Appendix D, Cases’ individual coding scheme

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Appendix D, Cases’ individual coding scheme

Link to Upstream Complexity

Descriptive Coding Link to survey Data Reduction Link to Strategies/Coping

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 4 "The harvest is always quality depended, harvests always differ from one other". "The variation is big in the different

shipments we receive".

"Then we have uncertainty of the harvest, last year we got a harvest with a very fluctuating quality". "The uncertainty is in the future harvest".

"Dealing with raw materials, with a natural product, you have to deal with climate, where does it grow, what is the quality and how the weather is like. You have to deal with various quality aspects, so you look at where you buy from". "The climate is not ideal here".

Collaboration;

Relationship management; (Vertical) Integration;

Information sharing and systems; Multiple suppliers;

Human cognitive abilities. Variation in price 4.5 "The price of the grain is decided upon by term buyers on exchanges in Paris and Chicago. The price fluctuates quite a

lot between days". "The price is dependent on the quality of the harvest".

“We buy, on the market or a first-hand supplier, at the moment we sell flower”.

Product variety 5 "The diversity of raw materials does not make the business more complex. We rather have one type of grain and one type of flower". "Grain takes up about 70-75 percent of the total purchasing costs".

Perishability 3 "The only perishability we know, are the raw materials we procure for the production of crumbs and flower. Mostly small needed quantities but we have to buy those big. The suppliers wants you to buy one or two pallets where you only need one bag a month. That is the only perishability we experience".

Segmentation.

Differentiation Capabilities of suppliers

3 "One supplier is better capable of sorting and storing the raw materials than the other". Practices of

suppliers

3 "Also your suppliers have to comply to stricter rules and regulations". Delivery Lead time of

suppliers and delivery reliability of suppliers

3.2 "Grain is always supplied by ship". "The transportation by ships adds complexity. There are many different casualties

you can run in when transporting via ship". Buffers (Inventory).

Geographical

dispersion Geographical spread of the suppliers 4 "We mostly buy the grains, those are a few, X is a big supplier, that is mostly active in Germany". "The supplier side is greatly influenced through logistics. That has to do with the fact that you cannot get your materials from wherever you like, that also has to do with the value of the product. For us the ideal logistics but also ideal quality region is East Germany (best quality, and nicely linked with this region through the mid-west channel. Our materials come from the Maine and the Rijn, the Mussel, those are the supply channels. Most grain comes from those regions". Position Position in the

supply chain, far upstream or far downstream

3 "We have a supplier of the grain, we are really towards the business, and from the business it goes to the customer. It is B2B". "We are closer to the supplier, and we do this on purpose". "We are convinced that it would be better to take a step back. In other words; how far are you integrated. But mostly when it comes to flower, we want to do a step back, to work closer together with the grain collectors or with the farmers".

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Case B: "We don't have to worry about the supply side"

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 3 "The milk that is used to make that product should meet specific requirements". "The requirements become higher and

higher and so the supplied milk becomes better, higher quality".

"The quality differs between the seasons (winter is better). However, if the product meets requirements that is not a problem". "Every milk that we get here is suitable for baby food, otherwise we don't want the milk". "The quality of our supply is not a risk. It doesn't form a danger".

Relationship management; Collaboration;

Information sharing and systems.

Variation in supply 3 "There are differences between seasons. Goat milk has of course a season peak. Goats are all giving birth to lambs in February, then you get the peak of milk until May/June".

Relationship management. Perishability 3 "Milk has no infinite shelf life. It should be processed within 24-36 hours". Segmentation.

Product variety "We have got the goat milk, the cow milk and the whey (from goat milk) as raw materials. Cow milk can be separated in biological milk and regular milk".

Differentiation 3 Delivery 3,3 Geographical dispersion Geographical spread of the suppliers

3 "We have got 85 cattle farmers in Overijssel and Drenthe".

"Another part of the company is X, that's an association with 50 goat farmers. They are located nearby but also in Brabant, not from everywhere of the Netherlands but more from the east and south of the Netherlands. It's very recent that we have them as our own farmers under our group X".

Position Position in the supply chain, far upstream or far downstream

3 "The goat farmers are part of an association, owned by our group X". "The goat farmers don't have anything to say about the company".

Scale Number of direct suppliers

1 "We have got 85 cattle farmers in Overijssel and Drenthe, all staid at the Y and the Z".

"We have a collaboration with Y and the Z, who have got 500 cow farmers, where 85 come from nearby Ommen and Drenthe".

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Case C

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 3 "There isn't a lot of variation in quality of the raw materials. However, there is but we manage it". "The input of the cow

determines the quality of the milk"

"There is not a high variability of raw materials". "The variability of raw materials don't lead to complexity". "The raw materials have to meet requirements, so we make sure that the quality is above certain quality standards, so quality is known".

Collaboration;

Relationship management; Information sharing and systems; Human cognitive abilities. Variation in price 4 "The variation of the price of raw materials is very high, yes for sure, it changes". "Last year, there were high prices of

raw materials".

Product variety 2,3 "At this factory, only milk comes in as raw material".

Perishability 3,5 "Less change of bacterial growth, since the first heat treatment is done at the supplier (the cheese factory)". "Waiting times of raw materials. The milk is coming from our neighbors, and then it should be processed within a day. If there is a problem, we look for alternatives". "If the raw materials are too long in stock it can obsolete of course, it occurs only with production failures".

Buffers (Extra capacity); Segmentation.

Variation in supply 4 "Nobody knows how much milk is coming because of the stop of the milk quota". "Our raw materials are coming

continuously. It's a continuous flow". "We don't have problems with raw materials". Multiple sourcing; Buffers (Extra capacity). Differentiation Cultures of suppliers 2,5 “In practice, of course interests can differ". Cultural alignment. Delivery Deliver reliability of

suppliers and lead time of suppliers

3,5 "Our raw materials are coming continuously. It's a continuous flow".

