The concept of lean manufacturing dates back to 1990 in the automobile industry. However, its principles were implemented in other industries as well. Lean is also about people; and sustainable HR practices play an important role in the success of lean transformation. This research examines how sustainable HR practices enhances lean manufacturing. And the effect of these practices on lean manufacturing. The results showed a direct relationship between training as sustainable HR practice and employee retention. This means, the more training offered, the higher the retention rate. The leaner the manufacturing process will be.

Detta examensarbete har syftat till att utveckla ett verktyg för att utvärdera en IT-avdelnings möjligheter till effektivisering genom att implementera Lean på IT Service Management. Verktyget har utvecklats i samarbete med Tina Eriksson på uppdrag av management och IT-management konsultbolaget Connecta AB. Connecta AB har som syfte att använda verktyget för framtida affärer. För att verktyget ska vara användbart och uppfylla Connectas krav så har fyra mål satts upp. Verktyget ska vara trovärdigt, resurseffektivt, användarvänligt samt underlätta för fortsatt arbete och implementering av Lean på IT Service Management. Det färdiga verktyget består av tre separata delar vilka tillsammans syftar till att ge en heltäckande bild av ITavdelningen ur ett Lean-perspektiv. Verktyget består av en mognadsanalys som mäter Lean -mognaden inom fem centrala områden, en enkät som analyserar medarbetarnas syn på sin arbetssituation och slöserier kring denna samt en värdeflödeskartläggning för att analysera ett par IT Service Management- processer. Verktyget testades på en representativ kund under våren 2010 i syfte att utvärdera dess lämplighet. Utifrån testresultatet har verktyget analyserats utifrån uppsatta mål och slutsatsen är att det uppfyller sitt ändamål.

Date: 4th of June 2023 Level: Master thesis within Industrial Engineering and Management, Product and Process development – 30 credits. Institution: School of Innovation, Design, and Engineering at Mälardalen’s University Author: Nadia Al-Hakim Title: Lean in the Swedish Armed Forces Keywords: Lean Philosophy; Lean Thinking; Military logistics; JIT Research Question: What are the potential enablers and barriers to adapting the Lean philosophy in military logistics operations? Purpose: This study aims to investigate the potential challenges of implementing the Lean philosophy in the Swedish Armed Forces’ logistics. Methodology: The study was conducted through an abductive research approach using qualitative methods. A theoretical framework was developed by reviewing extant research within the research scope. The empirical findings were based on semi-structured interviews held with six respondents from the Swedish Armed Forces with different positions in logistics. Finally, the empirical findings were analyzed using a conceptual framework that helps the understanding of the different organizational aspects of Lean. Conclusion: This study aimed to explore the challenges of implementing Lean philosophy in the logistics of the Swedish Armed Forces. Identified barriers include the lack of long-term thinking, incoherent definitions of the end-user and quality, high inventory dependence, confidentiality constraints, and procurement regulations. However, some of the identified enablers include the Armed Forces' use of JIT concepts, focus on safety, and strategic partnerships with certain suppliers. / Datum: 4 juni 2023 Nivå: Examensarbete på Mastersnivå inom civilingenjörsprogrammet i industriell ekonomi, produkt- och processutveckling –30 högskolepoäng. Institution: Akademin för Innovation, Design, och Teknik (IDT) vid Mälardalens universitet Författare: Nadia Al-Hakim Titel: Lean inom Försvarsmakten Nyckelord: Lean; Försvarslogistik; JIT Frågeställning: Vilka är de potentiella möjliggörande och hindrande faktorerna för att implementera Lean filosofin i militära logistikoperationer? Syfte: Studien ämnar till att undersöka de potentiella utmaningarna med att implementera Lean-filosofin i den Svenska Försvarsmaktens logistiska verksamhet. Metod: Studien genomfördes genom en abduktiv forskningsansats med kvalitativa metoder. Det teoretiska ramverket utvecklades genom att granska befintlig forskning inom forskningsområdet. De empiriska resultaten baserades på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex respondenter från Försvarsmakten med olika befattningar inom försvarslogistiken. Slutligen analyserades det empiriska underlaget med hjälp av ett konceptuellt ramverk som förenklar förståelsen av de olika organisatoriska aspekterna i Lean. Slutsats: Studien syftade till att utforska utmaningarna med att implementera Lean i svenska försvarslogistiken. De identifierade utmaningarna innefattade bland annat bristen på långsiktigt tänkande, varierade definitioner av slutanvändare och kvalitet, lagerberoende, sekretessnivå, och lagar om upphandling. Ett antal främjande faktorer har också identifierats, bland annat Försvarsmaktens användning av JIT-system, fokus på säkerhet och strategiska partnerskap med vissa leverantörer.

