Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how ABC-classified article placement can reduce transport distances within warehouse operations, which do not use volume-based article placement. Based on the purpose, two research questions have been formulated: [1]   How can an ABC-classified article placement be established in order to minimize transport distances within warehouses? [2]   How much can transport distances be reduced by using an ABC-classified article placement instead of a non-volume based storage? Method – The methods that have been used to collect data have been a case study and a literature review. The case study has been performed on Sherwin-Williams’ distribution centre in Nässjö and has mainly been based on two months of picking data. Interviews and observations have supplemented the document study. The literature review has resulted in a theoretical framework in which the relevant theories of the study have been presented. The collected data was analysed by comparing the different results against each other. Further comparisons analysed the empirical data against the theoretical framework. Findings – The study has resulted in a model of how ABC-classified article placement with the purpose to reduce transport distances can be designed. The model is based on a few steps that are: pilot study, performance of an ABC-analysis based on the articles picking rate, and zone division. According to the case study ABC-classified article placement can reduce up to 35 % of internal transportation distances and according to the theoretical framework of up to 55 %. Implications – Warehouses that want to use the study can proceed from the steps presented in the analysis section. Furthermore, the practical implications of the study results in a system configuration and the movement of goods to the introduction of the ABC-classified article placement. The study implies theoretically that the volume-based article placement minimizes transport distances. The existing theories stating this is evidenced in this study which also shows that warehouses with less skewed ABC-curves can benefit from placing high frequency goods near the loading area. The study contributes with a new model that has been developed by compiling theories in the studied area. Limitations – The study has been limited to a single case study. The calculations made in the study have excluded items that require special storage, small package picking and distance between the pallets that are retrieved together. Transport distances have been calculated from the loading area and has excluded the distance between the racks and unload area.

This dissertation is comprised of three different studies researching user perception of comfort when using wearable technology. The first study investigated the use of altered smart glasses to study comfort, preference, and performance while executing common logistical order picking and shipment putting tasks. The impact of design type (weighted front, side, or back) was investigated using comfort rating scales (CRS). There was no significant difference in device preference regardless of task type. Despite the side weighted arrangement being the most comfortable, the participants still felt uncomfortable. The second study explored modifying the weights to the six dimensions of the CRS to create a comfort score. There was a strong correlation between the weighted and unweighted comfort score. Participants identified Harm as the most important dimension. The results suggest that the participants valued importance did not make a difference in the comfort score. The final study examined the use of a wand scanner and two wearable devices to study comfort and performance while executing common logistical shipment putting tasks. The impact of the wearables was investigated using the CRS. Participants identified the ring and wand scanner to be the most comfortable and the glasses as the least comfortable device. The CRS scores showed that participants became more uncomfortable using the smart glasses over time during the completion of the putting task. These three studies provided insight for industry from a comfort perspective that will be helpful when trying to incorporate wearable technology in the work place.

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Food waste is a global concern due to its negative contribution to all aspects ofsustainability and organizations are looking for new ways to directly impact their own food waste and operate their business in a more sustainable way. Part ofthe food waste stems from warehouse activities where mishandling and poorly packed rolling storage containers (RSCs) lead to damaged items during transport. The storage assignment dictates how the items are ordered in awarehouse and is therefore responsible for how items are packed into RSCs. Due to the lack of previous research in this area, this thesis aims to investigate how the multi-criteria ABC-analysis can be used to optimize the storage assignment with the intent of minimizing food waste. A qualitative case study at Warehouse X was conducted where ten employees highlighted several criteria such as weight, volume, and similarity, that all need to be considered when optimizing the storage assignment. A total of nine criteria were used to generate eight classes that are used in the proposed multi-criteria ABC-analysis. The proposed model can be used by all actors in the Swedish food industry to improve their warehouse operations and operate them in a more sustainable way to reduce their food waste. It is also generalizable to warehouses outside the Swedish food industry

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are currently achieving massive growth but the problems and challenges associated with them are less understood. A goal in supply chain management is to maintain a solid flow of goods from raw materials to manufacturers and distribution of the final product. In managing all of these moving parts, warehousing plays a vital and central role to streamlining the supply chain. Furthermore, expanding a firm’s business to one or more locations as trends in markets, and consumer demands are continuously changing has proven vital to succeed. Yet, there is under developed research in the are of geographical expansion as it pertains to warehouse operations as an SME. In understanding these challenges and motivations to expand, SMEs have a greater chance to succeed. This thesis uses a combination of the existing literature surrounding global warehouse expansion as well as a field study that was conducted to gain further insight into an SME that is currently undergoing a warehouse expansion in both Germany and the United States. The motives for expansion to these locations are explored through semi structured interviews of six employees involved in the warehouse project. There is great complexity in this case, where unfamiliar locations and market potential are unknown, making this sector within supply chain management of SMEs an important one to investigate.

