Uppgiften som låg till grund för denna uppsats, var att ge förslag på produktivitetshöjande åtgärder på Electrolux Distriparts godsmottagning. Vår avsikt var att tillämpa delar av Toyotas produktionssystem på den befintliga processen. Detta resulterade i en serie förslag som, om de tillämpas, drastiskt kommer höja produktiviteten i den aktuella processen. / The task, which is the basis of this report, was to suggest some productivity-raising actions for the incoming goods departments at Electrolux Distriparts. The project set out to utilise parts of the Toyota production model in the existing process. This resulted in a series of suggestions, which if implemented, would drastically increase the productivity of the relevant process.

<p>Uppgiften som låg till grund för denna uppsats, var att ge förslag på produktivitetshöjande åtgärder på Electrolux Distriparts godsmottagning. Vår avsikt var att tillämpa delar av Toyotas produktionssystem på den befintliga processen. Detta resulterade i en serie förslag som, om de tillämpas, drastiskt kommer höja produktiviteten i den aktuella processen.</p> / <p>The task, which is the basis of this report, was to suggest some productivity-raising actions for the incoming goods departments at Electrolux Distriparts. The project set out to utilise parts of the Toyota production model in the existing process. This resulted in a series of suggestions, which if implemented, would drastically increase the productivity of the relevant process.</p>

The public-sector organizations have been in limelight for research work about the implementation of various quality management approaches with the evolution of process management ideology into this sector. The awareness among the citizens regarding their rights and demand for qualitative service has been increased which led to the focus on the quality management approaches like Six Sigma and Lean. The public-sector organizations such as municipalities, health care, social administrators and others are not driven by profits unlike private sectors making it complex to implement these approaches. This led to the purpose of the thesis to research on proposing a process improvement strategy for increased customer satisfaction in the public sector. Seven tools from Lean and Six Sigma methodologies have been chosen to propose the strategy and they are – Process Mapping, Voice of the Customer, Critical to Quality, Cause &amp; Effect Analysis, 5 Why’s, Benchmarking and Standardization. To execute this research, a qualitative case study methodology has been conducted at MoS department of Linköping Municipality on one of their ground process – customer request handling process. The research questions were designed to understand how to map the process, the customer orientation and process efficiency specific to the case and finally grasp the effectiveness of the selected tools for public sector. Various data sources were collected for this study. The empirical findings led to interesting analysis and discussion on the case study in relation to the previous literatures reviewed in this area. Moreover, the usefulness of these tools has been clearly identified and the strategy for process improvements has been proposed. From the overall discussion, major conclusions on the thesis work have been made with respect to the research questions. Firstly, while mapping the process it is important to consider the customer perspective and identify the process steps which lead to customer satisfaction. Further, communication with the customers and considering their feedback for future improvements is identified to be vital. Finally, the selected tools contribute majorly for the process improvements in public sector where the numerical data availability is limited and the importance of the strategic order for the tools has been highlighted. Key Words: Process Improvements, Six Sigma, Lean, Public Sector, Municipal Organizations, Customer Orientation, Customer Satisfaction.

