Analys av komponentflöde - Förbättringsförslag gällande informations- och materialflöde mellan Huskvarna Manufacturing och en underleverantör

Sammanfattning: E2015:047, Huskvarna Manufacturing is a manufacturing company within the Husqvarna Group. HuskvarnaManufacturing (referred to as HM) produces construction products, chain saws and brush cutters. Tobe able to manufacture these complex products, HM are using several suppliers in order to sourcematerial for them. One company among these suppliers is Bufab. Huskvarna Manufacturing hasidentified problems related to the business relationship with Bufab.The study aims to find root causes to the problems at HM connected to articles from Bufab. Thepurpose is also to find improvements in order to decrease waste. To make sure the study fulfils this,three questions are to be answered.1. Which root causes can be found to problems within the material- and information flowbetween HM and Bufab?Value stream mapping, a tool from lean production, has been used in order to identify problems.These mappings have been conducted at both HM and Bufab. Interviews have been held with certainpersonnel. A method called “5 whys” has been used to find root causes of the problems. The studyhas found the following root causes;-­‐ Inventory transactions-­‐ Agreements and contracts-­‐ Only requirements of goods within manufacturing are communicated to Bufab-­‐ Computer systems are inflexible-­‐ Lack of communication-­‐ Manually handling-­‐ The logistic flow of brush cutters are not treated as one.2. How severe are root causes when compared?Root caues, which have been found through”5 whys”, have been ranked according to how manyproblems that occur from them. The four root causes that are contributing to highest numbers ofproblems are inventory transactions, only requirements of goods within manufacturing arecommunicated to Bufab, manually handling, and that the logistic flow of brush cutters are not treatedas one. Agreements and contracts are of such importance for the business relationship, and thereforethis root cause was also considered as important.3. Which improvements are important for HM in order to reduce both the lack of material andalso waste connected to articles sourced by Bufab?Improvements are made in order to reduce the chosen root causes. The improvements have both ashort-term and a long-term perspective, and are supposed to fit in with the concept of lean production.The improvements are as follows;-­‐ Continuous update of agreements and contracts, as well as standards to audit them.-­‐ Change the way that the inventory transactions are made, so that accurate articles will beincluded in product set-ups.-­‐ Separate the need of articles included in manufacturing, from articles included in packagingof manufactured products.II-­‐ Secure that the right articles have been picked from inventory, by scanning the barcode ofthe article.-­‐ Change working methods used in the brush cutter-flow, by giving the activity whenpackaging brush cutters, control of the flow.Other observations have been found during the study, and overall recommendations have been foundto reduce them. The recommendations are as follows;-­‐ Bin system-­‐ Bufab will source articles by using a separate rack of shelves at the HM facility.-­‐ The pre-packing of kits to the brusch cutters can have a wider time-span in their planning.-­‐ CommunicationThe final conclusion of the study is that value stream mapping is a preferable method to collectknow-how within the company, reach a deeper understanding of the internal business and also toidentify problems. The importance of effectiveness does not only comprehend the productiontechnologies, but also the information flow. This is why an effective communication strategy, as wellas a culture with the intention to solve problems, in a business situation characterized by complexity.