Supply chain management in after sales and subcontract manufacturing processes : Case study: Metso Minerals

Abstract

Quality of products and services has an important aspect in manufacturing industry. One of the best practices to ensure cost savings in manufacturing industry’s total costs without reducing product’s or service’s quality is achieved by enhancing supply chain management. Supply chain management targets to enhance operations via procurement and logistics actions. Procurement targets to react product’s stock out situations as soon as possible and cost effectively when lo-gistics responsibility is to ensure transport and warehousing the goods.

Case company’s supply chain management development has become more needed in after sales and subcontract manufacturing processes since work to these areas have been increased due to increase of demand. These two processes are heavily dependent of effective supply chain man-agement. Operative procurement should be able to react increased demand of goods in as pro-active as possible when logistics must be able to ensure inventory levels and goods dispatching as proactive as possible, so production and product dispatching doesn’t postpone.

This thesis purpose is to recognize problems and development targets case company’s after-sales and subcontract manufacturing processes supply chain management area. Thesis’ theory is based on literature and topical scientific articles which deals with procurement, logistics and operational excellence. Empirical study is based to theory of these topics which is implemented with interviews and brainstorms with departments that are associated to after sales and sub-contract manufacturing processes. From these processes, flowcharts are implemented to rep-resent current statuses of these process. From emergence problems of these processes, these flowcharts are developed such as these should be based on this thesis.

As results of this thesis problems that have occurred from these processes has been mapped and from occurred problems development solutions are presented to case company for free usage and for possible future research. Development solutions included concrete actions, pro-cess development ideas, implementation of new IT-systems and enhancing the communication platforms.