Information Sharing and Coordination Mechanism for Supply Chain Management: A Case Study of the Automotive Industry

This study aims to investigate the problems of uncertainty embedded in the automotive supply chain and design the coordination mechanism of supply chain management (SCM) to reduce the uncertainty disturbances. In order to understand the uncertainty that occurs in the interaction among supply chain participants, this study conducts an investigation on two levels - vehicle manufacturers (VM) and suppliers. The results of case studies suggest an increased level of customization, which will create more uncertainty to the extant supply chains. This can be translated into requirement for demand policy objective. To accompany with supply chain process redesign towards market mediation and supplier involvement, combining information sharing with coordination mechanism can reinforce the existing IT infrastructure of the automotive industry to achieve the policy objective of VM.