Sambandet mellan materialförsörjningen och monteringsprocessen är väsentlig för hela processen och det är viktigt att de är utvecklade tillsammans. Att dessa system är framtagna utan hänsyn tillvarandra är ett generellt problem som många verksamheter har. Studiens syfte är därför att undersöka materialförsörjningen för en montering och dess samband med monteringsprocessen. Målet är att hitta vilken materialförsörjningmetod som är mest produktiv med avseende på tid per monterad produkt. Undersökningen utfördes som en fallstudie på monteringen hos LVI Low Vision International i Växjö. Genomförandet av studien innehåller en pilotstudie som testar materialförsörjningsmetoden kittning. Pilotstudien resulterade i en reducering av materialanskaffning från 37% till 9,7% i en specifik monteringsstation. Ett framtida läge för LVI presenteras i slutet av rapporten där fokus ligger på fortsatt utvecklingsarbete med kittning, ny utformning av anläggningslayout i monteringen och ett standardiserat arbetssätt.

Teknologiska framsteg ökar trycket på organisationer att ständigt förbättra sig för att möta kundens förväntningar. Ur ett helhetsperspektiv är logistiken en central del för en organisations konkurrenskraftighet på marknaden genom skapandet av effektivare flöden. För att uppnå effektivare flöden anses ofta digitalisering och automatisering som viktiga stöttepelare. Dessutom kan Lean Production bidra till effektivare flöden framförallt genom dess fokus på eliminering av icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter i verksamheten. Scania Ferruform i Luleå ska framöver öka sin produktionstakt och en effektivisering av deras slutflöde för bakaxeltillverkningen är därför nödvändig för att kunna säkerställa fullständiga leveranser till kund. Dagens flöde är ineffektivt och innehåller flertalet slöserier som inte bidrar med något värde till kunden. Det finns därför ett behov av automatisering av slutflödet för att uppnå ett jämnare och effektivare flöde. Dessutom behöver lagerstorlekarna utredas för att säkerställa fullständiga leveranser till kund inför den kommande kapacitetshöjningen. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka hur en tillverkande organisation kan effektivisera sitt materialflöde inför en kommande kapacitetshöjning. Syftet besvaras genom följande undersökningsmål (UM): UM: “Målet med denna studie är att presentera en framtida produktionslayout för slutflödet med tillhörande arbetsmetod för hantering av bakaxlar.” För att uppnå syftet med studien utfördes intervjuer och observationer för att skapa sig en förståelse av nuläget. Utifrån analysen av det nuvarande flödet kunde 18 slöserier identifieras. Vidare utfördes simuleringar och beräkningar för att fastställa lagerstorlekar samt antalet Q-gates och läckagetestanordningar. Detta medförde att en framtida produktionslayout kunde konstrueras i CAD-programmet AutoCAD. För att därefter kunna presentera ett framtida effektivare flöde. Resultatet av studien är en framtida produktionslayout som skapar ett effektivare flöde bland annat genom de 15 slöserier som kunnat elimineras. Utmärkande för layouten är det robotlager som konstruerats för lagring av de bakaxlar som ännu inte sekvenspackats, samt att läckagetestningen placerats efter torkningsprocessen. Dessutom har majoriteten av trucktransporterna kunnat elimineras genom införandet av transportband. Sammanfattningsvis har ett framtida effektivare flöde konstruerats som klarar av att hantera den framtida produktionsvolymen. Rekommendationen för Scania Ferruform i Luleå är därför att implementera layoutkonceptet då det skapar ett effektivare flöde som säkerställer leveranser till kund. Dessutom innebär konceptet kostnadsbesparingar genom att arbetsstyrkan kommer kunna reduceras med en truckförare och två operatörer.

