This thesis deals with development of lean and green production systems from an action research point of view. The studies focus on Swedish-based automotive and vehicle industries and their aims to integrate sustainable thinking and environmental care into their operations management. Starting from operations management in manufacturing and corporate sustainable development, the research is built on how to integrate these two views into one production system. The systematic structure of a multiple-target improvement process with methodologies and tools designed to achieve the sustainability vision has been studied. Since lean as well as green production is based on the entire value chain, the research has gone beyond legal company limits and included the collaborative efforts between suppliers and customers in the value chain. The thesis includes six papers and describes approaches on how to implement integration, how to structure and integrate improvement management systems, how to set up an integrated monitoring and control system for the business and how to organise and redesign green lean tools and methodologies to support collaboration towards common targets. The results can be used for exploration and hypothesis formulation for further studies and development of integrated production systems and collaboration systems. The thesis helps answering how to integrate and implement company-specific green lean production systems.

Increasing competition from traditional and emerging channels has placed new emphasis on rapid innovation and continuous differentiation in every aspect of supply chain, from earliest production stage to the final distribution steps. To bridge the gap between brilliant ideas and successful business initiatives, leading companies implement engineering simulation particularly in logistics and supply chain management (LSCM). Discrete event simulation (DES) and system dynamics (SD) are two modeling approaches widely used in this field. However there are not much done researches about the applications of these simulation approaches in supply chain context of Swedish Manufacturing Industries (SMI). This study explores the application of DES and SD in LSCM of SMI by looking at the nature and level of issues modeled. Journal papers and master theses that use these modeling approaches to study supply chains, published between 1990 and 2012 are reviewed. A total of 39 articles are analyzed to identify the frequency with which the two simulation approaches are used as modeling tools in LSCM of SMI. Our findings suggest that DES has been used more frequently to model supply chains in SMI. The results also show that not all the LSCM issues have been addressed evenly and generally tactical/operational issues have been modeled more frequently. The results of this study inform the existing literature about the use of DES and SD in LSCM of SMI.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate implementation strategies of SwedishManufacturing Companies when establishing in People’s Republic of China, with the objective to determine what strategy that is the most commonly adapted. Strategy is an important approach, which companies apply when deciding what direction a company should take, in terms of financial, structural and operational. This study takes a deeper look into the different strategy approaches related to business expansions and establishment in PRC. By evaluating the intentions of a business expansion in People’s Republic of China, the different strategy approaches are influenced by the choice of strategy.The background is based on previous research and existing theories related to strategy. The theoretical framework of the thesis has its foundation in Porter’s theory of competitive strategy. It has been reshaped by Shi & Gregory (1998), Bartlett and Ghoshol (1998), Miltenberg (2005) and Luthans and Doh (2008). To strengthen the matrixes by Luthan and Doh and Miltenberg to Porter’s theory, a model has been developed and explained to connect the different frameworks to the primary data. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study a cross-sectional design is used. A deductive research approach is followed, and applying questionnaires in order to collect the empirical data necessary to answer the research questions uses a quantitative method. The questionnaires were distributed to a selected sample consisting of 39 Swedish Manufacturing companies that are established in PRC, consisting of a population of 99 Swedish Manufacturing companies in People’s Republic of China. The overall results showed a very scattered placement of the companies within the strategy matrix. Nevertheless, the result indicated that the majority of Swedish Manufacturing companies establishing in the People’s Republic of China choose a Transnational Strategy in a global context. Note that the results should only be used as supportive data and not as a valid source of final information.

