Syftet med detta examensarbete var att ta fram en modell för att attrahera innovationsmöjligheter till Munktell Science Park i Eskilstuna. Detta gjorde författarna genom att från befintliga teorier deducera fram en hypotetisk modell. Modellen används inte för att skapa innovationer utan för att hitta komplexa problem. Det är lösningarna på de komplexa problemen som i sin tur kan vara innovationerna. Därför har vi kallat de komplexa problemen för innovationsmöjligheter.

Operations improvement methodologies have been adopted by manufacturing companies since the early 20th century. Japanese manufacturers were able to offer products of high quality and efficient production costs through systems such as Lean. Manufacturers in the West soon adopted systems of their own thereafter. Operations Excellence is a generic term used to describe such systems, and can be described as a management system delivering competitiveness through the continuous improvement of operational performance. This study provides a critical review of the implementation of an Operations Excellence program by examining the system adopted by a petrochemical company in South Africa. The review allowed the implementation shortcomings to be identified so that resolutions could be suggested, thus facilitating successful utilisation of the system. An evaluation of Operations Excellence programs utilised globally and at the case study organisation was carried out as part of a literature study. This research included the critical success factors and lessons learnt from the systems employed by others. Experimental field work was carried out to allow the critical evaluation of the implementation in the case study. The experimental method utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. The primary research instrument was a questionnaire designed to examine the degree in which critical success factors and Operations Excellence requirements were present in the organisation. The implementation shortcomings were successfully identified through the experimental work undertaken. These shortcomings, together with the review of the available literature on Operations Excellence, allowed for the proposition of recommendations with the objective of successful utilisation of Operations Excellence programs for large enterprises. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Operations improvement methodologies have been adopted by manufacturing companies since the early 20th century. Japanese manufacturers were able to offer products of high quality and efficient production costs through systems such as Lean. Manufacturers in the West soon adopted systems of their own thereafter. Operations Excellence is a generic term used to describe such systems, and can be described as a management system delivering competitiveness through the continuous improvement of operational performance. This study provides a critical review of the implementation of an Operations Excellence program by examining the system adopted by a petrochemical company in South Africa. The review allowed the implementation shortcomings to be identified so that resolutions could be suggested, thus facilitating successful utilisation of the system. An evaluation of Operations Excellence programs utilised globally and at the case study organisation was carried out as part of a literature study. This research included the critical success factors and lessons learnt from the systems employed by others. Experimental field work was carried out to allow the critical evaluation of the implementation in the case study. The experimental method utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. The primary research instrument was a questionnaire designed to examine the degree in which critical success factors and Operations Excellence requirements were present in the organisation. The implementation shortcomings were successfully identified through the experimental work undertaken. These shortcomings, together with the review of the available literature on Operations Excellence, allowed for the proposition of recommendations with the objective of successful utilisation of Operations Excellence programs for large enterprises. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Lean Thinking has been widely implemented in various industries in the production context. Lately a number of companies in the service sector have developed lean systems within their organisations to improve efficiency, productivity, and quality of their services. In our study we are putting forward an approach for operational excellence using Lean Thinking principals in the public service context. The study was performed at the Swedish Tax Agency and the main process examined was mail-returns handling process, the main goal was to improve business process by eliminating non value adding activities within the mail-returns handling process. A thorough investigation of the Swedish Tax Agency process was carried out, primary (core) business process was identified. We examined the supporting processes and how they can affect the primary process performance, and we defined the activities associated with mail-returns handling process and the costs incurred, which led to having a fact-sheet that examined the entire process. Process mapping for the current state was carried out and Root Cause Analyses was performed. We identified root causes of the problem and process elements with high improvement potential, and we presented an optimisation proposal for the current state. Based on the optimisation proposal, an improvement proposal for the whole process was developed. Some of the notable attributes of this redesigned strategy were substantial cost savings and reduced process time. The proposal was approved by the Swedish tax agency and practical implementation is initiated.

