Title: Postponement application in orange juice companies: case studies

Authors: Karine Araujo Ferreira; Rosane Lúcia Chicarelli Alcântara

Addresses: Department of Production Engineering, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), Escola de Minas, campus universitário, CEP 35400-000, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Federal University of SaoCarlos (UFSCar), Rodovia Washington Luís, km 235, CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brazil

Abstract: Postponement can be understood as a way to change the form, identity, or location of products at the latest possible point in time and can be applied in different levels in the supply chain. This study aimed to investigate the implementation of the postponement strategy in orange juice companies in order to identify the types of postponement adopted by these companies, the implementation process and the major changes after its adoption. Three exploratory case studies were carried out in orange juice processing companies, where interviews were conducted with general managers in the manufacturing and logistics sectors. Among the findings, types of postponement (time and form postponement) were verified. With the application of this strategy, changes in the productive process of orange juice were made with the movement of the decoupling point and the increase in the make-to-order production which had positive impacts on the businesses.

Keywords: postponement strategy; mass customisation; supply chain management; SCM; food and drinks industry; orange juice firms; time postponement; form postponement; make-to-order; MTO.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2015.072285

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2015 Vol.22 No.3, pp.331 - 349

Received: 25 Mar 2014
Accepted: 21 Aug 2014
Published online: 08 Oct 2015 *

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