As the competition is increasing both nationally and globally, the companies are looking for new ways to decrease costs and gain innovation. The latest hot topic is Open innovation (OI), which can be seen as the ultimate limit in terms of accessible expertise, since it makes no difference in valuing an idea in terms of its origin. The trend is that companies are increasingly acknowledging the relevance of external resources, engaging in OI rather than relying exclusively on internal research and development (Chesborough, 2006). There are many types of supplier relations and innovation networks that the companies can take part in, but OI can be seen more as an approach and mindset that should determine how the companies act, whether it’s a question of being more open for ideas from another department, or even towards a competitor company. The companies are often using different types of collaborations and strategy and, potentially, trying to move up “the scale” towards OI.  With this thesis work I propose that there are many different aspects that the companies have to be aware of when moving up the scale from in-house development towards global OI. In reality, not many companies are taking the full advantage of OI, nonetheless knows the perquisites for doing so. OI may be the trend for development of companies, but today the nature of this is complex as companies are using different layers of the supplier and collaboration types in different parts of the organization. The success stories which Chesborough uses to exemplify the concept of OI do not address the grey area, or place on a scale, where many companies are situated in. This study will therefore explore the complexity in managing these collaborations that is not so present in the literature. How do you manage a collaboration that includes supplier relation, partnership and a want for OI at the same time? This means that there has to be a selection on which projects to collaborate with, as well as strategies for collaborating in a more innovative way and the steps that needs to be taken to get there.  In this thesis I am going to use this broad definition of innovation: Innovation is the total set of activities leading to the introduction of something new, resulting in strengthening the defendable competitive advantage of a company. (van der Meer, 1996) My partner company in this study is a global Telecom company (DU Technology) who would like to learn more about this and improve their collaboration with an Indian Service provider (ITC). These companies will be used as a case study to provide an example on how complex the movement towards OI can be, and what it demands from the companies to succeed. As the companies are working in a global context, I will also highlight the importance of an understanding for the cultural differences that affects collaboration and how to manage these when they are not a part of your own company.

Fel som uppstår i ett byggprojekt leder ofta till merkostnader och ett felfritt projekt är näst intill omöjligt att uppnå. Däremot kan man försöka minska risken för att fel uppstår genom god planering. Projekteringsfasen i ett byggprojekt är en mycket viktig del av projektet, det är där man kommer fram till hur byggnationen ska genomföras. Oftast är det oklart var felen startar men enligt analyserna som gjorts av Sveriges Byggindustrier, FoU-Väst och Chalmers under 1994-1996 har det visat sig att felen oftast har sina rötter redan i starten hos beställare, projektörer, materialleverantörer och utförare. Uppstår det ett fel i början följer det med under hela processen, projekteraren kontrollerar inte om arkitekten eller konstruktören har gjort fel utan bygger bara på. (Josephson & Hammarlund 1996). I projekteringsskedet planerar man hur bygget ska utföras så detaljerat som möjligt. Man ser bl.a. till så att allt funkar ritningsmässigt så att allt får plats då det ofta är trånga utrymmen. Syftet med rapporten är att ta reda på vilka fel som uppstår på de byggarbetsplatserna som kan härledas till projekteringsfasen. Vi tog reda på orsaken till att felen uppstod samt vad det gav för konsekvenser för projektet. Vi har samarbetat med två olika byggentreprenörer, Byggklason AB i Vimmerby och Peab i Arvika, där vi har följt ett byggprojekt per byggentreprenör. Vi har varit med ute på projekten där vi har försökt observera fel samt även tagit reda på fel via samtal. Med fel menar vi att det är något som inte blev som det planerades, en avvikelse i planeringen. Kan även vara fel som ger stopp eller försening av något slag. Vi har även hittat information med hjälp av litteraturstudier av rapporter, studentlitteratur och artiklar från internet. Men resultatet grundar sig mestadels på våra egna observationer på plats och genom samtal med olika tjänstemän. De fel som uppstod var brist på engagemang en faktor som var stor på båda projekten. Det har även framkommit att dålig kommunikation och förberedelse inför projekteringsmöten har varit något som bidragit till en del fel på byggarbetsplatsen, även okunskap, tidspress och oklara önskemål har bidragit till fel. För att ett byggprojekt ska ha så få störningar som möjligt bör man ha gott om tid för planering, inläsning och byggnation. Men även bra samarbete, kommunikation samt noggrannhet är viktigt för att ett byggprojekt ska fungera korrekt. / Errors that occur in a construction project often leads to overspending and a flawless project is next to impossible to achieve. However, one can try to reduce the risk of errors through good planning. Planning phase of a construction project is a very important part of the project, that's where you get into the construction project will be undertaken. Typically, it is unclear where the errors start but