<p>Since January 1st 2008, companies have the opportunity to become certified by the new common customs system Authorized Economic Operator (AEO). This opportunity is presented so that authorities together with operators are trusted to ensure that it is the correct cargo that gets transported. Attends Healthcare AB (Attends) has decided to implement this certification. To qualify there are a number of criteria that needs to be met. The aim of this thesis is to verify if Attends can meet the required criteria. This is to create a useful basis for the audit by the Customs Board.</p><p> </p><p>The data collection and gap analysis carried out results in that a number of critical and less critical gaps are identified. An example of the gaps which were identified is a documented routine that deals with export declarations in the current situation. The gaps were mainly identified in the security and customs areas. After consultation with staff at Attends and the Customs Board, the decision was made that a number of routines and additions should be created to deal with the most critical gaps before the audit. With the less critical gaps, it was determined that action should take place only after the audit if the need occur. By dealing with the less critical gaps later, it should be less time consuming. This is because when the Customs Board has obtained some knowledge of the company’s routines, they will be able to give more detailed information to Attends about what needs to be fixed.</p><p> </p><p>A systematic approach was performed in which all processes and documents deemed relevant to the certification were provided. Categorization was used to create a better understanding of the area that belongs to the documentation. This approach resulted in a register with the purpose to simplify identification of the documents.</p><p> </p><p>After completed collection of data and analysis the conclusion shows that Attends Healthcare AB has a large number of routines and other related documents from the company's ISO-certifications and their operations system, Total Process Management that can be reused. This previous work will simplify the implementation of an AEO certification substantially.</p> / <p>Sedan 1 januari 2008 har företag möjlighet att bli certifierade av det nya gemensamma tullsystemet Godkänd Ekonomisk Aktör. Detta för att tillsammans med myndigheter och aktörer säkerställa att det är rätt gods som finns med i transporterna. Attends Healthcare AB har beslutat att införa denna certifiering men för att bli godkänd finns det ett antal kriterier som måste uppfyllas. Målsättningen med detta examensarbete är att verifiera att företaget har den dokumentation som krävs för att uppfylla kraven som ställs av Tullverket. Detta för att skapa en bra grund vid revision av Tullverket.</p><p> </p><p>Datainsamlingen och gapanalysen som genomförts resulterade i att ett antal kritiska samt mindre kritiska gap kunde identifieras. Ett exempel på gap som identifierats är de rutiner som behandlar exportdeklarationer och i dagsläget inte finns dokumenterade. Huvudsakligen upptäcktes gapen inom säkerhets- och tullområdena. Efter samråd med personal på Attends och Tullverket bestämdes att ett antal rutiner och kompletteringar ska skapas för att åtgärda de mest kritiska gapen innan revision. För de mindre kritiska gapen så bestämdes att åtgärder först kommer ske efter revision ifall behovet då uppstår. Genom att åtgärda i efterhand bör kompletteringar bli mindre tidskrävande. Detta för att Tullverket har bättre insyn och kan därför ge ingående kritik till Attends om vad som behöver åtgärdas.</p><p> </p><p>En systematisering genomfördes där samtliga rutiner och dokument som ansågs relevanta för certifieringen angavs. Uppdelningen i olika kategorier är till för att ha övervakad kontroll på vilket område dokumentationen tillhör. Detta resulterade i ett register för att enkelt identifiera dokumenten.</p><p> </p><p>Efter slutförd datainsamling och analys kan slutsatsen dras att Attends Healthcare AB har ett stort antal rutiner och andra relaterade dokument som kan återanvändas ifrån företagets ISO-certifieringar och deras verksamhetssystem, Total Process Management. Detta tidigare arbete kommer förenkla genomförandet av en Godkänd Ekonomisk Aktör certifiering avsevärt.</p>