During the last decades, it has been brought to light that well organized logistics processes have contributed to competitive advantages for companies. Mio AB, a chain store warehouse and the second largest furniture company in Sweden, is operating in the middle of an expansion phase with growing revenue. As a consequence, larger volumes of goods are handled, space utilization become more scarce and the everyday operations within the internal logistics are affected. Therefore, the processes within the warehouse department were measured by performing a frequency study, registering how time was distributed between the different work tasks. In order to fully understand the processes, interviews were held with management and personnel. After analyzing previous research that could help guide to ease the impositions and analyzing the result of the frequency study, wastes were identified and new ways of working were suggested. The result firstly presents how to organize internal logistics operations in chain store warehouses to gain competitive advantage. Secondly, keeping in mind that firefighting stressed situations usually is not sustainable and only eases loads temporarily, long-term sustainability and ethics were addressed. Concluding that in order to optimize internal logistics operations in chain store warehouses and gain a long-term competitive advantage in a sustainable way, are achieved through standardizing work tasks, ensuring commitment of management and personnel and applying systems to serve the people and processes. Lastly it is advised to keep in mind the impact a company have on its surroundings and the importance of engaging in sustainable and ethically friendly operations, in order to achieve long-term competitive logistics.

The cost of packets or pallets handling at the studied freight company has increased considerable through the years due to increase in online shopping. As a result of this, the company has tried different methods of processing packets and pallets at the warehouse without effective result. The primary aim of the study is to analyze communication and collaboration of information in the warehouse and come up with a possible improvement suggestion to the multinational freight company. The result from the analysis shows the weak points in information sharing between different areas of warehouse operations of the multinational freight company. The outcome of the study recommends use of information technology such as Radio Frequency Identification and Wireless Sensor Network. The recommendation will allow extension of information sharing to all processes involved in packets or pallets handling at the warehouse.

The rise of the sharing economy is forcing industries to move from traditional take-make-waste economy towards circular ones (Schuttelaar & Partners, 2019). Along with the increasing influence of e-commerce, supply-chain collaboration and globalization has increased the pressure of warehouse operations and requires more efficient operations with the use of less resources thanever before (Frazelle, 2016). Lean is a concept that has gained attention as a means of doing morewith less, through reducing wastes and continuously improving, which has been successful within the manufacturing sector. The difficulties of translating this concept into non-repetitive environments has contributed to the low level of adoption within industries like construction. Where companies within construction equipment rental have an even greater challenge, dealing with circular product flows. Thus, making their warehousing operations inherently complex along with the large amounts of different products. The thesis has focused on analysing the warehouse operations flow of collective fall protectionproducts in the equipment rental industry, from customer order to customer return. This has been enabled by performing an adapted Value Stream Mapping method in a new setting for equipmentrental industries. Where Value Stream Mapping traditionally is applied in manufacturing to visually represents the actions that are required for a product to move through the production andinformation flows. The purpose of the study is to apply VSM beyond manufacturing and tosummarize the results in order to provide suggestions for improving the