The purchasing function has become a strategic position for most companies. Activity in an organization cannot be performed without the presence of the information, which means that communication is important for being able to perform a task or activity. Communication related to the purchasing process has been investigated at Gavlegårdarna, a real estate company located in Gävle. In this work, Gavlegårdarna wanted to examine whether there is an opportunity to improve communication and investigate factors that lead to a lack of communication. The purpose of this study was to get a general image and increase understanding of factors that affect communication. The study is based on a case study, where one interview took place in the purchasing department and a questionnaire sent out to people who work daily with purchasing function.

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This bachelor thesis was conducted in a distribution center that desired to improve its internal communication and information flow. This is a challenge that many large organizations have today, as copious amount of information is communicated daily between different parties within an organization. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine the communication and information flow in a distribution center and examine whether it can be more efficient with the help of Lean. The following questions have been formulated based on the stated aim: What are the visual and communication challenges in a distribution center and how can a visual and communicative environment contribute to Lean production? How can organizations overcome the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that arise when implementing visual communication? In order to answer the questions above, a case study and a literature study have been carried out. The case study has been conducted at a national distribution center in Mälardalen in parallel with a literature study which, among other things, concerned the areas of visual communication, implementation and Lean. The literature study was conducted to gain an understanding of the concerned subject on the case company, interviews and observations were carried out to get an insight into the organization and collect data. The visual communication contributes to a majority of positive consequences if applied correctly. As a result, the case company can potentially improve the information and communication flow with the help of implementing visual tools, as it can contribute to increasing understanding and that important information reaches more employees.

Public transport is important to society as it provides spatial accessibility and reduces congestion and pollution in comparison to other motorized modes. To assure a high-quality service, all parts of the system need to be well-functioning and properly planned. One important aspect for the system's bus terminals is their capacity. This needs to be high enough to avoid congestion and queues and the delays these may lead to. During planning processes, various suggested designs and solutions for a terminal need to be evaluated. Estimating capacity and how well the suggestions will function is a challenging problem, however. It requires analysis of complex interactions and behaviour of the vehicles. This sort of analyses can preferably be carried out using microsimulation. Furthermore, a discrete event simulation approach can make use of the fact that the path of a vehicle through a terminal can readily be described by a sequence of events (such as arriving, starting to drive to a stop etc.). The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate how discrete event simulation can be used to evaluate bus terminal design and traffic control policies. The main contribution is the development of a method for bus terminal simulation. As a first step, a discrete event simulation model of a combined bus and tram stop is formulated. The model is tested on a real system where the current design is compared to an alternative one. The test shows that a model developed with a discrete event approach can be used to evaluate the situation at a stop and compare design alternatives. In the next step, a general discrete event simulation model of bus terminals is formulated. A modular approach is introduced, where a terminal can be constructed from a set of module building blocks. Another important contribution of the model is its spatial resolution that allows for queues and blockages to occur throughout the terminal. By applying the simulation model in a case study, it is shown that the model can be used to evaluate and compare various scenarios related to the layout, number of passengers and the outside traffic situation. Lastly, the bus terminal simulation model is used in a second case study in order to compare model output with empirical data. This study identified a number of factors that may have had an influence on differences between observations and simulation results and that is of interest to look further into. This includes the actual adherence to terminal rules and the effects of model parameters.

