Title:
Information sharing for improved collaborative planning
?? A case study in the food supply chain from manufacturer to retail stores
Authors:
Gunilla Hansson and Maria Hansson, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University
Supervisors:
Maria Fagrenius, Customer Service & Development Sweden/Ahold Customer Supply Manager, Kraft Foods Sverige AB
Fredrik Nilsson, Department of Design Sciences, Division of Packaging Logistics, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University
Annika Olsson, Department of Design Sciences, Division of Packaging Logistics, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University
Christer Kedström, Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Management, Lund University
Problem Description:
How shall effective and satisfactory replenishment planning and information sharing be designed to improve the security of consumer satisfaction?
In which areas is it most essential to do changes in order to come closer to a more desirable replenishment planning and information sharing situation in the food supply chain?
Purpose:
The purpose of this master thesis is to provide propositions for improving replenishment planning and information sharing in the food supply chain in order to improve the consumer satisfaction.
Method:
The background to this master thesis led us to be nominalists and functionalists with a systems approach. The research method contained a literature review were the Internet has been the most frequent source, since our research area is based on dynamic reality and thereby, printed literature such as books easily gets out of date. The analysis of the frame of reference has been made through twelve propositions. These propositions have then been the base for the interviews in the case study at Kraft and ICA. The empirical material, collected through the interviews, has then been analyzed through the twelve propositions in order to find gaps between a desirable information sharing and planning situation and the situation today.
Conclusions:
A complete food supply chain of actors is necessary to be able to deliver the products to the consumers. To make the food supply chain work in a satisfying way the actors within it has to know each other, how each actor operate and what information and knowledge that is essential for the different actors. From this each actor has to ??get their own house in order?, that is to improve the work with the internal planning. This through integrate and co-ordinate the persons, departments and subjects that affect the planning, and desig...
