Kaizen: The Application of Performance Benchmarking for a Customer-Focussed Supplier Association

Summary

The paper explores the localisation of Japanese supplier management practices in the United Kingdom through the use of the supplier association concept and the establishment of joint operational goals between the automotive assembler and a regional supply base. The case is focused on a group of Welsh based suppliers termed the Welsh Automotive Supplier Association (WASA) and was the first organisation of their kind in Wales, joined only recently by a second group working with a traditional British assembler. The research was undertaken by the Cardiff Business School in partnership with the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and the Japanese Assembler supply stream management professionals during 1993/94. The paper explains how the research was conducted and identifies the future direction of the group based on the benchmarking and feedback data.