The Impact of a Product Line Launch on Supply Chain Capabilities : A Dual-Site Case Study

Abstract

Supply chain capabilities have been studied extensively, yet the supply chain reconfiguration aspect is an underexplored phenomenon in the dynamic capability and supply chain management literature. This study addresses this gap by exploring how supply chain capabilities manifest and evolve during a product line launch in a multi-site manufacturing environment. The research was conducted as a single case study for a multinational technology company, that executed a product line launch in Finland, supported by an established site in Norway. The data was collected across eleven operational, tactical, and strategic organizational perspectives, and analyzed using thematic analysis guidelines. The findings suggest that supply chain capabilities do not develop in a neat, robotic sequence during a product line launch. Instead, lower-order capability gaps constrain the manifestation ceiling of agility and resilience from the outset. Adaptability remained at a developmental stage throughout the empirical study, interpreted as a characteristic of the product line launch itself, rather than evidence of organizational short-comings. The study contributes to the dynamic capability literature by proposing a temporal offset between supply chain capability dimensions during product line launch, where a degree of operational stabilization is a prerequisite for adaptability to emerge. Practically, the findings offer valuable lessons for organizations planning future expansions particularly in slow clock-speed, dual-site, engineering-to-order manufacturing environments.