Abstract
In product development close collaboration between systems integrators and suppliers is important. The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of the work breakdown structure (WBS) and work packages (WPs) in product development on the possibility of carrying through the strategy of supplier involvement into collaborative practice and to investigate how supplier involvement can be improved by altering the design of collaborative WBS and WP structures. Dependence Structure Matrix (DSM) is introduced in order to analyse, visualise and manage interdependencies, in terms of information exchange between the systems integrator and supplier. This article shows how DSM can support the alternative design of integrated and collaborative WBS and integrated WPs following the logic of dependencies and the flow of information in order to support a strategy focusing on integration of suppliers on project and team level.
Highlights
The increased internalisation and globalisation of businesses has increased the focus on integration of suppliers
The first is the structural aspects of product development, i.e. the design of the work breakdown structure (WBS) and work packages (WPs); the second is the functioning of social and psychological boundaries; and the third the design of workflow, i.e. the prevailing organisational routines influencing the behaviour of people
In this article I will only elaborate on the structural aspects of the WBS and WPs and the possibilities to change these in order to create prerequisites for a high level of supplier integration in product development
Summary
The increased internalisation and globalisation of businesses has increased the focus on integration of suppliers. Rather than individual companies, are increasingly competing against each other These global conditions demand flexibility and responsiveness in the supply chain in order to communicate between customers and suppliers and to respond to changing demands and product and service delivery. This is a situation that many companies are facing all over the world, and in the South African context. As many as 69% of respondents to the Supply Chain Foresight 2005 survey stated that global competition presents a challenge to achieving a high level of integration with suppliers. Chain Foresight 2005 indicated important attitudes, with over 80% of respondents indicating collaboration as a key objective to meeting strategic objectives, compared to Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management
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