The goal of this diploma thesis is to use the principles of lean manufacturing to lean workplace and eliminate all forms of waste in this workplace. A part of this work is opti-mal design of the workplace in terms of ergonomics which should have a positive effect on shortening lead time and process cycle efficiency. Shortening the lead time will allow company to respond more quickly to customer requirements and this effect may subsequently lead to the drop in inventories.

This master's thesis is engaged in optimisation processes of PUQ (as for Purchasing Quality) department, Robert Bosch České Budějovice. This department is responsible for input control of parts for manufacture as well as check of new parts including their documentation and documentation updates. By optimisation we understand selection of the best variant from group of possibilities.

Bakgrund: Högskolor och universitet bedriver utbildning och forskning, där sätten för att driva dessa under åren har förändrats. Lean-verktyg och principer har blivit allt vanligare i såväl offentliga som privata organisationer för att söka efter förbättringar och då även i högre utbildning. För att förbättra och effektivisera processer i högre utbildning kan Lean-verktyg och principer vara ett alternativ, dock finns det begränsat med forskning inom området som ligger till grund för denna studie. Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka möjligheter och hinder det finns med att tillämpa Lean-verktyg och principer i högskolor. Studien undersöker ifall högskolor kan förbättra sina interna processer samt vilka problem och begränsningar som finns med tillämpningen av Lean-verktyg och principer. Metod: En abduktiv ansats har använts för att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar. Den teoretiska referensramen har samlats in i samband med insamlingen av empirisk data från en fallstudie på Högskolan i Gävle. Genom analys och diskussion av den teoretiska referensramen och insamlad data från fallstudien har en slutsats arbetats fram. Resultat/analys: Fallstudiens organisation och den valda processen har kartlagts utifrån dokument, intervjuer och enkäter. En värdeflödesanalys presenteras som belyser slöserier i processen och en föreslagen process åskådliggörs. Begränsningar: Lean-verktyg och principer i högre utbildning är ett område med begränsad forskning och är därför i behov av mer kunskap kring ämnet. Slutsats: Tillämpningen av Lean-verktyg och principer i högre utbildning har i denna studie visats vara möjligt och användbart. Studien visar också på att problem och begränsningar finns med tillämpningen som bör beaktas. / Background: Higher education conducts education and research, where the ways of operating these have changed over the years. Lean tools and principles have become increasingly common in both public and private organizations in search of improvements, which also regard higher education. In order to improve and streamline processes in higher education, Lean tools and principles may be an alternative. However, there is limited research in the area that forms the basis for further research. Purpose: This study aims to investigate the possibilities and obstacles of applying Lean tools and principles in higher education. The study explore whether higher education can improve their internal processes and also the problems and limitations that exist with the application of Lean tools and principles. Method: An abductive approach has been used to answer the study's purpose and questions. The theoretical framework has been collected in connection with the gathering of empirical data from a case study at the University of Gävle. Through the analysis and discussion of the theoretical framework and data collected from the case study, a conclusion has been drawn up. Results/analysis: The case study's organization and the selected process have been mapped based on documents, interviews and surveys. A value stream mapping is presented that highlights waste in the process and a proposed process is illustrated. Limitations: Lean tools and principles in higher education are an area of limited research and are therefore in need of more knowledge about the subject. Conclusion: In this study, the application of Lean tools and principles in higher education has been shown to be potential and useful. The study also shows that problems and limitations exist with the application.