handling of non-serialized products within the equipment rental industry. A case company within the equipment rental industry has been used to meet the purpose of the study by testing and evaluating the proposed frame work. The findings have been followed up by performing a return handling study, conducted by equipment rental professionals, which has been subject to a statistical analysis. The findings from the VSM are used as a foundation for the return handling study, which serves as a means of verifying or dismissing them. These are then summarized in suggestions for improvements to the case company and suggestions for future actions. Among the findings are indications of longer return times for products that are not forewarned prior to returns, and increase processing rates for sorted returns. Furthermore three product types were more frequently requiring repairs, cleaning and scrapping compared to other products, suggesting that these requiremore time to process. The company is advised to work with standardizing processes for return handling throughout the organization within invoicing specifications and product storage. Suggestions for future research within the subject area is also presented. / Den ökande utbredningen av delningsekonomi tvingar industrier att gå från traditionella linjära affärsmodeller mot cirkulära (Schuttelaar & Partners, 2019). Utöver denna förändring så ökar även trycket på lagerverksamheter som ett resultat av det ökande inflytandet av e-handel, Supply-Chainsamarbete och globalisering som kräver effektivare verksamheter med användning av mindre resurser än någonsin förut (Frazelle, 2016). Lean är ett koncept som har uppmärksammats som en filosofi för att hantera dessa förändringar, genom att åstadkomma mer med mindre resurser och därmed minska slöseri och att sträva efter ständiga förbättringar, vilket har varit framgångsrikt inom tillverkningssektorn. Svårigheterna med att översätta detta koncept till icke-repetitiva miljöer har bidragit till den begränsade appliceringen av lean inom industrier som byggnadskonstruktion. Där företag inom uthyrning av byggnadsmaskiner och utrustning har en ännu större utmaning, då deras verksamhet bygger på cirkulära produktflöden. Vilket orsakar komplex lagerhantering av många olika produkter i stora mängder. Avhandlingen har fokuserat på att analysera lagerflödet av kollektiva fallskyddsmedel i uthyrningsbranschen, från kundorder till kundreturer. Detta har möjliggjorts genom att utföra en anpassad värdeflödeskartläggning i ett nytt sammanhang, nämligen för företag inom uthyrning av byggnadsmaskiner och utrustning. Där värdeflödeskartläggning vanligtvis används inom tillverkning för att visuellt representera de aktiviteter som krävs för att en produkt ska kunna flytta genom produktions- och informationsflödena. Syftet med studien är att tillämpa värdeflödeskartläggning utanför tillverkningssektorn och att sammanfatta resultaten i form av förslag på förbättringar av hanteringen av icke-serienumrerade produkter inom uthyrningsbranschen. Ett samarbete med ett fallföretag inom uthyrningsindustrin har genomgåtts för att uppfylla syftet med studien. Tillsammans med fallföretaget har det föreslagna ramarbetet testats och utvärderats. Resultaten har följts upp genom att genomföra en returhanteringsstudie, som utförs av verksamma inom lager hanteringen för kollektiva fallskyddsmedel, studiens resultat har sedan varit föremål för en statistisk analys. Upptäckterna från värdeflödeskartläggningen användes som grund för returhanteringsstudien, som agerat medel för att verifiera eller avfärda dem. Dessa har sedan sammanfattas i förslag till förbättringar till fallföretaget och förslag till framtida åtgärder. Bland resultaten finns indikationer på längre hanteringstider för returer som inte är förvarnade innan de blir återlämnade, samt minskade hanteringstider för sorterade returer. Dessutom krävde tre produkttyper ofta reparationer, rengöring och skrotning jämfört med andra produkter, vilket tyder på att dessa produkter är mer tidskrävande vid returer. Företaget rekommenderas att arbeta med standardiseringsprocesser för returhantering i hela organisationen, mer specifikt inom bestämmelser för fakturering och produktlagring. Förslag till framtida forskning inom ämnesområdet presenteras även.