The purpose of this bachelor’s degree work was to analyse a packaging station in a global manufacturing company in Sweden, and to provide an answer on why it is important with standardised work in preventing wrong deliveries. The purpose of the analysis was to come up with various improvement proposals in order to reduce and prevent wrong deliveries. The analysis of the packaging station was conducted by observing the station and understanding how the workers work and what kind of work procedure do they follow. The observations made it possible to conduct several conclusions on why the problems occurred, one of these conclusions was that the work procedure is not standardised which in turn increased the errors in the station. Through a clear problem description, it was possible to come up with improvement proposals by answering the following research questions:  Main RQ: Why is a standardised workplace important in a manufacturing company? To be able to answer the main research question, the question has been divided into two smaller sub-questions: 1.     How can a packaging area be standardised by using lean process improvement tools? 2.     How can operating standards improve the efficiency in a packaging station? The approach applied in this study and project has been qualitative research with an inductive approach, by reviewing scientific articles and observing the work in the packaging station it was possible to analyse and compare the collected data in order to come with a conclusion to the problem. The data that was collected in form of interviews has been continuously analysed in order to have as relevant data as possible for the improvements work.  By comparing the collected data from the literature and the case findings it was possible to lay a foundation for the analysis where the proposed improvements came from and to conclude a final proposed improvements that reduces the wrong deliveries in the packaging station. In conclusion, standardised work is important in order to prevent wrong deliveries because it contributes to a more clear and sustainable structure that the workers follow. By having standardised instructions and methods that is being followed, the amount of errors is reduced in the packaging station.  Wrong deliveries are reduced and prevented when there is a standardised work procedure that is based on the lean ideology in a packaging station

The aim of this Master thesis is to explore the impact of design parameters on material flow efficiency in terms of space and time (labor or person-hours) utilization. The factory material flow design process is an essential part of any manufacturing. The challenge for this project was to expose the components for the assembly operator within the space designated for materials at the workstation, meanwhile minimizing non-value-adding work and creating good ergonomics so that operators can achieve high workstation performance. In this study a new General Motors Powertrain Uzbekistan (GMPT-UZ) Greenfield manufacturing plant was considered as a case study for the design of internal material flow and implementation of lean principles. The research work was based on action research strategy where the researcher starts with a particular problem that he wants to solve, or understand better, usually within the environment where he is working. The findings underline the importance of each design parameter in the application of lean principles. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the material flow design process can still require a continuous improvement based on production targets and the best practices from other companies.

This report focuses on potential ways to improve the reliability of the production process at the wood refining company Dicomad S.R.L. in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. The main theory used has been Lean Production, as this theory suits the circumstances of the company well. Disorder has been the biggest problem, which has caused the safety in the factory to be below an acceptable level. Dicomad has two different businesses – producing decking and furniture. The decking production is fairly standardized whereas the furniture production is customized. The study was carried out during the summer and fall of 2009.The analysis has resulted in changes in the layout of the factory such that a clearer work flow as well as proper order can be maintained. More specifically, three new layout suggestions have been made. The first suggestion makes big changes in the layout creating the “optimal” layout for the current situation. The second makes slightly smaller changes and the third makes small, but important changes to the layout. Our choice of the three is the second suggestion which constitutes the best compromise given the current layout. This suggestion will bring substantial benefits in form of a clearer flow, more organized inventory and separation of the two businesses but does not include a strenuous movement of the molder. Furthermore, each operation in the factory has been scrutinized and suggested improvements have been made to banish disorganization. Suggestions include redesign of machines, addition of collecting mechanisms for material and creation of best practices for machines. The greatest improvements have been possible within the furniture manufacturing as the factory was originally designed for decking production only. Additionally, proposals about improving the light, the air quality and the general organization and cleanliness of the factory have been made.Only suggestions are presented, as the time available for the study was limited and any implementations were beyond our scope.

Workforce planning is a strategic key factor in the efficient use of the organisation’s resources. By promoting and utilizing the workforce’s kowledge, skills, education and competence the organisation can achieve long-term success.The purpose of this work is to investigate how planning and management of the operators competence can be reflected in the production. The primary questions that are intended to be answered in this work are:In which ways can a production prove to be vulnerable in terms of the competence among operators and their quantities?What effects can be achieved by broadening the competence among operators thru learning multiple machines? And how will it be possible to achieve a broadening of the competence?The aim of this case study is to present suggestions on how the competence among operators can be increased to achieve a more flexible production.The result showed that the production became vulnerable in flexibility in form of transfering personnel between machines and to replace absence when the quantity of operators has been strictly adapted to the number of machines. Since the operators received no opportunity to develop their competence they were instead limited to their orginal workplace. A competence matrix on minifactory level containing current state, target and activity list were presented as one of the suggestions to easier identify where the operators competence level is.

