Title: Development of an information system to integrate the manufacturing firm and its supplier base for reduced non-conforming parts

Authors: Abhishek Padiyar, Rapinder Sawhney, Tzong-Ru Lee, S.C. Lenny Koh

Addresses: Sea Ray Boats, Inc., Palm Coast, FL, USA. ' Industrial and Information Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. ' Department of Marketing, Institute of Electronic Commerce, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC. ' Operations Management, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) Research Group, University of Sheffield, Management School, 9 Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK

Abstract: Because of the high-quality standards set by manufacturing firms, suppliers are finding it quite challenging to be able to immediately react to the quality requirements. This paper illustrates the application of an information system to integrate the manufacturing firm with its supplier. The information system is developed on the framework of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and will provide a systematic technique (using Grey theory and DOPP) to rank the non-conformities based on the priorities of the manufacturing firm. The information system will not only improve the transparency in the flow of information between the manufacturing firm and its suppliers but will also ensure that the manufacturing firm will be able to easily monitor the effectiveness of the control action taken by the suppliers. Further, a future worth cost analysis is carried out to demonstrate the benefit of using the new approach of ranking the non-conformities.

Keywords: failure mode and effects analysis; FMEA; supplier development; information systems; manufacturing industry; information systems; supply chain integration; supply chain management; SCM; value chain management; information flow; non-conformities; non-conforming parts; product quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2006.011183

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2006 Vol.1 No.2, pp.159 - 174

Published online: 27 Oct 2006 *

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