Supply chain in brazilian automobile industry: production organization, performance and innovations

This Paper presents the main results of a recent research on Supply Chain Management within the Brazilian Automotive Industry. The research aimed to study how the different forms of configuration of the Automaker’s Supply Chain influence the organization forms of production, the performance measures and the innovations in the Supply Chain Management. The research involves an automaker, two first tier suppliers and two second tier suppliers and it has been conducted through interviews with executives of those companies involved with the logistics, purchases and production areas. The study shows mainly that the recent structural changes within the Brazilian Automotive Industry have implicated directly in the coordination forms and innovations in the Supply Chain Management.