Radio Frequency Identification RFID är en teknologi för att kunna identifiera produkter via radiovågor, detta med hjälp av radiosändare. Denna uppsats intresserar sig för hur RFID kan användas i tillverkningsföretag och om tekniken kan förbättra och förenkla materialflödesprocesserna. RFID är en relativt komplicerad teknik därför har denna uppsats som syfte att ge företag praktiska tips inför en implementering. För att kunna besvara problemformuleringen har Hästens Sängar AB används som praktikfall. Intervjuer har även gjorts med RFID leverantörer och av företag som idag använder RFID, för att få det praktiska perspektivet. RFID används mer och mer i tillverkningsföretag även om utvecklingen har gått långsammare än förväntat. Tekniken kan enligt teorin förbättra kontrollen i följande processer: beställning & lager, tillverkningsprecision, plockkvalitet och leveransprecision. Tekniken kan förbättra kontrollen och därmed effektivisera arbetsprocessen vilket i sin tur genererar tidsbesparing och ökad lönsamhet. Det finns dock risker med RFID, såsom höga kostnader, bristen på standarder och ökad sårbarhet. Det bör göras uträkningar på avkastning på investeringen innan RFID implementeras. Tidsbesparing och ökad vinst av kontroll är något som behövs räknas ut och analyseras. Efter det börjar implementeringsfasen. Det är viktigt att tänka på att RFID måste vara individuellt utformat för att fungera optimalt. RFID är inget ”plug and play” system, det kommer att behövas en lång testperiod med justeringar efter att systemet är implementerat. Det är även viktigt att ha en noga utformad kravspecifikation och uppsatta mål som utfallet kan jämföras mot. För att RFID ska kunna öka kontrollen krävs det att systemet fungerar felfritt. Det finns dock externa material som kan försämra användningen. Metall och vätska kan försämra taggarnas radiovågor. Även utomhusklimat som inkluderar hög/låg temperatur, fukt och dimma försämrar taggarnas sändningsförmåga. Det kan även finnas högspänningsledningar hos företagen som försämrar taggarnas funktion. Det är därför viktigt att analysera dessa problem innan en implementering utförs. För att motverka sådana komplikationer kan olika sorters taggar användas och även olika frekvenser på radiovågorna. RFID är en teknik som om den fungerar till fullo kan öka möjligheten till kontroll och jämförelse vilket i sin tur kan leda till ökad kvalitet även till ökad effektivitet vilket leder till ökad lönsamhet. Nyckelord: RFID, Supply Chain Management, implementering, processförbättring

The role of purchasing in supply chain management has received and continues to receive increasing attention as the years go by. Purchasing enhances efficiency and competitiveness among other benefits but to realize these benefits it is imperative to select and maintain competent suppliers. However, many factors affect a firm’s ability to choose the right supplier. Uncertainty is an issue that has received great attention. It affects all functions of a company consequently affecting purchasing and supplier selection. This thesis seeks to provide an understanding of the supplier selection process and criteria under circumstances of uncertainty in the case where the potential supplier under evaluation is a newly created company. The authors try to find out if uncertainty varies with firm’s age and tested the suitability of existing criteria on the selection of newly created firms. They also sought ways by which uncertainty can be reduced.One of the realisations of this thesis is that there is a relationship between the characteristics or problems faced by new firms and uncertainty. Uncertainties created by new firms include lack of trust and commitment, inadequate finance, poor quality, unreliable delivery times, inadequate logistic technological capabilities. No new types or sources of uncertainty were discovered however, it was found that uncertainty was certainly higher when working with new firms. The criteria delivery, quality, cost/price, financial position and communication and technology were recognized as the commonly used criteria a fact confirmed from empirical results as well as in previous literature. However other criteria such as ISO certification, reliability, credibility, good references and product development were also identified. These criteria had existed before but did not receive the same attention in previous studies. This show that focus is shifting from solely relying on quantitative factors to include qualitative criteria. The study identified that some methods of minimising uncertainty could include detailed financial analyses, site visit, intensive verification, close relationships, ISO certification, good references and recommendations. It is worth noting that uncertainty cannot be entirely eliminated in all situations

