Effektivisering av godsflöden i icke-tillverkande verksamheter : En fallstudie på DB Schenker

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how an efficient freight flow and a surface utilization of a warehouse layout can be achieved in non-manufacturing third party logistics companies. In addition to that the aim is to provide an analysis of how logistics costs are affected by existing wastes. Based on this three research questions have been formulated:   1. What factors are decisive for how efficient a freight flow can be in a nonmanufacturing business?  2. How can the layout of a terminal be streamlined based on prioritizations of freight?   3. What logistics costs arise in a non-manufacturing business and how can these be linked to specific processes and activities?  Methodology: In order to answer the study´s research questions and fulfill the purpose a case study and a literature review were used as the method. Identification of waste, layout prioritization and logistics costs are the investigated areas in the literature review. The case study was conducted at a company where interviews, observations and data collection have taken place in order to answer the research questions and provide a clear picture of the problem area. The collected data is subsequently analyzed against the processed theory in the selected areas.     Findings: By applying the processed theory several wastes have been identified which underpin potential improvements. Among others the layout prioritization and the retrieval process of the case company have been identified as wastes and focused on in this study. The layout prioritizations have resulted in two restructured layout proposals in which the case company´s delivery destinations were relocated based on factors such as physical proximity and zone division. Through the proposal the efficiency of the internal freight flow of the case company can be increased and thereby cost and complexity be reduced. The retrieval process has been analyzed with the aim to identify all the affected activities and processes. By doing this each activity can be linked to the arising logistics cost. The result of this part of the study is an established calculation of the cost generated by the retrieval process.    Recommendations: For further studies in the selected area, an extended analysis of the entire freight flow from vendor to end customer is recommended to provide a deeper understanding of the entire work process. Also further studies in the logistics costs area in a non-manufacturing business is recommended.