in the analyzes made by the Swedish Construction Federation, R-West and Chalmers during 1994-1996 has shown that errors often have their roots already in the start of the clients, designers, material suppliers and providers. Is there an error in the beginning, it is clear throughout the process, the designer does not check whether the architect or designer has done wrong, but based just on. (Josephson and Hammarlund 1996). In the design stage plan how the construction should be carried out in as much detail as possible. You see that everything works drawing wise so that everything fits as it is often confined spaces. The purpose of this report was to determine which wrongs occurs of the construction sites we have visited and why they occur and to recommend what they can do to avoid these mistakes in future projects. We have worked with two different contractors, Construction Klason AB in Vimmerby and Peab in Arvika, where we have been following a construction project at the building contractor. We have been out on the projects in which we have tried to observe the defects and also found some through the call. With errors, we believe that it is something that was not as it was planned, a deviation in the planning. It can also be wrong to give a stop or delay of any kind. We also found information through literature reports, student literature and articles from the internet. But the result is based mostly on our own observations on the ground and through conversations with various officials. The errors that occurred were due to lack of commitment a factor that was great on both projects. It has also emerged that poor communication and preparation for the planning meetings has been something that has contributed to some errors on the construction site, even ignorance, time pressure and unclear requirements have contributed to the failure. For a construction project should have as little disruption as possible, you should have plenty of time for planning, scanning and construction. But even good collaboration, communication, and accuracy is important for a construction project to work correctly.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen och beskriva hur små svenska företag som har offshore outsourcat sin produktion till tillväxtmarknader hanterar relationen med leverantören. Vi har i denna uppsats använt oss av en kvalitativ metod och genomfört en flerfallsstudie på tre stycken mindre svenska företag.     Teoretiska referensramen är främst inriktad på två teoretiska områden; offshore outsourcing och relationer. Dessa har vidare delats in i tre huvudblock för att ge en så lättöverskådlig bild som möjligt samt att täcka in de väsentliga delarna som krävs för att besvara syftet. De tre huvudblocken är följande; relationsetablering, relationsstyrning och relationskoordinering. Den teoretiska referensramen har sedan sammanställts i en teoretisk syntes som analytiskt sammankopplar teorin och ligger till grund för analysen. I analyskapitlet genomförs en analys, där den teoretiska syntesen förenas med den insamlade empirin.   Analysen har utmynnat i en slutsats som besvarar forskningsfrågan där vi kan fastslå att det främst är två faktorer som urskiljer sig särskilt viktiga i relationshanteringen för små svenska företag som har offshore outsourcat sin produktion till tillväxtmarknader. Genom personliga relationer med leverantören byggs en stark relation upp mellan partnerna som bidrar till en effektivare hantering av leverantörsrelationen. Slutligen utmärker sig företagens nätverk som en viktig faktor i hanteringen av relationerna då nätverket fungerar som ett slags understöd till företaget på allehanda vis under arbetets gång.

This dissertation addresses the topic of manufacturing strategy, especially the manufacturing capabilities and operational performance of manufacturing plants. Manufacturing strategy research aims at providing a structured decision making approach to improve the economics of manufacturing and to make companies more competitive. The overall objective of this thesis is to investigate how manufacturing companies make use of different manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices to develop certain sets of capabilities, with the ultimate goal of supporting the market requirements. The thesis aims to increase the understanding of the role of operations management and its immediate impact on manufacturing performance. Following the overall research objective three areas are identified to be of particular interest; to investigate (i) the relationship among different dimensions of operational performance, (ii) the way different performance dimensions are affected by manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices, (iii) whether there are contingencies that may help explain the relationships between dimensions of manufacturing capabilities or the effects of manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices on operational performance. The empirical elements in this thesis use data from the High Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project. The HPM project is an international study of manufacturing plants involving seven countries and three industries. The research contributes to several insights to the research area of manufacturing strategy and to practitioners in manufacturing operations. The thesis develops measurements for and tests the effects of several manufacturing practices on operational performance. The results are aimed at providing guidance for decision making in manufacturing companies. The most prominent implication for researchers is the manifestation of the customer order decoupling point as an important contingency variable to consider when studying manufacturing operations.

