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Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers (2000)

Chapter: Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
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APPENDIXES

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

APPENDIX A
Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers

Appendix A contains a copy of the survey the committee sent to small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises and a summary of the results.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

COMMISSION ON ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SYSTEMS

BOARD ON MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING DESIGN

Office Location:

Harris Building, Room 262 2001 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Phone: (202) 334-3129 FAX: (202) 334-3718 rrusnak@nas.edu

Mailing Address:

2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418

June 16, 1998

Dear Survey Participant:

On behalf of the National Research Council, I want to thank you for your participation. The objective of this survey is to determine what you think is important to satisfy your customers and to be a supplier for companies using modern supply chain management methods. This information will be used in conjunction with inputs from large companies to determine the most important attributes of good suppliers. Based on this analysis, the strategies will be developed for helping you to obtain needed capabilities.

We are not asking for your identity in the survey so you can be assured that your input is anonymous. In addition, we will only be using compiled data in our analysis, so individual results will not be revealed.

Inputs should be sent directly back to this office. Electronic response is strongly preferred (RRusnak@NAS.edu).

Again I want to thank you for your contribution. We anticipate that the ultimate results of this study will be used to assist you in becoming a first rate supplier and expanding your business.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Rusnak

Study Director

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

SURVEY

FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN SUPPLY CHAINS

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Characteristics of Respondent

Industry

________ ________ (SIC)

Sales

________

No. of employees

Primary product(s)

________

________

Build-to-print or other

________

% of sales from top three customers

________

________

________

List the SIC codes of top three customers

________

________

Questions:

1. What percentage of your business transactions with your customer is done electronically?

2. To what extent do your top three customers share their future product and technology plans with you?

Insert number to reflect level:

1

2

3

4

5

never

 

 

 

always

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

Customer 1 ____

Customer 2 ____

Customer 3 ____

3. Do you have the following capabilities?

 

(Now)

(Near Future)

SPC

________

________

CAD

________

________

CAM

________

________

MRP

________

________

ISO/QS

________

________

HAZMAT

________

________

4. How would you characterize your relationship with your top three customers?

Insert number to reflect level:

Insert number to reflect level:

1

2

3

4

5

adversarial

 

 

 

full partner

Customer 1 ____

 

 

 

 

Customer 2 ____

 

 

 

 

Customer 3 ____

 

 

 

 

5. What critical factors or new capabilities would improve your success as a supplier?

Insert number to reflect level:

1

2

3

4

5

not important

 

 

 

very important

Payment terms ____

Customer recognition program ____

Sharing of cost data ____

Sharing of objective performance data ____

Early involvement in customer product development ____

Production forecast ____

Financing ____

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

Others

_________________

 

_________________

 

_________________

 

_________________

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

SURVEY RESULTS

There were 99 completed questionnaires, one of which was from a very small enterprise whose owners and employees only participate in the company on a part-time basis. The data from this company was not included in the database. Hence, the total sample size is 98.

TABLE A-1 General Characteristics

Question

Number of Responses

Mean

Median

Standard Deviation

Annual sales ($ million)

82

34.9

7.7

111.3

Number of employees

95

226.7

75.0

514.8

Sales to top three customers as a percentage of total sales

86

42.4

34.3

25.8

Percentage of transactions with customers performed electronically

96

11.4

2.0

17.4

Extent to which customers share product and technology plans (1 [low] to 5 [high])

97

2.8

3.0

1.1

TABLE A-2 Capabilities of SMEs

Capability

Number of Respondents

Percentage with Capability Now

Percentage Planning to Develop Capability

Total (Percent)

SPC

98

55

12

67

CAD

98

74

1

75

CAM

98

47

11

58

MRP

98

43

16

59

ISO/QS

98

41

35

76

HAZMAT

98

48

7

55

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

TABLE A-3 Relations with Top Three Customers

Number of Responses

Mean

Median

Standard Deviation

98

3.7

3.7

0.6

Scale: 1= adversarial; 5 = full partner

TABLE A-4 Factors That Would Improve Probability of Supplier Success

Factors

Number of Responses

Mean

Median

Standard Deviation

Improved payment terms

96

2.8

3.0

1.3

Better customer recognition programs

94

2.6

3.0

1.1

More extensive sharing of cost data

96

2.4

2.0

1.2

More extensive sharing of performance data

95

3.5

4.0

1.2

Earlier involvement in product development

95

4.1

5.0

1.1

More extensive sharing of production forecasts

94

3.8

4.0

1.2

Better financing

93

2.4

2.0

1.3

Scale: 1 = not important; 5 = important

TABLE A-5 General Characteristics of Subsamples

Question (averages)