Dagens situation med en åldrande befolkning som leder till en större förekomst av allvarliga kroniska sjukdomar gör att sjukvården står inför nya utmaningar. Då de flesta vårdinrättningar har en mycket hög beläggning och begränsade resurser har man börjat använda sig av produktionsstrategier som traditionellt använts i mer industrinära miljöer, exempelvis Lean production. I denna studie har värdeflödet kartlagts och analyserats för besök vid hjärtakuten på Danderyds Sjukhus AB. Detta har genomförts med hjälp av fältstudieobservationer och intervjuer, för att undersöka verksamheten på en vårdinstitution som arbetar enligt Lean healthcare. Studien har genomförts för att identifiera potentiella förbättringsområden och förändringar inom dessa, som kan leda till effektivare patientflöde. Resultaten av vår fallstudie tyder på att det förekommer icke-värdeskapande inslag relaterade till Transport, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction & Over processing, Defects, Confusion och People på hjärtakuten. Den vanligaste orsaken till slöseri har upptäckts vara kopplad till arbetsrutiner och hur väl dessa rutiner följs, även om problem relaterade till kommunikation och arbetsplatskultur också har upptäckts. Vår främsta rekommendation för att effektivisera verksamheten på akuten är att skapa standardiserade rutiner som är lätta för personalen att följa. Studien och dess resultat kan ses som ett bidrag till den generella diskursen på områdena Lean healthcare, kartläggning samt analys av värdeflöden. Den kan även användas av vårdinrättningar liknande fallkliniken som är i stånd att genomföra en värdeflödesanalys. / The aging population and higher occurrence of chronic diseases today has healthcare facing a very high occupancy and limited resources. To meet rising demands, many healthcare institutions have adapted operational strategies traditionally used in more industrial settings such as Lean production. In this study, the value flow during emergency visits to the heart emergency at Danderyds hospital (Danderyds Sjukhus AB) was mapped and analysed through observations and interviews. The aim was to identify potential changes that might render a more efficient patient flow and improve the operations at a healthcare institution working in accordance with Lean healthcare. The findings from the study show that waste related to Transport, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction & Over processing, Defects, Confusion and People exists at the heart emergency. The most common source of waste is related to routines and compliance to them among the staff, all though some issues related to communication and workplace culture were also discovered. Our main suggestion is therefore to establish standardised routines that are easy to follow for the staff at the clinic, to make emergency visits and patient flow more efficient. The study and its findings can be seen as a general contribution to the discourse regarding Lean healthcare, value stream mapping and analysing. It can also be used by healthcare institutions similar to the case clinic, about to perform an analysis of the value stream.

The SMEs are considered as the backbone of the country, they are contributing the biggest part of the country’s GDP (Gross domestic product). The SMEs are showing rapid growth and facing tough competition to satisfy the customer needs. The purpose of the report is to identify the solution to increasing sustainability performance and having the focus on the pillars of sustainability social, economic, and environmental in an SME within the production systems. The research is focused on enriching the qualitative study, to have an in-depth understanding, and triangulation of method has been used. The findings collected from the case company about the production system and current sustainability performance are presented. Then, lean and green paradigms are presented along with the overlapping factors. Then the findings are analyzed which includes the cause-effect relationship for lean and green followed by a selection of lean and green tools such as 5S and VSM are analyzed.  The research provides a solution to regain its competitiveness for the SME in the current industrial development by incorporating lean and green principles into their production systems. The initial step for attaining it to kick start with 5S and, Value stream mapping. The conclusion of this research showing the sustainability performance improvement suggestions is presented using lean and green tools into the SME. This research will be much needed for the present scenario especially for the SMEs, as they are the backbone of the country’s economy. This serves as a motivation and moves their focus to attain sustainability to serve evergreen with their customers. Finally, the future work of this research work along with managerial suggestion is presented which ensures to minimize the CO2 with leaner and green tools.