In today’s industry, the competitiveness between companies is continuously increasing and thus it is important to continue utilizing new technologies to make the operation more efficient and it is vital to strive towards continuous improvement. At this moment it is getting more and more vital to utilize the 4th industrial revolution in the production industry but to utilize this new wave of technology it is crucial to understand what in-efficiencies exist in a production plant and how to work with Lean production as well as implementing the new technologies such as Artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies are relatively new to the industrial industry and naturally, with new technologies, there are challenges, benefits but also risks involving new technology implementation. This must be done for companies to stay competitive within the sector even though it is not easy to implement, hence this thesis focuses on realizing these challenges and risks as well as understanding the benefits that can be gained when implementing artificial intelligence in production. When working with this kind of implementation it is important to consider all aspects that are affected by the change, this includes humans as well as the production itself in addition to that also the environment. It is important to understand that when working with this type of implementation it is important to realise what the lean wastes are and by understanding this it will be easier to know what AI can do to minimize or eliminate these wastes and thus making the operation more efficient. This study focuses on the challenges that this type of implementation might have as well as what benefits and risks that AI aided scheduling will have when its implemented. In this study, the findings are connected to a case study made at a focal company in the wood industry as well as an extensive literature study within the field. This thesis provided information in the analysis chapter about how these subjects are linked to the industry and how it's linked to the four main fields of this study. By combining the literature search with the findings from the case study at the focal company, vital information could be gathered and analysed. The areas of this study that was analysed and later discussed when answering the three research questions. The result of this thesis was later used as a base for suggestions for possible future implementations within the field. In addition to that, this study also acts as a framework for how AI implementations can benefit a company’s operation within the industrial sector

Lean Production is one of the most generally accepted concepts for increasing operational effectiveness. However, its implementation is still challenging for many companies as it implies not only changes of technical systems and management systems but also changes in attitudes and culture. Generalizable implementation steps have still not yet emerged and there are many ways to implement Lean Production. A Lean Production implementation is a never ending process since it is always possible to become leaner. Thus, the implementation of Lean Production is a long-term commitment for a company in order to reach success. There is a need for research on how to develop and integrate improvement work in order to establish a successful implementation of Lean Production. Accordingly, the overall purpose of the research presented in this thesis is to contribute to an increased understanding of how to successfully implement Lean Production. Moreover, the objective is to develop a supportive framework for a successful Lean Production implementation and to describe this in a general process for the implementation of improvement work. Through literature reviews and three research studies, a supportive framework for the successful implementation of improvement work has been developed. The first study is an explanatory literature and interview study to build a concept model of improvement work. The second study is an exploratory embedded single case study that was conducted to validate the model. Finally, the third study is an exploratory multiple holistic case study that investigated enablers for continuous improvement after a radical implementation of Lean Production. The resulting supportive framework consists of important actions to consider during the different stages of a process for the implementation of improvement work. In the first stage after a radical implementation phase, actions important to sustain change and enable continuous improvement include for example a focus on good leadership on shop floor and efforts in the area of control and follow-up of results in production teams. To develop continuous improvement several actions are defined, like the importance of understanding the context of improvement work including important relations to operations and to develop the production strategy with objectives to align the improvement work. To reach long term success it is important to integrate continuous improvement into operations and important actions for this stage are for example to update the Operational Management System on the company-specific-production-system framework’s processes continuously, which includes visualisation of the overall improvement work process. / INNOFACTURE - innovative manufacturing development

Byggsektorn är en bransch med höga produktionskostnader, som till stor del är baserat på resursslöseri. Ett av dessa slöserier är lager, som är nödvändiga inom de flesta organisationer men som ofta kan reduceras i storlek och förbättra sin struktur. Detta kan uppnås med hjälp av filosofin Lean, vars principer både gynnar företaget samt leder till en minskad miljöpåverkan (M. Kidwell 2006; J. Maxwell, 1996). Detta genom att eliminera slöserier och effektivisera processer, vilket också kan tillämpas inom lagerhantering. Projektet har genomförts i samarbete med Skanska och NCC, som båda upplevt problem med strukturen på deras lager. Det övergripande syftet med detta projekt är att ta fram och testa en tydlig metod som kan användas vid strukturering inom en verksamhet. Däremot har inte en fullständig implementering av Lean och 5S skett, utan en lättare version som enkelt kan bidra till struktur. Målet med detta projekt är framförallt att den framtagna metoden ska kunna användas av verksamheter som behöver ordning och reda. Ytterligare ett mål är att Skanska och NCC ska få förbättringsförslag om hur de kan förbättra sina lager. Dessa lösningar samt den framtagna metoden ska också bidra till de tre hållbarhetsmålen. För att kunna nå dessa mål har projektet framförallt använt workshops, men också observationer och intervjuer.  Företagen hade liknande resultat, däremot är de anpassade efter de olika verksamheterna. Ett nuläge, önskat läge och förbättringsförslag utifrån 5S kunde då tas fram. Nuläget visade dålig ordning och reda på lagren hos både Skanska och NCC. Även det önskade läget var liknande då de båda ville ha markerade platser för verktyg och material, en tydlig standard och att alla hjälps åt och engagerar varandra. Detta resulterade i att förbättringsförslag kunde tas fram. Den största slutsatsen som kunde dras av projektet var att en lättare implementering av 5S kunde användas om en verksamhet vill ha struktur på ett lager. Workshop visade sig också vara en effektiv metod för att åstadkomma ett resultat med hjälp av deltagarnas erfarenheter och idéer. Genom att praktiskt testat en workshop och sammanställt teori, intervjuer och observationer har en färdigställd guide tagits fram för hur 5S-metoden kan bidra till struktur på ett lager.

