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This thesis describes how lean procurement can be implemented in a medium sized enterprise, focusing on opportunities in the process, methods to achieve the opportunities, and hinders that need to be handled. A literature study has been conducted to identify these aspects, organized by six implied implementation stages of lean procurement. To challenge the findings, an empirical study was conducted at Isaberg Rapid, in order to confirm or discard identified important concepts. In order to conduct a credible study, the choice of a qualitative method has been chosen to contribute to the studied area, with a main emphasis of providing an insider’s view of the case company by semi- and unstructured interview questions. Further, an abductive research process can explain the work order, where an iterative approach has been used between theoretical and empirical studies to create an understanding of the studied area. Isaberg Rapid as a case company was chosen because of their successful lean work and their current aim of implementing lean procurement. A starting point for the study was a theoretical review to decide how and what data that needed to be collected. This led to the choice of interviews, documents analysis and observations at the case company, where interviews were the main contributor with participants connected to lean and procurement. Collected data was interpreted and conceptualized, in order to function as a base for the analysis, together with the theoretical study. The theoretical study describes the opportunities, methods and hinders of lean procurement in the implied implementation stages of Internal lean, Understanding the supply, Establish lean suppliers, Efficient inbound logistics, Joint improvements and development, and finally An extended enterprise. The analysis compares these findings with the empirical study, to depict main concepts of lean procurement, related to medium sized enterprises. The study shows the importance of creating a lean culture that is manifested internally, that can support the development of the procurement function, and further motivate and influence suppliers to adapt the lean work. Main opportunities identified in the study are increased inventory turnover, capable suppliers and reduced waste in the supply chain. Important methods to enable the opportunities are assigned lean roles, education and training, kaizen events, kanbans, milk runs and knowledge sharing. Main hinders for the methods and opportunities are resistance, commitment and trust, resources, power circumstances, and distant suppliers.

<p>Study objects: JM, Folkhem and ABB.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose with this study are to examine how the supplier relations are in the construction branch and compare that result with how the supplier relations are for ABB a production company.</p><p>Theoretical: The theoretical chapter illustrates important and relevant parts of supplier relations, purchasing and supplier strategies to give good overview. The theoretical review will combine information from different fields to consent with the research problem.</p><p>Method: A case study has been made on three different companies, one of the companies was active in the production industry the other two were active in the construction industry. Data was mainly collected through semi structured interviews on each of the three companies.</p><p>Conclusions: The size of the company decided which point of view the company had on purchasing, traditional or modern view. All three companies had a centralized purchasing organization but the construction firms were more decentralized than the production company. The reason was that the construction firms were dependent with more flexibility when every construction project is unique.</p>

This thesis focuses on product design change in the fast fashion market and its impact on supplier companies. Theorizing from the relationship between product design and suppliers within an overarching framework of the supply chain and product design literatures, the research develops what impact product design changes have on supplier companies and how those changes connect to the performance of supplier companies. The multiple case study draws on interview data with 20 participants from a famous high-street fashion retailer and eight of its suppliers. This research validates that product design changes in the fast fashion market have physical and non-physical impacts across supplier company departments, and shows that these impacts connect significantly to the performance of supplier companies. This research contributes to the supply chain and product design literatures by providing an understanding of how product design changes create chain-like-effects, both internally and externally to supplier companies. This can catalyse supplier company strategy, which mitigates product design change to avoid this chain-like-effect. Practically, this thesis offers guidance for retailers and suppliers in creating solutions for the problems that they encounter during the product design change process by revealing the cause and effect relationship of product design changes and supplier companies. The results are currently limited to the fashion industry, and they are yet to be generalised to other buyer-driven commodity chains. Future research should focus on best practices for management to deal with the impact of product design change and in consideration in other industries.