Dagens arbetsklimat kännetecknas av konstanta förändringar, vilket sätter en stor press på företag att anpassa sig för att inte hamna efter. För att bibehålla konkurrenskraft tvingas därför företag att hitta nya sätt att utvecklas inom organisation och produktion, för att bemöta de kontinuerliga förändringar som sker. Tillverkning under tjugohundratalet kännetecknas av specialanpassade produkter där många tillverkande företag har komplexa produktionsplaneringar och affärssystem. Detta har lett till att företag söker sig alltmer mot koncept och metoder av ständiga förbättringar, något som gjort att tillämpningen av lean bland mindre tillverkande företag blivit alltmer framträdande.  Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur ett mindre tillverkande företag kan implementera koncept, verktyg, värderingar och principer inom lean för att bemöta sina nuvarande problem, och att långsiktigt kunna fortsätta arbeta vidare med det som en del i det dagliga arbetet. Målet är att ta fram ett ramverk för implementering av lean hos ett mindre tillverkande företag. Ramverket syftar till att visualisera de olika steg ett företag behöver gå igenom för att lyckas inkorporera förbättringskoncept/verktyg i sin verksamhet och därmed standardisera arbetet och minimera slöserier.  Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär där intervjuer, observationer och en litteraturstudie stod för insamlingen av data. Totalt genomfördes åtta intervjuer där en blandning av ledningen och anställda i produktionen var intervjuade. Observationerna utfördes genom att vandra omkring i produktionen för att skapa sig en bild för hur arbetet faktiskt går till idag. Litteraturstudien behandlar relevanta artiklar inom lean, SME:S och ständiga förbättringar. Genom att analysera den insamlade data mot den befintliga litteraturen kunde slutsatser om vilka verktyg/koncept som krävs för att bemöta respektive slöserier inom ett producerande SME göras. Även vilka faktorer som är viktiga för företag att ta i beaktning vid införandet av förbättringskoncept. Detta visualiseras genom ett ramverk som är framtaget genom denna studie. Fumex rekommenderas använda detta ramverk som ett stöd till implementering av lean i sin verksamhet. Detta syftar till att lösa de identifierade problemen med dokumentation, otydliga manualer/instruktioner och kommunikation mellan ledning och produktion.

This thesis evaluates the existence and viability of lean ERP systems in today’s manufacturing industry. Results from the research show that current practitioners of lean – who also utilize ERP systems – do not have a strong enough link between the two to consider their ERP systems, and overall organizations, as being truly lean. Few articles and research papers in today’s body of knowledge contain information on the concept of lean ERP. A survey, sent to numerous industry professionals and posted on lean manufacturing websites, provided the results necessary for statistical analysis. The conclusions obtained from this survey analysis provided a strong foundation for additional, more focused, research of lean ERP systems.

Product development is considered an important key factor in the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) as products are becoming more competitive and complex due to market competition. Currently, customer satisfaction mostly depends on product reliability especially when it comes to electronics hardware. From the early stages of electronic hardware development, product development team have to maintain high reliability by reducing mistakes as it is deeply related with the cost of the final product. In this above scenario, LPD can play an important role which deal covers all aspects of a product's development including reliability, from gathering and generating ideas, to assessing success potential, to building concepts, evaluating them, detailing the product, testing, developing, and handing it over for manufacture. From the literature, it shows that the framework for achieving reliability in line with LPD in electronic hardware is very limited. Hence, the author in this research considers that the different aspects of reliability with LPD needs to be identified and framed to have a reliable product, especially for electronics hardware development. To fulfill the research objectives, the authors conducted a literature review to identify the relevant aspects of lean to achieve reliability in electronic hardware development. Then all the relevant aspects were framed in a framework. Further, a single case study was conducted in Bosch Rexroth, and interviews were taken from the selected case organization to explore and justify the relevant aspects of lean. Different views of the interviewee were presented in data analysis section and at the end, the conclusion is presented to show the relevancy of the selected aspects based on the interviews, theoretical implications, practical implications, and future research.

The concept Lean Production has nowadays become an accepted paradigm in several industries and it has become a fundamental part of manufacturing companies, as it seeks to reduce waste and deliver a high customer value. Lean Production is a technique that is a highly efficient manufacturing practice that helps organizations to carry on a competitive advantage. The concept works as a system of methods and measures which when combined have the potential to carry about a lean manufacturing. The objective of this research is to investigate how Strålfors Svenska Card can succeed in carrying out changes in their production in order to reduce waste, with reference to Lean Production. The study starts with a brief historical review about lean production, which is followed by a theoretical framework with useful concepts to adapt. The theoretical frameworks used in this research are: Lean House, “4P” Model, Lead the Change, Culture, Processes and Performance Measurements. The main research question of this thesis is: What are the main barriers for a successful lean implementation in Strålfors Svenska AB? Subsequently, the main research question was broken down to four sub questions. These are: How developed and mature in the organization are process methods? How are performance measurements employed? Which role does standardization, such as availability of tools, have? Which role do soft aspects, such as culture and values, play in understanding concepts?  Strålfors Svenska Card has to build a good platform in order to success with their implementation of lean production. Moreover, it means that the organization has to focus on developing necessary critical factors that are in the guideline with lean production. The researchers has used observations, interviews, surveys and value stream mapping in order to collect necessary data.