Geographical dispersion

4,5 "The biggest part of our suppliers is bounded to this region". "Our supplier of raw materials is located next to us". "The raw materials are here in the area"

"Most come from the Netherlands, but we are also getting milk from Belgium and Germany. Company C is a

cooperation and that are most Dutch farmers, you see a lot of milk is coming from the North of the Netherlands because of the driving distance". "New areas are born because of special raw materials. However, most comes from nearby. It does not matter if milk comes from the South or the North". "For baby food it comes from nearby". "The cans are from Hong Kong"

Position 3,5 "Our position is more at the supply side of the supply chain". "Case C is a cooperation. The farmers are paid with a sort of benchmark price for their milk. The milk is the start of this company and we have to put that milk in products were we can earn the most money. That money will finally come back to the farmers".

(Vertical) Integration.

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Case D

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 4 "Our suppliers provide us with the raw materials with high quality". Collaboration,

Relationship management; Eliminating of non-value adding activities.

Variation in price 3 "There is a large variability in price".

Variation in supply 5 "If a large number of raw materials are provided by a single supplier, there is no other choice when a crisis appears at this supplier. In addition, divergence may exist when bargaining with a single supplier. This influences the supply of raw materials".

Flexible Supply Base.

2 "The technique level of the suppliers will influence the product. For example, the quality of raw materials may be assessed as unqualified. This influence production".

Delivery Deliver reliability of suppliers and lead time of suppliers

3,3 "Time to deliver is influenced by two elements: the demand volume of raw materials, if the demand exceeds, it's hard for suppliers to deliver on time. Also, quality problems influence on-time deliveries". "For the raw materials, which need to be imported from abroad, the lead time is nearly three months. For package material, lead time is 7 days".

Relationship management.

Geographical spread of the suppliers

4 "We have got 2 pastures around the world; one in China and one in Ireland. Our milk is provided by these two pastures". "The milk is collected as liquid at the pastures and processed into solid at a plant near the pasture". "This solid milk (fine powder) will be transferred to a distribution center, which is located in Hangzhou (China)". "The suppliers of packs and nutrition are mostly located near the plants within 600 kilometers".

Position 4 "Downstream, close to the customers". (Vertical) Integration.

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Case E

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in supply 3 "We are a campaign company, it depends on the harvest. We can have a good or bad harvest (it varies from

500.000-600.000 Tons)". "We must be prepared for unexpected situations at our suppliers; chemical plants 'force majeurs”. "No variation in supply, only after a force majeur there can be a variation in supply". "Everything is stable, except for the harvest itself". "Our supply is uncertain"

Relationship management; Flexible supply base.

Product variety 4,5 "We both process starch and protein, we need different kind of chemicals". "The input is potatoes, and we extract starch and protein. By chemical transition we add specific characteristics to starch for several, different purposes".

Variation in quality 1 "No variation in quality, in general we buy commodities, high volumes, standard chemical products".

Differentiation 3,8

Delivery 1,8 Buffers (Inventory).

3,5 "Suppliers are less dispersed compared to customers. Chemicals and other raw materials from all over the world, however, in our top 10 list of suppliers of chemicals all the suppliers are located in Europe. Other kinds of starch are bought from suppliers located in Asia". "Transport and storage, also purchased and seen as suppliers, are located in this region, particular storage suppliers. However, to get everywhere, different transportation modes are needed and specialized companies are used to distributed the goods". "The main suppliers are farmers, located in the North & East of the Netherlands and in North West Germany. Those farmers supply the plants in the Netherlands. Farmers in former East-West Germany supply the plants located in Germany". "We can get our starch from Indonesia". "Chemical plants are located close since we have a low density value, so we are restricted to regional deliveries since otherwise it becomes too expensive".

Position 3 "Looking from the end product perspective, we are positioned at the beginning of the chain, more upstream". Scale 4 "Our customers require us to manage our supplier base well. All suppliers need to be rated well, need to be periodically

audited and documented. That's something we need to translate upstream, also to the farmers". "The supply base increases because of the increase in product variety and the needed chemicals, specialized, unique suppliers and chemicals in relatively small volumes which makes it more complex".

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Case F

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 2 "Quality beforehand is hard to detect, we pay for where our suppliers screw up. It's difficult to prove". "There is a big

difference in what the product does in different chicken farms without them actually knowing why". "There is a large fluctuation in quality what is supplied, and you cannot find out what is wrong".

Relationship management; Economic supply incentives; Collaboration;

Eliminating of non-value adding activities.

Variation in price 2 "There is no variation in price, price of eggs is the same".

Variation in supply 4 "It is a rather fluctuating supplier market". Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base. Perishability 4 "Keeping inventory is hard since the raw materials are perishable".

Product variety 1 "We receive breeding-eggs from our suppliers". "We put eggs in and then we get chickens in the end".

Differentiation 3

Delivery 2,8

Geographical

dispersion 4 "The spread is momentarily, at this moment we are in a shortage, as expected". "The egg farms, we try to keep them close. But they are also distributed farther apart, like now we are in a period of shortage, which means that we have to travel quite a bit before we finally have eggs in our facilities".

"The best is if you have chicken farms with around 25.000 eggs a day. Nicely dispersed. If something happens then, it won’t result in such a big hole in your production". "It's our burden that there is almost nothing close by, those are gone, if you get your eggs from farther away, and you are in a shortage, that does make it difficult".

Position 2 "We are in between the suppliers, the one that supplies us with fertilized eggs and our direct customer. We deal less with the slaughterhouse, in that sense we are positioned more upstream". "We are at the beginning. We are the basis of everything that comes".

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Case G

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 2 "There is a supply unpredictability. We know how many chickens there are and how many there will be slaughtered.

