A Study on CPFR Implementation Critical Factors for the Automotive Spare Part Industry

Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) is a cooperative management approach that helps to improve the abilities of supply chain members to increase their revenue and profit. Despite promising results reported by companies that have adopted CPFR, the implementation of CPFR appears to have encountered some obstacles. It is proposed here that a lack of appropriate detailed information concerning the critical success factors (CSFs) in CPFR implementation is an important reason for this. Although, the CSFs for CPFR implementation vary due to differences in industries and characteristics of supply chain, it is vital that managers of firms are aware of these factors prior to the adoption of CPFR with trading partners. This paper goes some way toward, narrowing of this gap by identifying CSFs in the automotive spare part industry. In order to complete this task, a comprehensive review of related CSF literature was conducted with factors recorded and classified. Following this, experts´ views and perceptions were applied to identify relevant CSFs. Fuzzy Extent Analytical Hierarchy Process (FEAHP) approach was then applied to weight selected elements and sub elements. Finally, the top ten critical factors for CPFR implementation were identified. The results of this study are expected to provide specific decision making principals for automotive spare part manufacturers to adoption of CPFR. To our knowledge, this is the first study that analyses CPFR success factors in automotive industry.