Alla företag arbetar på ett eller annat sätt med processer, och hur effektiva processflödena är har stor betydelse för ett företags framgång. Avvikelsehantering är en central företagsintern process som ska ombesörja att problem som uppstår åtgärdas och att konsekvenser minimeras, men även säkerställa att företaget drar lärdomar av det som hänt så att problemet inte uppstår igen. I denna studie identifieras förbättringsmöjligheter i en avvikelsehanteringsprocess genom kartläggning av processen, analys av brister och framtagning av förslag på åtgärder. Brister definieras som olika typer av problem som kan kopplas till processen. Teorier kring processförbättringar såsom processledning, flödeseffektivitet samt angreppssätt för att hantera dessa såsom TQM och Lean har legat till grund för arbetet. Vidare har teorier kring avvikelsehantering tillämpats. Studien utfördes på ett enskilt fall och med en kvalitativt inriktad forskningsmetod. För att samla in data utfördes observationer, intervjuer och insamling av dokument. Insamlad data analyserades med stöd av modeller och verktyg såsom Ishikawa, 10M och brainstorming. Resultatet visade att det fanns flertalet brister i den studerade avvikelsehanteringsprocessen. Identifierade brister kopplas till avsaknad av samsyn kring process och arbetssätt, avsaknad av resurs, roller och ansvar inom avvikelsehantering samt samsyn med leverantör och kontroller av exempelvis mått, ritningar och ankomstkontroller av komponenter. Vidare presenteras 11 lämpliga åtgärdsförslag för att hantera de identifierade bristerna. En implementering av föreslagna åtgärder möjliggör för fallföretaget att effektivisera och kvalitetssäkra arbetet genom ett tydligare fokus på processer och systematiskt förbättringsarbete. / All companies work in one way or another with processes, and how efficient the process flows are is of great importance for a company's success. Deviation management is a central company- internal process that must ensure that problems that arise are remedied and that consequences are minimized. The purpose of the study is to identify improvements within the deviation management process. Theories about process improvements such as process management, flow efficiency and approaches to managing these such as TQM and Lean has served as foundation for the work. Furthermore theories about deviation management have been used. The study was performed as a single-case study with a qualitatively focused research method. To collect data observations, interviews and document collection were performed. Collected data were analyzed with the support of models and tools such as Ishikawa, 10M and brainstorming. The results showed that there were several shortcomings in the deviation management process. Identified shortcomings are linked to a lack of consensus on the process and working methods, a lack of resources, roles and responsibilities for deviation management, and a consensus with the supplier and controls of measures, drawings and arrival controls of components. 11 improvements were identified and presented related to identified shortcomings. Implementation of the proposed improvements could enable the company to streamline and assure quality through a clearer focus on processes and quality management.

[pt] As técnicas de mineração de processos vêm sendo aplicadas com sucesso como abordagens baseadas em dados e específicas do domínio para melhorar o desempenho do processo de negócios em várias organizações. Dentre suas aplicações, a Mineração de Desvios (Deviance Mining) visa descobrir as razões pelas quais um subconjunto das execuções de um processo de negócio desvia-se em relação aos seus resultados esperados ou desejáveis, produzindo assim insights para melhorar a operação do processo, tais descobertas podem ser feitas utilizando técnicas de aprendizado de tratamentos (Treatment Learning), que identificam os conjuntos de atributos mais influentes nos resultados. No entanto, apesar de os processos da vida real serem tipicamente compostos por eventos de duração não instantânea (eventos não atômicos), as abordagens existentes para mineração de processos, e para mineração de desvios em particular, endereçam exclusivamente eventos atômicos em seus experimentos. Este trabalho propõe um método orientado ao domínio para detectar automaticamente desvios em processos compostos por eventos não atômicos. O método utiliza a dimensão temporal dos eventos não atômicos para aplicar a mineração de desvios, gerando insights sobre como a duração e a ocorrência simultânea de eventos geram desvios e como esses desvios impactam os resultados dos processos. O método foi aplicado com sucesso no domínio da COVID-19, para descobrir quais sequências de intervenções não farmacêuticas mais contribuíram para diminuir a taxa de casos de COVID-19 em países ao redor do mundo. / [en] Process Mining techniques have been successfully applied as a datadriven and domain-aware approach for improving business process performance in several organizations. Among its applications, Deviance Mining aims at uncovering the reasons why a subset of the executions of a business process deviate with respect to its expected or desirable outcomes, thus producing insights towards improving the process operation, such discoveries can be made using treatment learning techniques, which identify the sets of attributes that are most influential in the results. However, despite the fact that real-life processes are typically composed by events with non-instantaneous duration (nonatomic events), existing approaches for process mining and deviance mining in particular only deal with atomic events in their experiments. This work proposes a domain-driven method for automatically detecting deviations in processes composed by non-atomic events. The method uses the temporal dimension of non-atomic events to apply deviance mining, generating insights on how the duration and the simultaneous occurrence of events generate deviations and how these deviations affect the results of the processes. The method was successfully applied in the COVID-19 domain, to find which domain-specific sequences of nonpharmaceutical interventions mostly contributed to slowing down the rate of COVID-19 cases in countries around the world.

