ارزیابی عملکرد لجستیک تامین کننده: اندیکاسیون از یک مطالعه در صنعت خودرو

Managing the supply base is an important but complex issue for automotive manufacturers. One of the instruments companies use in this context is performance measurement. There is ample work on the practice of performance measurement within an organisation. However, much less can be found about the practice of supplier performance measurement. In this paper we offer a brief discussion of the literature on inter-organisational performance measurement and contrast existing concepts of intra-organisational performance measurement with the concepts of performance measurement within a supply chain. We then present indications from a study of four vehicle manufacturers in Europe with regards to their practices of supplier evaluation and present a conceptual framework identifying the functions of performance measurement in this context.

Major OEMs co-operate with hundreds of different suppliers. For example, one of the vehicle manufacturers we studied has a database of around 3000 supplier sites in Europe. More than 1600 are currently supplying the company. Additionally the company has to deal with around 30 000 suppliers of non-production goods: Ranging from suppliers of pens and paper, to suppliers of carpet and furniture. The management of the supply base has been described as a key competence for a company (Fine et al., 1996). One of the techniques companies use for this task is performance measurement. There is a vast amount of literature on performance measurement frameworks and systems. However, most of this work is concerned with performance measurement within an organisation, e.g. the measurement of the performance of subsidiaries and departments, or it deals with issues such as management incentives and employee appraisal. Research on the practice of inter-organisational performance measurement, e.g. how companies use performance measurement to manage their relationships and interactions with suppliers, is rather rare. In this paper we first discuss basic concepts of intra- and inter-organisational performance measurement. We argue that the reasons for measuring and the way performance measurement and management works, differ largely depending on the context. To support the implications of our theoretical reflections, we present outcomes of an empirical study in the automotive industry. In this study we investigate the extent to which four automotive manufacturers use performance measurement at the interface to their suppliers in the area of logistics. We explore the subsequent use of logistics performance data within the logistics department and between different functions such as logistics and purchasing. With this paper we aim to: • discuss current literature as to what insight it offers for the analysis and design of supplier performance measures and measurement systems; • present empirical insights into the use of supplier performance measurement in the area of logistics in the automotive industry; • establish a perspective on the functions of performance measurement as a framework for the analysis of inter-organisational performance measurement.

Supplier performance measurement appears to be an important tool in the automotive industry. All vehicle manufacturers that were contacted for this study, invested considerable manpower and management resources in establishing new or improving and standardising existing measures. The academic literature offers only few empirically consolidated findings that offer guidance on the kind of measures to choose and the form of the performance measurement and management process that should be implemented in the inter-organisational context. Mainstream literature emphasises the use of “integrative” measures and the measurement of “overall supply chain performance”. We discussed in this paper potential problems that are linked to such holistic approaches. Also we found that the companies we contacted for our case studies were more interested in performance measurement that helps them in the management of their supply base and in the communication between suppliers and the OEM or between different departments of the OEM than in highly integrative and holistic supply chain measurement systems that cover the whole supply chain. For the understanding of the practice of supplier performance measurement we found it important not only to see the OEM as one homogeneous entity but to take into account the different interest groups and power structures within the organisation. Individual departments that interact with suppliers such as logistics and purchasing, are in interaction with each other as well. They are in a struggle for authority, influence and power within their own organisation as well as in their contacts to suppliers. We believe that the conceptual framework of functions of performance measurement that we present in Table 3 supports a better understanding of these aspects. Although we are aware of the limitations of a study with only four companies, we found in our research, that the establishment of supplier evaluation led to improved supplier performance. All companies reported that with the introduction of performance measurement, the supplier performance increased. After the initial improvement, supplier performance became stagnant—on a higher level—after about 1 or 2 years. However, we do not have the data to make a statement whether this could be explained similarly to the “Hawthorne effect” or whether the companies showed actual learning and continuous improvement activities. We believe that the issues of benefit of performance measurement and return of investment on performance measurement initiatives offer opportunities for future research. Expectations about the effects of performance measurement are high. The range of functions that performance measurement is supposed to fulfil is vast. However, our study suggests that the use of performance measurement in the context of supply chain management poses a range of new questions. Although on the face of it, all companies in our study had quite complex and sophisticated supplier evaluation schemes, the use of the performance measurement and management systems in place, to some extent appears to be rather ambiguous. Companies seem to be still in a testing phase, to find the most suitable measures and measurement system, and to establish the appropriate management processes that support continuous improvement and control of the supply chain. With this study we hope to contribute to these thoughts by reflecting on the underlying concepts and basic purposes of measurement. In this paper we investigated the use of supplier performance measurement primarily in the logistics context and only from the OEMs perspective. Future studies should therefore aim to, first, take into consideration the suppliers’ perspective on the evaluation process, and second, include a broader view of supplier evaluation, e.g. place more consideration on the purchasing or product development perspective. Another interesting aspect is the view of the performance measurement chain—the connection between objectives, measures and actions from the OEM, through the 1st tier supplier to the suppliers’ supplier. We think that qualitative, case-based studies provide the best route to this and propose the perspective on the functions of performance measurement as a sensible framework for the empirical analysis of performance measurement and management systems in industry.