After sales services increasingly gained importance in the mechanical
engineering industry within the last decades. Nowadays, provisioning of
spare parts as well as related maintenance, repair and overhaul services
constitutes a valuable and differentiating source for profit.
Corresponding spare parts supply chains operationalize this substantial
success factor and have interdependencies across involved specialized
actors. These collaborating actors need to be coordinated in their
actions for timely provisioning of spare parts and services at optimal
costs. Despite the high relevance of collaboration and coordination in
spare parts supply chains, academia and industry have identified a
considerable lack of knowledge in this domain. The need for a
comprehensive classification of spare parts supply chains was evident,
which would enable assessing and improving collaboration and
coordination of actors in spare parts supply chains. In his
dissertation, Mr. Saalmann answers the question how spare parts supply
chains in the mechanical engineering industry can be improved by
enhanced collaboration and coordination of their actors from an
information systems perspective. He developed a taxonomy and maturity
model for spare parts supply chains in the mechanical engineering
industry. The taxonomy specifies characteristics for collaboration and
coordination as well as classifies real-world spare parts supply chains
from industry. The adaptable maturity model refines and utilizes derived
insights for a targeted assessment as well as improvement of
collaboration and coordination in a spare parts supply chain according
to differentiating dimensions. The application of the maturity model in
industry is promoted through related methodological guidance and
provided tool support.