Complexity of production processes, high computing capabilities, and massive datasets characterize today’s manufacturing environments, such as those of continuous andbatch production industries. Continuous production has spread gradually acrossdifferent industries, covering a significant part of today’s production. Commonconsumer goods such as food, drugs, and cosmetics, and industrial goods such as iron,chemicals, oil, and ore come from continuous processes. To stay competitive intoday’s market requires constant process improvements in terms of both effectivenessand efficiency. Statistical process control (SPC) and design of experiments (DoE)techniques can play an important role in this improvement strategy. SPC attempts toreduce process variation by eliminating assignable causes, while DoE is used toimprove products and processes by systematic experimentation and analysis. However,special issues emerge when applying these methods in continuous process settings.Highly automated and computerized processes provide an exorbitant amount ofserially dependent and cross-correlated data, which may be difficult to analyzesimultaneously. Time series data, transition times, and closed-loop operation areexamples of additional challenges that the analyst faces.The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to using of statisticalmethods, namely SPC and DoE methods, to improve continuous production.Specifically, this research serves two aims: [1] to explore, identify, and outlinepotential challenges when applying SPC and DoE in continuous processes, and [2] topropose simulation tools and new or adapted methods to overcome the identifiedchallenges.The results are summarized in three appended papers. Through a literaturereview, Paper A outlines SPC and DoE implementation challenges for managers,researchers, and practitioners. For example, problems due to process transitions, themultivariate nature of data, serial correlation, and the presence of engineering processcontrol (EPC) are discussed. Paper B further explores one of the DoE challengesidentified in Paper A. Specifically, Paper B describes issues and potential strategieswhen designing and analyzing experiments in processes operating under closed-loopcontrol. Two simulated examples in the Tennessee Eastman (TE) process simulatorshow the benefits of using DoE techniques to improve and optimize such industrialprocesses. Finally, Paper C provides guidelines, using flow charts, on how to use thecontinuous process simulator, “The revised TE process simulator,” run with adecentralized control strategy as a test bed for developing SPC and DoE methods incontinuous processes. Simulated SPC and DoE examples are also discussed.

Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a challenge for most companies facing challenges in finding temporary solutions to immediate problems. An increased intertwining between the digital and the physical world leads to new ways of customer interaction. Today's digitalized society placing high demands on the digitalization of companies and insurance companies is no exception. The insurance industry is considered behind for what is required for digitization leading to unnecessarily long processing times and arbitrary assessments. A digital solution for insurance management is expected to reduce processing times and be more in line with customers' expectations. The purpose of the work is to evaluate how process improvements in claims management can be achieved via a digital customer portal. The research includes a case study at a well-established insurance company where a current situation of a claims process is mapped and evaluated through interviews and workshops. A prototype of a digital customer portal is developed and evaluated in a theoretical applicability test. Important factors for BPI are developed with the help of previous research and the study's result analyzes based on these factors. The primary result showed that BPI were generated via the digital customer portal through the factors lead times, automation, bottlenecks, quality assurance of information and value creation. Thus, the customer portal proved to be a theoretical way of being able to live up to customers' expectations of digitalization, contribute with competitiveness, customer loyalty and improved customer experience and customer service. Finally, companies can acquire knowledge about the importance of customer centering and the development of digital customer portals for BPI and which factors to consider for BPI. / Förbättring av affärsprocesser (eng. Business Process Improvement, BPI) är en utmaning för de flesta företag som ständigt står inför utmaningen att hitta tillfälliga lösningar på omedelbara problem. En ökad sammanflätning mellan den digitala och den fysiska världen leder till nya sätt för kundinteraktion. Dagens digitaliserade samhälle ställer höga krav på digitaliseringen hos företag och försäkringsbolagen är inget undantag. Försäkringsbranschen anses ligga efter vad gäller digitalisering vilket kan leda till onödigt långa handläggningstider och godtyckliga bedömningar. En digital lösning för försäkringshandläggning förväntas kunna effektivisera handläggningstider och leva upp till kundernas förväntningar. Syftet med arbetet är att utvärdera hur processförbättringar inom försäkringshandläggning kan uppnås via en digital kundportal. Arbetet omfattar en fallstudie på ett väletablerat försäkringsbolag där ett nuläge av en skadeprocess kartläggs för att sedan utvärderas genom intervjuer och workshops. En prototyp av en digital kundportal utvecklas och utvärderas i ett teoretiskt applicerbarhetstest. Viktiga faktorer för BPI tas fram med hjälp av tidigare forskning och studiens resultat analyseras utifrån dessa faktorer. Det primära resultatet var att BPI förväntades kunna uppnås via den digitala kundportalen med hänsyn till faktorerna ledtider, automatisering, flaskhalsar, kvalitetssäkring av information samt värdeskapande. Kundportalen visade sig också teoretiskt sätt kunna leva upp till kundernas förväntan av digitalisering, bidra med konkurrenskraft, kundlojalitet samt förbättrad kundupplevelse och kundservice. Avslutningsvis kan företag utifrån arbetet inhämta kunskap om kundcentreringens och utvecklingen av digitala kundportalers betydelse för BPI samt vilka faktorer att ta hänsyn till vid BPI.

