Reconfiguring supply chains over the product life cycle: An exploratory study

Reconfiguring supply chains over the product life cycle: An exploratory study

Subramanian, S.

Ludema, M.W. (mentor)
De Bruijne, M.L.C. (mentor)
Tavasszy, L.A. (mentor)

Technology, Policy and Management

Transport and Logistics Organisation

Management of Technology

2011-09-30

Product lifecycles are becoming increasingly short in several industries. This has implications on the way companies are able to organize and adapt their operations. This thesis explores how supply chains can be reconfigured to adapt to such changes over the product life cycle. The main research questions are defined as: 1. What are the requirements that the product lifecycle places on the supply chain? 2. How can supply chains be reconfigured by incorporating flexibility to respond to the requirements of the product lifecycle? To answer these questions, a theoretical framework is first developed based on the relation between product life cycles and supply chain management in the literature. As the research involves an exploratory approach, the case study method was determined to be appropriate and four case studies are developed based on data collected from literature, company documents and interviews. From the cases and literature on supply chain flexibility, possibilities for reconfiguration over the product life cycle are presented.

strategy
flexibility
framework
network structure
product routing

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e67a4f78-aa02-4cc0-8617-6109bc4caa01

2011-10-30

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Subramanian, S.