Gestionar la experiencia de los clientes en el sector de las telecomunicaciones contiene uno de los grandes retos en conjunto con áreas comerciales y operativas. La presente tesis tiene como finalidad el diseño de un modelo de gestión de la experiencia del cliente usuario del servicio móvil postpago en una empresa de telecomunicaciones que garantice que el nivel de satisfacción de sus usuarios crezca en tendencia positiva. La hipótesis de esta tesis considera que la práctica de llamar para ofrecer un servicio, es decir el telemarketing o las televentas, impacta de manera negativa el nivel de satisfacción de los usuarios de telefonía móvil. La cual genera a su vez no garantiza las ventas sostenibles en el tiempo por ser de preferencia en el mercado. Para desarrollar el diseño, es necesario indagar las preferencias y los comportamientos de los usuarios para, de esa manera, diseñar los procesos. Para conocer a los clientes y usuarios, se realizaron dos encuestas, la primera para conocer la actualidad del nivel de satisfacción en usuarios respecto al servicio que reciben de sus respectivas operadoras. Mientras que la segunda, nos permite ampliar los primeros resultados haciendo referencia a los cambios provocados y simulados en esta propuesta. Adicional, para ciertos procesos operativos que forman parte del modelo integral, se recaba información histórica cualitativa. Con ello, utilizando técnicas enfocadas en los procesos centrados en el usuario o cliente final, se llevó a una implementación simulada resultando en la validación de este modelo de gestión de la experiencia del cliente como uno que garantiza el incremento de usuarios fieles, por ende, tendencia positiva en ventas. Así también, como un modelo omnicanal. En conclusión, este modelo propuesto refuerza las intenciones actuales del sector industrial: Diferenciarse por la calidad en los servicios, en lugar de las propuestas comerciales por precios y productos. / Managing customer experience in the telecommunications sector contains one of the biggest challenges in business and operational areas. The purpose of this research is design a management model of the customer experience of the postpaid mobile service in a telecommunications company that guarantees that the level of satisfaction of its users grows in a positive trend. The hypothesis of this thesis considers that the practice of calling to offer a service, called as telemarketing or telesales, affects the level of satisfaction of mobile phone users negatively. Which in turn generates does not guarantee sustainable sales over time, as it is preferred in the market. To develop the design, it is necessary to investigate the preferences and behaviors of customers in order to design the processes. In order to get to know customers and users, two surveys were carried out, the first to find out the current level of satisfaction in users with respect to the service they receive from their respective operators. While the second, allows us to expand the first results by referring to the changes caused and simulated in this proposal. Additionally, operating processes that are part of the comprehensive model, qualitative historical information is collected. With this, using techniques focused on processes focused on the end user or customer, a simulated implementation was carried out resulting in the validation of this customer experience management model as one that guarantees the increase of loyal users, therefore, positive trend in sales. Also, as an Omnichannel model. In conclusion, this proposed model reinforces the current intentions of the industrial sector: Differentiate itself by the quality of services, instead of our commercial proposals for prices and products. / Tesis

The dissertation is concerned about, according to author still “live” problem of optimization of logistic flow, with scope to company environment. The aim is to find correct methodology for defined problem and to apply it to particular case study. Theoretical part begins with description and analysis of actual state of problematic of logistic flow optimization and listing the methods which are able to be applied to these problems. The three main groups – exact methods, heuristic methods and combined methods take part in. The analysis continues further with searching the methods, useful for application in production company environment. Vast focus is on layout design task, because once layout is created, except some minor changes, it lasts usually for some years and therefore it is necessary to consider it properly. Moreover, there is also difference between other characteristics of production, as production planning and machines / technologies upgrade and layout; the former are in a certain manner changeable and not stable, but the layout cannot be changed on for ex. weekly basis. Contribution to research is located at the end of theoretical part, which is newly modified methodology to be more suitable for practical application. Practical part begins with the description of particular case study, e.g. actual status of logistic system in enterprise. The processes described include purchasing management, production management and mainly layout design of production space. The application of suitable methods consists of group technology methods – already known method, plus newly modified method and their mutual comparison. In addition is included already known value stream mapping method. The result is recommendation for change in layout design, developed by integration of results, brought by group technology methods and value stream mapping method.

