Abstract
The focus of this research is on investigating the continued missed on-time delivery targets despite the existence of demand planning at the automotive components’ supplier in South Africa. A qualitative study was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 5 supply and 5 demand planners from an automotive components’ supplier in South Africa. The importance of on-time delivery and customer service are also highlighted in this study.
The study identifies key challenges impacting on-time delivery despite the existence of demand planning including inaccurate forecasting, lack of S&OP and capacity constraints from the suppliers. Additionally, to these challenges, the study also identifies delays due to suppliers from China, Japan, and India. The study recommends strategies to improve on-time delivery such as demand forecast accuracy improvement, safety stock increase, consideration of local suppliers to substitute products that are coming from China, Japan, India and implementing S&OP in the organisation.