Logistics and organisational changes: the effect on customer-supplier relationships

This paper highlights how the adoption of a Material Requirement Planning System (MRP) at customers firms brings about organisational and logistic changes in their supply chain . It emerges that the MRP introduction imposes more stress on the supply chain and is really supportive of customer-supplier relationships. Furthermore, there are industrial specificities, since the effect of MRP is more marked in the aircraft sector than in the radar sector. The supply chains of two high-technology customer firms operating in the aircraft and radar industry have been studied. As well as the two large customers, 38 suppliers (23 aircraft and 15 radar industry firms) have been studied through periodic visits and using a semi-structured questionnaire. The changes have been observed by means of analysis of the effect on delivery times, costs and materials management of the suppliers.