The research for this thesis "Options for Developing a New Mid Micron Value Proposition for Consumers", is a part of a larger "New Mid Micron Products" project initiated by Mid Micron New Zealand Inc with the key goal of turning the Mid Micron Sector into a more vibrant and profitable one. The motivation for the project can be found in the dramatic fall in demand for New Zealand Mid Micron wool over the past decade. Two dominant causes for the fall in demand for Mid Micron wool were identified: the substandard skin comfort of final products made from Mid Micron wool, and a problem with the structure of the Mid Micron Sector. These problems are addressed in the "New Mid Micron Products" project that combines new product development and new marketing initiatives. Product development involved the use of new spinning technology to improve skin comfort quality and develop new products that are softer and prickle free. The aim is to extract more value for woolgrowers by having the wool converted into a higher value product. The new marketing initiatives, which were identified in this thesis research, Focusing On New Market Segments via E-Commerce and Reconfiguring The Value Chain, and concentrate on the operational issues of capturing the value from the newly developed Mid Micron products. Taking into account the nature of the overall Mid Micron Project and type of developed products, this research identified the Operational Excellence and Product Leadership models as alternative routes to develop a new Mid Micron Value Proposition for consumers. Operational Excellence, and the associated Cost Leadership strategy, is a low capital investment option, while Product Leadership and the associated Differentiation strategy is a high capital investment option. The models' principles and their elements, products, price and delivery to market, are evaluated in the context of the Mid Micron Business.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5924.pdf: 2807754 bytes, checksum: 3d23771c039861a524611ded561280a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-30 / The manufacturing companies are increasingly investing time and attention to improving its operating performance by accepting that this is one of the few ways to be competitive in the medium and long term and thus leaving the short-term vision where operational improvements are mainly evaluated as cost reductions of production and labor. The manufacturing management must seek the proper standardization of operations, compliance with these standards and continuous improvement, using this as a basis for synchronization of material flows and information, and to guarantee the quality and safety requirements, as well as the increase responsibilities and autonomy of people in the workplace. This is the main base of lean manufacturing (lean), which, associated with the concept of semi autonomous teams (this aimed at increasing the responsibility of the workers), significant operational success is bringing to companies that have deepened in its implementation and support. This thesis presents six case studies where there was the application of a model of standardized work and the concept of semi-autonomous teams simultaneously in different plants of the same company in the Brazilian chemical industry. The developed approach was the adaptation and application of a systematic model with five pre-defined steps, and structuring teams with semi autonomous work patterns as well as their roles and responsibilities. The model applied in the six cases studied was adapted based on a reference from the company's headquarters and research of market practices, adapted to reality and to the organizational structure of these units. The plants studied have different levels of technology and products portfolio, as well as operation time that distanced up to four decades of each other, where it was observed significant impact on speed of deployment, with different levels of acceptance by the leadership and comprehensiveness of results arising from the application of the model. Quantitative aspects of implementation, such as Safety, Quality and Productivity, which showed significant weight gains after the implementation of the model were evaluated and achieved medium gains of 25% in Productivity, 33% in Quality and 47% reduction in setup times as well as qualitative aspects such as absenteeism, the perception of those involved on the shop floor by the physical change in the working environment and the impact of standardization and systematization of activities on the motivation and performance of employees working in the semi autonomous teams. As conclusions, it´s discussed the potential constraints that influence the greater or lesser success of the applications in each of the six units. / As empresas manufatureiras estão investindo cada vez mais tempo e atenção à melhoria de seu desempenho operacional aceitando que este é um dos poucos caminhos para serem competitivas no médio e longo prazo e desta forma saindo da visão de curto prazo onde melhorias operacionais são principalmente avaliadas como redução de custos de produção e de mão de obra. A gestão da manufatura deve buscar a correta padronização das operações, o cumprimento destes padrões e sua melhoria contínua, usando isto como base para a sincronização dos fluxos de materiais e informações, e para a garantia dos requisitos de qualidade e segurança, assim como o incremento das responsabilidades e da autonomia das pessoas no ambiente de trabalho. Esta é a base principal da manufatura enxuta (lean), que, associada ao conceito de equipes semi autônomas (este visando o incremento da responsabilidade dos operários), tanto sucesso operacional está trazendo às empresas que se aprofundaram em sua implementação e sustentação. Nesta tese apresentam-se seis estudos de caso onde houve a aplicação de um modelo de trabalho padronizado e do conceito de equipes semi autônomas de forma simultânea em diferentes fábricas de uma mesma empresa do setor químico brasileiro. A abordagem desenvolvida foi a adaptação e aplicação de um modelo sistematizado com cinco etapas pré definidas, e estruturação das equipes semi autônomas com padrões de trabalho bem como de seus papéis e responsabilidades. O modelo aplicado nos seis casos estudados foi adaptado com base em uma referência da empresa matriz e pesquisas de práticas de mercado, alinhado à realidade e à estrutura organizacional destas unidades. As fábricas estudadas possuem diferentes níveis de tecnologia e tipos de produtos, assim como tempo em operação que as distanciam até quatro décadas umas das outras, de onde se observou significativo impacto na velocidade de implantação, havendo diferentes níveis de aceitação das lideranças e abrangência dos resultados oriundos da aplicação do modelo. Foram avaliados aspectos quantitativos da aplicação, tais como Segurança, Qualidade e Produtividade, que apresentaram ganhos significativos médios após a aplicação do modelo, da ordem de: 25% em Produtividade, 33% em Qualidade e 47% de redução dos tempos de Setup, assim como os aspectos qualitativos como o absenteísmo, a percepção dos envolvidos do chão de fábrica quanto à mudança física do ambiente de trabalho e o impacto da padronização e sistematização das atividades na motivação e desempenho dos empregados atuando no formato semi autônomo. Como conclusão, discute-se que condicionantes influenciam o maior ou menor sucesso das aplicações em cada uma das seis unidades.

