Causes of Delivery-Time Variance in Maritime-Equipment Manufacturing Supply-Chains: An Empirical Study

Abstract

The overall performance of manufacturing companies has become increasingly dependent on their ability to coordinate a network of suppliers effectively. For manufacturers of customized equipment, it is even more important to coordinate several such network relationships concurrently to achieve service level objectives while minimizing inventory- and quality-related costs. In this paper, we investigate the causes of delivery variance in an engineer-to-order supply chain. Using four case companies within the global supply chain of a customized maritime-equipment manufacturer, we discuss these causes of delivery-time variance and suggestions for managing them.