Factors affecting global supply chain design

• Due to the limited existing knowledge pertaining to the factors which govern localization of operations and capabilities in a global supply chain, the purpose of the paper is to find out which factors and how they jointly affect the design of global supply chains. The relevant literature is reviewed and a concept matrix is developed. Five companies were selected in order to illustrate the issues of global supply chain design. Among them, three companies are considered to have efficient supply chain and less complex products, while the two others are considered to have responsive supply chain and more complex products. The issues discussed with the selected companies cover global sourcing, challenges, technological advancement and issues related to management control. The study identifies about fifty factors that affect global supply chain design, and specifically how theses relate to design decisions on location of factories and production, supplier selection and development, distribution of products and organisation of interfaces along the supply chain. The discrepancies between theory and practice as well as the implications for further research are discussed.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Annan maskinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Other Mechanical Engineering (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Global sourcing

global supply chain design

factors

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)