Abstract Due to the fast growing of the globe economy, on the steady quality of the electronic equipment for accurate electrical machinery that the industries application, are requested strictly. The maintenance management in the electric power companies is the main reason that influences the steady quality of the electric system equipment. High level maintenance is expected and the third party service company joint to the market. The main managed strategy leads to "customer satisfaction " and " customer requirement¡¨. Electric equipment supplier focus on sales business, not offering an complete maintenance service, therefore, the related orders often has been shifted to third party. To set up a collaboration solution which solves this problem, it is our researching target with valve. According to the predicament of maintenance system of the power industries, and the discussion and writings via the domestic and foreign language, this research uses ¡§Supply chain, &¡§Value system¡¨. To analyses with ¡§QFD¡¨ and modified ¡§CCM¡¨ then build up a conclusion according with the collaboration maintaining system for triple player. Keywords: Collaborative maintenance management System, Supply Chain Management, Value System, Quality Function Deployment, Collaboration Coordination Mechanism.

Unibrands is a small company that has implemented a postponement strategy without knowing it. However, they have not implemented completely because they do not know the theories behind it. This report is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems of the implementation of postponement in the supply chain of Unibrands, in terms of examining the theoretical succeeds factors of postponement implementation in the case of Unibrands.The purpose is to determine what type of postponement strategy the supply chain use and what factors can hinder the use of postponement strategy in a SME fashion supply chain by applying an qualitative research approach. The collection of empirical data was through the interview guide approach in which we used meetings and telephone interviews with people representing Unibrands and their contact trading company. The results of this research can be concluded in few perspectives. Unibrands is imple-menting postponement in an improper format, with the results of several gaps in the supply chain related to the success factor in postponement. The request for the fully customization in colors and materials, the bottleneck of relationship developing which is caused by factory manager,  complicated procedures for sample testing, and lack of knowledge of different relationships in the supply chain. Postponement is never perfect, but for Unibrands some problems could very well hinder the efficiency in the supply chain. Solutions are proposed to solve the problems in chain. The proposals suggest re-lationship improvement and information sharing. In addition, culture adaptation by in-volving the right people in the right process.

Supply chain management complexity is a growing challenge for a broad range of contemporary companies, which makes them turn to new and increasingly advanced IT-systems as a salvation. One of the currently most important system in a supply chain manager’s toolbox is the warehouse management system. As business challenges increases so does also the complexity in the investment processes surrounding the warehouse management systems, this paper explores value creation in these processes to understand the resource exchanges involved, the exchange actor’s different roles and the implications of interactions between the actors. This is conducted through a case study with a market leading warehouse management system vendor and a supply chain intensive customer. The findings indicate that value creation in a complex warehouse management system investment entails several intervened and ongoing processes of different resource exchanges, were the actors co-create value jointly by sharing, combining and utilizing the resources throughout these processes. In order to establish this essential value co-creation sphere, also social exchanges in the form of qualitative interactions between the actors have proven to be a fundamental factor.

This study considers whether or not optimizing process metrics and settings across a supply chain gives significantly different outcomes than consideration at a firm level. While, the importance of supply chain integration has been shown in areas such as inventory management, this study appears to be the first empirical test for optimizing process settings. A Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure is used to determine the crucial components and indicators that make up each component in a supply chain system. PLS allows supply chain members to have a greater understanding of critical coordination components in a given supply chain. Results and implications give an indication of what performance is possible with supply chain optimization versus local optimization on simulated and manufacturing data. It was found that pursuing an integrated approach over a traditional independent approach provides an improvement of 2% to 49% in predictive power for the supply chain under study.

