Materialförsörjningssystemens inverkan på monteringens effektivitet : En studie med fokus på huruvida utformningen av ingående delar i kittning och line stocking kan effektivisera monteringen

Sammanfattning: Purpose - What influences the choice of material supply systems as well as how the design of the systems influences the efficiency of the assembly is substantially important. This because the target audience of the study; manufacturing companies whom applies any kind of material supply system, must be able to achieve and maintain a social and economic sustainability. Thus, the study aims to: Increase knowledge of how the choice and arrangement of material supply affects the efficiency of assembly. The purpose has been broken down into three research questions: 1.      Which is the most suitable material supply system depending on various types of factors? 2.     How does the material supply system affect the efficiency of the assembly process? 3.     How should material supply systems be adapted for an efficient assembly process? Method - The purpose of the study and the research questions are based on the problem description that was formulated. An abductive approach has characterized the case study work process. The literature review has formulated by a review of previous research and has together with the data collection methods: interviews, observations and document studies, formed the analysis. In order to provide answers to the study’s research questions, collected data was compared to previous research, in order to find similarities or differences. Result - The choice of material supply system is mainly influenced by applied production strategy, production system and the setup of the assembly. It doesn’t matter how the choice has been made unless a well-functioning information system exists, in terms of efficiency of the assembly. Walking distances as well as the location of components and how they are introduced to the assembler, should also be considered in the design of the material supply systems. That is important due to the value-adding activities performed at the assembly station. Several problems have been identified with the use of Lean tools which contributed to formulated improvement suggestions. Implications – The theoretical contributions of the study covers the inadequate theory that was found when connecting production strategies with the advantages and disadvanatges of material supply systems. Also, most of the theories emphasize how efficiency in assembly lines can be improved with the use of material supply systems, but there is limited information how the design of material supply systems affects the efficiency of assemblers in production cells. Empirically, the study contributes with different stages where various issues and wastes have been identified based on the presentation and the arrangement of the material supply systems. This increases the opportunity to prioritize the issues which should be based on the stages that includes most waste. Likewise, the choice of material supply system can be used as guidelines to find out when each system is most suitable. Limitations - Since data has been collected from only one company, the study's validity can be questioned. In addition, an abductive approach made the study complex as well as time-consuming and contributed to that the intended use of economic models was defaulted.