Föreliggande rapport är ett examensarbete vid högskoleingenjörsprogrammet i byggteknik och design vid Kungliga tekniska högskolan i Haninge och gjordes på uppdrag av Siljeströms AB. Rapporten har till syfte att ge en översiktlig bild beträffande kostnadsstyrning i byggprojekt, med en tyngdpunkt i projekteringens riskhantering. Att kostnadsstyra är något som är viktigt att göra, desto tidigare i projektet det görs ju bättre resultat har detta för projektets totalkostnad. Kostnadsstyrningen har sin grund i tre viktiga parametrar: tid, kostnad och kvalitet, de måste styras på rätt sätt och tillsammans för att inte skapa obalans i projektbudgeten. En annan faktor som också påverkar kostnadsstyrningen är entreprenadform. Denna rapport kommer att bygga på totalentreprenad, generalentreprenad och delad utförandeentreprenad. Fördelar och nackdelar tas upp med respektive metod. Produktionskostnad är också något som påverkar den totala projektkostnaden trots att den största kostnadsstyrningen görs i början av ett projekt.  Tre stycken referensprojekt från Siljeströms AB kommer att analyseras utifrån kostnadsstyrningens riskhantering. Ett av projekten är ett installationsprojekt med en budget på 19,8 miljoner kr, denna är en delad utförandeentreprenad. Ett annat projekt är en hyresgästanpassning med en budget på 3,05 miljoner kr, denna är en generalentreprenad. Det sista projektet är ett stambyte med en budget på 12,5 miljoner kr, denna är en styrd totalentreprenad. Rapporten kommer att påvisa en viss skillnad beroende på vad för metod som har använts vid analysering av referensprojektens totala projektkostnad. En av de metoder som kommer att analyseras är en formeluppbyggnad i Excel som bygger på sannolikhetsläras täthetsfunktioner och fördelningsfunktioner, denna slumpar fram värden. Den andra metoden som kommer att analyseras är @Risk som är en plug-in till Excel, denna bygger också sannolikhetsläran, men har många inbyggda formler och metoder till hjälp för den simulering som programmet kan utföra. Resultatet visar att formeluppbyggnaden i Excel är lättare att förstå men ger ett större spann mellan högsta och lägsta värde, medan @Risk som är svårare att förstå ger ett resultat som stämmer bättre överens med verkligheten. / This report is a thesis at the bachelor program in construction engineering and design at the Royal Institute of Technology in Haninge and was commissioned by Siljeströms AB. The report aims to provide an overview of cost control in construction projects, with an emphasis of the risk management of project planning. The cost control is something that is important to do; the sooner the project is done the better the results of this project's total cost. Cost control is based on three key parameters: time, cost and quality, they must be controlled properly and together so as not to unbalance the project budget. Another factor that also affects the cost control is the form of contract. This report will build turnkey projects, general contractor and shared performance contracting. Advantages and disadvantages are raised with each method. Production cost is also something that affects the total project cost, although the largest cost management is done at the beginning of a project. Three reference projects from Siljeströms AB will be analyzed in terms of risk Management of the cost control. One project is an installation project with a budget of 19.8 million SEK, this is a shared performance contracting. Another project is a tenant adaptation with a budget of 3,05 million, this is a general contractor. The final project is a pipe replacement with a budget of 12,5 million SEK, this is a controlled turn-key contract. The report will show a slight difference depending on the method used in analyzing the reference projects, total project cost. One of the methods that will be analyzed is a formula building in Excel based on probability taught density functions and distribution functions, this randomly to determine values. The other method that will be analyzed is @ Risk, which is a plug-in to Excel, this is also based on theory of probability, but has many built-in formulas and methods of assistance to the simulation the program can perform. The results show that the reconstruction formula in Excel is easier to understand but offer a greater range between maximum and minimum value, while @Risk which is harder to understand produces the results that is more consistent with the reality.