I Sverige är 99.9 % av alla företag SME-företag. I dagens samhälle har förändrade förutsättningar och globala marknader ändrat kundkraven på exempelvis ledtid. Svenska tillverkande SME-företag kräver således ett sätt att anpassa sin produktion till dessa förändrade förutsättningar. VSM är en metod där current- och future-state mappas för att tydliggöra hur produktionen ser ut idag och hur det ska se ut imorgon. Det påvisas dock i tidigare studier att det finns hinder med VSM som motverkar framtagning av FSM. Det ska dock noteras att merparten av de studier som tidigare utförts har gjorts vid utländska företag eller företag större än SME. Dessa studier har dessutom genomförts i syfte att observera VSM i helhet och de fördelar som metoden har, eller undersöka vissa få hinder. Syftet med arbetet är därför att undersöka vilka hinder som kan försvåra för svenska SME-företag att designa future-state värdeflödeskartor som är lämpliga sett till deras verksamhet. Detta för att bättre möjliggöra för VSM implementation hos dessa företag. Detta har utförts genom att jämföra tidigare litteratur med en fallstudie på ett svenskttillverkande SME-företag inom metallindustrin och undersöka de mönster i hindren som observerats. Resultatet av arbetet var en modell av hinder som kan komma att försvåra försvenska SME-företag att designa future-state värdeflödeskartor som är lämpliga sett till deras verksamhet. Från denna modell tydliggörs ett stor överlapp mellan det empiriska resultatet och resultatet från tidigare studier. Ett hinder från tidigare litteratur motbevisas även och exkluderas från modellen. Detta medför att framtida utövare på svenska tillverkande SME-företag aktivt kan göra sig medvetna om de hinder som de kan tänkas stöta på samt vad dessa kan ha för påverkan på deras FSM, och genom detta förbereda sig för att möta dessa hinder. Framtida studier skulle kunna undersöka hinder vid användning av VSM-metoden på flera olika svenska tillverkande SME-företag och således skapa en bredare bild av hinder med VSM för framställning av en FSM / In Sweden, 99.9% of all companies are SMEs. In today's society, changing conditions and global markets have altered customer requirements, such as lead time. Therefore, Swedish manufacturing SMEs require a way to adapt their production to these changing conditions. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is one such method that maps the current and future states to clarify how production looks today and how it should look tomorrow. However, previous studies have shown that there are obstacles with VSM that hinder the development of Future State Maps (FSMs). It should be noted that the majority of previous studies have been conducted in foreign or larger-than-SME companies. These studies have also been carried out to observe the entirety of VSM and its benefits or to investigate a few specific obstacles. The purpose of this study is to examine the obstacles that may hinder Swedish SMEs from designing future-state value stream maps suitable for their operations, in order to better enable VSM implementation in these companies. This has been accomplished by comparing previous literature with a case study conducted at a Swedish manufacturing SME in the metal industry and examining the patterns observed in the obstacles. The result of this work was a model of obstacles that may hinder Swedish SMEs from designing future-state value stream maps suitable for their operations. This table clearly shows a significant overlap between the empirical findings and the results from previous studies. Additionally, one obstacle from previous literature is contradicted. As a result, future practitioners in Swedish manufacturing SMEs can actively become aware ofthe obstacles they may encounter and understand their impact on their FSMs, thereby preparing to address these obstacles. Future studies could investigate obstacles in the use of the VSM method in several different Swedish manufacturing SMEs to create a broader understanding of obstacles with VSM for the development of an FSM.

