Department of Logistics

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Browsing Department of Logistics by browse.metadata.advisor "De Swardt, A. E."

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    An evaluation of demand and capacity planning processes – a qualitative case study on completely-knocked-down vehicles at Mercedes-Benz Cars
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Chemendy, Natascha; De Swardt, A. E.; Louw, J. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Logistics. Logistics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Sales and operations planning (S&OP) describes an integrated business management process, enabling management to achieve cross-functional focus and alignment throughout an organisation. This process plays a critical role in managing external demand and internal capacities. Specifically in times of demand volatility, S&OP has the potential to improve supply chain performance. Successful S&OP requires integrated and effective processes as well as appropriate external collaborative processes with key channel partners to enhance supply chain performance in a sustainable manner. As a globally operating business, Daimler Aktiengesellschaft also requires effective S&OP. The business unit for passenger vehicles, Mercedes-Benz Cars (MBC), follows two import strategies to increase market potential, namely completely-built-up (CBU) and completely-knocked-down (CKD) vehicles. Demand and capacity planning is a crucial component of supply chain management at MBC, both for CKD- and CBU-vehicle management. The CKD-vehicle business only accounts for a small portion of MBC however with continuously increasing production output. The increasing production volumes of CKD-vehicles stress the significance of effective demand and capacity planning processes. In order to remain competitive, the company identified the need to gain deeper insight and to investigate potential improvement opportunities for demand and capacity planning processes for CKD-vehicles. The aim of this study was to provide a foundation for MBC to improve the processes for demand and capacity planning for CKD-vehicles. Further, the study aims to provide recommendations towards appropriate performance metrics to track the improvements mentioned. This research followed an intra-case, cross-sectional case study design in an exploratory manner. The combination of primary and secondary data provided a comprehensive foundation for this study. Data were collected through observations, interviews and a focus group. The qualitative analysis of primary unstructured textual data took place in the form of content analysis. The results of this study consist of the identification of key planning processes for demand and capacity management for CKD-vehicles, followed by an evaluation of these processes and recommendations on suitable metrics to measure the performance of these processes. Main findings indicated that MBC operates cross-functional processes that lack system integration and availability of information. These factors lead to uncertainty regarding CKD-vehicle planning processes, increased lead times and forecasting inaccuracy. The main improvements recommended include the advancement from manual data processing to more computerised data processing, availability of information throughout the supply chain and the implementation of metrics to measure the performance of demand and capacity planning processes. The implementation of these recommendations could enable MBC to improve subsequent processes, such as shortfall management. In conclusion, the demand and capacity planning processes for CKD-vehicles at MBC provide a solid basis for S&OP with potential for improvement. In order to manage growing vehicle production output, it is recommended that MBC enhances demand and capacity planning processes further, aiming at an alignment with the equivalent processes for CBU-vehicles. Additionally, the monitoring of process performance guides the business further in process development by identifying further improvement areas. The incorporation of recommended improvements could allow MBC to significantly enhance their performance, and overcome the shortcomings identified in this study.