Integrating Aspects of Supply Chain Design into the Global Sourcing Process – Insights from the Automotive Industry

Abstract

This paper reports on enhancements of the global sourcing process proposed with the purpose of increasing the weight of criteria related to supply chain design in sourcing decisions. In a conceptual study carried out for a German automotive supplier, the global sourcing process proposed by Alard et al. was found to be most suitable for industrial application. From the technical perspective of the supply chain management function, even this comprehensive approach does not address important decision criteria, such as likely structure of global supply chains or the capacity flexibility required of suppliers in global supply chains. The enhancements proposed include new process steps making use of network optimization and simulation techniques to eliminate these shortcomings.