Lean has become a widespread concept within various industries. It originates from the production system at Toyota and focuses on maximizing customer value and eliminating waste. It has been adopted throughout industries as a consequence of stiffening competition and higher customer demands. From Toyota, the concept spread to other car manufacturers and then further to other manufacturing industries. In recent years, the Lean concept has spread to more intangible settings, initially to service functions within the manufacturing companies and later to pure service oriented industries such as healthcare, banking, and insurance. Most recently, the concept has been adopted in IT businesses as a mean to gain competitive advantage. A lot of research on the Lean concept has been concerned with issues such as implementation and the operational application of the concept. Even though the purpose of the concept is to increase the operational performance and to deliver high customer value, little emphasis has been put on research related to performance measurement in a Lean service setting. While some research regarding modern performance measurement frameworks exists, a weak link is identified between the two research areas (Lean and Performance measurement). This study has focused on the specific IT service setting at Company X and their Lean initiative. The purpose of this study is to complement Company X’s Lean initiative with recommendations related to an area currently not emphasized by Company X, measuring performance improvements due to their Lean efforts. Company X is especially interested in the linkage between operational improvements and the financial outcomes. This study employs a holistic view in order to gain a wide understanding of the organizational context and the business in general. It has been paramount for this study to understand the organizational setting, the theoretical concepts, and the interplay between them. As a mean of fulfilling the purpose, the case study methodology has been employed throughout this study. The research was initially defined by its objectives and delimitations. Interviews, observations, and a content analysis contributed to the overall organizational knowledge which was deemed crucial for the end result. The organizational knowledge together with the understanding of the theoretical concepts and the exploratory benchmark study has been the basis for the analysis and recommendations. The study has rendered in recommendations regarding how measurement activities should be designed and employed in Company X’s Lean setting. This study suggests that a limited focus should be put on general measuring activities in Tieto. More specifically, little focus should be put on attempting to determine a correlation or linkage between the operational improvements and financial outcomes. The study further suggests a separation of the organizational KPIs into steering (operational) KPIs and monitoring (financial) KPIs. This is suggested in order to have operations steer the organizational performance as well as cement the Lean concept within the organization. Overall, a focus should be put on measuring processes rather than financial data.

O movimento Lean vem crescendo significativamente no Brasil e no mundo. Os métodos enxutos para o desenvolvimento e a fabricação de produtos, do preenchimento do pedido à entrega, gerenciamento do fluxo de suprimentos, suporte a clientes e administração de toda a empresa agora são bem conhecidos e amplamente aceitos como conceito. Tal sucesso despertou o interesse das organizações em implantar o sistema de produção oriundo da Toyota. Entretanto, o que se observa é que poucas atingem resultados tão expressivos quanto os da montadora japonesa. A grande maioria não consegue garantir a sustentabilidade da manufatura enxuta em si, tanto em termos de como manter o impulso inicial, uma vez que os eventos Kaizen \"pilotos\" estão completos, quanto em como os membros da organização podem realmente desenvolver as suas capacidades de implantação do Lean. O que foi identificado é que, impulsionados pelo desempenho superior alcançado pelos produtores \"enxutos\" sobre os resultados obtidos com os modelos tradicionais do sistema de produção em massa, os fabricantes ocidentais reproduziram suas técnicas de chão de fábrica, ou seja, as partes estruturais do Lean, mas muitas vezes encontraram dificuldades para introduzir a cultura organizacional e a mentalidade pertinente a este sistema. Este trabalho propõe um conjunto de melhores práticas para a sustentação de eventos Kaizen nas implantações de Produção Enxuta buscando eliminar as lacunas identificadas entre outras propostas desse tipo e as necessidades encontradas em ambientes de Produção Enxuta reais. O conjunto de melhores práticas é baseado no levantamento bibliográfico da literatura técnica sobre o tema e na realização de pesquisa junto a uma empresa multinacional, localizada no Estado de São Paulo, reconhecidamente bem-sucedida na implantação e na sustentabilidade da Produção Enxuta em suas operações. Assim, o resultado encontrado foi o de identificação, aprimoramento e, em alguns casos, elaboração de práticas/ferramentas que facilitem a obtenção da sustentabilidade de eventos Kaizen nas implantações de Produção Enxuta. / The Lean movement has grown significantly in Brazil and worldwide. Lean methods to the development and manufacturing of products, since the order fulfillment until its delivery, through the supply chain management, the customer services and all the business administration activities are now well known and widely accepted as concepts. Such success has garnered interest from organizations in implementing the production system developed in Toyota. However, what is observed is that few achieve results as expressive as those of the Japanese automaker. The vast majority can not guarantee the sustainability of lean manufacturing itself, both in terms of keeping up the initial movement since the \"pilots\" Kaizen events are complete, as in, how members of the organization can really develop their skills of implementing Lean. What has been identified is that driven by the superior performance achieved by the lean producers over the results obtained with traditional models of the mass production system, Western manufacturers reproduced their shop floor techniques, in other words, the structural parts of Lean, but often found it difficult to introduce the organizational culture and mentality which are relevant to this system. This dissertation proposes a set of best practices for supporting Kaizen events in the implementation of Lean Production seeking to eliminate the identified gaps between other proposals found in literature and the requirements identified in real shop floor environments. The set of best practices is based on the review of technical literature on the subject and in a field research with a multinational company, located in the State of São Paulo, recognized for the successful implementation and sustainability of lean production in their operations. Thus, the result was the identification, enhancement and, in some cases, development of practices/tools to facilitate the achievement of sustainability of Kaizen events in implementations of Lean Production.

