ERP-systemens tillämpbarhet inom reparations- och livstidsförlängande verksamheter

Sammanfattning: The EU strives for improving the use of resources in industry and society, a part of this is to turn the economy from a liner, consumption economy, to a circular, reusable economy. In order for this to be achieved industry needs adjust their production to facilitate remanufacturing of used products as well as producing new products. A part of the challenge industry is facing is the increase in complexity and volume in regard for information and material flows, one way of handling this in manufacturing companies is to use ERP- systems to keep track of information and material flows. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the possibility to implement ERP- systems in remanufacturing industries since the amount of uncertainties and sources of variations shadows those in new product manufacturing. In order to reach a conclusion in regards to the purpose of this thesis three research questions where formed: What production steps are need to complete the remanufacturing process? What are the pros and cons of using ERP- systems within remanufacturing? What are the critical implementation factors that remanufacturing industries need to consider when implementing ERP- systems? In order to answer the research questions a literature study was performed to gain insight in the academic knowledge on the subject. In addition to the literature study a case study was conducted as well at a refurbishing company within the train industry. From the literature and case study it was concluded that the remanufacturing process consist of five phases, receiving the product from the market, dismantling it, repair and restore the components, reassemble the product, return the product to the customer/market. Since ERP- systems are continually being developed and their ability to handle uncertainties and variations improve, they could be used at companies facing increased variations and uncertainties than those found in companies only conducting new product production. The pros of utilizing ERP- systems are: financial gains through reduction of administrative, production and inventory costs, the customer related gains come from improved communication, the positive effects on the internal processes are achieved from increased productivity and efficiency. The final area where positive effects can be found is the knowledge and growth are, where ERP- systems follow up on best practises and makes the information easier to access. The drawbacks of using ERP- systems are that it is costly to purchase and implement them, and the company might need to adjust its methods and processes in order to fit the functions included in the ERP- system. As well as there is a need to educate and train the staff to handle the system in a correct fashion.  In order to succeed in implementing a ERP- system, there is a great need for a vision of what the system is supposed to achieve as well as a clear support from the leadership. The implementation needs an assign leader that makes sure that the right functions and systems are being introduced and the amount of special adjustments are kept to a minimum to reduce the risk of making the implementation slower and costlier. In conclusion, remanufacturing companies could draw great advantage from implementing a ERP- system, if not only for the standardisation of methods and tasks, but also from the more user friendly information system.