Since the dawn of globalization, manufacturing companies around the world have been expanding their global footprint to stay competitive. International manufacturing network of a company consists of plants with different roles and responsibilities spread across different locations around the world. Due to this increasing geographical dispersion and competitiveness, effective co-ordination of these  plants has become a priority along with achieving effective and efficient operations. This led to the development of the Core plant role. Core plants are the manufacturing plants that aims to achieve competitive and effective production, generate and transfer knowledge, while leading and coordinating the other plants within the network.     However,  the core plant role varies significantly across companies and academia  due to a lack of a common understanding regarding  its responsibilities and objectives. Furthermore, the performance of core plants are being measured with the same generic KPIs  as the other plants, even though their roles and responsibilities varies significantly. As a result, it has become difficult to measure their true performance and contribution of value to the network. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of comprehensive performance  measurement system that collectively measures the true performance and value of the core plant role to its international manufacturing network. Initially, the thesis investigates and bridges the mentioned knowledge gap with a two-tier literature review, before establishing their validity and relative importance in empirical context through survey.  The survey approach is also utilized to assess the current situation of performance measurement among core plants of different manufacturing companies.   The  findings suggest that ‘attaining operational excellence’ has the highest strategic importance but  this responsibility  only extends to  individual plant level not the network level. The core plant, network level responsibility ‘knowledge generation’ has the highest relative strategic importance and ‘Capability development’ has the lowest relative  strategic importance. The findings also reveal that the performance measurement systems of network level  core plant responsibilities are either poorly developed or non-existent.  The thesis concludes with a suggestion of a conceptual framework that provides the guidelines to develop a comprehensive performance measurement system for core plants. The findings and suggestions are of practical relevance to the top management of international manufacturing companies and academia for conducting future research.

[pt] O termo e-commerce designa o modelo de negócio no qual as transações comerciais de compra e venda são feitas através de meios digitais. Essa variedade de comércio on-line tem aumentado significativamente no Brasil. Dados recentes revelam um crescimento de 267% no setor, cujo número de usuários do comércio eletrônico passou de 31,3 milhões em 2013 para 83,7 milhões em 2022. Quando se compara ao número de encomendas, o aumento foi de 88 milhões no ano de 2013 para 368 milhões em 2022. Esse crescimento trouxe inúmeros desafios logísticos, especialmente para alcançar a satisfação do cliente do e-commerce e sua fidelização. Com isso, a qualidade do serviço logístico no processo de distribuição de produtos no last mile ganhou relevância no processo de distribuição Business to Consumer (B2C). Corresponder a uma expectativa de compra satisfatória é um fator crítico para as empresas do e-commerce que buscam obter vantagem competitiva. Com esse propósito, a melhoria logística de distribuição desempenha um papel preponderante; entretanto, é necessário definir exatamente o que o cliente valoriza e espera desse tipo de serviço, dado que as expectativas do mercado são elevadas e boa parte das empresas não estão em condições de atender a esse padrão. Nesse contexto, este estudo de caso tem por objetivo geral identificar as expectativas de last mile delivery dos clientes de uma empresa brasileira do e-commerce B2C ao realizar uma compra, no segmento de móveis e decoração, em uma empresa que atua em todo o território nacional. A metodologia utilizada foi o estudo de caso único, os clientes responderam um survey que foi utilizado como base de dado para o desenvolvimento do trabalho e melhoria da operação, com abordagem qualitativa e empregou o método Net Promoter Score (NPS). Participaram desse estudo os clientes da empresa estudada e citada no trabalho. Quinze dias após o recebimento da mercadoria, era enviado para o cliente um questionário on-line com duas perguntas, as respostas eram analisadas sobre a expectativa relacionada ao serviço logístico, ao nível de lealdade, à satisfação e à fidelização de compras. Os resultados obtidos nesse trabalho apontam cinco fatores críticos para satisfazer a necessidade do cliente. A expectativa mais relevante para os consumidores em relação à distribuição de produtos por meio do e-commerce B2C é ter um prazo menor ofertado pela empresa relacionado a entrega, seguido de não receber produto danificado, receber produto com material de melhor qualidade, melhor atendimento e entrega dentro do prazo. Conclui-se que existe uma expectativa do consumidor