However, a chicken is a living being and grows on its own manner. There are differences in harvest". “So if raw materials or package aren't available when needed and in the right quantities at the right specifications, we have got a problem, a delivery issue of our products. We experience some pressure and stress to manage that well".

Relationship management; Flexible supply base; Multiple sourcing.

Variation in supply 2 "The supply side is fairly stable. This means that every time the same amount of chickens will be delivered at our slaughter locations". “So if raw materials or package aren't available when needed and in the right quantities at the right specifications, we have got a problem, a delivery issue of our products. We experience some pressure and stress to manage that well”.

Relationship management; (Vertical) Integration; Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base.

Variation in price 4 "It's not that bad”. Relationship management;

Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base. Perishability 2 "The best before date of raw materials makes the purchasing department reluctant to keep inventories/high stocks. The

balance between indicators makes it complex; low inventory levels (perishability and the dynamic assortment), but still selling everything the customer needs. We don't want to say 'no' at all times".

Product variety 5 "Every year, we have E 200.000 unsaleable raw materials and packages due to a change in assortment". Differentiation 2 "That's not too bad since we put a lot of effort into it. What we notice, which makes sense, there are differences in

experiences. It is also important for poultry farmers to visit our plant and to talk about issues we experience and how they can influence and help us solving those issues. At the end, those kind of things bring cultures together". Delivery Lead time of the

supplier

3 "It is interesting since those lead times are long. A chicken has a certain life cycle, it depends on the type of chicken. If I decide to sell blue chickens today, I have to go 40 weeks backwards since the upstream chain is that long. So the supplier lead time is very long".

4 "The majority is purchased from West-Europe. Especially for company G-specific purchases. Chicken". "Nowadays, we purchase the vegetables in the Netherlands. However, it depends on the season. Till April it is purchased at Spain". "50% of our chickens come from Germany, and are slaughtered there, since we also have slaughter locations in Germany. The other 50% come from the Netherlands and Belgium. A few come from France".

Position 4 "Here, at this company, we are at the end of the supply chain". "Upstream is stable, the more you get downstream, the

more disorder". (Vertical) Integration.

Scale 5 "Our input are those living chickens which we buy from poultry farmers". "There are 1500 suppliers". "We are in competition for suppliers".

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Case H

Mechanisms Uncertainty Variation in quality 4,5 "With potatoes it is about the fact that it is a natural product.

"Yes, there is pretty much variation in quality. Potatoes are a natural product". “This makes it complex, as not one year is the same. It all depends on the growing season. Factors influence the final product. And the final product is harvested from August until October, and that indicated the result for the rest of the season. So yes, with a potato anything can happen. It has to meet certain specifications". "The quality has to be inside a specific range of specifications". "In the beginning it is mostly the raw material that can differ in quality". "The uncertainty is the raw material. Since, even though we have information about that beforehand, the batches often brings surprises with them. This is really about the potatoes, other materials you just order and it gets delivered, done".

"The quality never gets better in a barn. However, you need barns to store the potatoes".

Collaboration; Outsourcing;

Information sharing and systems; Relationship management; Human cognitive abilities.

Perishability 2 "At the beginning of the year, when the potatoes from July/August are harvested, and it is hot, warm weather, then potatoes have the biggest chance to perish. It is possible that the potatoes perish within a day".

"At the supply-side company H has to deal with perishability, in particular in the growing and 'fresh' period, after grubbing up the raw materials (potatoes), possibly with rot, in swelting weather, rot can continue fast".

Buffers (Inventory).

Variation in supply 2 "No, the truck comes in, that is 35 Tons of potatoes. And when the farmer is almost empty it could be that a truck comes in of 10-15 Tons. Does not necessary add to complexity". "When the raw materials aren't of the expected and needed length (quality), and it puts our utilization in jeopardy, then we need more raw materials to supplied".

Variation in price 3,5 "We get our raw materials based on a contract. In that case, agreements about prices, which sizes to deliver, very specific agreements, are made in advance. Growers know in advance to which they must comply, expressed in a scoring system, an appraisal system. If a batch of potatoes exceed a predetermined number of points, then company H gets discount on that batch. The opposite may also happen. If a batch of potatoes is much better (for example the quality) than agreed upon in advance, then the grower is rewarded".

2 "There is diversity in growers, the grower needs knowledge and experience to correctly store and grow the potatoes". Practices of

suppliers

2 "Also, every grower does it (grows) on his own way".

Cultures of suppliers 2 "In overwork, producing more in the weekends, it means that also the growers need to work in the weekends, since potatoes are freshly delivered to our plant because of the low buffers (minimizing inventories) at our plant. This is not always accepted, growers need their Sunday-rest. There are growers who don't deliver on Sunday and we have to deal with that".

Delivery 2 Buffers (Inventory);

Collaboration. Geographical

dispersion 2,5 "We have 5 big farmers located in the North (Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe). They grow 1000 hectares of potatoes for us". "In February, we get new potatoes from the polder, where we have about 20 suppliers". "We also have growers in Belgium, France and Germany, because at the beginning of the season (July/August) the first potatoes come from Germany since in the Netherlands we are not ready to harvest yet". "At the South of the

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Zeeland and Brabant". "Potatoes from the France goes to another plant of company H". "The potatoes are grown as close as possible to the factory. In the North, we have a group of 5 big growers, who grow exclusively for company H, called 'Group North'. However, those 5 growers are not able to 'produce' the whole season. Predominantly we get our potatoes from growers located above the major rivers in the Netherlands. In the early season, we get our potatoes from growers located in the west of Germany. Those growers only supply in the very early season, from half of June for around two months".

Position 3,5 "We are very close to the customer". "Company H is located in the middle of the chain. Actually, we are positioned closer to the farmers than to the end customer".