<p>Bakgrund</p><p>Under de senaste 30 åren har företag inom det privata näringslivet alltmer fokuserat på att skapa nära relationer till sina leverantörer. I motsats till utvecklingen inom det privata näringslivet, har utvecklingen inom offentliga verksamheter alltmer kommit att präglas av att inköpen skall konkurrensutsättas. Lagen om offentlig upphandling (LOU) reglerar i hög grad offentliga organisationers relationer till sina leverantörer. Emellanåt väcks frågan om inte offentliga organisationer skulle ha nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer, liknande de som finns inom det privata näringslivet, där båda parter känner varandra och varandras behov väl.</p><p>Syfte</p><p>Syftet med undersökningen har varit att klarlägga huruvida den offentliga sektorn skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer när det gäller inköp av vissa tjänster, samt att utreda i vilken utsträckning LOU tillåter ett nära samarbete mellan den offentliga sektorn och dess privata leverantörer.</p><p>Genomförande</p><p>Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en fallstudie, då vi har undersökt relationerna mellan Linköpings kommun och dess leverantörer. Fallstudien har genomförts dels genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning bland Linköpings kommuns leverantörer, dels genom kvalitativa intervjuer med upphandlare och andra ämneskunniga personer.</p><p>Resultat</p><p>Undersökningen har visat att offentlig sektor skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer för att tillfredsställa tre olika typer av behov. Dessa behov gäller utveckling och effektivisering av verksamheten, leverantörernas medverkan i utformningen av tjänsterna samt längre avtalstider inom vissa verksamheter. Undersökningen har även visat att offentliga organisationer idag har möjlighet att samarbeta med sina leverantörer under flera olika former. Dessa samarbetsformer tillfredsställer till viss del de behov av närmare leverantörsrelationer som idag finns inom offentlig sektor.</p> / <p>Background</p><p>During the past 30 years, companies within the trade and industry have more and more focused on creating closer relationships with thier suppliers. In contrast to the development in the trade and industry, purchases within the public sector is nowadays caracterized by keen competition. The relationship between public organisations and their suppliers is regulated to a great extent by The Law of Public Purchases (LOU). Occasionally, the question is raised whether public organisations would benefit from closer relationships with their suppliers, relationships similar to those that can be observed in the trade and industry, where both parties know each other and each others interests well.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The aim of this paper is to find out whether the public sector would benefit from closer supplier relations when it comes to certain services, as well as to investigate to what extent LOU allows a closer collaboration between the public sector and ther private suppliers.</p><p>Implementation</p><p>The investigation has been implemented in the form of a case study, since we have studied the relations between the municipality of Linköping and its suppliers. The case study has been implemented partly though a quantitative survey among the suppliers of the municipality of Linköping, partly through qualitative interviews with purchasers and other people that have a lot of knowledge and experience of this matter.</p><p>Results</p><p>The investigation has shown that the public sector would benefit from closer relationships in order to satisfy three different types of needs. These needs concern development and effectivisation of the activity, the suppliers participation of the design of the services and longer time limits for contracts. The investigation has also shown that there are possibilities for public organisations to collaborate with their suppliers in different ways. These ways of collaboration partly satisfy the needs of closer supplier relations that we can find today within the public sector.</p>

<p>Till följd av marknadens utveckling har beroendet av informationsutbyte och samverkan i olika nätverk ökat. De senaste årtiondenas fokus på informationsutbyte och samarbete ledde till att Supply Chain Management uppstod. Flera forskare har karakteriserat lyckad styrning av samverkan som en kärnkompetens som krävs för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Ägande och kontrollfunktioner som tidigare låg inom samma verksamhet har förändrats och tillämpningen av VMI har uppkommit. VMI innebär att leverantören övertar ansvaret för lagerstyrningen hos kunden. Samarbetet kräver effektivt informationsflöde inom försörjningskedjan och ett bättre informationssystem, vilket ökar möjligheten att förbättra kedjans effektivitet. Vi hade, med den här utgångspunkten i åtanke, för avsikt att besvara problemformuleringen: Hur hanteras information i VMI-styrda relationer inom koncerner? Syften med undersökningen var att undersöka hur lagerstyrning i form av VMI fungerar i en koncern, förklara hur VMI påverkar informationsflöde och relationer i en koncern samt att analysera betydelsen av VMI för informationsutbytet. Efter teoretiska studier genomfördes en undersökning på en koncern där VMI har införts och givit resultat. Resultaten från intervjuerna har sedan analyserats och vi har kommit fram till följande. För att hantera information i VMI-styrda relationer krävs att det finns bra system, en tydlig ansvarsfördelning och förtroende mellan parterna.</p>

Till följd av marknadens utveckling har beroendet av informationsutbyte och samverkan i olika nätverk ökat. De senaste årtiondenas fokus på informationsutbyte och samarbete ledde till att Supply Chain Management uppstod. Flera forskare har karakteriserat lyckad styrning av samverkan som en kärnkompetens som krävs för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Ägande och kontrollfunktioner som tidigare låg inom samma verksamhet har förändrats och tillämpningen av VMI har uppkommit. VMI innebär att leverantören övertar ansvaret för lagerstyrningen hos kunden. Samarbetet kräver effektivt informationsflöde inom försörjningskedjan och ett bättre informationssystem, vilket ökar möjligheten att förbättra kedjans effektivitet. Vi hade, med den här utgångspunkten i åtanke, för avsikt att besvara problemformuleringen: Hur hanteras information i VMI-styrda relationer inom koncerner? Syften med undersökningen var att undersöka hur lagerstyrning i form av VMI fungerar i en koncern, förklara hur VMI påverkar informationsflöde och relationer i en koncern samt att analysera betydelsen av VMI för informationsutbytet. Efter teoretiska studier genomfördes en undersökning på en koncern där VMI har införts och givit resultat. Resultaten från intervjuerna har sedan analyserats och vi har kommit fram till följande. För att hantera information i VMI-styrda relationer krävs att det finns bra system, en tydlig ansvarsfördelning och förtroende mellan parterna.

