Master Thesis Business Administration, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, 4FE02E, Spring 2010

Authors: Zaryab Sheikh, Muhammad Saqlain Salat, Hassan Raza, Ali Asadullah Rizvi

Tutor: Dr. Helena Forslund

Examiner: Dr. Åsa Gustafsson

Title: Improvement in delivery performance measurement and on-time reporting of PODs in Unilever SAP system.

Background: In some of the European countries, Unilever is using electronic interfaces for on-time proof of deliveries (PODs) and it wants to further expand this in many other European countries. Therefore, Unilever Sweden is also looking for electronic interfaces for PODs. As Unilever, in Sweden is expecting one million new consumers by the next ten years and in order to fulfill their demands on-time, Unilever has to focus on timely delivery of their products and to achieve this target Unilever has to improve its delivery performance measurement.

Research Questions

• How is delivery performance measured in Unilever?
• How could delivery performance measurement be improved in Unilever?
• How could third party logistics (TPL) report on-time (OT) to Unilever SAP system?

Methodology: This thesis is a descriptive case study and based on deductive approach. Data was gathered by personal observations, interviews, company published hand books and annual reports. Scientific credibility of this thesis is high as it is based on personal observations, extensive use of resources for data collection and assumptions were avoided.

Conclusion: The delivery performance measurement process can be improved by revising the formula of customer case fill on time (CCFOT) and information sharing from TPL service providers as discussed in detail in analysis chapter. Furthermore, three solutions for on-time PODs are also suggested. Among those three solutions, the handheld computers are recommended to Unilever. But for future, it is recommended that Unilever should adopt RFID technology to get on-time reports of POD.

Suggestions on future research: An interesting research can be conducted by studying the delivery performance measurement in a triadic relation of Unilever. Also PODs solutions can be researched globally to make the research more valuable.