The constant needs for the reduction of companies operational costs has transformed Inventory into a targeted source for this end by upper management. The high investment value that it represents for organizations, aside from the immediate contribution to cash flow, when it is reduced, allows inventory to be a source of strategic advantage. The objective of this study is to understand the behavior of independent variables such as production cycletime or lead-time, daily demand rate of finished product and the interval between production orders and their effects on the determination of an inventory policy. The study is performed in a manufacturing company that produces intermittent, repetitive small batches and a large variety of products. Cash flow techniques are applied to detail the production processes and respective planning. The historical data of mentioned variables refer to the period from January 2000 to February 2002. These data are used to develop the calculations of safety stock and average and maximum stock from the viewpoint of the management approach in Replenishment Point and Periodically Review. The real application of the data available from the company is studied to calculate the inventory policy. It is concluded that, in spite of the adoption of a sophisticated mechanism of production planning and a strong culture of measurements by the company, the statistical data of fundamental variables are not utilized systematically to determine the inventory policy. This fact confirms the thesis that inventory reductions, in general, are circumstantial and is not supported by fundamental techniques. / A constante necessidade de redução dos custos operacionais das empresas tem transformado o Inventário em fonte preferencial, para este fim, pela alta administração. O alto valor de investimento que ele representa para as organizações, além da contribuição imediata no fluxo de caixa, quando da sua redução, faz com que o inventário seja uma fonte de vantagem competitiva.O objetivo deste estudo é compreender o comportamento das variáveis independentes como tempo de ciclo da produção ou lead-time, taxa diária de demanda do item de produto acabado e tempo de intervalo entre ordens de produção, e os seus efeitos no cálculo de uma política de inventário.O estudo é realizado em uma empresa de manufatura de produção intermitente repetitiva em lotes de pequenas quantidades e grande variedade de produtos.Técnicas de fluxo de valor são aplicadas para detalhamento dos processos de produção e do seu respectivo planejamento. Os dados históricos das variáveis mencionadas referem-se ao período de janeiro de 2000 a fevereiro de 2002. Com estes dados, desenvolvem-se os cálculos de estoque de segurança, estoque médio e máximo,sob a óptica das abordagens de gerenciamento por Ponto de Reposição e Revisão Periódica. Analisa-se a real aplicação dos dados disponíveis na empresa, para o cálculo da política de inventário. Conclui-se que apesar de ser adotado mecanismo sofisticado de planejamento de produção e haver uma forte cultura de medições por parte da empresa, os dados estatísticos das variáveis fundamentais não são utilizados de forma sistemática para o cálculo da política de inventário. Este fato confirma a tese de que as reduções de inventário, de uma maneira geral, são circunstanciais e não sustentadas por fundamentos técnicos.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate potential for and cost related impact of internal lead time reduction through coordination between materials supply and a production activity of customer-order-unique products. In order to achieve the purpose two questions are answered; 1. How can with respect to sourcing strategy, coordination between materials supply and production activity of customer-order-unique products be achieved? 2. How does a coordination affect cost items in related areas of the business? Method – Based on literature in the area of materials supply a theoretical framework for the study was established. The company JELD-WEN, an industrial manufacturer with customer-order-unique-production of fire- and safety-doors was used for a case study. Data collection was performed through interviews, observations and document studies. A comparison between the theoretical framework and empirical data generated the final results. Findings – Using a hybrid sourcing strategy, changes in materials supply through an internal call-off together with the materials feeding method kitting proves potential to reduce the internal lead time in the manufacturing process. An economic impact of such coordination with a production activity has been found for three cost items; handling cost (increase), administrative order cost (increase/decrease) and inventory carrying cost (increase/decrease). Implications – The study does not contribute to new theory in the field. Instead existing theory and relations defined in the theoretical framework have been verified by the case study. Internal lead time reduction identified in the study may be used in other ways than by the means of an improved customer offer. This can be done through sharing time to other time-exposed activities in the manufacturing process or as an additional safety time for finished products to secure company's delivery accuracy. Therefore, in a decision situation for change affected cost items should be assessed in contrast to the more indirect value of a lead time reduction. Limitations – Modifications of materials supply occurs in a context where conditions outside the unit of analysis plays a crucial role and thereby limits the possible usage of the potential lead time reduction. The study handles impact of cost items in a general direction (increase or decrease). Absolute terms contribute to more precise consequences and are probably necessary to support a company's final financial decision of using an alternative approach in materials supply.

