Information Quality Deficiencies in Manufacturing Planning and Control

Doktorsavhandling, 2008

Increased global sourcing and a trend towards the supply chain management perspective on manufacturing establish highly information-driven supply chains. Low levels of information quality deficiencies are an important requirement from decision-makers in manufacturing planning and control processes. This puts forward the need for mutual understanding and agreements about the required information quality levels as well as how to decrease deficiencies. However, the emphasis in manufacturing planning and control research has been on consequences, not causes, of information quality deficiencies. This thesis focuses on the quality of forecast and customer order information in the manufacturing planning and control processes, and the purpose is to explain both causes and consequences of such deficiencies. For this purpose three case studies have been conducted and followed by a large-scale survey. The results are presented in six appended papers. Empirical data from the case studies have mainly been collected through interviews with staff working in, or in close relation to, the manufacturing planning and control processes. In the survey study, data were collected through a questionnaire answered in a web-interface. 840 valid companies received the web survey and 219 answers were received, corresponding to a response rate of 26%. The results from the case studies mainly describe information quality deficiencies in the specific case settings, while the results from the survey study primarily explains how such deficiencies are caused and what consequences they have. The identified causes of information quality deficiencies were the present integration level, information management practices, information characteristics and company characteristics. Information quality deficiencies were low in companies with well-developed information life cycle and process management. The main consequences of information quality deficiencies were articulated as corrective planning decisions. Information quality deficiencies were mainly correlated to corrective planning decisions in companies working with complex customer products and in companies with responsive process requirements. In the discussion, an information quality management process is developed, based on the results, in order to clarify their managerial implications.