Supply chain coordination : A case study of supply chain coordination in practice among one TPL provider and two customers
Abstract: Introduction: The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed radical changes for a variety of organizations especially in the business field. SCM has become the focus of attention from the business world. As the global competition intensifies, many compa-nies pursue solutions to increase their competitive advantages via SCM approaches. However, studies often overlook the customer perspective in supply chain coordination context. As an attempt to bridge the gap, the research is primarily focused on how the coordination works in practice and how customers evaluate the coordination.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the supply chain coordination be-tween customers and TPL providers, how the customers coordinate with TPL provider and how to evaluate the coordination.Method: This research applies a qualitative approach with holistic case study as re-search strategy. Primary data collection is done via semi-structured interviews with one TPL provider and two of its customers. Secondary data collection is conducted through documentation.Conclusion: In this research, customer A requires an integrated solution from the TPL provider while customer B wants a low cost and efficient transportation service. Cus-tomer A carries out coordination activities including collaborative construction and management of central warehouses, IT setups and utilizations, homologous transporta-tion, inventory management and regular meetings. Meanwhile customer B coordinates with the TPL provider via inbound logistics, outbound logistics, return solution and regular meeting. The common evaluation criteria contain performance, quality and ser-vice. In customer A’s case information technology is also a criterion when evaluating coordination with the TPL provider.
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