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A high level of delivery precision from a focal firm to their customers has the potential to provide competitive advantage amongst competing businesses. This report will detail the subject of inventory management and utilize theories on the subject in order to provide recommendations to a multinational company that wishes to increase their delivery precision. The results of the work conducted are presented and recommendations given in the form of firstly analyzing inventory and segregating the product range where applicable. This should be treated as the first priority to gain an insight into where potential problem areas lie and to determine the products that are the biggest contributors to the overall value of goods sold. As a secondary measure, managing supplier relations carefully and the strategic sourcing of materials are strategies that will help to effectively reduce problems through increased visibility of information in communication channels. An accurate demand forecasting model will predict demand ahead of time, ensuring that the correct products are being held as inventory for no longer than is strictly needed, with a safety stock system being used as a safety net for those products that are suitable. A theoretical implementation of exponential II smoothing based forecasting coupled with standard deviation based safety stock calculations, yields results that effectively raises delivery precision. By forecasting demand for individual months and using calculated safety stock levels, the model is able to adjust for the shortfall between forecasted demand and actual demand.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how to decrease lead-times of conventionally manufactured prototypes of tools and fixtures. Which could lead to increased knowledge of how an operations site within the automotive industry could utilize additive manufacturing when producing company specific prototypes of tools and fixtures.  The research approach applied in this case study combines a literature review to systematically find relevant literature aligned with the research topic of additive manufacturing or 3D printing related to lead-time reduction and generative design terms. With the help of interviews and observations profound knowledge was gained as preparation before continuing the research. Thereafter, a pre-study was conducted in order to further enhance the understanding of the industrial context of the two chosen fixtures (study objects). Rapid prototyping activities with additive manufacturing processes and technologies of experimentation character was conducted iteratively with both 3D CAD and 3D printing software and hardware. Analysis of the data was conducted through a comparison between lead-times of conventionally manufactured and 3D printed prototypes of the two chosen fixtures. Moreover, identifying potential effects with additive manufacturing of prototypes have with a SWOT analysis.  The case study found that additive manufacturing could significantly decrease lead-times when producing prototypes compared to conventional manufacturing. Furthermore, the results showed that the effects of additive manufacturing are plenty and rather complex due to the fact of this new way to manufacture prototypes. Therefore, the term design for additive manufacturing need first class priority if next steps were to be taken in the additive manufacturing field to enhance industrial and academic benefits.  The research on this subject is strongly constrained by the scarcity of empirical experience and, consequently, by the scarcity of available empirical data. Research publication on the topic are fruitful and plenty but their findings specified to their chosen study objects. This case study gives an up-to-date contribution to the topic of additive manufacturing with endless possibilities to reduce lead-time with rapid prototyping activities that utilizes additive manufacturing. Moreover, the research approach used in this thesis combines 3D CAD data through theoretical concepts and physical objects with additive manufacturing practice. Overall, the results can be used to improve academic research in the topic and promote discussion among different actors entering or within the additive manufacturing field.

