Improving Change Management of Supplier Changes While Mitigating Supply Chain Risk and Impact on Manufacturing Line

Abstract

Unattended Supplier Change Requests represent a problem for Company XY. The lack of action toward Supplier Changes Requests results in a build-up of open changes that may impact the company's supply chain and manufacturing line. There are multiple causes for this problem: the lack of prioritization tools, limited human resources vs. workload, lack of monitoring, and in some cases, the overall complexity of the change. Data showed some changes were not a priority, were not being worked on, were submitted prematurely, or were not applicable for different reasons. A Go/NoGo Tool was implemented to minimize the number of aging changes in the portal. Workload Assignment was redistributed, monthly monitoring of the change requests was implemented, and RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Collaboration, & Information) roles are being redefined. With these management tools in place, Company XY can expect to significantly reduce the balance of open change requests and disposition them on time. Key Terms ⎯ Change Management Culture, Medical Devices Manufacturer, Supplier Change Requests, Supply Chain Management.