The purpose of this paper is to present a sample of how Swedish manufacturing companies deal with equipment downtime cost, and further how they analyze its reduction. The study was performed by conducting a web-based survey within Swedish firms that have at least 200 employees. The main results obtained from the investigation show that the estimated downtime cost constitute about 23.9 % from the total manufacturing cost ratio, and 13.3 % from planned production time. Additionally, the hourly cost of downtime, whether planned or unplanned, is relatively high. However, there is a shortage of systematic models that capable to trace the individual cost imposed by downtime events. This lack was shown apparently whilst 83 % of surveyed companies they do not have any complete model adapted for quantifying their downtime costs. Moreover, only few companies develop their cost accounting methods such as, activity-based costing (ABC) and resource consumption accounting (RCA) to assimilate and reveal the real costs that associated with planned and unplanned stoppages. Still, the general pattern of downtime cost calculation allocated to direct labor and lost capacity cost. On the other hand, the attempts of decreasing downtime events and thus costs were based on schedule maintenance tactics that supported by overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) tool, as an indicator for affirming improvements. Nonetheless, the analysis indicates the need for optimized maintenance tactics by incorporating reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) into companies’ maintenance systems. The maintenance role of reducing downtime impacts not highly recognized. Furthermore, the same analysis shows the requirement for better results of performance measurement systems is by implementing total equipment effectiveness performance tool (TEEP). The advantage of such tool is to provide the impact index of planned stoppages in equipment utilization factor. Finally, the lack of fully integrated models for assessing the downtime costs and frameworks for distinguishing the difference between planned and unplanned stoppages are the main reasons behind the continuation of cost in ascending form. Due to that, the improvements will emphasize on areas with less cost saving opportunities. As a result, this will affect the production efficiency and effectiveness which in return has its influence on costs and thereby profits margin.

Market research is a crucial element in a firm’s internationalization process. Expanding into new markets comes with a variety of challenges and high risk of failure which ultimately would impact a firm’s finances negatively. In order to reduce the uncertainty of entering foreign markets, market research is conducted. It aims to collect information and thereby is supposed to help a firm’s decision- making on market entry. However, firms commonly face the issue of having either too much or too little information of a market. This study pursues to identify the information, also known as decision criteria, for Swedish manufacturing firms that seek international market development. This may give firms a superior understanding of important decision criteria when there is an information overload. In addition to that, this study investigates the sources of information which may be useful if too little information is available. Through the research approach – case study – this paper provides in-depth explanations of the how firms conduct market research. It shows that the internet is a useful tool to unveil multiple decision criteria. Moreover, networks are introduced as a source of information which previous scholars have not discussed sufficiently. Using networks complements the internet in a good manner since it information through networks is more detailed and prescriptive, as opposed to the internet which entails objective information.

Background: The importance of data increases for current and future companies. As a result of prominent research within the field of information and communication technology, the interest in Internet of Things (IoT) and its industrial applications has grown strong from both research and the public sector. Due to advancements in the technological infrastructure, the IoT-solutions are available to the broader market, but despite being accredited with praise and promise of real potential, current IoT-solutions are mostly utilized by large enterprises (LE:s). A fundamental understanding for the cause of the aforementioned unbalance was acquired by revisiting theory and former studies of technology diffusion. It appears that the challenge for IoT-solutions resonates with a recurring phenomenon within diffusion of new technology. As a result from rapid advancements, technology often finds itself in a productivity paradox. This basically means that practitioners perceive them as too expensive and too complicated to use, thusly, they won’t be as productive as required to generate enough economic value. Therefore, new technologies can paradoxically be unproductive. As demanded from research and commercial actors, this study seeks to deepen the understanding for the cause of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME:s) Intention to use IoT-solutions, hence bridging the current market unbalance and gap in research. Objective: The purpose of the study is to deepen the understanding for SME:s Intention to use IoT-solutions. Therefore, the study is based on the research question: Which factors can explain SME:s Intention to use IoT- solutions? Methods: To find a proper tool for analysis, the author probed the literature of technology acceptance models related to sociology and psychology. With an explorative research design, an adapted version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT) was developed according to the reaming parts of the literature review. 