<p>För att skapa mer verkliga siffror och aktualitet i beslutsunderlag har lean accounting som ekonomistyrningsmetod uppkommit. Metoden sägs bättre komplettera de förändringar som skett mot mer processorientering inom företag. Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva de skillnader och likheter som förekommer mellan traditionell ekonomistyrning och lean accounting. Även hur lean accounting kan utgöra ett mer komplett styrsystem i processorienterade företag i dess strävan mot lönsamhet, diskuteras. Detta görs för att identifiera de brister som sägs uppkomma då traditionella ekonomistyrningsmetoder används i processorienterade företag. Studien baseras på litteratur inom lean-omårdet samt inom traditionell ekonomistyrning. Resultatet av denna studie visar på hur traditionella mätetal anses skapa ett suboptimerat beteende och förespråka massproduktion för att nå mesta möjliga kostnadsfördelning. Vidare sker en diskussion kring hur företag som arbetar med lean och processorientering, genom att även integrera ekonomisystemen i organisationens arbete och implementera lean accounting, kan få fram och basera sina beslut på mer verkliga siffror och därmed på sikt skapa en ökad lönsamhet i företaget.</p>

Studien har undersökt Botrygg ABs ställtider och uppkomsten av byggavfall. Målet har varit att optimera ställtiderna och minimera byggavfallet. Metoderna som ansågs vara lämpligast för studien var intervjuer, framtagning av statistik samt observationer. Detta genomfördes på två av Botrygg ABs byggarbetsplatser med specifikt fokus på platsen Kv. Duvkullen. Intervjupersonerna representerade inköp, logistik, plats -och byggchef. De uppnådda resultaten sett till olika moment i avfallshantering och planering mot ställtider gav möjlighet att dra slutsatser mot vad Botrygg AB kan göra för möjliga ändringar för en förbättrad produktion sett till kostnader, tidseffektivisering och ge en reducerad miljöpåverkan. Framtagna resultat är statistik av byggavfallet vid en av byggarbetsplatserna, intervjupersonernas resonemang och åsikter kring de två berörda frågor, sett till vad som kan göras bättre samt vad som i nuläget fungerar. Dessa resultat jämfördes och följande slutsatser kunde dras: närmare samarbete med leverantörer, vidareutveckla Just-in-time, kontinuerlig kommunikation mellan berörda aktörer, uppföljningar av projektens byggavfall för att se vad som genereras, sätt upp ett tydligt mål om mängder byggavfall genom att t.ex. använda statistik.

Inventory management is today seen as more competitive oriented, process oriented and better integrated into the companies than before. But still do several companies run their inventories according a traditional approach. There is therefore a need for some companies to evaluate their inventory management and adapt the new view. There is also a need to adjust for increased focus on sustainability, previous research calls for strategies and tools that include sustainable parameters without lowering the profitability. The purpose with this study is to assess inventory management principles and purchasing routines related to the acquisition of packaging material in a process industry. The study aims to develop a framework for decision makers in inventory management. This framework will be the basis for a support tool incorporating a relatively simple and easy-to-use user interface. This master thesis is performed as a case study research and uses several data collection methods, such as a literature review, observations, and interviews. The findings from the data collection is used to evaluate which impact inventory management has on a company’s profitability, and which basic parameters that could be included in the support tool. The empirical findings show that Barilla Sweden’s current inventory management match the traditional approach, but also that they strive to become more competitive and process oriented in their management of inventories. There is however some constraints in their working strategy that prevents them from taking the next step. Comparison between Barilla Sweden’s current order size and an economical order quantity (EOQ) and just-in-time (JIT) approach is made. The comparison shows that Barilla Sweden has money to save and warehouse space to release with changed order quantities. Adapting a new inventory management approach require review of uncertainties, such as delivery accuracy and forecast changes. It is also necessary to evaluate supplier relations and internal working strategies. The effect of these parameters on inventory management can be noticed in the support tool. The tool compares total costs, average stock, tied capital, and environmental and social consequences between the EOQ model and JIT. The support tool visualizes drawbacks and benefits with different order sizes and has an easy-to-use interface.