Road transportation is an essential element of mobility in most countries and we can observe an increasing demand for both goods and passenger traffic. There are however important societal and economical problems related to road transportation in terms of congestions, traffic safety and environmental effects. During the last decades vehicles have increasingly been equipped with different types of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These systems can to some extent compensate for human behaviour and errors that cause congestions, accidents and air pollution. Most studies conducted to evaluate ADAS have focused on ADAS impacts on the driver or on the vehicle. Since an ADAS might influence not only driving behaviour and vehicle dynamics, but also the interaction between equipped and non-equipped vehicles, it is also important to consider the resulting effect on the traffic system. A reliable and realistic evaluation approach needs to include estimations of drivers’ decisions in different traffic situations with respect to the ADAS functionality and how such decisions affect the traffic system as a whole. The overall aim of the thesis is to develop a simulation based evaluation framework for investigations of impacts of different types of cruise controllers on the traffic system. The objective is also to apply the framework to evaluate a fuel minimizing cruise controller for trucks, the Look Ahead Cruise Control (LACC). The framework developed consists of a combination of a microscopic traffic simulation model, and a vehicle and ADAS simulation model. When applied for a specific ADAS, as for example the LACC, the framework needs to be complemented with a driver model that captures the changes in driving behaviour due to the system of interest. In this thesis a driver model for LACC equipped trucks was developed based on results from a driving simulator experiment, a field operational test, and a focus group study. Simulation experiments were carried out to observe the LACC impacts on the traffic system with respect to penetration rate, traffic density, and variation in the desired speed. Environmental effects were estimated using emission calculations.

A freight forwarder may consolidate its goods transportations in order to achieve a more efficient operation. When goods transportations are consolidated, they may reduce operational costs, e.g. labor and fuel. This can be further improved if a number of freight forwarders cooperate and consolidate their collective goods transportations, i.e. it is a cooperation between competitors, a coopetition. In order to maintain the cooperation, a suitable business model, in which fair cost allocations plays an important role is essential. The potential by cooperating is not exclusive to freight forwarders, but in fact, any type of goods transportation planning may benefit from cooperation. In this thesis, cooperative game theory is used as an academic tool to study cooperation between stakeholders in different transportation planning applications. Cooperative game theory defines a number of criteria for fair cost allocations. In Paper 1, the role of the municipality as an enabler of a cooperation between fictitious freight forwarders in an urban area, is studied. In this case, the municipality acts as a stakeholder with unusual characteristics. It is shown that a stable cooperation can be achieved if the municipality is willing to carry some of the cost. This cost is specified and discussed in Paper 1. The results of Paper 2 contribute to game theory by introducing a further development of a cost allocation method. Some small numerical examples are presented in order to illustrate the resulting changes. In Paper 3, the process of establishing a cooperation is studied, where the stakeholders, in this case forest companies, join the cooperation sequentially. Who will join and in what order, is not predetermined. It is shown that a stable cooperation can be achieved despite the uncertainty. This is done by using the cost allocation methods presented.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how safety stock should be dimensioned for ingoing inventory based on factors in manufacturing electronic business with the vehicle industry as customer. - Which factors are important to have in consideration when dimensioning safety stock for ingoing inventory in the electronic to vehicle industry? - Which safety stock method is the most suitable considering identified factors in research question one? Method – To accomplish the purpose of this study and to answer the research questions, a literature study was conducted to form a theoretical framework. As a complement to the literature study a case study was conducted in terms of interviews and document studies. Findings – This study has identified factors that are important to take into consideration when dimensioning safety stocks. Through identified factors the most suitable safety stock method for companies in the electronic to vehicle industry was formed. Implications – Difficulties in this study has been to find relevant information regarding the electronic to vehicle industry. Information was necessary to find to create a trustworthy industry context. Limitations – This study only focus on the electronic to vehicle industry. This means that identified factors and suitable safety stock method are not necessarily applicable to other industries. Keywords – Safety stock calculation, delivery precision, delivery safety.

