Supply Chain Disruption Management: how to cope with the semiconductor shortage problem in the automotive industry Case Study of Volkswagen Autoeuropa

João Maria Muacho Azinhais

Key information

Authors:

João Maria Muacho Azinhais (João Maria Muacho Azinhais)

Supervisors:

Duarte Nuno Caldeira Cordeiro Dinis (Duarte Nuno Caldeira Cordeiro Dinis); Bruna Alexandra Elias Mota (Bruna Alexandra Elias Mota)

Published in

December 5, 2022

Abstract

Nowadays, the automotive industry has been facing a major supply chain disruption (SCD) caused by semiconductor shortages. As a result, automotive SCs are exposed to several supply chain risks (SCRs) that can negatively impact companies’ operations and jeopardize supply chain resilience (SCRES). Volkswagen Autoeuropa (VW AE), an automotive plant located in Portugal and belonging to the Volkswagen Group, is no exception and has been also suffering from the semiconductor crisis problem. This work was developed in partnership with VW AE and has two main objectives: 1) perform a thorough study of VW AE´s semiconductor SC, in order to cope with the problem of semiconductor shortages; and 2) contribute to the literature with the development of a real case study in an automotive company that addresses the referred problem and studies the concepts of SCD, SCRM and SCRES. The supply chain risk management (SCRM) process was chosen as the main methodology to study the SCRs that the semiconductor SC of VW AE has been facing. This holistic process permitted: 1) identifying the two most relevant risks (supply failure and production failure); 2) assessing the overall risk score of occurring a production failure; 3) analysing the mitigation measures already implemented by VW AE; 4) proposing new mitigation measures to decrease the probability of occurring a production failure and suggesting measures to increase SCRES in VW AE´s SC; and 5) raising awareness of the importance of SCRM process to deal with SCDs.