TWO PAPERS IN SUPPLY CHAIN DESIGN: SUPPLY CHAIN CONFIGURATION AND PART SELECTION IN MULTIGENERATION PRODUCTS by Sean Peter Willems
B.S.E. Economics
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1993
S.M. Operations Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
Submitted to the
Alfred P. Sloan School of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology February 1999
Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999. All rights reserved.
Signature of Author _____________________________________________________ Alfred P. Sloan School of Management January 26, 1999
Certified by ____________________________________________________________ Stephen C. Graves Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management Co-director, Leaders for Manufacturing Program
Accepted by ___________________________________________________________
This page intentionally left blank
2
TWO PAPERS IN SUPPLY CHAIN DESIGN: SUPPLY CHAIN CONFIGURATION AND PART SELECTION IN MULTIGENERATION PRODUCTS
Abstract
by
Sean Peter Willems
Submitted to the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management on January 26, 1999 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Management
Increasing competitive pressures are forcing companies to increase their rates of innovation. The increasing rate of innovation shortens each product’s duration in the market, thereby compressing each product’s life cycle. Without proper management, increasing product turnover will increase design and manufacturing costs. More frequent product development cycles require additional product development resources. Shorter production runs inhibit a company’s ability to achieve manufacturing cost reductions by exploiting the learning curve and scale economies. Unless companies can efficiently manage