Planeamento e gestão dos diferentes circuitos de compras

: o caso Parfois

Abstract

The predominance of having a single supplier in a supply chain may bring a certain amount of risks, especially with dependency. Transferring and outsourcing the production to mainly Asian countries, specially China, it’s the regular rule in most companies in fast fashion and fashion retail industry. The reduction of production costs, including labor, the possibility of large scale production and the great infrastructure net already prepared for large loads in maritime transportation, seem to be the primary advantages of relocating suppliers. But with the economic and social development in China the competitive edge in production costs seems to be vanishing and new supplier countries appear in this context, such as India. Which should be the result of acquiring new suppliers in a new supplier country? The lead time is crucial for this type of industry, depending on that the success or failure of companies in these types of market: the consumer wants a trendy product in stores as soon as possible and with a major turnover. The management of a supply chain this volatile as the market in which it competes can be complex to keep agile. The international expansion of a brand can even increase the uncertainty of consumer’s behavior, being so different by influence area. The transit time is one of the main barriers for an efficient lead time management: the maritime transportation is the most used one, whether for the advantages in competitive costs and the volume for large orders and quantities, although it’s one of the most slow transpor tation means. Improving shipping orders by plain can be made, but its transportation costs in volume can be generally higher than these companies usually tend to pay in a more efficient way. However, responsiveness would be rapidly achieved. In both cases tradeoffs are needed, whether tending to a more responsive and rapid approach (plain), or tending to an efficient cost process approach (boat). The methodology of Investigation-action will help to understand better which way is more viable to follow, in the choice of suppliers, efficient transit time management and, hence, transportation means. All of them pillars of an optimization in lead time.

Date of Award	24 Jul 2014
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Ribeiro (Supervisor)