Supply chain costs and stakeholders analysis for a direct procurement process of spare-parts for gas-oil boat engines

Abstract

Brunswick Marine in EMEA is an American company located in Petit-Rechain (Belgium), it is the distribution center for Brunswick’s products in the EMEA regions. The main products distributed are the Mercury boat engines and all the spare parts required for the repair and maintenance of those engines. The diesel engine brand of Mercury is not manufactured internally for strategic reasons, but it is manufactured by FCA in Italy which also provides all the spare parts. At the beginning of 2019, the purchase price of the spare parts coming from FCA had been questioned and many delays in delivery have been recorded. The aim of this master thesis’ report is to describe the feasibility study that has been carried out to analyze if it is worth it to have a direct sourcing of key spare parts from their manufacturer. The objective is to reduce the purchase price and the lead time by avoiding the intermediate role of FCA. The report will start with different analysis of the company and the sector where it operates. Then, the selection of the key spare parts will be explained as well as their physical identification in the distribution center. All the costs linked to the procurement of spare parts will be detailed and it will be demonstrated which costs will be impacted by the project and the increase in the number of suppliers. Those costs will be computed for both the current and studied systems and the additional costs incurred by the project will be assessed. KPIs will be used to compare the performances of the current system versus the studied system and the prices provided by the potential new suppliers will be analyzed to determine the margin that can be saved on the purchase price. Finally, results will be analyzed and a practical case with a selected supplier, Sherwood, will be detailed.