Bakgrund Under de senaste 30 åren har företag inom det privata näringslivet alltmer fokuserat på att skapa nära relationer till sina leverantörer. I motsats till utvecklingen inom det privata näringslivet, har utvecklingen inom offentliga verksamheter alltmer kommit att präglas av att inköpen skall konkurrensutsättas. Lagen om offentlig upphandling (LOU) reglerar i hög grad offentliga organisationers relationer till sina leverantörer. Emellanåt väcks frågan om inte offentliga organisationer skulle ha nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer, liknande de som finns inom det privata näringslivet, där båda parter känner varandra och varandras behov väl. Syfte Syftet med undersökningen har varit att klarlägga huruvida den offentliga sektorn skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer när det gäller inköp av vissa tjänster, samt att utreda i vilken utsträckning LOU tillåter ett nära samarbete mellan den offentliga sektorn och dess privata leverantörer. Genomförande Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en fallstudie, då vi har undersökt relationerna mellan Linköpings kommun och dess leverantörer. Fallstudien har genomförts dels genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning bland Linköpings kommuns leverantörer, dels genom kvalitativa intervjuer med upphandlare och andra ämneskunniga personer. Resultat Undersökningen har visat att offentlig sektor skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer för att tillfredsställa tre olika typer av behov. Dessa behov gäller utveckling och effektivisering av verksamheten, leverantörernas medverkan i utformningen av tjänsterna samt längre avtalstider inom vissa verksamheter. Undersökningen har även visat att offentliga organisationer idag har möjlighet att samarbeta med sina leverantörer under flera olika former. Dessa samarbetsformer tillfredsställer till viss del de behov av närmare leverantörsrelationer som idag finns inom offentlig sektor. / Background During the past 30 years, companies within the trade and industry have more and more focused on creating closer relationships with thier suppliers. In contrast to the development in the trade and industry, purchases within the public sector is nowadays caracterized by keen competition. The relationship between public organisations and their suppliers is regulated to a great extent by The Law of Public Purchases (LOU). Occasionally, the question is raised whether public organisations would benefit from closer relationships with their suppliers, relationships similar to those that can be observed in the trade and industry, where both parties know each other and each others interests well. Purpose The aim of this paper is to find out whether the public sector would benefit from closer supplier relations when it comes to certain services, as well as to investigate to what extent LOU allows a closer collaboration between the public sector and ther private suppliers. Implementation The investigation has been implemented in the form of a case study, since we have studied the relations between the municipality of Linköping and its suppliers. The case study has been implemented partly though a quantitative survey among the suppliers of the municipality of Linköping, partly through qualitative interviews with purchasers and other people that have a lot of knowledge and experience of this matter. Results The investigation has shown that the public sector would benefit from closer relationships in order to satisfy three different types of needs. These needs concern development and effectivisation of the activity, the suppliers participation of the design of the services and longer time limits for contracts. The investigation has also shown that there are possibilities for public organisations to collaborate with their suppliers in different ways. These ways of collaboration partly satisfy the needs of closer supplier relations that we can find today within the public sector.

Study objects: JM, Folkhem and ABB. Purpose: The purpose with this study are to examine how the supplier relations are in the construction branch and compare that result with how the supplier relations are for ABB a production company. Theoretical: The theoretical chapter illustrates important and relevant parts of supplier relations, purchasing and supplier strategies to give good overview. The theoretical review will combine information from different fields to consent with the research problem. Method: A case study has been made on three different companies, one of the companies was active in the production industry the other two were active in the construction industry. Data was mainly collected through semi structured interviews on each of the three companies. Conclusions: The size of the company decided which point of view the company had on purchasing, traditional or modern view. All three companies had a centralized purchasing organization but the construction firms were more decentralized than the production company. The reason was that the construction firms were dependent with more flexibility when every construction project is unique.

The focus of this thesis is to analyze the management of supplier relationships in a supply chain and develop cost-effective processes for manufacturing of a finished product at a global company in Sweden. The study was initiated when the application of literature was of interest to one of the company's products that is under development. So far, the company's great focus has been on developing the product and getting as close to the finished product as possible. Equal focus has not yet been focused on managing suppliers and on defining the processes that arise after the finished product. The intention has been to facilitate decision-making in supplier management and manufacturing that will arise when the prototype will become a finished product and will be launched on the market. The aim for this study is to analyze the value chain in order to develop and check various production facilities to create opportunities for cost savings. -          RQ1. How does a good manufacturing strategy help in developing cost efficient products? -          RQ2. What are the challenges in developing a value chain containing several external suppliers? The approach applied in the study has been a review of scientific literature that provides a basis for answering the purpose and the questions that have been created. Data collected from the literature have been critically reviewed and adapted based on the purpose of the work and the empirical findings collected from the company. Data collected from the company in the form of interviews and observations have been regularly analyzed. The differences and similarities that exist between the empirical data and the literature have been elucidated by adapting the analysis to a pattern. The analysis provided a basis for the results where the development of two different concepts that can be used as an approach in the future could be created. The concepts were created and analyzed based on the company's prerequisites for applicable solutions. The results from the analysis were then summarized in results and recommendations with the categories: Value Stream Map, Hypothetical Production Line and Recommendations related to the modules of the product. These categories will facilitate decision-making regarding the choice of production in the future. Concepts that will facilitate decision-making for economic factors and process factors have also been developed as a “guideline” for approaches to supplier management and management of financial aspects.