This Master thesis has been made for Volvo Group Trucks Operations, Logistics Services (VGLS) in Gothenburg. Other companies within the Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation (VCC) have been involved during the process, including Volvo Trucks Umeå (VTU), Volvo Trucks Tuve (VTT) and Volvo Cars Body Components (VCBC) in Olofström. The thesis has examined activities within the supply chain process between three factories, VCBC – VTU – VTT. The different companies at each location serve different purposes in the supply chain, ultimately leading to a finished truck. To get a complete truck it takes different types of resources and thus an effective and well-functioning infrastructure to cope with the transportation of resources in an efficient way. VGLS is the provider of logistics services between the factories, meaning VGLS is in charge of the transportation process between the locations and take care of related transportation issues. A few years ago a project was started with the participation of VGLS with the aim to identify different types of objects better, via Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), aiming to create a more efficient supply chain. VGLS now wants to further exploit this technology as future implementation of RFID is soon ahead of them. According to the possibilities and opportunities related to RFID this thesis has critically examined activities in the supply chain process and its underlying problems, trying to create the right conditions for VGLS in order for them to better cope and utilize a near future RFID implementation. The main result of this study indicates that the problems of the transportation flow don’t derive from the physical transportation of material, but rather in the information flow between the actors. The results indicate that more emphasis should be placed on creating new ways to achieve more efficient information sharing, which in some cases can be facilitated through the use of RFID.

Today we find ourselves in limbo between the need to reduce usage of the world’s dwindling supply of natural resources and a stubborn resistance to change our consumption habits. The continuing scarcity of resources, coupled with an increase in demand for them from a growing population, is the largest challenge facing earth and its people. While many individual citizens, politicians, press sources and businesses are ignoring the current situation, some have recognized the need for a green revolution. Leaders have attempted to enact a cultural change, organizing events and initiatives to garner the attention of those in position to make a change, and people have taken responsibility for their own actions in choosing more sustainable options in their everyday lives. Very small starts have been made in the colossal struggle against the changing climate, mounting environmental problems and expansive social issues, but these will not be sufficient for sustaining out future. Some entity with power must stand up to lead change, and that entity should be business. While business is largely responsible for much of the world’s environmental problems today, the ability of the free market system to create positive change through sustainable business practices is far more powerful than public polic

This study considers whether or not optimizing process metrics and settings across a supply chain gives significantly different outcomes than consideration at a firm level. While, the importance of supply chain integration has been shown in areas such as inventory management, this study appears to be the first empirical test for optimizing process settings. A Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure is used to determine the crucial components and indicators that make up each component in a supply chain system. PLS allows supply chain members to have a greater understanding of critical coordination components in a given supply chain. Results and implications give an indication of what performance is possible with supply chain optimization versus local optimization on simulated and manufacturing data. It was found that pursuing an integrated approach over a traditional independent approach provides an improvement of 2% to 49% in predictive power for the supply chain under study.

This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part isabout“Managing buyer-supplier relationships in autoproduction chains ­ a case study of Volvo and its supplierrelationship management”. The second part is about“Managing buyer-supplier relationships in telecom supplychains ­ a case study of Ericsson and its supplierrelationship models in different business situations”. The scope of this study is restricted to supply chains inautomotive and telecommunication industries, where the successof supply processes is dependent on how well a company managesits supply chain with horizontal or vertical integration tofulfill customer demands. The research is carried out as a number of case studies ofbuyer-supplier relationship management in the auto and telecomsupply chains. The aim was to analyze how a company fulfillscustomer demand in the best way through different supplierrelationships, and how and why alternative relationship typesare used in reality. The study is based on the relationship between two focalcompanies and their suppliers. Case study methodology is used,and data is collected from selected cases through interviewsand observations. Analysis is carried out within and acrosscases. From the case interpretation and analysis, conclusionsare drawn as to which strategic level of buyer-supplierrelationship is appropriate for different situations. As a result and in conclusion, a static supplychain-reaction model is built at the end of the Part I. Thestatic model describes the importance of collaborativebuyer-supplier relationships in the product developmentprocess. Based on this model, it is concluded in Part II thatthe most suitable supplier relationship is different fordifferent products. For the same product, the most appropriatebuyer-supplier relationship varies with the product’s lifecycle timing. Therefore, two dynamic buyer-supplierrelationship models under different business conditions and indifferent product life-cycle periods are created in Part II.The models apply to dynamic processes, not to interactingcompany organizations in general. The study increases the knowledge regarding selection of themost appropriate supplier relationships in different businesssituations. Key words:buyer-supplier relationship, sourcingstrategy, supply chain management / <p>Qc 20130827</p>