Scale 1 "We have many contracts ourselves, own farmers, that grow specifically for company H. They are not part of company H, they have a contract and grow for us". "We have 5 big farmers. They grow 1000 hectares of potatoes for us". "In February, we get new potatoes from the polder, where we have about 20 suppliers". "We have to deal with suppliers though, but that are about three different ones during a day, depends on the time of year. In Friesland we have five big farmers, those supply us from August until February, so in general you deal with those five and some smaller farmers, so that's about ten suppliers in a week, which is not that complicated".

Collaboration;

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Case I

Mechanisms Uncertainty Perishability 4 "Once you blend the different ingredients to the required mixture, which will be stored in large tanks, only a limited

shelf-life is given".

Variation in price 4 "The price for the product procurement from the holding is always identical. So it makes nog differences whether we order 150.000 or 2 million cans as the purchase price will remain the same".

Differentiation 3,7

Delivery Deliver reliability of

suppliers 3 "In case of an unexpected event, like a breakdown of the filling machine or a supplier does not deliver the needed materials, we suddenly face major problems". "To us, really the uncertainties about a smooth production process affect us the most".

Geographical

dispersion 3 "Can and lid are produced in Germany, the co-packer also in Germany. Cardboard packaging is delivered from domestic suppliers. Sugar is unknown". Position 3 "We are definitely located at the downstream side of the supply chain".

Scale 1 "There are two to three raw materials suppliers active on the German market, whereby, we mainly work together with one of them". "A second uncertainty is that we rely on only a few suppliers. We do only work together with a single raw material supplier as well as co-packer". "The logistical component of our supply chain is less affected by uncertainty as we closely work together with two respectively three external providers".

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Case J

Mechanisms Uncertainty Product variety "The main raw materials of bread are flour, yeast, salt and water". "Different types of products require distinct types of

raw materials".

Variation in quality 3 "The variability of quality is relatively stable". Relationship management. Variation in price 4 "The variety of prices of raw materials is high, which may increase the complexity. This is caused by some natural

factors". "The variability of the raw material price depends on the type of raw materials. The price of eggs and flour change every day, oil is more standard".

Variation in supply 2 "The demand of raw materials are determined by the customer demand. Besides, the demand of some products is seasonal". "The variability of supply is relatively stable".

Flexible supply base.

Perishability 2 "The shelf life is very short". "Perishability influence the stock level of raw materials for products with seasonal demand".

"Eggs are perishable. These materials need to be stored in a cold condition. This requires additional facilities".

Buffers (Inventory and Extra capacity);

Collaboration.

Differentiation 3,7

Delivery 2,3 "Some raw materials need to be imported from abroad. For these raw materials, the lead time is nearly one month. For some raw materials that are frequently used such as eggs, the lead time is one day. The average required responsiveness is nearly four days".

4 "Our main suppliers provide us with the flour, eggs, oil and other products which are used to produce bread. Some of our suppliers are located at Guangzhou and Shenzhen. There are also some products that are directly imported from abroad. The location of suppliers is dispersed and has no relation with the location of the company or plant".

Position 5 "Our organization is more close to the downstream customers". "We purchase the raw materials from outside suppliers, upstream is not integrated".

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Case K

Link to Upstream

Complexity Descriptive Coding Link to survey Data Reduction Link to Strategies/Coping Mechanisms

Variation in supply

and price 3,5 "Concerning the raw materials the situation on the worldwide market can change rapidly within a short time. I purchase materials that grow and/or regrow and are not available at all time. For example, consider a bad harvest, suddenly a decrease of supply is going to affect ones security of supply and increases the price massively. Or imagine another dioxin or BSE scandal which will definitely has an effect on the supply of raw materials. So questions concerning the reliability of supply are our main challenges and how to set up a solid crisis management".

Multiple sourcing;

Information sharing and systems; Buffers (inventory).

Perishability 3 "The turnover rate of goods is below the shelf life of our raw materials. Of course, we handle special raw materials for small customers. The smaller the usage volume of certain raw materials the higher the possibility of expiration". "Most our raw materials can be kept for long periods up to one or one and a half years. With raw materials having a longer shelf life and our relatively high turnover rate for materials hold on stock, we hardly have problems with the perishability of raw materials".

Variation in price 4 "For some raw materials, like meat products, fix prices are not common and the market are highly volatile". “We buy materials for a certain period beforehand”

Product variety 5 "The needed raw materials which mainly contain products of animal origin as well as grains. These raw materials are of category three and not usable for human beings anymore. Waste products are designated for animal food". "There are a lot of different raw materials (e.g. flour) one could talk about".

"In order to have the ability to create unique products the range of raw materials has to be quite diverse. It is quite common on the discount market to recreate existing products, but always to add-‐on something additional". "We use approximately 200-‐230 different raw materials. Our packaging materials are even more with around 1000 different forms as every customer requires its own labels. Our procurement activities are characterized through an annual 10% increase on raw materials. Same applies to new raw materials as they show a 10% increase compared to the previous year".

Multiple suppliers.

Differentiation Cultures of suppliers 3 "We do business with a wide range of companies. Including global players with a total different company culture

compared to us, but also we do business with medium-‐sized family enterprises which are more closely related to us". Information sharing and systems. Practices of

suppliers 3 "Large companies in most of the cases first of all have to reassure with the holding abroad. The whole process is slower, contrary to us as we can react fast due to our company size. This is one of our strengths and depending on our suppliers we definitely recognize differences. But we have also business partners that are structured similar, family owned companies, with a good relationship".

Delivery Deliver reliability and lead time of suppliers

2,5 "Speed plays a very important role for discounters and for non-‐fulfilment of a contract normally high contractual penalties have to be paid. In the end nothing is worse than empty shop shelves". "In most of the cases, raw materials are available faster than required packaging materials. So while creating a time schedule from the order receipt to distribution lead time of the packaging material is mostly the indication".