The Transport division is responsible for the internal transports on Sandvik Material Technology AB. At the moment there is no clear picture of how the straddle carriers are moving at the division Primary Products and if it is working in a satisfying way. It is important to see the whole picture of the transportation flow so improvements can be made. The purpose of this essay is to survey and analyse the truck flow in a Lean Production perspective. The essay is delimited to only include straddle carriers transportation ways in the Primary Products division. To survey the truck flow we have used a method called Walkthrough. This means that we have walked thorough the whole production flow and interviewed some of the employed on the way to get the necessary information. We have also made an extensive literature study to gather all the necessary theories that is relevant for this essay. Since 2003 Sandvik Material Technology is running a project called “ledtidsprojektet”, the purpose of this project is to create a more efficient production. This project is based on the Japanese philosophy Lean Production but is audited to be suitable to Sandviks organisation. Today most of the producing divisions within SMT are working according to ”ledtidsprogrammet”, unfortunately it is not introduced on the Transport division yet. The result we got by studying the use of the straddle carriers showed that 40 % where with cargo, 35 % without and 25 % where remaining times were breaks are included. The basis of the study is from a GPS-transmitter which is placed on one of the straddle carrier. We have also made our own study where we followed on the straddle carrier and measured the time for the different activities. To get a more statistical secured investigation it is necessary to make a more extensive study, when these study where made during a limited time. On the basis of the truck flows survey some suggestions for improvements have been identified. It has showed that today’s key measurements have to be overlooked to give a fair picture of the situation. They also have to improve the way they are planning the transports. This can be made by better communication with the producing divisions. For the straddle carriers to be more Lean first the producing divisions have to work according to the Lean philosophy. It is up to them to try to reduce the stock level and get a more evenly production.

Den här C-uppsatsen har gått ut på att göra en processkartläggning på återuppbyggnaden av Vivallaskolans bollhall som har brunnit ner under slutet av oktober 2010. Utifrån processkartläggningen har det gjorts analyser och observationer på aktivitetsflödet. Där framgår det vad som har gått bra och mindre bra. Till det som har gått mindre bra har förslag till lösningar tagits fram. I dessa lösningar ingår metoderna: PDCA (s.21), BIM (s.21) och Ishikawadiagram (s.21), som tydligt visar förbättringsåtgärder. Processkartläggningen och lösningsförslagen har tagits fram utifrån observationer i form av besök på arbetsplatsen samt läsning av litteratur och elektroniska källor. Vid besök och samtal med platschef och snickare har det även uppmärksammats att Lean, vilket är en metod för effektivisering av olika aktivitetsflöden, redan delvis används inom produktionsskedet i detta byggprojekt. Detta har gjorts för att effektivisera och utveckla produktionsskedet kvalitativt. I takt med att processkartläggningen har blivit kartlagd och analyserad kan de inblandade i projektet tydligt följa förslag till förbättringar. Detta för att förhindra att eventuella problem som har tagits upp i den här C-uppsatsen uppstår. Dessa förslag kan de använda sig av till nästkommande projekt redan i projekteringsskedet. / This thesis involves a process mapping to the rebuilding of the gymnasium of Vivallaskolan that burned down at the end of October 2010. Analyses and observations in the activity flow are based on the process mapping. There it shows what subsection that has gone well and less well. Suggested solutions have been made to the problems that gone less well. These solutions show clearly how they can be improved and are based on the following methods: the PDCA-cycle (page 21), BIM (page 21) and Ishikawa diagrams (page 21). This process mapping and suggested solutions are based on observations at the construction site together with reading literature and electronic sources. During visits and conversations with the construction manager and carpenters it have been recognized that Lean, which is a method for efficiency of different activity flows, are already partially used in the production of this construction project. These suggested solutions have been made to improve and develop the production phase qualitatively. During the survey and analysis of the process mapping, those who are involved in this construction project can clearly see and follow these suggested solutions. These are made to avoid upcoming problems which have been described in this thesis. These solutions can be used to upcoming construction projects already at the designing and calculation phase.