This report shows the value of knowing your processes inside a company. The methods used in to do this have been first of all through process mapping and for in depth study, process cards were used to measure the process time and total lead time. This showed the location of bottlenecks and overall process capacity. With the data collected, suggestion on how to decrease storage, throughput time and total lead time is given.The study has been conducted at Intelbras in San Jose, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Intelbras is a telecommunication company which produces telephones, security cameras and switchboards. Two production processes is studied, the Telefone Sem fio, SFL, which produce cordless telephones and Central, CAL, which produce switchboards.Through simulation this paper shows improvement suggestions on how to better handle the flow of material by introducing sequencing into the production and FIFO in the storage handling, everything in order to decrease total lead time and increasing throughput time.Process mapping has proved to be a great tool in order to understand how a production process works and integrates with other departments. In supplement of process cards, valuable data is collected and used for analysing further improvements such as making a balancing program and calculating where and how big buffers is needed at different processes. / Program: Industriell ekonomi - arbetsorganisation och ledarskap

Le CHC est souvent diagnostiqué à un stade avancé, stade où les options thérapeutiques sont limitées et le plus souvent palliatives. A l’inverse, les patients diagnostiqués à un stade précoce sont candidats à des traitements curatifs tels que la résection chirurgicale, la radiofréquence et la transplantation hépatique. Le dépistage par échographie des cirrhotiques (surveillance tous les 6 mois) est recommandé par la grande majorité d’experts et les sociétés savantes afin de détecter et traiter le CHC à un stade précoce. Cependant, l’impact du dépistage sur la survie des patients reste controversé en raison des insuffisances méthodologiques des études l’ayant évalué. Parmi les incertitudes méthodologiques, le biais d’avance au diagnostic, qui correspond à un allongement du temps de suivi du à un dépistage plus précoce, n’a le plus souvent pas été pris en compte dans les études ayant évalué l’impact du dépistage. L’approche par modélisation est une option attractive pour l’évaluation du dépistage car la réalisation d’un essai randomisé contrôlé comparant les malades dépistés et non dépistés est irréalisable pour des raisons d’ordre éthique. Dans ce travail, nous avons développé un modèle de la progression du CHC de la date de diagnostic jusqu’au décès. Ce modèle prend en compte l’âge des patients, la connaissance du statut VHC et les principaux facteurs pronostiques du CHC sur cirrhose virale C compensée et décompensée. Il a été alimenté par plusieurs types de données pour fixer les probabilités de transitions dans le modèle, et valider les sorties du modèle. Dans un premier temps, afin d’éviter une surestimation du bénéfice du dépistage, il a été indispensable de calculer le biais d’avance au diagnostic et de l’intégrer dans le calcul de la survie des patients dépistés. Dans un deuxième temps le modèle a évalué l’impact du dépistage du CHC chez les patients ayant une cirrhose virale C compensée et connaissant leur statut VHC. Dans un contexte de cirrhose compensée avec un statut VHC-connu, notre étude montre que le dépistage du CHC réalisé dans la pratique courante (taux d’accès au dépistage = 57%, une efficacité du dépistage correspondant à 42% des patients diagnostiqués à un stade précoce) améliore la survie des patients, avec une augmentation de l’espérance de vie (EV) de 11 mois et une diminution de risque de décès à 5 ans de 6% par rapport à l’absence du dépistage (taux d’accès au dépistage = 0%, 19% des patients non dépistés pour le CHC sont diagnostiqués à un stade précoce). Elle souligne l’importance des deux variables, taux d’accès au dépistage et efficacité du dépistage, sur la survie des patients. Par rapport au dépistage réalisé dans la pratique courante : a) un scénario d’augmentation du taux d’accès au dépistage de 57% à 97% augmente l’EV de 7 mois et diminue le risque de décès à 5 ans de 5% ; b) un scénario d’augmentation de l’efficacité du dépistage de 42% à 87% (dépistage optimal) augmente l’EV de 14 mois et diminue le risque de décès à 5 ans de 9% ; c) un scénario combinant une augmentation de l’efficacité du dépistage à 87% et une augmentation du taux d’accès au dépistage à 97% augmente l’EV de 31 mois et diminue le risque de décès à 5 ans de 20%. Cette étude souligne la nécessité d’une application stricte des modalités de dépistage du CHC, afin d’optimiser son efficacité à diagnostiquer le CHC au stade précoce. Ce travail suggère que les experts devraient cibler leurs recommandations sur l’efficacité du dépistage. De telles recommandations pourraient conduire à discuter de l’expérience et de la qualification des opérateurs et de la qualité du parc des échographes utilisés pour homogénéiser la qualité du dépistage. Finalement, nous avons observé dans un travail