The impacts of product design changes on supply chain risk: a case study

Abstract

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to address the impact of product design changes on supply chain risk, and to identify the supply chain risk dimensions in the Chinese special‐purpose vehicle (SPV) industry in the context of product design change.Design/methodology/approachCase study methodology is adopted to describe the current situation of supply chain risk management in the Chinese SPV industry. Data are mainly collected from in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, and a cause‐effect diagram is used to identify and summarize the internal and external risk dimensions of supply chain risk.FindingsThis paper identifies both the internal and external supply chain risk from the perspective of the focal manufacturer in the SPV supply chain. At the level of the external supply chain, customer‐required design change normally leads to risk in supply, delivery, and policy. Internally for the manufacturer, the risk dimensions are R&D, production, planning, information, and organization. All of these risk dimensions have their respective causes.Research limitations/implicationsThe risk identification of product design change in this paper is only meant to lay a foundation; further case studies should focus on the best practices and approaches of risk management and extend them to other industries.Practical implicationsThe current identification of the risk dimensions and their respective causes will help both practitioners and researchers to better understand supply chain risk in the context of product design change. The identified risk dimensions and cause‐effect diagram provide practitioners with a risk framework and useful tools to recognize and identify their potential supply chain risks.Originality/valueThis paper shows the “big picture” of supply chain risk from product design changes in the Chinese SPV industry.

Exploring Supply Chain Risks Among Malaysian Automotive Smes

“…Therefore, this finding supports previous researches, which verified that the automotive industry is burdened by supply shortages (Trkman & McCormack, 2009;Snyder, 2011;Thun & Hoenig, 2011;Yong Lin & Li Zhou, 2011). When probing into this issue, this study found that importing automotive parts and components from Japan raised the risk of raw material shortage.…”

“…Regarding risk external to the firm but internal to the supply chain, previous researches revealed that quality of supplies received a greater deal of attention (Trkman & McCormack, 2009;Thun & Hoenig, 2011;Yong Lin & Li Zhou, 2011;Wagner & Neshat, 2012;Lockamy III & McCormack, 2012). Nevertheless, this study proves that only one of the case companies, the air-conditioner manufacturer, experienced this problem.…”

Supply chain risk management research agenda

“…When looked into the country selection researchers have linked country context profile to the nature of supply chain risk, for example, Lin and Zhou (2011) note in their paper on supply chain risk based on the product design can be observed in developing countries, such as Brazil, China and India, which has also drawn interest from (Lin and Zhou, 2011) as the SCRM is relatively new in developing country context. Blos et al (2009).…”

“…Some studies tried to overcome this challenge with a comparative risk profile,while providing a risk risk focal area, i.e. specific region (Lin and Zhou, 2011). Lin and Zhou (2011) also note that the risk may also correlate to the increased number of global customers outsourcing their products to China.…”

“…Supply chain risk can be also seen as an output of product design, and internal and external operations (Lin and Zhou 2011). As evidenced in the case of Western Digitals 46 day recovery from the Thai flood disaster, the rapid comeback was possible due to the strong cash position, stakeholders support and supply mitigation (Wa and Wongsuwarat, 2013).…”