6 hypotheses were formulated based on the research question and UTAUT. Thereafter, a survey was used to collect quantitative data from 165 SME:s within the Swedish sector of manufacturing. The hypotheses were tested with the support of Explorative Factor Analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis in SPSS. Results: The main result shows that Performance expectancy, Facilitating conditions, Social Influence and Price value exerts a significant correlation with the Intention to use IoT- applications. Effort Expectancy and Hindering conditions was to be found insignificant. The factors explained 27,9% of the total variance within the Intention. An additional effect from the survey reveals a low amount of knowledge for IoT- solutions amongst the responding SME:s. Conclusions: In light of the objective, the result provides both practical and theoretical implications. Practically, commercial actors can use the findings from this study to influence the Intention to use IoT-applications within the Swedish manufacturing sector by operationalizing Performance expectancy, Facilitating conditions, Social Influence and Price value. From a theoretical perspective, the extended and validated version of the current technology acceptance models, UTAUT-FP, can be applied for future research. / Bakgrund: Dataflödet intar en alltmer central funktion för sam- och framtidens företag. Som ett resultat av framstående forskning och tekniska landvinningar på området för informations- och kommunikationsteknologi har ett uppseendeväckande intresse för Internet of Things (IoT) - och dess industriella tillämpningar - vuxit fram. Med den nödvändig infrastrukturen väl på plats är dagens IoT-lösningar tillgängliga för en bred marknad. Men trots lovord om oumbärliga konkurrensfördelar så återfinns majoriteten av dagens IoT-lösningar likväl hos stora företag (SF). En grundläggande förståelse för orsaken förvärvades genom att återbesöka teori och tidigare studier över acceptans för nya teknologier. Problemet med IoT-lösningar visar sig resonera med ett återkommande fenomen för spridning av ny teknologi. Som ett resultat av hastig teknikutveckling uppstår regelbundet en så kallad produktivitetsparadox. Det visar sig att frontlinjens teknologier alltid löper risken att upplevas som för dyra och komplicerade i relation till hur mycket värde användaren uppfattar att de skapar. För att överbrygga dagens låga användning av IoT-lösningar efterfrågar forskare och kommersiella aktörer sålunda en djupare förståelse för vad som formar Små och Medelstora Företags (SMF:s) Intention till att använda ny teknologi, i denna studie IoT-lösningar. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att fördjupa kunskapen om varför SMF inte använder IoT- lösningar. Således utformas studien efter forskningsfrågan: Vilka faktorer kan förklara SMF:s Intention till att använda IoT-lösningar? Metod: För att hitta ett adekvat analysverktyg sonderade författaren fältet av beteendevetenskapens adoptionsmodeller för ny teknologi. Utifrån en explorativ forskningsansats anpassades Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT). I enlighet med studiens litteraturgenomgång bildade författaren således UTAUT-FP. Med bas i forskningsfrågan och UTAUT-FP utvecklades 6 hypoteser. Med en enkätundersökning samlades kvantitativa data in från 165 SMF. Med Explorativ Faktoranalys (EFA) och linjär regressionsanalys kunde studiens hypoteser testats i SPSS. Resultat: Studiens primära resultat visar att faktorerna Prestationsföväntning, Underlättande förhållanden, Socialt inflytande och Prisbild utövar en signifikant korrelation med Intentionen till att använda IoT-lösningar. Indirekta Hjälpmedel och Förhindrande förhållanden var insignifikanta för Intentionen. Faktorerna förklarar 27,9% av Intentionens varians. En bieffekt av studiens enkätundersökning lyckas spegla SMF:s okunskap kring studiens särskilda aspekter av IoT-lösningar. Slutsatser: I ljuset av forskningsfrågan generar studiens resultat dels praktiska, dels teoretiska implikationer. Praktiskt medför resultatet att dagens leverantörer delges en djupare insikt för hur de kan påverka SMF:s inställning och således Intention till IoT-lösningar genom att operationalisera resultatet för Prestationsföväntning, Underlättande förhållanden, Socialt inflytande och Prisbild. Teoretiskt bidrar studien med en validerad adoptionsmodell för IoT- lösningar - UTAUT-FP.

Abstract Background and problem statement: Since December 2019 the world have been largely affected by the new corona virus (Covid-19). The corporate industry has experienced the consequences of whole nations isolating themselves to contain the virus. The complex networks of today’s supply chains further complicate this situation. This has challenged companies expertise and preparedness within areas of supply chain risk management and further within procurement. Purpose: This study aims to identify how companies within the Swedish manufacturing industry work with risk management in supply chains mainly targeting risk management within procurement. Furthermore, the study aims to identify how these companies have been affected by the pandemic outbreak and how they have handled the situation by using risk management strategies. Based on this purpose two research questions were constructed. Method: A qualitative study design with some contribution from the quantitative study design have been carried out through semi-structured interviews. By analysing secondary data such as literature and peer-reviewed articles a theoretical framework was constructed. Results: Supply chain risk management is not formalized as a term within the industry, although it is safe to say that companies work with activities and strategies within the area. Strategies that proved effective during the pandemic outbreak were safety stock, geographical placement of suppliers, risk identification and risk analysis. Flexibility within the supply chains also proved to be vital to the success of the companies during this time.