intimamente associada a uma oportunidade de melhoria na logística de distribuição no e-commerce. Isso significa que a qualidade do serviço de entrega logística tem o impacto direto sobre uma experiência satisfatória para os clientes do e-commerce. O presente trabalho oferece um framework como ferramenta para a aplicação do método NPS e, consecutivamente, para a melhoria do nível de serviço e da excelência operacional nas atividades logísticas. Dessa forma, contribuir para retenção, fidelização e satisfação da experiência de compra dos clientes. / [en] The term e-commerce refers to the business model in which commercial transactions of buying and selling are conducted through digital means. This variety of online commerce has significantly increased in Brazil. Recent data reveals a growth of 267% in the sector, with the number of e-commerce users increasing from 31.3 million in 2013 to 83.7 million in 2022. When comparing the number of orders, it increased from 88 million in 2013 to 368 million in 2022. This growth has brought numerous logistical challenges, especially in achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty in e-commerce. Therefore, the quality of logistics services in the last mile distribution process has gained relevance in the Business to Consumer (B2C) distribution process. Meeting satisfactory purchase expectations is a critical factor for e-commerce companies seeking a competitive advantage. With this purpose, logistic distribution improvement plays a significant role; however, it is necessary to precisely define what the customer values and expects from this type of service, as market expectations are high, and many companies are unable to meet this standard. In this context, this case study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the last mile delivery expectations of customers of a Brazilian B2C e-commerce company when making a purchase in the furniture and decoration segment, operating nationwide. The methodology used was a single case study, customers completed a survey that was used as a database for developing the work and improving the operation, with a qualitative approach and using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) method. The clients of the company studied and mentioned in the work participated in this study. Fifteen days after receiving the merchandise, an online questionnaire with two questions was sent to the customer, the answers were analyzed regarding expectations related to the logistics service, the level of loyalty, satisfaction and purchase loyalty. The results obtained in this study point to five critical factors for meeting customer needs. The most relevant expectation for consumers regarding the distribution of products through B2C e-commerce is to have a shorter delivery time offered by the company, followed by damaged products, products with better quality materials, better customer service, and on-time delivery. It is concluded that there is a customer expectation closely linked to an opportunity for improvement in e-commerce distribution logistics. This means that the quality of the logistic delivery service directly impacts a satisfactory experience for e-commerce customers. This study suggests the application of the Framework as a tool for implementing NPS and, consequently, for improving the level of service and operational excellence in logistics activities. This can contribute to customer retention, loyalty, and satisfaction in the shopping experience.

<p>The processes that link High Performance Work System (HPWS) practices and organizational performance are not fully understood. Using resource-based theory, this research focuses on training, by separating it from other HPWS practices, and human capital development as a source of sustained competitive advantage. The first purpose of my research is to examine the relationships between the HPWS practice of training, innovation, and organizational performance, and look at the mediating effect of innovation over time at the workplace level. The results indicate that the temporal pathway from training to innovation to organizational performance is positive and significant even after controlling for reverse-causality. Strategic activity is also explored and is found to be a significant moderator. This study contributes to knowledge by identifying the importance of aligning business strategy with training, as well as other HPWS practices and innovation to achieve improved organizational performance outcomes. The second purpose of this research is to explore the factors that act to expand or limit the HPWS practice of training, with a focus on the outcomes of employers' decisions to offer training, employees' decisions to accept or decline training, and the job-related training received by employees. The results indicate that the employee-level factors: participating in HPWS practices, use of technology, and using new technology are significant contributors to employers' decisions to offer and employees' receipt of training. Further, employees' perception of the existence of a gap between the skills required for the job and their current skills contributes to employees accepting employer offers of training.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)