Collaboration;

Information sharing and systems; Buffers;

Flexible supply base; Multiple suppliers. Geographical

dispersion 4 "We have an entire mass of raw material suppliers which are dispersed all over Europe". "Another difficulty are foreign exchange rates, like the current situation of EUR-‐US Dollar which is actually worse to purchase but good to sell goods".

Position 2

Scale 4 "We have an entire mass of raw material suppliers which are dispersed all over Europe". "We closely cooperate with

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Appendix E, Strategies coding scheme

Case Strategy (first-order code) Descriptive code

A1 "You can start collaborations/partnerships with a certain part where you want to get your grain from, for example Germany or the Netherlands, you want it closer to your factory. You want to have your raw materials closer to the factory. It is possible that we buy farmers and grow our own grain".

Relationship management; Collaboration;

(Vertical) Integration. A1 "We have a rather short inventory position, the factories run seven days a week".

A2 "We are closer to the supplier, and talking on supplier level, mostly because we want to know how the grain works. It's about understanding the quality, if you want to know that you have to be close to the supplier".

(Vertical) Integration A2 "After two years, we are able to define the right bread/origin (quality) combinations, and develop something here in the Netherlands". Research and Development A2 "Yes we do. But those are very thorough strategies which might be too extensive for this interview. When you sell your flower, you use that money to buy

new raw materials, which can be done through a first-hand supplier or one of the markets (Paris/Chicago)".

A2 "Quality has to be estimated to the best capabilities for the next harvest" Human cognitive abilities A2 "Grain is put on stock, we have about 12.000-12.500 Tons of grain on stock. It is a relatively low stock" Buffers (inventory) A2 "You buy from various regions. You could also say: I will buy everything from one region, but if it turns out that region had a bad summer, resulting in bad

quality, then you will have a problem. Therefore, we don't want to be dependent on one region, so we buy from Eastern-Germany, France/Belgium, and we also mix spring wheat (American) in our blend".

Multiple sourcing

A2 "We buy at the moment we sell flower".

A2 "We are also performing audits with our suppliers". Information sharing and systems

A2 "When we switch between seasons (from the old harvest to the new harvest) we have to closely monitor our raw materials and their quality, and from there on you will know the quality of the harvest and you can go on with the business".

Information sharing and systems A2 "We want to do a step back, to work closer together with the grain collectors or with the farmers in order to make the (upstream) chain more transparent

and create more value for the farmer, the mill and the bakeries". Collaboration

B "If there were quality issues at the cattle farmers, then I had to solve that. Nowadays they call it relationship management". Relationship management

B "We have got a collaboration with group Y". Collaboration

B "We own farmers under our group X". (Vertical) Integration

B "Cow farmers follow a certain program, to meet current requirements. Group Y gives money for grazing" Relationship management; Price incentives. B "Group X deals with the goat farmers, group Y deals with the cow farmers" Outsourcing B "There is a quality framework, a Dutch quality framework, where the farmers should meet the requirements. I think Group X is very far with that, we have

high requirements compared to competitors. At Group Y, the farmers do have workshops, which is not the case at Group X since there we only make a distinction based on measured values. Group X will do workshops in the future, and because of that the quality will increase. The quality is always measured at the farmer".

Information sharing and systems; Collaboration.

B "Quality check at the farmers by RMO, visual control". Information sharing and systems B "To deal with perishability, no infinite shelf life, it should always go further (processing), holidays, weekends".

B "If it becomes obsolete, we deliver it to company Z, cattle feed. We have got a feed stream. That's not a small market, we earn money with it". Segmentation

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outside here, a continuous process having low inventory, unless there are failures". Buffers (inventory) C1 "Obsolete raw materials are sold to pig farmers, to another company of case C. We can earn money with it". Segmentation

C1 "Packaging is done by the purchasing department, all are year contracts". Relationship management C1 "We cannot influence the (variation in) prices of raw materials, it's about politics".

C1 "The raw materials are here in the area and are easy to manage. We have agreements, translated into procedures, with our control system so complexity is

secured". Relationship management; Information sharing and systems

C1 "We continuously measure the quality of the raw materials such as temperature, dry matter and all such a things. The operators are continuously monitoring this".

Information sharing and systems; Human cognitive abilities

C1 "Raw materials are delivered with certifications". Eliminating non-value adding

activities C1 "We have got a big network to secure supply of raw materials". Multiple sourcing C2 "We are a supply driven company, since we have the milk that everyone wants".

C2 "We are working hard to secure a constant quality of farmers".

C2 "There is a very strict organization within the cooperation, go to the farmers to tell what they have to do". Collaboration; (Vertical) Integration

C2 "There is a very strict measurement of the input of milk. The control at the farms are already strong, and if it comes here we do also entrance controls". Information sharing and systems C2 "Company C is a cooperation, farmers are suppliers but also owners of the company. So also for them it is important that the quality is good". (Vertical) Integration

C2 "Since the requirements are getting higher and higher, we are not easy for our suppliers". Relationship management; Information sharing and systems C2 "For other raw materials, we minimize the amount of suppliers for getting a purchase advantage (making good agreements)".

C2 "We minimize the amount of suppliers to get a high quality of raw materials and for the price".

C2 "We spread our suppliers to not being dependent on one supplier". Multiple sourcing C2 "It is important that you cooperate with partners who can develop themselves with you. We see that it is getting harder for an individual supplier here doing

business". Collaboration

C2 "There are information sessions for farmers, which is going very far, it's a complete organization. They are the company so there are a lot of initiatives". Cultural alignment; Collaboration C2 "Since we are highly (upstream) vertically integrated, we know exactly where it comes from and that is really important. Traceability." (Vertical) Integration C2 "We invested in big towers to be able to process (extra capacity) all the supply of milk". Buffers (extra capacity)

D "We usually choose multiple suppliers and label them as type A and type B suppliers. Type A suppliers are the suppliers who provide raw materials regularly. When some crisis appears at type A suppliers, type B suppliers provide raw materials for us. This ensures the supply of raw materials relatively stable".

Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base D "The relatively short lead time is based on a long-term relationship: provision of the raw materials is related to the design plan (demand forecast) and other

elements".

Relationship management D "We developed strategic partner relationships with some suppliers, some suppliers have the priority to sign a contract with us. If the quality of the raw

material is especially high, we will provide a green channel to them. This can help saving the detection time by reducing some steps of double check".

Relationship management; Elimination of non-value adding activities

D "The company mainly uses three strategies to manage suppliers; multiple sourcing (there is always a second choice), developing strategic partner

relationships with main suppliers and providing suppliers of high quality raw materials with a green channel". Multiple sourcing; Relationship management; Elimination of non-value adding activities

D "The pasture at China belongs to us. It's easier to control the performance this pasture". (Vertical) Integration E1 "Being a good, attractive customer. That is where it starts: always paying on time, by good forecasting so that suppliers are able to make their production

process more efficient".

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However, your responsibilities are determined by yourself, without any obligations. However, it does not mean that I will always (every day) eat with them. I don't have got that obligation. So multi sourcing".

E1 "We try to be a preferred customer". Relationship management

E1 "Search for alternative sources to be able to supply us (sometimes paying extra), you need to have (second) alternatives and to actively search for them". Flexible supply base E1 "Be less dependent on one supplier, look for alternative suppliers". Flexible supply base E2 "If there is a disappointing harvest of potatoes, we can get our starch from somewhere else". Flexible supply base E2 "We can make use of flexible supply capacity, for example, we could purchase from competitors. We can only purchase the production capacity, but also

the raw materials. It is also possible to use capacity from another location of company E, sometimes it happens".

Buffers (extra capacity); Flexible supply base E2 "We assess our risk at sourcing of raw materials".

E2 "Company E has stocks of raw materials by its own. In the beginning, in the middle and at the end. Our raw materials stock point is paid by ourselves, not by our suppliers".

Buffers (inventory)

F1 "Look for new suppliers and contract them, but you could also buy eggs or chickens". Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base F2 "When egg farms do their best, they receive a premium on their product. We try to stimulate our suppliers, they are the basis of the chain, and if that goes

well then we all profit".

Price incentives F2 "We stimulate by price incentives so we can keep all very good farmers close to use, and we will lose the once that don't really perform". Price incentives F2 "We are basically building a relationship with the farmer, that's the intention". Relationship management F2 "We also guide the farmers, and all this together has a price tag, but that is not a problem because we want to be the best hatchery". Collaboration

F2 "The egg farms need to be 'IKB-certified' which enables us to not get diseases in". Elimination of non-value adding activities

F2 "If we think we don't want to cooperate with them no more, then we start looking for new farmers already. Then you have a certain period, contract over a

certain period, then we want new batches and we take new farms". Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base G1 "The farmers aren't controlled by company G, they are entrepreneurs, however we are in long-term relationships with them". Relationship management G1 "We took over a supplier of vegetables to secure the availability of vegetables since vegetables are included in every meal, chicken isn't". (Vertical) Integration G1 "We are continuously contacting sales about product development, changes in packaging etc., all we need to react on in about half a year/year. We have

specific recipes and preprocessed packages, and retailers are changing all the time, so we cannot store too much". Information sharing and systems G1 "The use of Materials Requirements Planning. That is a system used to keep inventory levels visible, inventory levels can be tracked at all times. That gives

overview and peace. Another example is focusing on purchasing by Kraljic, to determine strategic purchasing groups. At each important strategic group, we minimal work with 2 and sometimes 3-4 suppliers. We seldom use single sourcing. What we do, we have got 2-3 suppliers, based on

knowledge/cost/quality, and 1 is allowed to work more intensive with us than others. That is a strategy to cope with variation in price/quality and supply by having suppliers in backup. However, too much isn't desirable. Suppliers monitor each other, keep each other sharp, which result in lower price levels in the market".

Information sharing and systems; Multiple sourcing;

Flexible supply base

G2 "We don't buy on a daily basis, it's about long-term contracts we together with the supplier maintain. By doing that, we can influence the chain, by together determining how the chicken should look like before slaughtering, the specifications, etc.".

Relationship management

G2 "It involves mutually obligations". Collaboration

G2 "We slaughter by our own, we know the origin of the chicken and we are in control of how the chicken should look like, should be". (Vertical) Integration G2 "You are also visiting company F, well that's one of our suppliers we have a strong relationship with. Together we look at the races we use, when to bring

which chicks to the poultry farm to slaughter at a certain place at a moment, to what specifications. There is a close cooperation in the chain".

Relationship management; Collaboration

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G2 "There is a special relationship with the upstream supply chain, however we don't own those tiers. We close (strong) long-term relationships and together we manage the flow of products throughout the chain".

H1 "With the five big suppliers we have very intensive communication. We also meet these suppliers on a yearly basis and we will also in the growing season

May/June identify the expected yield from these suppliers and we have specific representatives that visit these suppliers throughout the year". Collaboration H1 "Those other suppliers can be contacted through a third organization, in that sense we don't buy directly from the supplier but through an agency". Outsourcing H1 "We have the pre-information from previous years. However, when the batch from a specific farmer comes in, it is checked again. There is also a final

check for that batch. Those batches are assessed on many, many aspects. So we start with an assessment, if the batch does not meet our requirements we will dismiss it and send it back to the grower".