Companies exist because there is a demand for their products and services. Companies need to logistically coordinate all their processes for them to grow and optimize their profits. Logistics is an area in constant development, where the old views become accepted and new ones become focus areas where the direction has gone from being cost-oriented to focusing on change processes, lead times and competitive means. This case study was performed towards a manufacturing company where the work was carried out with an affiliate company in Shanghai, China. The main company has its headquarter and production in Gävle, Sweden. The case study was limited towards the sales department and its impact on inventory control from a cost perspective. The study purpose was to examine how the sales processes affect the inventory control by going through the process from when the first contact being taken with the company to the final product arriving at customer. By mapping the entire process, one can find out the improvement areas and identify what causes long storage times for the company, how the company should work to minimize these times and how the company can work with processes for a more efficient operation. The problem of this study was that the chosen case company had a long storage time ranging from a few days to a few years, which caused high capital ties and costs for the warehouse operations. The empirical data was collected through interviews with employees who works closely with the processes that have been investigated in the study. The observation was conducted in Shanghai, China, where the case company has a warehouse. The observation and the interviews led to the results and empirical data describing how the company currently works with the sales processes and the basis for the problems that they are experiencing today. By comparing the theoretical theory and results, it turns out that the company’s view of how they work with the sales process is different from the reality. The study shows that deficiencies exist in the processes described by the interviews. One part of the problem was the lack of communication within the company. The departments focused on their own tasks and tried to perform good results without seeing the overall picture for the company. By improving the communication within the company, processes around improvements will be easier to implement. The result of the analysis in combination with literature theories led to that improvement measures could be distinguished. The company was recommended to review its processes, warehouses and packaging from a lean perspective in order to streamline and optimize its operations. This is done by constantly working on the communication and process work. For continued research, proposals are made for in-depth research within sales and its processes from a cost perspective. Sales are the part of companies that contribute to profitability, but it also needs to be studied about its impact on costs. The study's theoretical contribution suggests how a process that contributes with profitability also accounts for costs and how these can be improved through continuous process work.

Fordonsindustrin är idag en stor industri på den globala marknaden som präglas av hård konkurrens. Industrin består av ett få antal globala fordonstillverkare och ett stort antal leverantörer. Den hårda konkurrensen har medfört att allt fler fordonstillverkare outsourcat allt mer av utvecklingen och tillverkningen av fordonskomponenter. Ytterligare en konsekvens av den hårda konkurrensen är att fordonstillverkare övergått till en produktion styrd av kundorder.  Fordonsindustrin har likt tillverkningsindustrin i stort börjat fokusera på produktionsflödets totala effektivitet, istället för enskilda processers effektivitet. Denna fallstudie har genomförts vid logistikavdelningen på Gestamp HardTech i Luleå. Fallstudiens syfte var att kartlägga flödet i efterbearbetningen och undersöka möjligheterna att förkorta ledtiden i detta produktionsflöde. I fallstudien undersöktes 18 utvalda produkter som behövde presshärdas och efterbearbetning i ett flertal processer, de undersökta produkterna var uteslutande karosskomponenter och krockskydd till fordonsindustrin. Målet var att ta fram och utvärdera olika produktionsupplägg som förkortar ledtiden i Gestamp HardTechs efterbearbetning. Intervjuer, observationer och inhämtning av dataloggar från produktionen har använts för insamling av data. Detta låg till grund för kartläggningen och analysen av det nuvarande produktionsflödet hos Gestamp HardTech. En litteraturstudie genomfördes för att skapa en teoretisk referensram och förankra studien i litteraturen. För att studera hur andra fordonstillverkare arbetar med att effektivisera sitt produktionsflöde genomfördes benchmarking vid Volvo Cars i Olofström och Scania Ferruform i Luleå. Baserat på analysen av det nuvarande produktionsflödet, litteraturstudien och benchmarkingen utarbetades konceptuella produktionsupplägg med fokus på att reducera ledtiden i efterbearbetningen.  Fyra konceptuella produktionsupplägg utarbetades för att reducera ledtiden i efterbearbetningen genom att öka flexibiliteten i produktionen på olika sätt. För att undersöka hur de fyra olika konceptuella produktionsuppläggen påverkade ledtiden i efterbearbetningen utarbetades en simuleringsmodell. Den utarbetade simuleringsmodellen baserades på studiens insamlade data och verifierades kontinuerligt under studiens gång av insatta personer vid Gestamp HardTech. Simuleringsmodellen gav möjligheten att undersöka det komplexa sambandet mellan en enskild produkts flöde och dess påverkan på de 17 andra undersökta produkters ledtid. Studiens samtliga konceptuella produktionsupplägg påvisade i simuleringen en reducerad ledtid i Gestamp HardTechs efterbearbetning. Underlaget för beräkningarna var den riktiga kundefterfrågan från 2017 på daglig basis. I simuleringsmodellen används en ”stuprörsprincip” för att säkerställa att kundefterfrågan tillgodoses i rätt ordning. Principen innebär att kundefterfrågan av studiens 18 produkter på daglig basis helt måste tillgodoses, innan kundefterfrågan för nästkommande dag kan tillgodoses. De fyra olika konceptuella produktionsuppläggen krävde olika omfattande investeringar och påvisade mellan 6 % och 33 % ledtidsreducering i efterbearbetningen. Resultatet från simuleringen och benchmarkingen visade tydligt att ökad flexibilitet i ett produktionsupplägg likt Gestamp HardTechs nuvarande, kan möjliggöra kortare ledtider. En ökad flexibilitet innebär även ett mindre störningskänsligt produktionsflöde, då enskilda produkttyper inte är beroende av en specifik maskin inom en maskingrupp.