préliminaire que le choix optimal de la méthode de correction pour le calcul du biais d’avance au diagnostic devrait prendre en compte la progression tumorale d’un stade asymptomatique vers un stade symptomatique qui diffère d’un cancer à l’autre. / HCC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, the stage where therapeutic options are limited and mostly palliative. In contrast, the patients who are diagnosed at an earlier stage are candidates for curative treatments such as surgical resection, radiofrequency and liver transplantation. The screening of cirrhotic patients by ultrasound (every 6 months) is recommended by a large majority of experts and specialized societies to detect and treat HCC at an early stage. However, the impact of screening on patients’ survival remains controversial due to its evaluation by the methodological shortcomings of studies. Among the methodological uncertainties, the lead-time bias which corresponds to an extension of the follow-up time which is due to an earlier screening has not often been taken into account in studies that evaluated the impact of screening. The modeling approach is an attractive option for the evaluation of screening because the performance of a randomized controlled trial comparing the screened and the unscreened patients is impossible for ethical reasons. In this work, we developed a model of HCC progression from the date of diagnosis until death. This model takes into account the patient\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s age, the awareness of HCV-status and the main prognostic factors for HCC in compensated and decompensated cirrhosis due to HCV. The model was supplied by several types of data to set the probabilities of transitions in it and validate its output. In the first step, in order to avoid an overestimation of the benefit of screening, it was necessary to calculate the lead-time bias and to include it in the calculation of the survival of screened patients. In a second step, the model evaluated the impact of screening for HCC in patients with compensated HCV-related cirrhosis and aware of their HCV-status. In the context of compensated cirrhosis with known HCV-status, our study showed that HCC screening performed in currently existing practices (rate of access to screening = 57%; effectiveness of screening corresponding to 42% of patients diagnosed at an early stage) improves the survival of patients with HCC, with an increase in life expectancy (LE) of 11 months and reduced HCC mortality at 5 years by 6% compared to the absence of screening (rate of access to screening = 0%; 19% of patients who had not been screened for HCC are diagnosed at an early stage). It showed the importance of the two variables, the rates of access to HCC screening and the effectiveness of screening on the survival of patients. Regarding the screening performed in currently existing practices: a) a scenario of increase of the rate of access to HCC screening from 57% to 97% which increases the LE by 7 months and reduces HCC mortality at 5 years by 5%; b) a scenario of increase of the effectiveness of HCC screening from 42% to 87% corresponding to that observed in the randomized trial CHC-2000 (optimal screening) which increases the LE by 14 months and reduces mortality at 5 years by 9%; c) a scenario combining an increase of the effectiveness of HCC screening from 42% to 87% and an increase of the rate of access to HCC screening from 57% to 97% which increases the LE by 31 months and reduces mortality at 5 years by 20%. This study emphasizes the need for strict application of rules of HCC screening in order to optimize its effectiveness to diagnose HCC at an early stage. This work suggests that experts should focus their recommendations on the effectiveness of screening. Such recommendations could lead to discuss the experience and qualification of operators and the quality of the park ultrasound used to standardize homogenize the quality of screening. Finally, we observed in a preliminary work that the optimal choice of the correction method for calculating the lead time bias should take into account the tumor progression from an asymptomatic stage to a symptomatic stage, which differs from a cancer to another.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:36:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo2144_1.pdf: 3689249 bytes, checksum: 7378f3faccd343c4b89312617b63f1a6 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / As empresas utilizam diferentes sistemas de produção, tipos de processos produtivos e leiautes, mas todas estão sempre em busca de reduzir os custos. Para isso, utilizam muitas ferramentas de gestão, muitas delas de origem japonesas, como o Mapeamento do Fluxo de Valor (MFV) e o sistema kanban. Este trabalho tem o objetivo de descrever e classificar os sistemas de produção, os tipos de processos produtivos e de leiaute, apresentar a ferramenta MFV e o sistema kanban e, realizando um estudo de caso, apresentar a aplicação destas ferramentas na prática, de forma a facilitar a utilização das mesmas por gestores. O estudo apresenta uma fábrica com sistema tradicional de produção, um processo em lotes e um leiaute