Information sharing and systems

H1 "Then we decide to alter the specifications"

H1 "Before a weekend stop where we clean the factory, we need to make sure that we have depleted our stock of potatoes, else you cannot use them anymore".

H1 "It is all about the relationship with the farmer which has lasted for several years now". Relationship management H1 "The farmer can also decide to increase his contract with 50% agreed upon prices and 50% free. He could also decide to go on a full contract basis, half,

many different ways of contracting are possible. The farmer can also opt to not have any contract at all, then we do not have a relationship with that farmer".

Relationship management

H1 "It can easily be regulated as the farmer will notify that he is depleted and we will continue with another farmer. We have a single transportation company, and he has trucks everywhere and can easily switch between one farm and another. And those are relatively close, so in terms of distance very favorable". H1 "the main point is, which we are actively working on, is improving the pre-information that we get from the farmers on a continuous basis. A few years

ago, pre-information did not exist, you would receive a truckload of potatoes that was either good or bad, if it was bad it would be returned. But it was always uncertain, only when the raw materials arrived at the factory you would know what you were talking about. It is all about exchanging information, beforehand, during the harvest, about the length etc. Currently this is all put into the system (SAP) which is not yet 100% reliable, but we are getting closer to the truth".

Information sharing and systems;

H1 "That is the farmer's responsibility, warehousing, mechanical cooling, and different breeds of potatoes. They are paid by company H to do so. Who delivers directly from the land has lower costs. But someone that has to store the potatoes has additional costs, he gets paid for that through a bonus".

Price incentives H2 "Company H has access to good employees and good equipment. Because of that, company H is able to process all qualities of potatoes, however, it

expresses itself in its yield/efficiency. A potato of high quality is easier and better to process, and because of that it is less costly for company H to produce the final product: fries".

Human cognitive abilities

H2 "So from the perspective of transportation the suppliers should be located close to the plant".

H2 "What we try to do is to track the quality, from the grower until the process in the plant, as good as possible. Based on that, the potatoes are delivered when required. There are ongoing projects to better understand and know the quality at the grower, not only at our plant. To prevent variation, and also for plants to produce more reliable. Since we have got more than 200 growers in the Netherlands, we have to do a lot of work, effort, to make it (the supply) more reliable. Throughout the year, company H constantly needs to react and manage the delivery moment of supplier to the plant. The best situation is a high quality of cultivation, a good growing season which causes less or the least issues. However, the growth of potatoes is very dependent on climate, and there is a lot of spread in quality in the Netherlands".

H2 "Potatoes are stored at the growers, they have cooled barns. We need to store since the dug up period causes peaks in supply but we need supplies during the whole year".

Buffers (inventory) H2 "During this warehousing, it is determined which potatoes will be stored for a short period, middle long period or a long period, which is affected by the

quality of the potato when dug up".

H2 "We deploy staff who assist our growers by providing them with advice about storing the potatoes, which pesticides to use or not to use, recommend about the barns to use, things where growers have to deal with. Those specialized field staff is called 'Agronomisten'". So basically it starts with recommendations about growing and storing the potatoes, the grow-guidance, you name it".

Collaboration;

Human cognitive abilities

H2 "A grower is rewarded for the efforts the grower makes". Price incentives

H2 "Concerning the quality of the raw materials, company H tries to better understand and manage the reliability and predictability of the raw materials by knowing 'everything' from scratch. I mean, being aware of the quality at the growers, knowing what happens there in an entire season. That is a strategy to deal with complexity company H encounters at the supply-side. By making use of an extensive field staff, employed by company H, who are continuously managing projects in cooperation with the growers to 'know' better the supply-side and its complexity".

Information sharing and systems; Human cognitive abilities; Collaboration

H2 "Company H considers the growers as their business partners. By going along with suppliers, company H tries to enlarge/increase the reliability". Collaboration;

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H2 "Rot can continue fast. In that case, it should be transported directly to our plant. However, in that period, we strive to minimize the inventory at the plant so that the time between harvesting and processing is as short as possible".

H2 "The growers dug up the potatoes only when company H needs it. In a period like that, there is intensively contact with the growers which requires a lot of coordination".

Collaboration H2 "Cooperation is something else than controlling, we strive for cooperation, it's about the relationship with our suppliers. It's about meeting the contract, they

do it for others too".

Collaboration;

Relationship management I "During the development of a new product you closely work together with the raw material supplier. So once you finished your mixture for the production

of the drink you will hardly be in contact with the raw material supplier anymore. Almost the entire communication takes place between us and the co-packer. The co-packer needs to ensure that raw and packaging materials are available on time. Depending on the ingredients the choice of supplier might vary. The co-packer himself manages the demands of cans, raw materials and cardboard packaging that are topics of his responsibility. However, the negotiations on cardboard packaging prices are done by us. Depending on the size of the company it could make to outsource this activities to the co-packer".

Collaboration (only in the development phase); Outsourcing

I "Our co-packer bears the entrepreneurial risk, but we might suffer from non-deliveries or delayed deliveries".

I "Single sourcing and outsourcing to co-packer, backup in the logistical component". Outsourcing I "Although we only have a single business partner (supplier), our supplier has different suppliers instead of one. They are able to adsorb peaks in demand

which is contractually guaranteed to us and leads to contractual penalties if they cannot fulfil agreements". Price incentives I "The standard process is contractually fixed, but it is always good to have a joker. For example, you know you have lead times of six weeks, but you really

need it already in two weeks' time. Therefore, maintaining a good relationship to our business partners is essential to us".

Relationship management I "We use a tool to analyze and evaluate the performance of our suppliers every year. This includes a tool in order to record our reclamations throughout the

year. So we always know whether we need to invest more into relationships with suppliers or look for alternatives. We highly depend on certain standards". Information sharing and systems I "We do use minimum and safety stocks in order not to suffer from shortages in supply. Furthermore, we try to stick to an economic order quantity". Buffers (inventory)

I "We use a flexible supply base and try not to be totally dependent from a small number of individual suppliers. The higher the number of reliable suppliers the better it is for us".

