Early supplier involvement: Theory versus practice

The impact of Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) on product development practices is explored in this paper. In so doing, a theoretical foundation and 35 ESI-related propositions are developed. These propositions are grounded in the available literature. The propositions are grouped into the four components of design, procurement, supplier, and manufacturing within an ESI conceptual frame-work. These propositions are then tested by applying them to the operations of a company as a case study. To do so, an in-depth analysis of this company's operations with regard to the propositions is made. The results indicate that 29 propositions were not fully verified in practice by the company, while six propositions were fully verified. In conclusion, an assessment of the results is provided and future research directions via additional propositions and corollaries are outlined.