<p>Environmental awareness has increased rapidly around the globe inrecent years, which has lead to consumer demands for sustainable products. Inreaction to this, companies try to keep up with consumer demands and green theirsupply chain, in hope to acquire a competitive advantage. This research willtherefore determine to what extent these green supply chain practices influence thebuying decision of consumers.Environmental awareness has increased rapidly around the globe inrecent years, which has lead to consumer demands for sustainable products. Inreaction to this, companies try to keep up with consumer demands and green theirsupply chain, in hope to acquire a competitive advantage. This research willtherefore determine to what extent these green supply chain practices influence thebuying decision of consumers.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Med större krav på effektivisering och pressade kostnader har VMI på senare tid blivit en allt mer tillämpad metod för att samordna aktiviteterna i försörjningskedjan. Mycket forskning har gjorts kring ämnet VMI och dess fördelar. Däremot har inte mycket skrivits om initiativtagande och hur dessa samarbeten uppstår.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka företag som tillämpar VMI. Detta för att ta reda på vem, kunden eller leverantören, som tar initiativet till samarbetet och varför. Utifrån detta vill vi även identifiera konsekvenser kopplade till vem som tog initiativet.</p><p>Genom vår undersökning har vi kommit fram till att kunden så väl som leverantören kan vara initiativtagare. Detta för att det finns vinster att göras för båda parter. Vi har kunnat identifiera att den främsta anledningen till initiativtagande är de fördelar som ses för det egna företaget. En annan bidragande faktor är även att företagen vill skapa långsiktiga relationer. Vi har genom vår studie inte kunnat identifiera några konsekvenser i samarbetet som är direkt kopplade till vem som tar initiativet. Däremot har vi sett indikationer på att den part som tar initiativet är den som ofta bäst lyckas påverka villkoren för samarbetet.</p>

Zugl.: Vallendar, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Diss., 2009.

Purpose: This work systematically reviews the extant academic management literature on supply networks. It specifically examines how network configurations and network governance mechanisms influence each other in supply networks. Design: 125 analytical and empirical studies were identified using an evidence-based approach to review the literature mainly published between 1985 and 2012. Synthesis: Drawing on a multi-disciplinary theoretical foundation, this work develops an integrative framework to identify three distinct yet interdependent themes that characterize the study of supply networks: a) Network Configurations (structures and relationships); b) Network Governance Mechanisms (formal and informal); and c) The Interplay between Network Configurations and Network Governance Mechanisms. Findings: Network configurations and network governance mechanisms mutually influence each other and cannot be considered in isolation. Formal and informal governance mechanisms provide better control when used as complements rather than as substitutes. The choice of governance mechanism depends on the nature of exchange; role of management; desired level of control; level of flexibility in formal contracts; and complementary role of formal and informal governance mechanism. Research implications: This nascent field has thematic and methodological research opportunities for academics. Comparative network analysis using longitudinal case studies offers a rich area for further study. Practical Implications: The complexity surrounding the conflicting roles of managers at the organisation and network levels poses a significant challenge during the development and implementation stage of strategic network policies. Originality/value: This review reveals that formal and informal governance mechanisms provide better control when used as complements rather than as substitutes.

The thesis develops a coherent and comprehensive supply chain management framework for managing health care goods provided as humanitarian assistance in complex political emergencies. The objective of the research is improving the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics services which enable humanitarian organizations to reduce suffering, morbidity, disability and mortality of populations affected by armed conflicts. The framework is deduced from models and concepts developed for commercial logistics and supply chain management by considering the objectives and constraints of humanitarian organizations, the context in which they work as well as the characteristics of health care goods. For the logistics processes of item selection, sourcing, storage, transport and customer service frameworks are developed at the levels of supply network design, supply chain planning and supply chain operations. For each category, decision criteria are proposed according to the phase of the crisis, the distance from the crisis area as well as the criticality of health care goods. The framework allows humanitarian organizations to develop strategic, tactical as well as operational plans for providing logistical support to specific humanitarian assistance programmes within their constraints and in the context of the respective complex political emergency. (author's abstract)