Bakgrund: Lagerverksamheten har en väsentlig betydelse och kan vara avgörande för organisationen övergripande prestanda och framgång, i synnerhet för SMF (små och medelstora företag). Driften av lagerverksamheten kan bli särskilt utmanande om organisationen befinner sig i en stark tillväxtfas och om den aktuella artikeln kännetecknas av behov. För att effektivt kunna bedriva sin lagerverksamhet bör organisationer utgå från en lagerdesign. Däremot redogör inte dagens forskning hur SMF som befinner sig i en stark tillväxtfas samt lagerhåller en artikel med behov bör utforma en sådan lagerdesign. Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att föreslå en lagerdesign som tar hänsyn till artikelns behov. Vidare ämnar studien att undersöka vilka konsekvenser en hög tillväxtfas har på ett SMF:s lagerverksamhet. Metod: Studien har studerat organisationen Nordic Green Design AB, ett svenskt SMF vars artikelsortiment utgörs av prydnadsväxter. Artikelns behov förutsätter krav på rätt temperatur, ljus och bevattning. Datainsamlingen har utgått från intervjuer med organisationens lagerpersonal och marknadschef samt via observationer av organisationens befintliga lagerdesign. Data har därefter analyserats utifrån den teoretiska referensramen. Slutsats: Studien betonar vikten av att fastställa behov och krav i samband med utformandet av en lagerdesign, i synnerhet när artikeln präglas av behov. Fastställandet av behov och krav fastställer ramarna för vilka lagerhanteringsmetoder som är tillämpbara i lagerdesignen. Genom att skifta fokus mot fastställandet av behov och krav kan en effektivare lagerverksamhet uppnås. Vidare indikerar studien på att en stark tillväxtfas bidrar till omfattande organisatoriska utmaningar. Studiens resultat antyder att en decentraliserad organisationsstruktur har bäst förutsättningar för att hantera dessa utmaningar. / Background: Warehousing activities are essential and can be crucial to the organizations overall performance and success, especially for SMEs (small and mediumsized enterprises). The warehouse operations can be particularly challenging if the organization is in a rapid growth phase and if the stored article is characterized by requirements. In order to effectively carry out the warehouse operations, organizations need to develop a warehouse design. However, today’s research does not acknowledge how SME’s with above-mentioned prerequisites should form such warehouse design. Purpose: This study aims at proposing a warehouse design that takes into account the requirements of the article. Furthermore, the study intends to examine the consequences of a rapid growth phase on an SME's warehouse. Method: This paper has studied the organization Nordic Green Design AB, a Swedish SME, whose articles consists of ornamental plants. These products require specific care such as temperature, light and irrigation regulation. The data collection was based on interviews with the organization's warehouse staff and marketing manager. Additionally, data was collected through observations of the organization's existing warehouse design. The data has then been analyzed based on the theoretical reference frame. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the importance of identifying needs and requirements when developing a warehouse design, especially when the article is characterized by requirements. The determination of needs and requirements determines the foundation of which storage management methods that are applicable in the warehouse design. By shifting focus to the determination of needs and requirements, more efficient storage can be achieved. Furthermore, the study indicates that a rapid growth phase contributes to extensive organizational challenges. The results of the study suggest that a decentralized organizational structure has the best prerequisites for managing these challenges.

Epiroc har åtnjutit en längre period av kraftig tillväxt samtidigt som flertalet effektiviseringsprojekt har genomförts med syfte att öka produktionsvolymen för att möta marknadens efterfrågan. Detta genom att bland annat implementera en variant av Lean production – The Way We Produce. En av dessa förändringar är en takad flödesorienterad montering med just-in-time sekvenserad materialförsörjning. Detta har i sin tur ökat kraven på materialförrådet Logistikcenter (LC) där ledningen nu börjat undersöka möjliga effektiviseringsåtgärder. Därav är studiens syfte till att ta fram realiserbara förbättringsförslag för logistikverksamheten vid Logistikcenter tillhörande Epiroc Rock Drills AB i Örebro för att öka effektiviteten och leveranssäkerheten. Studien har genomförts i två faser; identifieringsfasen och fördjupningsfasen. Under identifieringsfasen genomfördes en kartläggning av nuläget i LC, där underlaget för kartläggningen baserar sig på intervjuer, observationer och analyser. Genom en rotorsaksanalys, med målet att identifiera källor till ineffektivitet, kunde nio förbättringsområden identifieras varav en av dessa vidare skulle utredas i fördjupningsfasen. Dessa utvärderades utifrån en effekt-insats matris för att välja det förbättringsområde med störst effektiviseringspotential i förhållande till den förväntande insatsen. Analysmodellen för effekt-insats matrisen var de åtta slöserierna i Lean (Petersson, et al., 2015), dess förväntade påverkan på effektiviteten samt den förväntade komplexiteten av en implementation. Resultatet från