IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orinte/v54y2024i2p147-161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Volkswagen Group Logistics Applies Operations Research to Optimize Supplier Development

Author

Listed:
  • Sönke Wieczorrek

    (Volkswagen AG, 38440 Wolfsburg, Germany; Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany)

  • Christian Thies

    (Resilient and Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management Group, Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Christian Weckenborg

    (Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany)

  • Martin Grunewald

    (Volkswagen AG, 38440 Wolfsburg, Germany)

  • Thomas S. Spengler

    (Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany)

Abstract

Volkswagen Group Logistics (VWGL) is responsible for the logistics and supply processes of the automotive brands of the Volkswagen Group. In this context, supplier development is vital for efficient and reliable material flows between the process partners. In recent years, VWGL implemented a collaborative approach for supplier development in logistics wherein it is crucial to identify disrupting suppliers and apply improvement measures to increase their logistics performance. Against this background, VWGL initiated a project to examine how supplier development measures can be implemented efficiently to improve the overall logistics performance of VWGL’s supply base. This paper presents the developed operations research approach, which integrates Monte Carlo simulation and a knapsack model on the specific problem of supplier development. The approach consists of three stages: (1) data preparation, (2) measure evaluation, and (3) measure allocation. The approach is validated based on 18 existing less-than-truckload networks of VWGL. We find that, on average, considerable cost savings of 31% can be achieved throughout the networks compared with VWGL’s previous procedure. A new workflow facilitates our approach to lift its potential in practical application sustainably.

Suggested Citation

  • Sönke Wieczorrek & Christian Thies & Christian Weckenborg & Martin Grunewald & Thomas S. Spengler, 2024. "Volkswagen Group Logistics Applies Operations Research to Optimize Supplier Development," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 54(2), pages 147-161, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:54:y:2024:i:2:p:147-161
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.2022.0026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.2022.0026
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/inte.2022.0026?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:54:y:2024:i:2:p:147-161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.