En effektiv inköpsprocess på små tillverkande företag : En fallstudie på Alderholmens mekaniska AB

Sammanfattning: Purchases account for a large proportion of companies’ turnover. It has therefore long been an important factor to work efficiently with purchasing to achieve increased profitability in companies. Because of the importance of efficient purchasing, the interest in the purchasing process has increased. The existing research, on the other hand, is primarily aimed at how large companies can achieve competitiveness from the purchasing process. Thus, there is limited research on how small companies can efficiently manage their purchasing process. The study has been carried out with a case study at a small manufacturing company with the aim of investigate and recommend how small manufacturing companies can manage their purchasing process in an efficient way. The case study has used a deductive approach where the work began with the collection of existing theory linked to the purpose of the study. Based on the existing theory, the interview questions have been designed to investigate how the purchasing process can look at small manufacturing companies. These interviews laid the foundation for the study's empirical material.   A comparison between the theoretical framework and empirical data has identified important factors for an efficient purchasing process in small manufacturing companies. This is presented in a recommendation model. Generally, it is significant that every step of the purchasing process gets enough focus because all the steps are based on each other.  To forget about parts of the purchasing process will negatively affect the efficiency. It is also important to have durability in mind when performing these steps. Using tools from the Lean philosophy can also help small manufacturing companies to streamline the purchasing process. The tools that the study has found useful have been to eliminate waste and to make use of continuous improvements and respect for people.