Applying Action Research in Operational Management - Simulating Volvo Car Reaction to Suez Canal blockage 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajbmi.v1i1.8565Keywords:
Action Research, DMAIC, Operations Management, Simulation, Suez Canal Blockage, Supply Chain Disruption, Supply Chain Resilience, Volvo CarsAbstract
This paper applies Action Research (AR) and the DMAIC quality-improvement framework to examine how the March 2021 Suez Canal blockage disrupted global supply chains and to propose a structured operational response. Using the Plan-Act-Observe-Reflect cycle, the study diagnoses production delays caused by shortages of critical inbound materials and weak multi-tier supplier visibility, and develops a prioritised portfolio of planning, action, monitoring and reflection activities. The role of simulation as an operations-research method for modelling supply chain disruption is then reviewed, comparing Discrete Event Simulation, Agent-Based Modelling and System Dynamics, and drawing on existing simulation-based studies of the Suez Canal event and broader supply-chain resilience research. These insights are applied to a focal case, Volvo Cars, whose electric-vehicle battery and component after-sales supply chain is highly exposed to maritime corridor disruption between Asia and Europe. A DMAIC-based improvement project - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control - is used to diagnose and address quality, continuity and responsiveness issues in Volvo’s replacement-parts supply. Pareto analysis of baseline measures shows that two of eight problem categories (25%) account for 85.2% of the observed burden, identifying incoming material quality and replacement stock availability as the dominant drivers of performance. Root-cause (fishbone) analysis and a prioritised set of interventions are then proposed, coordinated through an integrated DMAIC-PDSA-Agile framework for ongoing control. The paper concludes that the Suez Canal disruption should be treated as a continuity and quality problem, not solely a transport problem, and that combining AR, simulation and DMAIC gives organisations a structured, evidence-based route from disruption to long-term supply chain resilience.
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