Estrategias De Abastecimiento De Fibra De Carbono

Audencia School of Management – MIP Politecnico di Milano Master in Supply Chain and Purchasing Management Double Degree Master Thesis – September 2012

Carbon Fiber: Strategic Sourcing Strategies
A comprehensive supply market research with an illustrative case study

Author: David Mendoza Supervisor: Professor Davide Luzzini Presentation: September 11th, 2012

Executive SummaryAccording to material science engineering studies, carbon fibers register the highest specific strength and specific modulus of all reinforcing fibers. Its superior strength-to-weight ratio, high thermal conductivity and low expansion make carbon fiber a product demanded for use as reinforcement in composite materials for advanced applications in industries such as aerospace, energy andtransportation, and also in other fields like construction, sports, music, electronics and even luxury. The usage of carbon fiber is expected to become more common as the industry keeps working to develop less expensive materials, faster and more efficient production techniques to make its cost more affordable. As the composites industry works on research and development to reduce production and materialcosts, the purpose of this study is to advice sourcing strategies correspondent to the nature of the supply market. Nonetheless, being an industry considered relatively young and technologically evolving, such strategies have to be correspondent to the innovations of the industry. Therefore, in order to develop such recommendations, it is very important to understand the value chain of the carbonfiber industry and analyze the supply market to find theoretical frameworks that could be applied to carbon fiber strategic sourcing. For illustration, a case of carbon fiber sourcing within the automotive industry is presented. Finally, author’s conclusions intend to reinforce the reason to adapt the suggested concepts to a scenario where carbon fiber has to be sourced.

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Table ofContents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4 1 Carbon fiber value chain .................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 White fiber value chain.............................................................................................................. 6 1.1.1 Propylene value chain ........................................................................................................ 8 1.1.2 Ammonia value chain ......................................................................................................... 9 1.1.3 Acrylonitrile valuechain.....................................................................................................10 1.1.4 White fiber supply scenario...................................................................................................11 1.2 Black fiber, generalities and value chain ................................................................................18 1.3 Carbon fiber market and coststructure...................................................................................21 1.3.1 Carbon fiber supply............................................................................................................27 1.3.2 Carbon fiber demand .........................................................................................................30 2. Sourcing strategies.........................................................................................................................31 2.1 Literature review .......................................................................................................................32 2.2 The BMW case..........................................................................................................................38 3. Conclusions and recommendations...