Achieving supply chain flexibility: A case of dual sourcing

Övrigt konferensbidrag, 2024

Traditionally, dual sourcing is an important supply chain practice aiming to reduce purchasing costs in a world of growing competition. Beyond such economic benefits, dual sourcing contains the potential to increase resilience to uncertainties and disruptions by splitting the supply leading to less dependency on one supplier. One significant shift requiring managers to revise their supply chain strategies is the move from global sourcing towards diversification through regional supply chains. Despite the increased practice of dual sourcing to achieve this, it is predominated by an economic logic, and it is yet unclear how dual sourcing is practiced becoming more effective in achieving better supply chain flexibility. To this end, this study aims to examine the practice of transforming a sourcing strategy into dual sourcing in order to better understand how companies can exploit this to achieve better supply chain flexibility at the supply chain level. The study made use of a qualitative, single-case study methodology, as this research investigates a European company that adopted dual sourcing in response to a series of disruptions. Data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed. The findings reveal that dual sourcing achieves multiple dimensions of supply chain flexibility however needs as well certain supply chain flexibility to be practiced. The results show that dual sourcing introduces structural changes in the supply chain, thereby significantly contributing to resilience.