Abstract Lean production has become one common concept within industries to make the work more effective and to meet today’s hard competition. A challenge for Chinese production is the threat from new low cost countries. It will become very difficult to succeed to produce to a lower cost than these countries; this led to that Chinese companies must develop new strategies, according to Lee and Zhou (2000). This will put China in front of new challenges and new strategies can be needed to retain their strong competitive advantages. Can Lean production lead to advantages for Swedish companies with production in China? Our aim with this study is to examine conditions in order to apply Lean production in China, to respond to this we have selected and looked closer to three Swedish companies with production in China and their work with Lean production. And which obstacles and success factors the companies have notice. As a base to this study we have a literature study. The literature study lies as a ground for the case studies and our analysis of the aim and those questions we formulated. The three companies we have visited are of various sizes and that influences its sights on Lean production and thereby is given a variation to our study with different thoughts and opinions. The companies we visited are Habia Cable Changzhou, Nanjing Ericsson panda Communications Company Ltd and SKF Shanghai Automotive Technologies Co., Ltd, they are all located in China. At the companies we have done observations and interviews. Four of the tools within Lean production have in one or another way been used in all case companies. These are SMED, 5S, standardization work and process mapping. Process mapping is the tool that is implemented in all companies. One of the bases to Lean production is involved leaderships; this is an important part that also shows in this study. All companies say that the weight of the employees and their attitude is an important part in the work with Lean production. The study confirms thereby that works on improvement are imported and also of the attitude and commitments of the employees. There are several obstacles for a work with Lean production in China, but with a long term thinking and patience with implementation, motivated managers and employees there will be a lot to win.

Denna magisteruppsats har genomförts vid Spaljisten AB och behandlar produktionsfilosofin Lean-produktion och produktionskonceptet TPM. Huvudobjektet för studierna var en maskinlinje för sågning, kantlistning, fräsning och borrning av planmöbeldetaljer (Homag VI). En nulägesanalys genomfördes för att kartlägga stopporsaker och OEE-talet (35,9 %). Inom samtliga klasser av stopptider är det framförallt kortvariga avbrott (81 %), vilket tyder på kroniska fel i linjen. Tillsammans med maskinlinjens personal genomfördes en störningsanalys (Ishikawadiagram). Nulägesanalys och störningsanalys visar på en förbättringspotential av 33 % för ökad tillgänglighet. Vidare genomfördes en SMED-analys där själva analysarbetet genomfördes tillsammans med personalen av maskinlinjen. Vid en närmare analys kunde det föreslås en klassificering av IED respektive OED samt förenklingar som innebär en minskning av tidsåtgången med 55 min. och 43 sek för omställningen. Utöver detta studerades bland annat verktyg som Lean-uppstart och kommunikation, operatörsunderhåll, 5S och ständiga förbättringar. Det genomfördes en effektivitetsanalys av förbättringsgruppenverksamheten. Vid den sistnämnda analysen konstaterades motivationsproblem hos personalen, som har sin huvudförklaring i ett saknande av en organisatorisk plan och en planering för införandet av nya produktionsformer. Uppsatsen rymmer en utförlig sammanfattning på svenska, engelska och tyska. / The master thesis has been realized in direct contact with the host company Spaljisten AB, Åseda Sweden and is dealing with the production philosophy Lean production and the production concept TPM. Main object for the studies was a machine line for processing of furniture details (Homag VI). An actual condition analysis has been done to determinate stop reasons and the OEE (35.9 %). In all classes of stop reasons occur mainly short stops (81 %) those indicate chronic problems in the line. Together with the employees of the line Homag VI was a fault analysis done (Ishikawa diagram). Actual condition analysis and fault analysis can generate a potential of improvement of 33 % for increased availability. Furthermore was a SMED analysis done where the main work of analyzing was done together with the employees of the line. By a deeper analysis a classification of IED and OED respectively could be done including even simplifications that led to a reducing of time for set up of 55 minutes and 43 seconds. Also tools like the Lean start up and communication, operator’s maintenance, 5S, constant improvements have been studied. An efficiency analysis of the kaizen groups was done that shows that a lack of motivation exists among the employees. The main explanation for this is that the company does not have a plan for the organisation structure and neither a plan for implementation of new production forms. The work contains an extended summary in English, German and Swedish.

For a company to be competitive today, one way is to create a natural feedback loop from the production department to the design department with information regarding the production systems ability to deliver a finished component. The purpose with this feedback loop is to create respect for tolerances and to more design for manufacturing and assembly. The studied company in this thesis work developed a quality program to reach a spiral of continuous improvements to reduce cost of poor quality (CoPQ) and to reach an improved quality level (PPM). The object of this work was to test and improve the quality program called The Zero Tolerance Program. Delimitations were made when the work was started and ongoing which led to that the impact on PPM could not be studied. The connection to CoPQ was difficult to obtain and could only be proved theoretically, not practically, due to the short timetable. During the short amount of time the right root cause could not be found. The thesis work findings came to a number of identified Measurable Success Criteria and requirements which must be in place for the further progress of The Zero Tolerance Program. / PREPARE