Today&apos;s world is characterized by volatility and uncertainty. Cooperation is needed to survive in this harsh business climate. Cooperation in supply chains are practiced and well known but in today&apos;s tough and volatile environment it is simply not enough. Wastes and unnecessary processes have to be eliminated to secure a competitive advantage. Incorporating lean in supply chains get more and more attention and embrace in the modern literature and media. Lean implemented in supply chains is praised to create a proactive supply chain that successfully eliminate waste and create efficiency. In the thesis the negative aspects, the angle that is very seldom described in the literature, of incorporating lean in supply chain is researched. I will view lean from the management perspective and research the negative aspects, their cause and impact on the entire supply chain. Being aware of the criticism of lean from the employee and society perspective this research serves to find if lean from the management perspective is a flawless story. To achieve the aim of this thesis I conducted a survey research where 100 supply chain executives from different countries, different industries and of different designations within supply chain management were asked to share their lean experience. The summary of my research show that lean incorporated in supply chains is not only a sunshine story. I can conclude problems, even a mismatch, with the lean concept incorporated in supply chains- the time sensibility lean brings. In my research it became obvious that lean supply chains are very sensitive to delays and that the consequences of the delays will strike very hard - hence the lean supply chain can also be seen as more vulnerable and fragile compared to ordinary supply chains. There is no question about the fact that any company, any network of companies or a supply chain for that matter, are better off without delays. A delay will always be negative. In a lean environment, where time aspects such as Just-In-Time and a pull scenario are present, a delay will immediately ruin the entire execution and the consequences will naturally spread in the supply chain. In today&apos;s volatile and ever changing world I believe that leanness in supply chains are indeed needed but to an extent where the time factors are viewed realistically in order to avoid drastic consequences. My conclusion is that supply chains should be realistically lean, bearing the time factors of lean in mind, to avoid being mean. I encourage every supply chain to identify their lean level in order to avoid a mean result.

Att ställa miljökrav inom leverantörskedjorna har blivit allt vanligare i takt med ökat miljöarbete. Det är dock bristfälligt dokumenterat hur väl eventuella miljökrav uppfylls kedjan igenom. För att organisera miljöarbetet har strategier uppkommit vilka tar hänsyn till kedjans miljöpåverkan, såsom Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). Genom en fallstudie kartlades vilka miljökrav som ställdes, om kraven var konsekventa längs leverantörskedjan och hur kraven kunde relateras till företagens övriga miljöarbete. Fallstudien hade sin utgångspunkt i Liljeholmens Stearinfabriks AB med fokus på värmeljuskoppens leverantörskedja. Genom en semistrukturerad intervju har företagen inom kedjan svarat på frågor kring bl.a. miljökrav. Dessutom har en LCA gjorts på värmeljuskoppen för att se huruvida miljökraven var adekvata med tanke på produktens miljöpåverkan. Resultatet visade att företagen ställde miljörelaterade krav. Dessa krav berörde främst leverantörens allmänna miljöarbete snarare än själva produkten. Typen av ställda krav var ej konsekvent med företagens miljöarbete. LCAn visade på att produktens största miljöpåverkan härrör från aluminiumet. Miljökraven borde således inriktas på större andel återvunnet material.

This doctoral dissertation titled "Product Strategies in Supply Chains" consists of three essays. In this dissertation, I study firms' strategic decisions regarding design of products and product lines in different supply chain contexts. I focus on firms' strategic interactions with supply chain members, including consumers and suppliers, in dynamic environments. The first essay (Chapter 2) studies how the cost structure of and information asymmetry about an OEM's in-house option affect her choice of product design quality in a decentralized supply chain where the supplier specifies contract terms. The second essay (Chapter 3) examines the effect of product returns and their potential refurbishing on intertemporal product strategy and profit of a firm facing strategic consumers. We also examine the effect of product returns on the time inconsistency problem faced by the firm. The third essay (Chapter 4) investigates the impact of competition from a third-party remanufacturer on product strategy and profit of an OEM in the presence of strategic consumers. Motivated by general perception among practitioners and the extant literature showing the competition from third-party remanufacturers as undesirable for the OEM, we specifically examine whether competition from a third-party remanufacturer is always undesirable for the OEM.