Large SMEs

Small SMEs

Dispersed Customer Base

Concentrated Customer Base

Number of respondents

41

41

43

43

Annual sales (millions of dollars)

65.4

3.5

47.5

14.5

Number of employees

390.5

40.7

300.1

121.5

Sales from top three customers as a percentage of total sales

34.8

42.3

19.5

65.6

Percentage of transactions with customers performed electronically

10.9

13.2

7.5

15.4

Extent to which customers share product and technology plans (1 [no] to 5 [yes])

3.1

2.4

2.8

2.7

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

TABLE A-6 Capabilities of Large and Small SMEs

 

Percentage with Capability Now

Percentage Planning to Develop Capability

Capability

Large SMEs

Small SMEs

Large SMEs

Small SMEs

Number in sample

41

41

41

41

 

66

44

10

12

SPC

88

59

0

0

CAD

56

37

10

7

CAM

59

22

15

17

MRP

54

22

27

44

ISO/QS

59

39

7

5

HAZMAT

TABLE A-7 Capabilities of SMEs with Dispersed and Concentrated Customer Bases

 

Percentage with Capability Now

Percentage Planning to Develop Capability

Capability

Dispersed Customer Base

Concentrated Customer Base

Dispersed Customer Base

Concentrated Customer Base

Number in sample

43

43

43

43

 

SPC

44

63

14

9

CAD

72

70

0

2

CAM

49

47

12

7

MRP

42

47

19

14

ISO/QS

35

44

49

21

HAZMAT

47

49

5

9

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×

TABLE A-8 Success Factors in Subsamples

Average importance of factors (based on scale of 1 to 5)

Large SMEs

Small SMEs

Dispersed Customer Base

Concentrated Customer Base

Number of respondents

41

41

43

43

Average relationship with top three customers

3.7

3.7

3.6

3.7

Payment terms

2.5

2.9

2.4

3.0

Customer recognition programs

2.4

2.6

2.5

2.5

Sharing of cost data

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.6

Sharing of performance data

3.4

3.3

3.3

3.3

Early involvement in product development

4.0

3.9

4.0

4.0

Sharing of production forecast

3.9

3.5

3.4

3.9

Financing

2.0

2.4

2.2

2.4

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 117
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 118
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 119
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 120
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 121
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 122
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Survey: Characteristics of Small Manufacturers." National Research Council. 2000. Surviving Supply Chain Integration: Strategies for Small Manufacturers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6369.
×
Page 123
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The managed flow of goods and information from raw material to final sale also known as a "supply chain" affects everything—from the U.S. gross domestic product to where you can buy your jeans. The nature of a company's supply chain has a significant effect on its success or failure—as in the success of Dell Computer's make-to-order system and the failure of General Motor's vertical integration during the 1998 United Auto Workers strike.

Supply Chain Integration looks at this crucial component of business at a time when product design, manufacture, and delivery are changing radically and globally. This book explores the benefits of continuously improving the relationship between the firm, its suppliers, and its customers to ensure the highest added value.

This book identifies the state-of-the-art developments that contribute to the success of vertical tiers of suppliers and relates these developments to the capabilities that small and medium-sized manufacturers must have to be viable participants in this system. Strategies for attaining these capabilities through manufacturing extension centers and other technical assistance providers at the national, state, and local level are suggested.

This book identifies action steps for small and medium-sized manufacturers—the "seed corn" of business start-up and development—to improve supply chain management. The book examines supply chain models from consultant firms, universities, manufacturers, and associations. Topics include the roles of suppliers and other supply chain participants, the rise of outsourcing, the importance of information management, the natural tension between buyer and seller, sources of assistance to small and medium-sized firms, and a host of other issues.

Supply Chain Integration will be of interest to industry policymakers, economists, researchers, business leaders, and forward-thinking executives.

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