Design for Logistics

The purpose of the research project is to investigate the potential interactions between products and logistics (the supply chain). The reason is that the product itself has a major influence on the performance of the supply chain. At the same time logistic costs are often estimated to amount 15-20 % of product costs which makes an improvement of the supply chain performance a potential way to gain competitive advantage. The research project is carried out in cooperation with a company, Bang & Olufsen, a Danish manufacturer of audio and video equipment. Bang & Olufsen also acts as case company in the research project. The researcher acts part time as change agent in the company, and part time as researcher at CIP. The work progresses along two paths one being investigating the structure of existing products and their supply chains, the other being developing a framework for concurrent product and supply chain development. Project duration: fall 2000 to fall 2003. (Ebbe Gubi, John Johansen, Poul H.K. Hansen)