[pt] A indústria offshore vive atualmente a quarta revolução industrial que traz novos desafios para a cadeia de suprimentos e exige a implementação de paradigmas clássicos como a filosofia Lean, a fim de aumentar a eficiência e aprimorar processos, obtendo vantagens competitivas sustentáveis que são requisitos base para a transformação digital. Entretanto, ainda é limitada a aplicação do Lean no setor de transporte rodoviário e há escassez de estudos práticos sobre como o Lean Transportation (LT) pode apoiar a melhoria das operações offshore. Dessa forma, objetiva-se aplicar técnicas do LT para reduzir desperdícios no processo de transporte dedicado destinados à cadeia de suprimentos offshore de uma empresa de grande porte do setor de óleo e gás. Para isso utilizou-se uma pesquisa-ação com abordagem multimétodo por meio de scoping review, grupos focais e observação participante e aplicação de ferramentas Lean como o Value Stream Mapping (VSM) para identificar desperdícios presentes no processo e possibilidades de melhoria competitiva para a área interna de logística da empresa em análise, permitindo uma logística de transporte planejada com nível de serviço adequado às necessidades do cliente. Como produto, observou-se a redução de desperdícios principalmente nas etapas de espera de carregamento e descarregamento em transporte rodoviário dedicado por meio de um caso de intervenção real, resultando na implementação de ações de controle, automatização e aprimoramento das atividades com redução expressiva do tempo de inatividade do processo, ganho monetário de 6.300.000,00 reais por ano para a operação e produtos como questionário de benchmarking, protocolo de pesquisa-ação e ciclo PDCA que podem ser aplicados em outras empresas do mesmo segmento. Também foram identificados, qualitativamente, desperdícios associados a esforço humano e recursos digitais mal-empregados ou não implementados. / [en] The offshore industry is currently experiencing the fourth industrial revolution that brings new challenges to the supply chain and requires the implementation of classical paradigms such as Lean philosophy in order to increase efficiency and improve processes, obtaining sustainable competitive advantages that are basic requirements for digital transformation. However, the application of Lean in the trucking industry is still limited and there is a dearth of practical studies on how Lean Transportation (LT) can support the improvement of offshore operations. Thus, the objective is to apply LT techniques to reduce waste in the dedicated transportation process for the offshore supply chain of a large oil and gas company. To do so, it was used action research with a multi-method approach through scoping review, focus groups and participant observation and application of Lean tools such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to identify waste present in the process and possibilities of competitive improvement for the internal logistics area of the company under analysis, allowing a planned transport logistics with a level of service appropriate to customer needs. As a result, there was a reduction in waste mainly in the waiting stages of loading and unloading in dedicated road transport through a real intervention case, resulting in the implementation of control actions, automation and improvement of activities with a significant reduction in downtime of the process, monetary gain of BRL 6,300,000.00 per year for the operation and products such as a benchmarking questionnaire, action research protocol and PDCA cycle that can be applied to other companies in the same segment. We also identified, qualitatively, waste associated with human effort and digital resources misused or not implemented.