misto, englobando o leiaute funcional e células lineares e funcionais. Foram calculados, para a empresa estudada, um lead time de 68,59 dias, um tempo de processamento de 0,92 segundo, um takt time de 0,66 segundo e uma eficiência de fluxo de 1,78 x 10-5%. Com o desenvolvimento de um de fluxo de valor futuro, obteve-se a redução do lead time para 15,64 dias e o aumento da eficiência de fluxo para 7,84 x 10-5%, o que representa uma melhoria de 338%. O presente trabalho descreve a adaptação da teoria do sistema kanban à prática, apresentando o cálculo utilizado para definição do número de kanbans de produção, o design estabelecido para o cartão, a definição do quadro porta-kanban e o funcionamento do sistema. A pesquisa apresenta as dificuldades encontradas para a realização do MFV e do sistema kanban, pela escassez e dificuldade de levantamento dos dados de produção necessários e mostra a possibilidade de adaptação da teoria à prática, assim como a importância dos profissionais conhecerem as teorias das ferramentas de gestão para melhor aproveitarem o que elas têm a oferecer

<p><strong>Background: </strong>The development of the IT-industry, where new technologies and new services continually arise, has led to new players with different specializations. The increased degree of specialization means that these players need to cooperate with each other in different types of projects.</p><p><strong>Problem definition: </strong>What factors are important in a project to achieve the objectives as quickly as possible? More players should lead to cooperation difficulties, how can you coordinate in the best possible way? Today, it is desirable for all parties in the project to shorten down the lead time.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The main purpose is to explore the different factors that affects the project's lead time concerning broadband installation. The part purpose, is to analyze and assess the conditions for cooperation between different players in the project for broadband installation and to provide a recommendation.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>In order to answer the problem definition, the paper is structured around a qualitative approach with interviews to obtain data. Mostly, the used data comes from primary sources with an extension of secondary sources.</p><p><strong>Theories: </strong>Theories that are used in the paper are: Communication Process, Communication Plan, Project Planning & Project Plan, Efficiency through collaboration, Communication in a network.</p><p><strong>Empiric: </strong>Empirical data consists of primary data collected through interviews.</p><p><strong>Analysis:</strong> The analysis is based on the variables from the theoretical frame of reference; Communications, Planning, Interaction & Information. From these variables, empirical data are analyzed in relation to the theory.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> In the conclusion, the authors discuss about the projects process which is described in the paper. The authors have concluded that; communication, planning and collaboration plays a major role in order to shorten down the lead times for the project. Cooperation beyond enterprise boundaries becomes necessary.</p>

Background: The development of the IT-industry, where new technologies and new services continually arise, has led to new players with different specializations. The increased degree of specialization means that these players need to cooperate with each other in different types of projects. Problem definition: What factors are important in a project to achieve the objectives as quickly as possible? More players should lead to cooperation difficulties, how can you coordinate in the best possible way? Today, it is desirable for all parties in the project to shorten down the lead time. Purpose: The main purpose is to explore the different factors that affects the project's lead time concerning broadband installation. The part purpose, is to analyze and assess the conditions for cooperation between different players in the project for broadband installation and to provide a recommendation. Method: In order to answer the problem definition, the paper is structured around a qualitative approach with interviews to obtain data. Mostly, the used data comes from primary sources with an extension of secondary sources. Theories: Theories that are used in the paper are: Communication Process, Communication Plan, Project Planning &amp; Project Plan, Efficiency through collaboration, Communication in a network. Empiric: Empirical data consists of primary data collected through interviews. Analysis: The analysis is based on the variables from the theoretical frame of reference; Communications, Planning, Interaction &amp; Information. From these variables, empirical data are analyzed in relation to the theory. Conclusion: In the conclusion, the authors discuss about the projects process which is described in the paper. The authors have concluded that; communication, planning and collaboration plays a major role in order to shorten down the lead times for the project. Cooperation beyond enterprise boundaries becomes necessary.