Efficiency analysis of supply chain processes

Abstract

We present an integrated benchmarking approach. To analyse the performance of inter-organizational (supply chain) processes at company level we combine dependency analysis and data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA has been proven to be a powerful tool for benchmarking processes and for identifying the most efficient ones. Before using DEA analysis the inputs and outputs as well as the relevant dependencies have to be identified. To support the determination of input and output variables we propose to use dependency analysis. We illustrate the application of this integrated approach by analysing the results of an empirical benchmarking study of 65 European and North American companies. The study shows that make-to-stock is still the predominating manufacturing strategy of the analysed industries. Therefore, we utilize different DEA models with weight restrictions only for companies with a make-to-stock strategy. The results support our basic hypotheses that efficient supply chains lead to high financial performance. Furthermore they indicate improvement potential for the benchmarked supply chain processes.