Flow Pooling as Lateral Collaboration: The Multi User Concept in the Automotive Industry

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Multi User Concept (MUC) approach, a combination of vertical and horizontal collaboration across different actors in a supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on a narrative literature review and a quantitative case study using modelling and simulation.
Findings: On a supply chain level, the model shows significant advantages for the MUC approach in terms of cost and service levels. However, for some of the actors, there is only very limited individual improvement. Therefore they have no incentive to join with the other companies, meaning that the feasibility of the cooperation is in danger.
Research limitations/Implications: Though being a model that is transferable to various application areas, it is still a single case model.
Practical implications: Despite having a large potential, there are several critical issues to consider before approaching the implementation of the Multi User Concept. This paper provides, from the view of the individual actors, valuable insights for implementation and design. Originality/Value This paper represents one of very few papers outlining challenges in distribution collaboration, based on an empirical sample.