Strengthening the aftermarket supply chain of an automotive part-manufacturer for gaining competitive advantage

Abstract

Manufacturing sector in India is still in the growth phase. Supply Chain activities are an essential part of every manufacturing organization. Unless there is a seamless integration among the various supply chain entities, it may result in a lot of stress on everyday operations. However, bringing in this integration is a difficult task as different departments have conflicting objectives. Planning department wants to ensure optimal inventory levels to avoid ageing losses. On the other hand, sales department wants high inventory level to avoid customer loss to competitors. Maintaining this balance is like walking on a tight rope. Looks simple theoretically but indeed difficult to achieve practically. In our study of the supply chain of the aftermarket division of a major automotive part manufacturer we experienced the practical difficulties faced by even well-established organizations to streamline their everyday operations. During our study, we interviewed members from the Planning team, Marketing team and Sales team. We also conducted visits to dealerships to understand specific concerns. Throughout the study, we tried to maintain an unbiased perspective on the issues raised by the interviewed members. We kept in mind that our study should focus on improving the entire supply chain surplus and not of just a few entities. We have tried to ensure that our recommendations are based on logic and implementing them would be beneficial to the operations of the overall organization.