Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Evaluating and Ranking Suitable MRP Systems for Beijer Ref

Al-Awadi, Mohammed LU and Thelaus, Fritiof LU (2024) MTTM05 20241
Production Management
Engineering Logistics
Abstract
As supply uncertainties and increased lead times were more prominent than ever during the covid-19
pandemic, many companies experienced disrupted supply chains and realized the weaknesses in their
inventory management and supply chain planning. Many organizations, including the case company in
this thesis, Beijer Ref, experienced the impact of the bullwhip effect on their operations. The bullwhip
effect, characterized by demand fluctuations magnifying up the supply chain, led to an increased
inventory turnover rate for Beijer Ref. This in combination with increasing interests led to increased
inventory costs throughout the organization.
With this in mind, the case company decided that they should mitigate the risk of the bullwhip... (More)
As supply uncertainties and increased lead times were more prominent than ever during the covid-19
pandemic, many companies experienced disrupted supply chains and realized the weaknesses in their
inventory management and supply chain planning. Many organizations, including the case company in
this thesis, Beijer Ref, experienced the impact of the bullwhip effect on their operations. The bullwhip
effect, characterized by demand fluctuations magnifying up the supply chain, led to an increased
inventory turnover rate for Beijer Ref. This in combination with increasing interests led to increased
inventory costs throughout the organization.
With this in mind, the case company decided that they should mitigate the risk of the bullwhip effect and
improve their supply chain planning through an implementation of an MRP system. However, they were
not entirely sure what benefits, challenges and critical success factors this would entail and what system
would be a perfect fit for their employees demands on an MRP system.
Therefore, the research in this thesis is structured to address three key questions: What are the advantages,
challenges, and necessary activities entailed by MRP systems? Which MRP systems are available on the
market and what are their functionalities? What do employees throughout the organization expect from an
MRP system and which systems meet these demands?
A combination of literature review and case study was employed to provide a comprehensive analysis.
The literature review, integrated within the case study, outlines the theoretical benefits, potential pitfalls of
MRP systems and how to mitigate them, while empirical data is gathered through interviews with key
personnel at Beijer Ref, answers to a questionnaire and demonstrations from system vendors.
The findings reveal that there are multiple benefits of implementing an MRP system, besides improved
inventory management, there are multiple benefits related to an increased digitization of the supply chain.
Among other advantages, Beijer Ref could expect to experience increased visibility and efficiency
throughout their supply chain. The challenges found were mostly related to data accuracy and quality,
people within the organization and business knowledge, vision and strategy. These challenges can
however be mitigated through developing data standardizations, ensuring alignment throughout the
supply chain and providing organizational support.
The findings further reveal that the employees of Beijer Ref value the features related to replenishment
cycle calculations, classification of SKUs and inventory management the most in an MRP system. Their
opinions, in combination with the results found from the systems, a recommended solution was found in
S22 which scored the highest in five out of ten evaluation criteria.
Contribution: This thesis has been a complete elaboration between the two authors. Each author has been
involved in every part of the process and contributed equally. (Less)
Popular Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, supply uncertainties and increased lead times disrupted supply
chains, exposing weaknesses in inventory management. Beijer Ref, the case company for this thesis,
experienced the bullwhip ef ect, leading to higher inventory turnover and increased costs due to rising
interest rates. Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) systems can help companies better plan
purchasing decisions and improve inventory management. The market of ers many dif erent solutions.
This master thesis evaluates these options and aligns them with the needs of Beijer Ref.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Al-Awadi, Mohammed LU and Thelaus, Fritiof LU
supervisor
organization
course
MTTM05 20241
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
MRP systems, retailer, evaluation, system implementation, supply chain, supply chain visibility
other publication id
6031
language
English
id
9175037
date added to LUP
2024-09-23 11:38:16
date last changed
2024-09-23 11:38:16
@misc{9175037,
  abstract     = {{As supply uncertainties and increased lead times were more prominent than ever during the covid-19
pandemic, many companies experienced disrupted supply chains and realized the weaknesses in their
inventory management and supply chain planning. Many organizations, including the case company in
this thesis, Beijer Ref, experienced the impact of the bullwhip effect on their operations. The bullwhip
effect, characterized by demand fluctuations magnifying up the supply chain, led to an increased
inventory turnover rate for Beijer Ref. This in combination with increasing interests led to increased
inventory costs throughout the organization.
With this in mind, the case company decided that they should mitigate the risk of the bullwhip effect and
improve their supply chain planning through an implementation of an MRP system. However, they were
not entirely sure what benefits, challenges and critical success factors this would entail and what system
would be a perfect fit for their employees demands on an MRP system.
Therefore, the research in this thesis is structured to address three key questions: What are the advantages,
challenges, and necessary activities entailed by MRP systems? Which MRP systems are available on the
market and what are their functionalities? What do employees throughout the organization expect from an
MRP system and which systems meet these demands?
A combination of literature review and case study was employed to provide a comprehensive analysis.
The literature review, integrated within the case study, outlines the theoretical benefits, potential pitfalls of
MRP systems and how to mitigate them, while empirical data is gathered through interviews with key
personnel at Beijer Ref, answers to a questionnaire and demonstrations from system vendors.
The findings reveal that there are multiple benefits of implementing an MRP system, besides improved
inventory management, there are multiple benefits related to an increased digitization of the supply chain.
Among other advantages, Beijer Ref could expect to experience increased visibility and efficiency
throughout their supply chain. The challenges found were mostly related to data accuracy and quality,
people within the organization and business knowledge, vision and strategy. These challenges can
however be mitigated through developing data standardizations, ensuring alignment throughout the
supply chain and providing organizational support.
The findings further reveal that the employees of Beijer Ref value the features related to replenishment
cycle calculations, classification of SKUs and inventory management the most in an MRP system. Their
opinions, in combination with the results found from the systems, a recommended solution was found in
S22 which scored the highest in five out of ten evaluation criteria.
Contribution: This thesis has been a complete elaboration between the two authors. Each author has been
involved in every part of the process and contributed equally.}},
  author       = {{Al-Awadi, Mohammed and Thelaus, Fritiof}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Evaluating and Ranking Suitable MRP Systems for Beijer Ref}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}