An Investigation of the Impact of Schedule Stability on Supplier Responsiveness

The impact of schedule stability on supplier responsiveness is investigated by comparing schedule and calloff quantities for two automotive assemblers who both use the same supplier. Components for the two assemblers are manufactured by the supplier in cells which are focused by customer. The world class assembler (a Japanese transplant) operated a stable, long‐term schedule policy whereas the non‐world class assembler (a Western mass producer) operated a schedule policy which is relatively highly uncertain. It is argued that the strategy of the world class assembler is likely to out‐perform the non‐world class assembler in the quest for lean distribution (build to customer order within short time cycles).