Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: Evaluate the impact of a second supply source on price, quality and stock levels at the purchasing company. Relevance: The supply strategy defines how many suppliers an item should have and where it should be located. If working with a single supplier may bring relational benefits, working with multiple sources may reduce opportunism risks. If a local supplier reaps benefits on account of its proximity, a global supplier may result in lower costs. Methodology: The quasi-experimental method was used to follow-up a purchasing policy change at an auto parts company, which took on a second supply source for low complexity items. The research collected data on costs, quality and stock coverage for 1,480 items between 2007 and 2012, analysing new supplier's entrance and location. Results: Introducing a second supplier reduced the price, especially when a new international supplier was introduced. Decreases in quality or increases in stock coverage were not observed.
Highlights
The effect of globalized markets and increased competitiveness among companies is the continuous improvement of ways of purchasing raw materials, producing and selling goods and services (QUINTENS, PAUWELS and MATTHYSSENS, 2006)
The presence of new suppliers could complicate and reduce the frequency of communication with the original suppliers, (TREVELEN and SCHWEIKHART, 1988) and closer relationships are fundamental to ensuring product quality (ALVES FILHO et al, 2004), the data showed that the entrance of international suppliers did not mean that the national suppliers reduced their quality levels
This may be explained by the fact that national suppliers have quality management systems that guarantee the repeatability of their productive processes and aim for continuous improvement, thereby guaranteeing that their quality levels do not drop as time elapses, explaining the general improvement in the quality of the items analysed
Summary
The effect of globalized markets and increased competitiveness among companies is the continuous improvement of ways of purchasing raw materials, producing and selling goods and services (QUINTENS, PAUWELS and MATTHYSSENS, 2006). Outsourcing has become a strategic option to attain objectives related to price, quality and satisfaction demanded by clients (GUNASEKARAN and IRANI, 2010). Authors such as DiSerio and Sampaio (2001) and Lima and Campos Filho (2009) point out that even adopting best practices in the manufacturing process does not guarantee that a company is competitive, as it is dependent on the whole supply chain. The ideal number of suppliers has been discussed by Treleven and Schweikhart (1988) as one of a company’s most strategic decisions, shaping its supply chain. With the argument that competition between suppliers is healthy, the authors observed that many companies choose
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