proposals to improve the company's demand-supply network performance. The research method used was case study research. The data collection methods used were interviews with the case company representatives, qualitative and quantitative analysis of the case company's operations performance and on-site visits at the case company's manufacturing plant and distribution center. During the case analysis it was recognized that the demand in the sport equipment industry is fundamentally unpredictable with high demand variations, short product life cycles, high sales margins, high product variety and short manufacturing lead times. As a result, a demand-supply network in the sport equipment industry should be designed to be market-responsive to avoid lost sales and obsolescence costs. Generally, this means reducing uncertainty by developing modularity and forecast process, then avoiding uncertainty by cutting lead times, and finally hedging against the remaining uncertainty with buffers of inventory and excess capacity. Furthermore, operations performance should be continuously measured to be able to develop the demand-supply network with the requirements of the changing business environment.
Developing the Delivery Process for a System Product
(1999) Appelqvist, Patrik
Helsinki University of Technology | Master's thesis
Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää paras tapa toimittaa uusi systeemituote. Tutkimuksessa otetaan huomioon sekä tieto- että materiaalivirtoja tilauksen vastaanottamisesta tuotteen saapumiseen käyttöpaikkaan. Päämääränä on kehittää prosessi, jonka avulla saavutetaan lyhyt toimitusaika asiakkaalle. Teoriaosassa keskitytään tuotantohyödykkeiden toimittamiseen. Esitellään kaksi logistiikkajärjestelmien suunnittelumenetelmää: logistiikkalähtöinen tuotesuunnittelu (Design for Logistics) ja simulointi logistiikan kehittämistyökaluna. Tapaustutkimusosuudessa haastatellaan logistiikkaorganisaation henkilöstöä ja hankitaan tietoa operatiivisista tietokannoista. Tämän perusteella kuvataan prosesseja ja analysoidaan niitä kvantitatiivisesti, pääasiassa läpäisyaika-analyysiä (LOGI-menetelmää) käyttäen. Tutkittava tuote koostuu monesta verkkoelementistä, joilla jokaisella on erilainen toimitusketju. Analyysin perusteella annetaan suosituksia sekä yksittäisten verkkoelementtien että koko systeemituotteen toimituksen kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksen tuloksena havaitaan, että yleisiä ongelmia toimitusketjussa ovat monivaiheinen tilaustenkäsittely, vaihtelevat ja epävarmat toimitusajat, ylimääräiset kuljetukset, ylimääräinen varastointi sekä epäsuora kommunikointi osapuolten välillä. Tämä aiheuttaa varmuusaikapuskureita ja heikentynyttä toimituskykyä. Ratkaisuksi esitetään tilauskäsittelyn yksinkertaistamista, suoria kuljetuksia sekä suoraa kommunikointia. Varastointia ehdotetaan yhdelle pistoyksikölle, mutta ei kokonaisille verkkoelementeille eikä systeemeille.
Matching customer demand, offering portfolio and operations system in technology-intensive industries
(2005-12-07) Appelqvist, Patrik
Doctoral dissertation (monograph)
Speed, flexibility, product diversity and customisation have emerged as important sources of competitive advantage for companies, especially in technology-intensive industries. This thesis explores how to simultaneously fulfil divergent customer demands and achieve high operational efficiency through co-management of customer needs, offering portfolio, and operations. The research builds on and contributes to the areas of operations strategy, demand chain management, focused supply chains, and product design for supply chain. The research is carried out as a series of collaborative case/action research interventions in three organisations in electronics industry. The collected data includes about 100 interviews carried out in six European countries, data from operational ERP systems of the three case companies and observations from 14 plant visits. The material is used for identifying relationships between customer needs, offerings portfolios, operations systems and operational efficiency. Secondly, tactics for mitigating the negative effect of product variety are evaluated. Based on cross-case analysis, a model is constructed that formalises the trade-off between serving each customer with a tailored offering and achieving maximum operational efficiency. Research results suggest customer demand as the starting point for operations system design. When customers are buying a product for making it a part of a larger whole, unique offerings delivered via project-oriented operations are needed. When customers are buying the product for its own sake, generic offerings and efficient, process-oriented operations are appropriate. For a company targeting both types of demand, it may be beneficial to design several separate operations concepts. Secondly, the research evaluates pre-defined configurations, product configurability, form postponement and generic resources as tactics for managing the trade-off between a broad offering portfolio and high operational efficiency. For theory, the research provides a model for causal relationships between customer demand, offering portfolio, operations system and performance. Testing of the model testing is suggested as an issue for further research. For management, the thesis provides a structured way of thinking about the complex issues involved in design of offering portfolios and operations systems.