Developing a Supply Chain Mapping Framework – A case study at IKEA's Comfort Category

Abstract

Title: Developing a Supply Chain Mapping Framework: A case study at IKEA’s Comfort Category.

Authors: Rohit Jacob and Monica Mora Chaves

Supervisors:
• Dag Näslund, Department of Industrial Management and Logistics, Lund University.
• Lenny Nilsson, Logistics Manager Category Area Comfort at IKEA of Sweden
• Marcus Johansson, Project Leader, Supply Chain at IKEA of Sweden.

Background: As a low-cost company, IKEA of Sweden strives for a cost-efficient value chain. IKEA’s comfort category supply chain is complex because of its diverse and bulky products; and high percentage of supply chain cost, up to 30% in some cases and almost double the HFB average rate (15,6%). Therefore, the company wants to explore the comfort category supply chain to identify potential improvement opportunities.

Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis project is to develop a supply chain mapping framework to identify potential improvement opportunities and explore IKEA’s comfort category.

Research questions:
• RQ1. What are the steps to follow to perform a supply chain mapping?
• RQ2. How to use the framework to map IKEA’s comfort supply chain and identify improvement opportunities?

Findings: This project contributes to the formulation of a supply chain mapping framework, through a thorough literature review. Its step-by-step structure is easy to follow to analyze the supply chains and identify critical areas in need of improvement.

Later, these problems are prioritized, concluding in the areas where IKEA should focus its efforts. After the application of the developed framework, it is proposed a distribution of time and criticality of the steps for the mapping effort. The approach of developing the framework and later applying it provides a clear example and guarantees the applicability of the mapping tool built.

Popular Abstract

The benefits and barriers of supply chain mapping have often been discussed in the literature, but there is no existing step-by-step framework that can be followed to map a supply chain. In this master thesis, the authors develop a 12-step framework for supply chain mapping and explore IKEA's Comfort Category using the framework.

After an extensive literature review, the framework is developed, starting with 148 articles, and the final 12-step framework is constructed from 31 relevant articles. The framework is divided into three main stages: 1) Before mapping, 2) During mapping, and 3) After mapping. The framework aims to identify potential improvement opportunities in the supply chain.

In the first stage – Before mapping, the emphasis lies on the steps to be completed before starting the mapping efforts. There are five steps in this stage, 1) Delimit the mapping purpose, 2) Outline the mapping scope, 3) Determine the aspects and data to map, measure, and evaluate, 4) Identify the appropriate mapping technique, and 5) Define the data collection plan.

The second stage – During mapping, focus on the steps to conduct an efficient mapping. There are four steps in this stage, 1) Test the supply chain mapping strategy, 2) Recognize the potential mapping risks, 3) Execute the supply chain map, and 4) Validate the supply chain map.

The final stage of the framework – After mapping, lists the steps to be considered after the mapping effort. The three steps in this stage are, 1) Evaluate the performance and detect the critical aspects in need of improvement, 2) Find potential improvement opportunities, and 3) Analyze the selected improvement opportunities.

The developed framework is applied in IKEA's Comfort category to explore potential improvement opportunities in the supply chain. IKEA's Comfort category supply chain is complex because of its diverse and bulky products and a high share of supply chain cost. Nine value streams are mapped using the framework, and problems for each stream are identified. Unfortunately, the authors could not complete the last two steps in the After-mapping stage due to multiple constraints.

The analysis to identify potential improvement opportunities is performed using data triangulation of 1) Issues identified from the interview responses, 2) Cross-matching the issues across the nine different cases studied, and 3) Brainstorming with the project stakeholders to make sure they are consistent and relevant. The issues found to be relevant are classified into Operational or Organizational findings. Finally, the findings are prioritized using a multicriteria decision matrix.

After using the framework, the time needed and importance of each of the 12 steps in the framework are presented. The time efforts and importance matrix are specific to IKEA's Comfort category and might change depending on the company's size or industry, but it can be used as a starting point. Even though the supply chain mapping framework was specifically developed to suit IKEA's Comfort category, the authors believe that it can be followed for mapping any supply chain.

• author: Jacob, Rohit and Mora Chaves, Mónica
• supervisor: Dag Näslund
• organization: Engineering Logistics
• course: MTTM02 20211
• year: 2021
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Business and Economics; Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Supply chain mapping, Supply chain mapping framework, Supply chain management, IKEA, improvement opportunities.
• report number: 5941
• language: English
• id: 9054638
• date added to LUP: 2021-06-15 11:10:52
• date last changed: 2022-01-28 08:49:29