O movimento Lean vem crescendo significativamente no Brasil e no mundo. Os métodos enxutos para o desenvolvimento e a fabricação de produtos, do preenchimento do pedido à entrega, gerenciamento do fluxo de suprimentos, suporte a clientes e administração de toda a empresa agora são bem conhecidos e amplamente aceitos como conceito. Tal sucesso despertou o interesse das organizações em implantar o sistema de produção oriundo da Toyota. Entretanto, o que se observa é que poucas atingem resultados tão expressivos quanto os da montadora japonesa. A grande maioria não consegue garantir a sustentabilidade da manufatura enxuta em si, tanto em termos de como manter o impulso inicial, uma vez que os eventos Kaizen \"pilotos\" estão completos, quanto em como os membros da organização podem realmente desenvolver as suas capacidades de implantação do Lean. O que foi identificado é que, impulsionados pelo desempenho superior alcançado pelos produtores \"enxutos\" sobre os resultados obtidos com os modelos tradicionais do sistema de produção em massa, os fabricantes ocidentais reproduziram suas técnicas de chão de fábrica, ou seja, as partes estruturais do Lean, mas muitas vezes encontraram dificuldades para introduzir a cultura organizacional e a mentalidade pertinente a este sistema. Este trabalho propõe um conjunto de melhores práticas para a sustentação de eventos Kaizen nas implantações de Produção Enxuta buscando eliminar as lacunas identificadas entre outras propostas desse tipo e as necessidades encontradas em ambientes de Produção Enxuta reais. O conjunto de melhores práticas é baseado no levantamento bibliográfico da literatura técnica sobre o tema e na realização de pesquisa junto a uma empresa multinacional, localizada no Estado de São Paulo, reconhecidamente bem-sucedida na implantação e na sustentabilidade da Produção Enxuta em suas operações. Assim, o resultado encontrado foi o de identificação, aprimoramento e, em alguns casos, elaboração de práticas/ferramentas que facilitem a obtenção da sustentabilidade de eventos Kaizen nas implantações de Produção Enxuta. / The Lean movement has grown significantly in Brazil and worldwide. Lean methods to the development and manufacturing of products, since the order fulfillment until its delivery, through the supply chain management, the customer services and all the business administration activities are now well known and widely accepted as concepts. Such success has garnered interest from organizations in implementing the production system developed in Toyota. However, what is observed is that few achieve results as expressive as those of the Japanese automaker. The vast majority can not guarantee the sustainability of lean manufacturing itself, both in terms of keeping up the initial movement since the \"pilots\" Kaizen events are complete, as in, how members of the organization can really develop their skills of implementing Lean. What has been identified is that driven by the superior performance achieved by the lean producers over the results obtained with traditional models of the mass production system, Western manufacturers reproduced their shop floor techniques, in other words, the structural parts of Lean, but often found it difficult to introduce the organizational culture and mentality which are relevant to this system. This dissertation proposes a set of best practices for supporting Kaizen events in the implementation of Lean Production seeking to eliminate the identified gaps between other proposals found in literature and the requirements identified in real shop floor environments. The set of best practices is based on the review of technical literature on the subject and in a field research with a multinational company, located in the State of São Paulo, recognized for the successful implementation and sustainability of lean production in their operations. Thus, the result was the identification, enhancement and, in some cases, development of practices/tools to facilitate the achievement of sustainability of Kaizen events in implementations of Lean Production.