Companies can satisfy their customers and stakeholders, become competitive and develop their effectiveness through effective logistic. The customers do not only request the right product andquality but also delivery precision. For the industries to deliver in time it is essential to have raw material and components in time to produce the products that the customer request. A correct inventoryrecord makes it easier to see when ordering is required and makes it possible to implement automatic order system. Many companies though, are struggling with their record accuracy. A company thatcould benefit from improving their record accuracy is SweProd Graphics AB. This student thesis aims therefore to find possible solutions to improve the inventory record accuracy. The issues that are treated in this thesis are the following: How well does the actual stock balance match the reported inventory balance? How to improve the inventory record accuracy? Which are the possibilities with the new ERP that the company are planning to implement and how can they use it? The method to answer these questions are interviews, researches in Visma, inventories, benchmarking, process mapping and literature studies. The theories deal with the importance of correct stockbalance, how stocktaking can be simplified and followed up, different methods for inventory accounting and different material planning system. The result showed that there is a need of improving the inventory record accuracy. Today the inventoried quantity is both more and less than the reported inventory balance. Nine potential reasons areidentified, these are among delivery, outbound and stocktaking. The suggestions to improve the inventory record accuracy are to record the transactions at the start of an order, simplifying the stocktaking, keep statistics over stocktaking and establish reorder points and two bin system. / Genom effektivare logistik kan företag tillfredsställa kunder och övriga intressenters behov, bli konkurrenskraftiga och öka sin effektivitet. Möjligheten att tillfredsställa kundernas behov är beroende av tillgång till material. Kunden efterfrågar inte bara rätt produkt och kvalitet utan också leveransprecision. För att de producerande företagen ska kunna leverera i tid krävs det att de har tillgång till material och komponenter för att kunna producera de produkter som kunden efterfrågar. Ett korrekt redovisat lagersaldo gör det enklare att se när material behöver beställas in och gör det möjligt att införa automatiska beställningssystem. Många företag har dock inte korrekt redovisade lagersaldon idag. Ett av de företag som skulle ha nytta av att förbättra sin lagerredovisning är SweProd Graphics AB. Examensarbetet som utförs på SweProd Graphics AB syftar därför till att finna möjliga tillvägagångssätt för att förbättra lagersaldosäkerheten. Frågeställningarna som behandlas i arbetet är:  <ul type="disc">Hur väl stämmer det verkliga lagersaldot med det redovisade lagersaldot i Visma?   Hur kan lagersaldosäkerheten förbättras?  Hur kan företaget använda sig av det systemstöd som ska införas? För att besvara frågeställningarna har intervjuer, undersökningar i Visma, inventeringar, benchmarking, processkartläggning och litteraturstudier använts som metod. Teorierna behandlar vikten av korrekt lagersaldo, hur inventeringar kan förenklas och följas upp, olika metoder för lagerredovisning och olika materialplaneringssystem.  Resultatet visade på att det finns ett behov av att förbättra redovisningen av lagersaldot. Som det ser ut i dagsläget är det inventerade antalet både mer och mindre än vad systemet redovisar. Nio potentiella orsaker till varför lagersaldot inte stämmer har identifierats, dessa återfinns både inom inleverans, utleverans och inventering. För att förbättra lagersaldosäkerheten ska förslagsvis materialuttag registreras vid start av produktionsorder, inventering förenklas, statistik föras över inventering och beställningspunkt och tvålådesystem införas.

<p>Today many companies face problems with inventory management. The importance of adequate inventory management has become more evident, while organizations try to reduce their costs and increase their service level.</p><p>This master thesis was conducted at VSM Group AB in Huskvarna, which is a manufacturer that produces and delivers sewing machines to a worldwide market. VSM Group AB has problems with the management and the refilling of the work-in-process (WIP) inventories and also with lack of information about component balance and location in the production and material planning system.</p><p>Therefore, the purpose of the thesis was to improve the control of the WIP inventories and the information about the components in the production and material planning system. In order to achieve the purpose, interviews and observations were performed, theories in inventory management were reviewed and the production process was studied.</p><p>Afterwards solutions for improvements were proposed. To solve the management and refilling problem, a kanban ordering system was proposed, which would use kanban cards to order components from the storages to the WIP inventories. To develop the component information displayed in the production and material planning system, an additional feature was proposed to the system. So instead of showing one inventory balance for each component, the system would display balances for three different places in the factory: the goods arrival and quality control area, the storage and the production.</p><p>The proposed solutions can provide several benefits to the company. The kanban ordering system can increase the material handlers’ efficiency, set a standard refilling quantity and be a tool for reducing the WIP inventory levels. The more detailed information in the production and material planning system can improve the decision making for the purchasers and planners and give the ability to measure the flow and level of material inside the factory.</p><p>These solutions will provide a more appropriate inventory management to the company, with better control of the components and improved information quality.</p>

Today many companies face problems with inventory management. The importance of adequate inventory management has become more evident, while organizations try to reduce their costs and increase their service level. This master thesis was conducted at VSM Group AB in Huskvarna, which is a manufacturer that produces and delivers sewing machines to a worldwide market. VSM Group AB has problems with the management and the refilling of the work-in-process (WIP) inventories and also with lack of information about component balance and location in the production and material planning system. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis was to improve the control of the WIP inventories and the information about the components in the production and material planning system. In order to achieve the purpose, interviews and observations were performed, theories in inventory management were reviewed and the production process was studied. Afterwards solutions for improvements were proposed. To solve the management and refilling problem, a kanban ordering system was proposed, which would use kanban cards to order components from the storages to the WIP inventories. To develop the component information displayed in the production and material planning system, an additional feature was proposed to the system. So instead of showing one inventory balance for each component, the system would display balances for three different places in the factory: the goods arrival and quality control area, the storage and the production. The proposed solutions can provide several benefits to the company. The kanban ordering system can increase the material handlers’ efficiency, set a standard refilling quantity and be a tool for reducing the WIP inventory levels. The more detailed information in the production and material planning system can improve the decision making for the purchasers and planners and give the ability to measure the flow and level of material inside the factory. These solutions will provide a more appropriate inventory management to the company, with better control of the components and improved information quality.