D. Tech. Mechanical Engineering. / Describes reconfigurable manufacturing (RM) is a paradigm that promises to meet the turbulent demands in current global manufacturing. The major findings of this thesis are as follows; 1. The functional description of the machine tool provides a handy mechanism of aiding COTS machine builders come up with vary configurations of machine tools and their classification from a predefined set of COTS modules. 2. The process of linking the respective part demands to the relevant COTS RMT is a rigorous and tiresome process that demands computational power provided for by the KBS. 3. The subjective linguistic manner of linking the parts and the machine configuration can be managed by including an objective constraint for the fuzzy model. 4. Coupling the decision making using a mathematical model with the use of a KBS brings about the optimum route to arriving to the desired configuration.

The thesis has been performed at Volvo Car Customer Service in Gothenburg, Sweden. The output from the study will support Volvo to secure the Just-In-Time delivery of referrals for the after-market. The scope was limited to referrals from pre-planned orders, which occurs when there is no availability in the distribution centre where the orders were placed. Volvo's main warehouse in Europe is the Central Distribution Centre, which process referrals. The warehouse had an ongoing organisational change during this study. The concern was that the change would not lead to optimal conditions for processing referrals for different markets. It was therefore important to preserve the market knowledge in order to maintain a reliable referral service. A qualitative study was used and the information was gathered primarily through semi-structured interviews. Literature was studied both initially and continuously through the study. Analyse of the literature, current situation and data collection generated ideas for possible ways of securing the referral process and improvements. Benchmarking and Workshop was also performed in order to obtain further ideas. The result of this study was an information material containing information about all concerned markets, overview of referral flow and information regarding how the Central Distribution Centre needs to print referrals. The proposals suggested for future work were explained in long- and short-term. The short-term suggestions include use of the developed material in order to preserve the knowledge along with providing correct working conditions. For long-term suggestions focus has been on how to reduce or remove the printing problem. For future work Volvo Car Customer Service should consider these proposals in order to secure and improve the referral service.

Lean Manufacturing (LM) is widely accepted as a world-class manufacturing paradigm, its currency and superiority are manifested in numerous recent success stories. Most lean tools including Just-in-Time (JIT) were designed for repetitive serial production systems. This resulted in a substantial stream of research which dismissed a priori the suitability of LM for non-repetitive non-serial job-shops. The extension of LM into non-repetitive production systems is opposed on the basis of the sheer complexity of applying JIT pull production control in non-repetitive systems fabricating a high variety of products. However, the application of LM in job-shops is not unexplored. Studies proposing the extension of leanness into non-repetitive production systems have promoted the modification of pull control mechanisms or reconfiguration of job-shops into cellular manufacturing systems. This thesis sought to address the shortcomings of the aforementioned approaches. The contribution of this thesis to knowledge in the field of production and operations management is threefold: Firstly, a Multi-Agent System (MAS) is designed to directly apply pull production control to a good approximation of a real-life job-shop. The scale and complexity of the developed MAS prove that the application of pull production control in non-repetitive manufacturing systems is challenging, perplex and laborious. Secondly, the thesis examines three pull production control mechanisms namely, Kanban, Base Stock and Constant Work-in-Process (CONWIP) which it enhances so as to prevent system deadlocks, an issue largely unaddressed in the relevant literature. Having successfully tested the transferability of pull production control to non-repetitive manufacturing, the third contribution of this thesis is that it uses experimental and empirical data to examine the impact of pull production control on job-shop performance. The thesis identifies issues resulting from the application of pull control in job-shops which have implications for industry practice and concludes by outlining further research that can be undertaken in this direction.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P)-University Natal, Durban, 1999.

