Improvements in the materials supply chain for a motor sport supplier using quality management techniques.

Abstract

Ray Mallock Ltd is a medium sized business operating in one of the fastest developing, expensive, international industries, motor sport. A tremendous amount is spent every year on research and developing cars to go faster because the company’s reputation stands upon their cars winning. Motor sport is primarily located in the south of England with many small specialist suppliers developing around the various teams. The suppliers to the motor sport industry are often under considerable pressure to respond instantaneously to the needs of each team. With such a wide range of skills and types of suppliers the supply chain becomes very complex and awkward for a company the size of RML to manage as it requires a lot of resources. Therefore the overall project aim was to look at the approach RML took toward their supply chain and resolve the major problems that were encountered by the Materials Department. The Materials Department consists of Purchasing, Inspection and Stores. These departments are closely linked and incorporate quality. A number of quality tools were used to gather data and information regarding the department including interviews, , ) internal literature review, observation, flow process mapping, gap analysis and data [ collection. This highlighted a common problem to medium sized companies, informality. i Procedures were not in place so improvements were limited, a wealth of experience lay with employees regarding suppliers but this needed to be gathered and methods for ; \ selecting, appraising and measuring performance formulated. Communication externally needed improvement, with the high variability and randomness of orders placed with suppliers they needed to be made more aware of how projects are progressing to help them plan. There is extra emphasis placed upon critical components for car builds which is the reason why a supplier development scheme was adapted for use by RML. The project concludes that proper procedures, supplier appraisal and selection schemes, performance measurement and future supplier development, if used properly and wholeheartedly the tools ought to aid the department. The Materials Department can improve after the initial implementation by developing the tools and make real steps towards making better informed decisions about suppliers, managing supplier relationships, continuous improvements and contributing to the bottom line of RML.