Managing turbulence in production and supply networks

Research Project, 2011 – 2014

The aim of the project was to develop new knowledge about what type of turbulence (=large and fast fluctuations in organisations´ environments) Swedish manufacturing firms deal with, how it can be identified, and what strategies related to sales and operations planning, supply chain information sharing, and production network configurations are possible and suitable for dealing with turbulence. It has also been to map the competitiveness of Sweden as a location for manufacturing.

The project has developed frameworks for types of supply chain disturbances, and guidelines for 1) identifying early signals in the supplier selection process, supplier relationship management, and KPIs and dashboards, 2) obstacles for developing advanced S&OP processes and for value adding usage of APS systems in S&OP processes, 3) supply chain information sharing depending on supply chain structure and demand fluctuations, and obstacles for information utilization, 4) the performance effect of production and supply chain flexibility on offshoring of manufacturing.

The project has been carried out in three work packages. The first about identification of disturbances is based on three deep case studies. The second about managing turbulence contains three parts and has been studies in three production networks, a simulation study, a survey study, and several workshops with the project partners. This second work package has been the main focus in the project. The third work package about competitiveness has been studied with macro statistics and interviews with production managers of large Swedish manufacturing corporations.