Purpose To evaluate how lean production should be modified to be suitable for implementation in the production of digital, customized products and how the first phase of this implementation can be conducted. Research Questions RQ1: What constitutes waste when producing digital, customized products, and to what extent can the waste be eliminated? RQ2: Which lean concepts and tools are suitable to apply in the production of digital, customized products? RQ3: What steps are necessary for initial implementation of lean production for production of digital, customized products, and how should they be prioritized? Methodology The empirical findings are the result of a single case study focused around in-depth analysis and understanding of concepts and relationships. The data is collected through interviews work shops and observations during a period of three months. Conclusions RQ1: The types of waste are; Waiting, Transportation, Over processing or incorrect processing, Excess inventory, Unnecessary efforts, Defects and Unused employee creativity. Waste are further classified as removable, non-removable and in some instances necessary. RQ2: Unsuitable concepts: Value stream mapping (varying level of unsuitability), Kaikaku, Just in time, Stopping the  line (without modifications) and Physical visual controls. Redundant concept: Pull. Especially suitable concepts: 5 Why, Decentralized responsibility, Digital visual controls and Isolating variation. Suitable concepts: Elimination of waste, Root cause analysis, Genchi genbutsu, Kaizen events, Flow, Stopping the line (with modifications) and Standardization. RQ3: Step I: Aligning the production strategy and process with the organization’s strategy and goals. Step II: Standardization. / Syfte Att utvärdera hur lean production bör modifieras för att vara lämpligt för implementering i produktion av digitala, kundanpassade produkter och hur den första fasen av implementationen bör genomföras. Forskningsfrågor F1: Vad utgör slöseri när man producerar digitala, kundanpassade produkter, och i vilken utsträckning kan slöseriet elimineras? F2: Vilka lean-koncept och lean-verktyg är lämpliga att använda i produktion av digitala, kundanpassade produkter? F3: Vilka steg är nödvändiga för initial implementation av lean production i produktion av digitala, kundanpassade produkter, och hur ska de prioriteras? Metod En fallstudie med fokus kring djupgående analyser och förståelse för koncept och samband utgör de empiriska resultaten. Datan är inhämtad genom intervjuer, work shops ochobservationer under tre månader. Slutsatser F1: Typerna av slöseri är: väntetid, transport, onödiga eller felaktiga processteg, överproduktion, onödig ansträngning, defekter och outnyttjad kreativitet. Typerna av slöseri är vidare klassificerade som eliminerbara, icke eliminerbara eller i vissa fall nödvändiga. F2: Olämpliga koncept: värdeflödesanalys, kaikaku, just in time, jidoka, fysisk visuell kontroll. Redundanta koncept: pull. Speciellt lämpliga koncept: 5 Why, decentraliserat ansvar, digital visuell kontroll och isolering av variation. Lämpliga koncept: eliminering av slöseri, analys av rotorsaker, Genchi genbutsu, Kaizen event, Flöde, Jidoka (med modifikation) och Standardisering. F3: Steg I: Strömlinjeforma produktionsstrategin med organisationens strategi och mål. Steg II: Standardisering.

In today’s fierce competitive global markets, customers are demanding adjustable lot sizes, shorter lead times, higher quality and flexibility; in short, they want it all. In order to stay competitive in the market, companies need to attain both customer satisfaction and cost reduction in production operations. Material Handling Systems (MHS) is the place to accomplish this goal, since they have a direct impact on production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design an in-house MHS that could be efficient for the production it serves. With this intention, a case-study has been conducted in Bosch Rexroth Japan. During the study, the information gathered through various sources; interviews, observations and measurements. Further, the gathered data is evaluated according to main pillars of the theoretical framework, which includes design principles and physical elements, information and software, human and management. By analyzing the findings from literature review and empirical study, first problems and challenges related to MHSs are identified. Thereafter, possible features that the system should posses are elicited and a design is built out of the selected features. To conclude, the results show that the success is not solely depending on system’s physical attributes; on the contrary, it is more related to rapid and accurate information sharing within the system. Another vital element is the interaction between system and the people, who are utilizing and operating the system. In general terms, the research took MHS design problems from one-dimensional equipment selection processes and enriches them by adding information sharing, human and management angles to design steps.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via World Wide Web.