Syftet med detta arbete är att få en bättre förståelse av vad Lean Production innebär, med dess ingående grunder såsom Toyota Production System (TPS), samt hur det implementeras rent praktiskt i industrin, där teorin bakom Lean Production sätts i verksamhet. Lean Production är en filosofi där man arbetar för att uppnå en så resurseffektiv produktion som möjligt, genom att bland annat minska på olika former av slöseri. För att gränsa av arbetets omfång, undersöks specifikt Scanias motoravdelning och hur deras implementering av Lean Production och tolkning av Toyota Production System ser ut. Arbetet utfördes både som en litteraturstudie, med vetenskapliga källor från KTH:s databas och litteratur inom Lean Production och Toyota Production, och fältstudie i form av en intervju med en anställd inom motoravdelningen på Scania, rundtur i produktionen samt föreläsning om Scania Production System (SPS). Toyota är grundaren bakom Toyota Production System, där de utvecklat ett unikt system som ger resultat i form av kvalité och effektivitet. Från att vara ett litet företag utvecklades de till värdens största bilproducent och är en av de främsta anledningarna varför Lean och TPS uppmärksammats så pass mycket. Toyota har 14 principer som berör deras filosofi, människor, processer och problemlösning där dessa principer anses vara till nytta för företag som söker att utveckla sitt företag, både inom service och tillverkning. Lean Production är en filosofi som härstammar från TPS, där man i huvudsak fokuserar på att eliminera sju olika typer av slöseri och istället tillföra mer värde till kunden. Resultatet av detta arbete har genererat en helhetsbild av vad Lean Production och dess grunder är och hur det implementerats i Scanias motoravdelning, där de utvecklat ett eget produktionssystem SPS, modulsystemet och individhanteringen. I SPS återfinns många av de begrepp som diskuteras i TPS och Lean Production och är också den väsentliga likheten mellan dessa tre produktionssystem. Det som skiljer Scania från TPS och Lean Production är främst individhanteringen och modultänket. Slutsatsen att Scania har en bättre anpassning efter Lean än vi tidigare trott och att deras arbete stämmer väl överens med vad Lean Production är idag. / The purpose of this work is to gain a better understanding of what Lean Production entails, with its basic foundations such as the Toyota Production System (TPS), and how it is implemented practically in the industry, where the theory behind Lean Production is put into operation. Lean Production is a philosophy in which you work to achieve as resourceefficient production as possible, by among other things reducing various forms of waste. To limit the scope of the work, Scania's engine department is specifically investigated and how their implementation of Lean Production and interpretation of the Toyota Production System looks. The work was carried out both as a literature study, with scientific sources from KTH's database and literature within Lean Production and Toyota Production, and field study in the form of an interview with an employee in the engine department at Scania, a tour of the production and a lecture on the Scania Production System. Toyota is the founder of the Toyota Production System, where they developed a unique system that gives results in terms of quality and efficiency. From being a small company, they were developed into the world's largest car manufacturer and are one of the main reasons why Lean and TPS were noticed. Toyota has 14 principles that address their philosophy, people, processes and problem solving, where these principles are of benefitial to companies seeking to develop their business, both in service and manufacturing. Lean Production is a philosophy that originates from TPS, where it mainly focuses on eliminating seven different types of waste and instead adding more value to the customer. The result of this work has generated an overall picture of what Lean Production and its foundations are and how it has been implemented in Scania's engine department, where they developed their own production system SPS, the modular system and individual management. In the SPS, many of the concepts discussed in TPS and Lean Production are found and are also the main similarity between these three production systems. What distinguishes Scania from TPS and Lean Production is primarily individual management and the modular thinking. The conclusion is that Scania is better adapted to Lean than we previously thought and that their work fits well with what Lean Production is today.