Flexible supply base I "Bonus agreements are most likely used in the supply of packaging materials. To create comparability is the more important thing compare to a bonus

system, as with a consistent overview it is easier to set up pressure on our suppliers".

Price incentives

J "Some raw materials, which are usually used, such as oil and flour are prepared in advance. Some other materials, which are used to produce some specific products, are purchased based on the forecast".

J "Due to a short shelf life, we need to keep close contact with both the suppliers and the customer". Relationship management; Information sharing and systems J "We evaluate the suppliers and choose the better ones. If we need a new raw material and there are six suppliers that are interested to cooperate with us, we

will first evaluate these suppliers in terms of many factors. We will further cooperate with those suppliers that are qualified during the evaluation. After one year cooperation, we will evaluate the performance of these suppliers again".

J "Raw materials for main products with a standard demand we can keep on stock. However, perishability influence the stock level of raw materials for products with seasonal demand".

Buffers (inventory) J "We have long term relationships with some main suppliers. There are some suppliers with whom we have cooperated since the built of the plant. We don't

sign long term contracts since there is a risk of supplier disruption, which may cause a lot of losses. Our contract with a supplier is usually a one year contract, and we need to evaluate the supplier once a year to make sure that the performance of the supplier is suitable".

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K "We try to keep our supplier portfolio as big as possible to reduce risks. Some of our suppliers operate in an oligopolistic situation, so our only chance is to enhance our situation is to search for potential suppliers abroad".

Multiple sourcing K "Furthermore, I have quite good contacts to other pet food producers which we are not competing with as we produce different products. What unites us is

the fact that we have similar sometimes even the same suppliers and share our knowledge and experiences among each other. It is definitely a huge advantage to have such insights in order to minimize risks or to find new suppliers".

Information sharing and systems; Human cognitive abilities K "Concerning raw materials we definitely highly cooperate with our suppliers". Collaboration

K "For our main raw materials we have primary contracts, in terms of time and volume, in order to have at least a calculated planning security". Relationship management K "We buy materials for a certain period beforehand to avoid the risk of the spot market". Buffers (inventory) K "We do not have business partners that are really small. The smaller the companies are the more personal it becomes".

K "To a certain extend we have to keep stocks on raw as well as packaging materials, otherwise a short-term production would be not possible". Buffers (inventory) K "The more suppliers we have in our portfolio the better our position is to put a purchase order out for tender. It makes a difference whether I have 1, 3 or 10

suppliers. If I have a large portfolio of suppliers I am able to compare prices and increase the pressure for the different suppliers. We forward the cost pressure towards our suppliers".

Multiple sourcing

K "Diversity is very important in our business. Same applies to us purchasing raw and packaging materials". Multiple sourcing K "A proper internal communication with the purchasing department would ensure that the raw materials are available at a certain time and to before known

price".

Information sharing and systems K "Once a year we determine an economic order quantity in agreement with the management accountant. Thereby, we define a strategy on how much capital

commitment is acceptable during the year and with each order. Of course the controller always prefers just-in-time methods to keep costs at a low level, but we also have to ensure that we can always fulfil the customer orders. So holding inventory to us is without alternative option".

Buffers (inventory)

K "We use a tool to analyze and evaluate the performance of our suppliers every year. This includes a tool in order to record our reclamations throughout the year. So we always know whether to invest more into relationships with a supplier or look directly for alternatives.

Information sharing and systems; Relationship management K "We use a flexible supply base and try not to be totally dependent from a small number of individual suppliers. The higher the number of reliable suppliers

the better it is for us".

Flexible supply base K "We do use minimum and safety stocks in order not to suffer from shortages in supply. Furthermore, we try to stick to an economic order quantity". Buffers (inventory) K "Bonus agreements are most likely used in the supply of packaging materials. To create comparability is the more important thing compare to a bonus

system, as with a consistent overview it is easier to set up pressure on our suppliers".

Price incentives

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Appendix F, Cross-case drivers versus strategies

Drivers/Case s A B C D E F G H I J K # of suppliers Cultures Cultural alignment. Practices Capabilities Reliability Buffers

(Inventory). management. Relationship (Inventory). Buffers (Inventory); Buffers Collaboration.

Buffers

(Inventory). (Inventory). Buffers Collaboration; Information sharing and systems; Buffers; Flexible supply base; Multiple suppliers. Lead times Geographica l spread # of tiers Variation in supply Relationship

management. Multiple sourcing; Buffers (Extra capacity).

Flexible Supply

Base. management; Relationship Flexible supply base. Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base. Relationship management; (Vertical) Integration; Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base. Flexible supply base. Variation in quality Collaboration; Relationship management; (Vertical) Integration; Information sharing and systems; Multiple suppliers; Human cognitive abilities. Relationship management; Collaboration; Information sharing and systems. Collaboration; Relationship management; Information sharing and systems; Human cognitive abilities. Collaboration, Relationship management; Eliminating of non-value adding activities. Relationship management; Economic supply incentives; Collaboration; Eliminating of non-value adding activities. Relationship management; Flexible supply base; Multiple sourcing. Collaboration; Outsourcing; Information sharing and systems; Relationship management; Human cognitive abilities. Relationship management. Variation in price

“We buy, on the market or a first-hand supplier, at the moment we sell flower”. Relationship management; Multiple sourcing; Flexible supply base. Relationship

management. management. Relationship Multiple sourcing; Information sharing and

systems; Buffers (inventory). “We buy materials for a certain period beforehand”

Perishability Segmentation. Segmentation. Buffers (Extra

capacity); Segmentation. Information sharing and systems. Buffers