Determining supply chain practices of light vehicle manufacturers

Abstract

This article explores the extent to which supply chain practices are implemented by light vehicle manufacturers in South Africa and determines whether there are differences with reference to supply chain practices between manufacturers of different origin (parent companies) in South Africa. A survey was conducted on light vehicle manufacturers in South Africa, using face-to-face questionnaire based on purposive sampling technique. Data was analysed descriptively using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the findings reveal that overall, light vehicle manufacturers implemented su pply chain practices to a great extent. The most highly implemented practices were “building long-term relationships”, “cooperation to improve process” and “collaboration on new product development”. “Sharing supply chain risk” was the least implemented across the inbound, outbound and internal supply chain. The article also revealed that in few of the best practices, differences were found between manufacturers of European and Asian parent company origin (parent companies of origin).