Integrated and Optimized Order Management portal for Haier Europe Company

In the recent years thanks to the internet and technological facilities, production and services of the companies are not restricted only to the area they are located. Every single entity is now able to sell its products to any part of the world and to anyone they want. Supply Chain management is the tool through which industries and companies are able to deliver their products and services with the expected quality and on time to the end customers. It is even more important and fundamental when the ecosystem is huge, consisting of many individual entities from different parts of the world. Nowadays managing Supply Chain within an industry with enormous number of suppliers, producers and customers or within an international company or manufacturer dealing with a lot of external suppliers and third parties, is more challenging than before. If Supply Chain Management System of an industry or a company is not structured properly, they will not be able to meet their demands and customer expectations, therefore it must be well defined. From the past up to now, a lot of studies and researches have been carried out regarding supply chain as well as the practices and tools which can be applied to improve supply chain management. Haier Europe is an international home appliance manufacturer dealing with different suppliers and customers from all over the world. It has acquired many famous brands like Candy and Hoover and since its scope has become larger, the current SCM system is not responsive enough for the orders and demands. Therefore, Haier Europe has decided to invest in a project called “CSP Portal” to improve its supply chain management system, in particular its order management and web portal. The new SCM system has been developed and already run in Romania and Turkey plants as well as in finished goods segment of Italy plant. Spare parts and Service department is the only segment that the planners are still using the old SCM system. The aim of thesis is to discover “how well the new SCM system functions with respect to the old SCM system” and “how appropriate the new system is to be used in spare parts and service department”. For this purpose, the old order management system as well as the new CSP project are closely investigated and analyzed in parallel. The thesis is done through six chapters. In this chapter, the aim of research as well as thesis introduction, company introduction and thesis structure are given. In the second chapter, Supply Chain Management and some of its definitions are stated. In addition, the main theories and practices applicable to supply chain management such as lean manufacturing and just in time are explained and the importance of analyzing Haier Europe’s SCM system is discussed as well. The third chapter is all about the old portal where the order management process and workflow within the old portal as well as its criticalities are explained. On the other hand, chapter four describes the new CSP project. First, an introduction about the new portal is given and its requirements are mentioned. Then the order management process and its workflow within the new CSP portal are discussed. In chapter five, all the analysis carried out in this thesis as well as the corresponding results are explained in detail. Also, data collection and the parameters and KPIs considered in the analysis are closely described in this chapter. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis as well as recommendations for the future are discussed in the last chapter.