Lean production originates from the Toyota production system (TPS) and is commonly known as today's Lean. Lean Production consists of a multitude of concepts, values, principles and methods with the main purpose to continuously improve operations and productions. These concepts are known to improve long-term profitability.   The purpose was to investigate Swedish industries and their relation to internal Lean strategies and how well implemented these are in different types of industries. These are categorised as Other, Process- Manufacturing and engineering industry. In this study, the main focus is on analyzing dimensions of internal Lean production in industrial types. These dimensions are Pull System (PULL), Continuous Flow (FLOW), Time Reduction (SETUP), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Employee Involvement (EMP.INVOLV) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). These internal Lean dimensions derive from an empirical study by Shah & Ward (2007), with the aim to produce a deeper knowledge of the definition of Internal Lean production.   The study is based on empirical evidence and the data analysis is established from a previous data collection of the European manufacturing Survey (EMS) for Sweden in 2019, previously developed by Von Haartman, Niss & Bengtsson (2020). The used data is descriptive statistics and is limited to Swedish industries. In this study, the analysis will focus on 24 Lean questions and 6 internal Lean dimensions have been investigated and analyzed.    It is concluded, based on results and analysis, that two Lean perspectives are the basis for businesses to achieve Lean in production. In order to succeed in implementing Lean production, it is important that these perspectives interact with each other. By implementing practical methods, tools and at the same time allowing employees to be involved in the work, quality and efficiency are increased. This contributes to businesses creating improvements in production-related functions in production.   To a large extent the Swedish industries have a Low or Medium use of internal Lean dimensions. TPM is found to be the most commonly implemented dimension for most individual industry types while the dimensions SPC and EMP.INVOLV has the lowest implementation. For individual industry types, there is no major variance in how they answered the implementation of dimensions. All dimensions have a correlation without significant differences for all types of industries. It is found, implementation of dimension PULL differ from each type of industry and Engineering industry have implemented internal Lean dimensions to a higher extent. / Lean produktion härstammar från Toyota production system (TPS) och är grunden till det dem flesta känner till idag som Lean. Lean Produktion omfattar många begrepp som innebär värderingar, principer och metoder där huvudsyftet är att ständigt förbättra produktionen i verksamheten för att bidra till långsiktig lönsamhet.    Syftet var att undersöka hur svenska industrier förhåller sig till interna Lean strategier och hur välanvänt det är inom olika industrityper. Dessa är fördelade som Övrigt, Process-, Tillverkning och Verkstadsindustri. Denna studie fokuserar på att analysera dimensioner av intern Lean produktion hos industrityper. Dessa dimensioner är dragande system (PULL), kontinuerligt flöde (FLOW), Ställtidsreduktion (SETUP), Statistisk processtyrning (SPC), Medarbetarnas involvering (EMP.INVOLV) och Totalt produktivt underhåll (TPM). Dessa interna Lean dimensioner härstammar från en empiriska studie av Shah & Ward (2007), med syftet att skapa en djupare förståelse för definitionen av intern Lean produktion.   Studien baseras på empiriska belägg och grundas utifrån en tidigare datainsamling från European manufacturing Survey (EMS) för Sverige år 2019, tidigare framtagen av Von Haartman, Niss & Bengtsson (2020). Datan som används är deskriptiv statistik och avgränsas till Svenska industrier. I denna studie kommer endast 24 frågor och 6 interna Lean dimensioner att undersökas och analyseras.    Slutsatsen är att det finns två Lean perspektiv som är grunden till att verksamheten uppnår Lean i produktion. För att lyckas med implementering av Lean produktion är det viktigt att dessa perspektiv samspelar med varandra. Genom att implementera praktiska metoder, verktyg och samtidigt tillåta medarbetarna involveras i arbetet ökar kvaliteten och effektiviteten. Detta bidrar till att verksamheter skapar förbättring av tillverknings relaterade funktioner i produktionen.   Samtliga industrier i undersökningen har i utsträckning en Låg eller Medelhög användning av interna Lean dimensioner. TPM är den mest använda dimensionen hos de flesta enskilda industrityperna medan dimensionerna SPC och EMP.INVOLV har lägst användning. För enskilda industrityper finns det ingen större varians i hur de har besvarat användningen för dimensioner. Alla dimensioner har ett samband i korrelationer utan signifikanta skillnader för samtliga industrityper. Det konstateras, att implementering av dimension PULL skiljer sig från varje typ av industri och Verkstadsindustri har implementerat interna Lean dimensioner i högre utsträckning.