Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study

Satisfying requests for specific vehicle variants in a timely manner may increase profit margins for the automotive producer and automotive dealers and may reduce the need to incentivise customers financially to make a purchase. Open pipeline order fulfilment systems have emerged in the automotive...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: MacCarthy, Bart L., Ovutmen, Tamer
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31602/
_version_ 1848794234638827520
author MacCarthy, Bart L.
Ovutmen, Tamer
author_facet MacCarthy, Bart L.
Ovutmen, Tamer
author_sort MacCarthy, Bart L.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Satisfying requests for specific vehicle variants in a timely manner may increase profit margins for the automotive producer and automotive dealers and may reduce the need to incentivise customers financially to make a purchase. Open pipeline order fulfilment systems have emerged in the automotive sector to allow dealers to fulfil a customer in a number of ways. Not only can a dealer search its own stock for a suitable match to a customer’s requested vehicle specification, the dealer can also search for a suitable vehicle in the planning, assembly or distribution pipeline. If a suitable match cannot be found, the dealer can submit a specific Build-to-Order request to the producer. This study examines the impact of adding a central vehicle holding compound (VHC) in such a system. Any dealer can search for a suitable vehicle match in the VHC. A simulation study of a real automotive fulfilment system is conducted to examine the effects on order fulfilment performance of establishing a VHC in a specific market. The simulation model incorporates important features that affect the management and control of the fulfilment system. The study shows that establishing a VHC in an open pipeline system has a significant effect on the level of use of each fulfilment mechanism and on fulfilment performance. A VHC results in significant reductions in lead time but can increase the total stock level in the system if the VHC operating conditions are not determined carefully. The insights and implications of the findings are discussed in detail. They are valuable in providing a base line to consider investment in a VHC and to decide the most appropriate operating policies.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:12:57Z
format Article
id nottingham-31602
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:12:57Z
publishDate 2015
publisher Elsevier
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-316022020-05-04T20:06:07Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31602/ Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study MacCarthy, Bart L. Ovutmen, Tamer Satisfying requests for specific vehicle variants in a timely manner may increase profit margins for the automotive producer and automotive dealers and may reduce the need to incentivise customers financially to make a purchase. Open pipeline order fulfilment systems have emerged in the automotive sector to allow dealers to fulfil a customer in a number of ways. Not only can a dealer search its own stock for a suitable match to a customer’s requested vehicle specification, the dealer can also search for a suitable vehicle in the planning, assembly or distribution pipeline. If a suitable match cannot be found, the dealer can submit a specific Build-to-Order request to the producer. This study examines the impact of adding a central vehicle holding compound (VHC) in such a system. Any dealer can search for a suitable vehicle match in the VHC. A simulation study of a real automotive fulfilment system is conducted to examine the effects on order fulfilment performance of establishing a VHC in a specific market. The simulation model incorporates important features that affect the management and control of the fulfilment system. The study shows that establishing a VHC in an open pipeline system has a significant effect on the level of use of each fulfilment mechanism and on fulfilment performance. A VHC results in significant reductions in lead time but can increase the total stock level in the system if the VHC operating conditions are not determined carefully. The insights and implications of the findings are discussed in detail. They are valuable in providing a base line to consider investment in a VHC and to decide the most appropriate operating policies. Elsevier 2015-12 Article PeerReviewed MacCarthy, Bart L. and Ovutmen, Tamer (2015) Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study. International Journal of Production Economics, 170 (B). pp. 590-601. ISSN 0925-5273 Order fulfilment; automotive open pipeline; vehicle holding compound (VHC) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527315003771?np=y doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.09.038 doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.09.038
spellingShingle Order fulfilment; automotive
open pipeline; vehicle holding compound (VHC)
MacCarthy, Bart L.
Ovutmen, Tamer
Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title_full Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title_fullStr Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title_full_unstemmed Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title_short Using a central Vehicle Holding Compound (VHC) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
title_sort using a central vehicle holding compound (vhc) in an open pipeline automotive order fulfilment system: a simulation study
topic Order fulfilment; automotive
open pipeline; vehicle holding compound (VHC)
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31602/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31602/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31602/