rotorsaksanalysen gav artikelklassificering som det primära förbättringsområdet där den undersökta åtgärden var en alternativ tillämpning av frekvensläggning för att minimera rörelsetiden mellan lagerplatser vid plock. Under fördjupningsfasen undersöktes den nuvarande artikelklassificeringen och frekvensläggningen genom syntes av en alternativ modell för klassificeringen av artiklar och lagerplatser utifrån en fördjupad litteraturstudie. För att undersöka om en alternativ klassificering kan öka effektiviteten utvecklades en utvärderingsmodell som modellerar rörelsetiden för historiskt data från plocklistor. Den användes för att testa vilken kombination av storlekar på artikelklasserna som gav den minsta möjliga totala rörelsetiden. En kombination av 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) av det ackumulerade antalet plock gav den lägsta totala rörelsetiden för en plockhistorik på 15 månader med en reduktion av rörelsetiden motsvarande 33 % (1760 h) jämfört mot nuläget. Vidare undersöktes en alternativ sortering av plocklistorna för automathissar respektive pallställage med utvärderingsmodellen som gav en reduktion på 4 % respektive 11 % mot nuläget. Slutligen undersöktes olika former på zonerna för klassificering av lagerplatser i pallställage W3, där utlämningsplatsen är placerad halvvägs in i ställaget. En tyngdpunkt placerat centralt mellan ingången och utlämningsplatsen gav det bästa simuleringsresultatet. Sammanfattningsvis fastställdes artikelklassificering som det förbättringsområde med störst realiserbar effektiviseringspotential med lägst komplexitet utifrån en rotsorsaksanalys. Epiroc rekommenderas att implementera klassificeringsmodellen med tre klasser av storleken 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) av den ackumulerade antalet plockrader, samt att implementera att den alternativa sorteringen av plockrader på plocklistor för pallställage. / Epiroc has had a long period of strong growth, where several efficiency projects have been implemented to increase production volume in order to meet market demand. A variant of Lean production has been implemented over several years – called The Way We Produce by Epiroc. A large part of that change has been the implementation of sequenced flow-oriented assembly with just-in-time sequenced material deliveries to the assembly floor. This, in turn, has increased the requirements for the warehouse Logistic Center (LC) and management has now begun to investigate ways to improve efficiency at LC. Hence, the aim of the study is to develop realistic improvement proposals for the logistics operations at Logistics Center of Epiroc Rock Drills AB at Örebro to increase efficiency and delivery reliability. The study has been conducted in two phases; the identification phase and the in-depth phase. During the identification phase, a mapping of the current situation in LC was carried out, where the basis for the survey is based on interviews, observations and analyzes. Through a root cause analysis, with the goal of finding sources of inefficiency, nine areas of improvement could be identified, one of which would be chosen for further investigation in the in-depth phase. The areas of improvement were evaluated with an effect-input matrix to choose the area of improvement that provides the greatest efficiency potential in relation to the expected effort. The analysis model for the effect-input matrix was the eight wastes of Lean based on Petersson et al. (2015), its expected impact on efficiency and the expected complexity of an implementation. The result of the root cause analysis gave article classification as the primary area of improvement, where the measure is an alternative slotting strategy to minimize the movement time between storage locations. During the in-depth phase, the current article classification and frequency setting were examined by synthesis of an alternative model for the classification of articles and storage locations based on an in-depth literature study. To investigate whether an alternative classification can increase efficiency, an evaluation model was developed that models the movement time from historical data from pick lists. It was used to test which combination of sizes for the article classes gave the smallest possible total movement time. A combination of 60/30/10% (A/B/C) gave the lowest total movement time for a picking history of 15 months with a reduction corresponding to 33% (1760 h) compared to the current situation. Furthermore, an alternative sorting of the pick lists for the vertical lift modules and pallet racking was examined with the evaluation model, which gave a reduction of 4% and 11% respectively. Finally, various forms for the zones were examined for the classification of storage locations in pallet rack W3, where the delivery site is located three-quarter way into the pallet rack. A center of gravity for the for the A-class placed between the entrance and the delivery point gave the best simulation result. In summary, the article classification improvement area was established with the greatest realizable efficiency potential with the least effort based on the root cause analysis. Epiroc is recommended to implement the classification model with three classes of size 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) of the accumulated number of picking rows, and to implement that alternative sorting of pick rows on picklists for pallet racking.