I takt med att byggbranschen moderniseras och flera koncept från tillverkningsindustrin blir anpassade till byggbranschen kommer kraven på leveranser till byggarbetsplatser att förändras. Det mest påtagliga är att leveranserna blir fler, samtidigt som varje leverans innehåller färre produkter. Denna förändring påverkar alla hantverkare, installatörer och leverantörer som verkar på en byggarbetsplats. Lindab är en aktör som kommer bli påverkad eftersom företaget är en leverantör i byggbranschen. Företaget tillverkar och leverera bland annat produkter och system för inomhusklimat till ventilationsentreprenörer som i sin tur installerar på byggarbetsplatser. På grund av förändringen i branschen är det intressant att studera hur en leverantör till ett byggprojekt kan anpassa sina leveranser till de nya krav och förväntningar som uppstår. Studien syftar till att utreda hur Lindab, via sina leveranser, kan möta kundens krav och förväntningar. Utöver detta är målet att identifiera hur distributionen av färdiga produkter kan förändras så kunderna uppfattar en ökad service. Studien utgår från antagandet att om kundernas krav och förväntningar uppfylls eller överträffas, så kommer kundtillfredsställelsen att öka. Genom en litteraturstudie samt ett tiotal intervjuer med kunder till Lindab undersöks vilka faktorer som kunderna värdesätter mest vid leveranser till byggarbetsplatser. Dessa faktorer analyseras sedan utifrån Lindabs nuläge för att finna eventuella förbättringsmöjligheter. Studiens resultat sammanfattas i två slutsatser kopplade till studiens syfte. Den första slutsatsen berör de faktorer som har störst inverkan på kundtillfredsställelsen vid leveranser till byggarbetsplatser. Dessa är leveranspålitlighet, leveranssäkerhet och leveransservice. Den andra slutsatsen behandlar hur leveranser till byggarbetsplatser kan förändras så kunderna uppfattar en ökad service. Detta kan ske genom en upprepande process som mäter utfallet, förebygger brister, hanterar avvikelser och utvärderar prestationen. Genom att kontinuerligt upprepa och uppdatera denna process kan kundtillfredsställelsen vid leveranser till byggarbetsplatser öka. Genom att anpassa studiens slutsatser till fallföretaget, utarbetades tre rekommendationer som fallföretaget bör använda för att förbättra sina leveranser. Den första rekommendationen syftar till att förbättra Lindabs leveranspålitlighet genom att mäta punktligheten på ett korrekt sätt och att bättre informera kunderna om när leveransen kommer. Den andra rekommendationen har till syfte att förbättra Lindabs leveranssäkerhet genom att Lindab börjar mäta leveranssäkerheten på ett tillfredsställande sätt, samtidigt som kunderna bör bli bättre informerade om produkter som företaget inte lyckas leverera vid den avtalade tiden. Den tredje rekommendationen inriktas på att bibehålla Lindabs goda leveransservice. Detta bör ske genom att kontinuerligt undersöka kundernas åsikter och utreda hur Lindab bättre kan tillmötesgå kundernas föränderliga krav och förväntningar.