[pt] O sucesso operacional de uma empresa depende muito da maneira como a cadeia de suprimentos é gerenciada. Em razão do seu papel estratégico, a gestão adequada pode proporcionar uma série de benefícios, aumentando sua competitividade e computando a rentabilidade de seus negócios. Esta dissertação avalia por meio de um estudo de caso, a cadeia de suprimentos de bens da Petrobras, especificamente na área de relacionamento com fornecedores e estratégias de contratações de bens. Os processos de suprimentos, especificamente na área de compras de bens, foram analisados utilizando como base a metodologia SCOR em relação a processos de compras, prazos, custos de materiais, canais de suprimentos e planejamento estratégico e então foram identificados os principais gargalos (gaps) e riscos de processos relacionados a padrões internos, exigências legais e relacionamento com o mercador fornecedor. Também foram indicadas melhorias futuras que podem ser implementadas nestes processos de forma a contribuir para melhorias de eficiência em processos de compras da cadeia de suprimentos de bens e relacionamento com o mercado. Além da contribuição acadêmica, este trabalho permite esclarecer ao meio empresarial sobre os benefícios que a metodologia SCOR pode trazer para o gerenciamento de cadeias de suprimentos, além das práticas de aperfeiçoamento operacional. Por fim, neste estudo de caso, foram identificadas oportunidades de melhorias baseadas nos gargalos de processos identificados como Current Disconnects e definidas as melhorias futuras (Future state opportunities) para os processos de relacionamentos com fornecedores e estratégias de contratações. / [en] A company s operational success depends a lot on how the supply chain is managed. Due to its strategic role, proper management can provide a series of benefits, increasing your competitiveness and computing the profitability of your business. This dissertation evaluates through a case study, the supply chain of Petrobras goods, specifically in the area of relationship with suppliers and strategies for contracting goods. The supply processes, specifically in the area of purchasing goods, were analyzed using the SCOR methodology as a basis in relation to purchasing processes, deadlines, material costs, supply channels and strategic planning, and then the main bottlenecks (gaps) were identified. and process risks related to internal standards, legal requirements and relationship with the supplier merchant. Future improvements were also indicated that can be implemented in these processes in order to contribute to efficiency improvements in purchasing processes in the goods supply chain and relationship with the market. In addition to the academic contribution, this work provides clarification to the business community about the benefits that the SCOR methodology can bring to the management of supply chains, in addition to operational improvement practices. Finally, in this case study, improvement opportunities were identified based on process bottlenecks identified as Current Disconnects, and future state opportunities were defined for supplier relationship processes and hiring strategies.