中小企業為台灣企業的主體，並為台灣帶來穩定的就業機會和經濟貢獻；然而這些中小企業在累積了十年以上的深厚技術根柢和豐富的成功經驗後，往往因為生產管理技術無法與時俱進以及顧客消費習慣改變而難以繼續成長。 上述之中小企業的經營瓶頸以營造業最為顯著和迫切。營造業泛指從事土木、建築工程及其相關業務之營繕工程的廠商，以及提供周邊服務，如建材生產和營造租賃等廠商；而以中小企業為主體、素有帶動經濟發展之「火車頭工業」美譽的營造業受限於營繕工程以層層分包和低價者得標的交易方式，使得工程承包商只能以價格競爭來搶奪有限的建案，導致公司的營運受到影響；而觀察台灣整體營造業營業支出，可發現主要的成本發生在建築材料的採購上，因此，藉由降低建築材料生產成本以降低售價將可有效降低承包商的採購成本，進而提升利潤空間。 精實生產系統以及時生產系統為核心，藉由及時生產系統於流程管理、員工管理，以及品質管理上的實務作為將產品生產過程中的各項作業整合來發展精實生產系統在與供應商、中心廠商，以及顧客有關的十大精實要素，進而消除生產系統因原料供給、生產作業，以及顧客需求的不確定性而產生的浪費，以達到用最少的庫存和作業活動來降低生產作業的成本進而建立競爭優勢。 因此為降低建材的生產成本，可藉由價值溪流圖的協助在生產建材的中心廠商導入精實生產系統進而達到降低生產成本和提高生產效率的目的；然而受限於營造業專案導向產業特性和獨一無二的營繕專案，以及目前精實生產系統之主要探討個案多為製造業，造成目前學界對於中小企業的營造業和精實生產系統兩者之適用性探討和研究較為緩慢；因此若能確定其適用性和建立個案討論，將有助於未來提升台灣中小企業的營造業之競爭力，並提供中小企業管理者在進行生產作業改善時的參考。 本研究利用個案研究法分析專營建材加工生產的中小企業A公司，藉由與公司創辦人面對面訪談、生產線實地觀察，以及蒐集生產數據等方式探討A公司的生產作業流程，並以A公司生產具代表性顧客產品的兩條生產線為例，藉由繪製價值溪流圖來找出潛在的浪費，並制定具體的精實生產系統導入方案以及預期的精實改善結果。 本研究以實務驗證精實生產系統於台灣營造業的中小企業的適用性，研究發現在價值溪流圖的協助下，與中心廠商有關的精實生產要素可適用於營造業的中小企業，並且能夠有效的降低生產成本和提升生產效率；而與供應商和顧客相關的精實生產要素雖然可能受限於中小企業的規模和資源而難以發展，但是在善用自身的能力下，仍可有限度的達到部分的精實生產目標。 / The small and medium enterprises （SMEs） are the majority of Taiwanese enterprise and has been providing stable job opportunity and contribution to Taiwanese economy; However, after having been successful for a decade, the Taiwanese SMEs are having stagnant growth because of their inability to keep up with the up-to-date production management techniques and ever-changing consumer preferences. Among all of the Taiwanese SMEs, the SMEs in construction industry are suffering the most significant challenge from stagnant growth. The Taiwanese construction industry includes contractors and provider of services such as building material manufacturers, and is mostly consisted of SMEs and is well-known for its economic impact on other related industries and thus also known as “Development Driver of All Industries”. Although having significant impact on economy, the SMEs in construction industry are facing fierce price competition that would greatly contract their profit margin and thus seriously affect their survival. The cause of such price competition is that most of the major construction projects are divided into several minor contracts and assigned to the sub-contractors with the lowest tender bids. Therefore, in order to compete for limited construction projects without affecting the profit margin, the contractors need to minimize their tender price by conserving the total construction cost for each minor contracts. According to the government statistics, the major expenditure in construction industry lies in the cost of building materials. Therefore, if the manufacturers are able to decrease the cost of production for building materials and reflect the conserved cost to the selling price, the contractors would have more profit margin. In order to effectively reduce such manufacturing cost, the manufacturer can implement lean production into their current production system. With the assistance of Value Stream Mapping （VSM）, an effective lean production implementation tool, the manufacturers would be able to develop lean production’s 10 elements within the supply chain by facilitating the Just-in-Time production system to eliminate wastes caused by unstable production system and therefore integrating the operation activities among the supply chain, and eventually achieve the goal of reducing the cost of manufacturing building materials. However, the applicability of lean production on SMEs in construction industry has not yet been fully discussed. The project-oriented characteristic, one-of-a-kind construction projects, and lack of international competition have made construction industry slow in developing lean production, in spite of the potential advantage it may bring to the industry. Therefore, it would be a great assistance if we can confirm lean production is applicable in Taiwanese SMEs in construction industry. This research takes a Taiwanese SME building material factory as case study. By interviewing with the factory founder, inspecting production line, and collecting production statistics, we can explore the applicability of lean production on SMEs in Taiwanese construction industry, and by using VSM, we are able to identify the hidden waste and subsequently develop an improvement plan that would facilitate the key elements of lean production as well as the estimated implementation result. According to the research results, the lean production elements within the factory are applicable and are able to effectively decrease the cost of production and increase the efficiency of the production system. In addition to this, although limited by size and resources, the SMEs can still facilitate their inward ability to compensate the inability to develop the lean elements within supplier and customer, and thus achieve the goal of lean production.