Supply Chain Analysis at Swedish Match, South Africa - Complemented with an ISO 9000 evaluation
(2007) MIO920Production Management
- Abstract
- Swedish Match is a global Group of companies with a broad assortment of market-leading
brands in smokeless tobacco products, cigars, pipe tobacco and lights products. The South
African organization comprises of three individual companies that were acquired between
1999 and 2001. This thesis was focused on two of these three companies, Leonard Dingler
and Best Blend with pipe tobacco as the most important product. Leonard Dingler is
contributing with more than half of the total annual sales in South Africa. Leonard Dingler
contains the main manufacturing unit and head offices at the premises.
The purpose of this thesis was to create an overall measurement of Leonard Dingler’s and
Best Blend’s Supply chain performance. Purchasing,... (More) - Swedish Match is a global Group of companies with a broad assortment of market-leading
brands in smokeless tobacco products, cigars, pipe tobacco and lights products. The South
African organization comprises of three individual companies that were acquired between
1999 and 2001. This thesis was focused on two of these three companies, Leonard Dingler
and Best Blend with pipe tobacco as the most important product. Leonard Dingler is
contributing with more than half of the total annual sales in South Africa. Leonard Dingler
contains the main manufacturing unit and head offices at the premises.
The purpose of this thesis was to create an overall measurement of Leonard Dingler’s and
Best Blend’s Supply chain performance. Purchasing, production, distribution, and integration
between each department were evaluated to create an overview of the organizational
performance. It became evident during the progress of the study that some functions were
intangible and an overall performance wasn’t measurable. The study was therefore
complemented with an ISO-9000 approach and how such an approach would impact involved
processes, functions, and departments. This thesis also contained two sub-objectives that
needed to be accomplished: Problematic areas were to be found and future organizational
recommendations were to be suggested.
The study was performed and results were based on interviews with involved personnel and
various affiliates, observations of day-to-day activities, and data collection. These empirical
findings were analyzed through usage and comparison with the theoretical framework that
was obtained from literature, articles, electronic sources, etc.
Focus of the study was put on four areas of the supply chain: Purchasing, production,
distribution, and integration between these departments. It became evident that several of the
processes within these departments totally lacked a structured approach. Documentation, work
procedures, and policies were non-existing within purchasing which impacted outcomes
accordingly. Production was managed through a structured methodology and the results and
improvements within this department were more than satisfying. Distribution was outsourced
to a third-party logistical company which provided the core company with monthly reports.
Integration was a process that wasn’t emphasized and focus should be put on this area to
enhance interaction between involved personnel.
The outcomes of the study were almost in line with the set objectives. An overall picture was
created, problematic areas were found, and recommendations were proposed. But an overall
performance analysis wasn’t accomplishable since several processes within the supply chain
didn’t provide measurable or accurate data.
Future recommendations were discussed with top management in order to design achievable
suggestions that can be used for future improvements. These proposals can and should be
used as guidelines to continuously improve the organizations activities and processes. These
recommendations can hopefully enhance the overall performance of the organization. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1980703
- author
- Nilsson, Hans
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MIO920
- year
- 2007
- type
- M1 - University Diploma
- subject
- other publication id
- 07/5273
- language
- English
- id
- 1980703
- date added to LUP
- 2011-06-20 11:02:05
- date last changed
- 2011-06-20 11:02:05
@misc{1980703,
abstract = {{Swedish Match is a global Group of companies with a broad assortment of market-leading
brands in smokeless tobacco products, cigars, pipe tobacco and lights products. The South
African organization comprises of three individual companies that were acquired between
1999 and 2001. This thesis was focused on two of these three companies, Leonard Dingler
and Best Blend with pipe tobacco as the most important product. Leonard Dingler is
contributing with more than half of the total annual sales in South Africa. Leonard Dingler
contains the main manufacturing unit and head offices at the premises.
The purpose of this thesis was to create an overall measurement of Leonard Dingler’s and
Best Blend’s Supply chain performance. Purchasing, production, distribution, and integration
between each department were evaluated to create an overview of the organizational
performance. It became evident during the progress of the study that some functions were
intangible and an overall performance wasn’t measurable. The study was therefore
complemented with an ISO-9000 approach and how such an approach would impact involved
processes, functions, and departments. This thesis also contained two sub-objectives that
needed to be accomplished: Problematic areas were to be found and future organizational
recommendations were to be suggested.
The study was performed and results were based on interviews with involved personnel and
various affiliates, observations of day-to-day activities, and data collection. These empirical
findings were analyzed through usage and comparison with the theoretical framework that
was obtained from literature, articles, electronic sources, etc.
Focus of the study was put on four areas of the supply chain: Purchasing, production,
distribution, and integration between these departments. It became evident that several of the
processes within these departments totally lacked a structured approach. Documentation, work
procedures, and policies were non-existing within purchasing which impacted outcomes
accordingly. Production was managed through a structured methodology and the results and
improvements within this department were more than satisfying. Distribution was outsourced
to a third-party logistical company which provided the core company with monthly reports.
Integration was a process that wasn’t emphasized and focus should be put on this area to
enhance interaction between involved personnel.
The outcomes of the study were almost in line with the set objectives. An overall picture was
created, problematic areas were found, and recommendations were proposed. But an overall
performance analysis wasn’t accomplishable since several processes within the supply chain
didn’t provide measurable or accurate data.
Future recommendations were discussed with top management in order to design achievable
suggestions that can be used for future improvements. These proposals can and should be
used as guidelines to continuously improve the organizations activities and processes. These
recommendations can hopefully enhance the overall performance of the organization.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Hans}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Supply Chain Analysis at Swedish Match, South Africa - Complemented with an ISO 9000 evaluation}},
year = {{2007}},
}