Optimierung der Produktsortimentsverwaltung durch Entwicklung einer ABC-Kategorisierung am Beispiel der Firma AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Abstract

The use of ABC analysis is standard practice in many companies and is not a new invention. Nevertheless, it is necessary to critically examine and question the existing logics and procedures in relation to ABC analysis. This paper takes up this idea, which is why the basic approach and various possible applications of ABC analysis are described. The variants presented are based on a literature review which, in addition to the ABC analysis, also looks at product ranges in relation to corporate strategy and, above all, the functional areas of marketing and production. It is shown which approaches companies can use to optimize their product ranges. This project must always be seen in relation to the corporate strategy in order to ensure the long-term success of the company. In addition to the corporate level, the strategic goals are divided into business level and functional level. With regard to the functional area of marketing, the concept of competitive advantage and the product policy approaches for the further development of the product range in companies are discussed. It also describes the design options available in the functional area of production. The change in production is discussed, how it has evolved from mass production in the 1950s to a variant-rich production today. Furthermore, the customer order decoupling point is described and what position it occupies in the different types of production. It is essential for companies to look at their own product range in order to classify the performance of individual products or groups. Increasing customer satisfaction or sales, optimizing warehousing or strengthening the market position are the results of product range optimization. A comprehensive data analysis of the last five financial years was executed on the basis of the company AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH. Customers and articles were analyzed according to the sales generated and the contribution margins achieved. By analyzing the data, the Pareto principle described in the first chapter can be confirmed in practice. The application of the ABC analysis shows that around 7% of the articles at AGRUS account for 70% of sales. In contrast, around 67% of articles only contribute 5% to total sales. When evaluating the ABC results, it becomes clear that it must be analyzed on an ongoing basis in practice. When looking at the results, there is a change in the ABC class of around 84% of the articles considered within the last five financial years, for example due to changes in sales. The outcome of this work is the implementation of an automatic evaluation scheme in AGRUs data warehouse. Through daily continuous observation, each article can be assigned to the correct class.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Mátyás Gritsch (Supervisor)