Lead time analysis and reduction at Alfa Laval DC Lund

Alfa Laval DC Lund is both a spare part manufacturer and distributer. The spare parts that Alfa Laval DC Lund supplies are used for the heat transfer business unit of Alfa Laval. Sometimes orders need to be produced fast as customers may have breakdowns in production and sometime orders arrive months earlier than customers want to receive delivery as scheduled services occur at the customer. Problem A problem today is that the time it takes Alfa Laval DC Lund to produce and send an order to a customer is perceived as too long. It is not known where in the process the majority of time is spent as well as what can be done to reduce it. Purpose The purpose is to perform a thorough analysis of the lead time for manufacturing orders from that the customer order arrives at Alfa Laval DC Lund to the customers receive delivery. Objective A solution that will reduce lead time for manufacturing orders should be created and implemented. Deliverables The project should deliver savings/profit of 5000 euro per year and/or a process improvement of 25%. Methodology The research has had a systems approach which was helpful to provide a holistic perspective. A combination of a case study and action research has been used to build a thorough understanding of the business before trying to improve it. Data has been gathered through interviews, observations, literature studies and from measuring processes and extracting data from the ERP system’s database. During the research, emphasis has been on ensuring that reliable and valid data has been used. Results The production lead time data in Movex was adjusted to better fit the actual production lead time. The result was a decrease in lead time which could be seen directly after implementation. Conclusion The benefits of the implemented solution will be a 30% decrease in internal lead time when material is available from start and a 10% decrease in internal lead time when material is not available from start. This will in turn generate a total of approximately 14 000 euro per year in savings from less tied up capital and profits from earlier revenue. The analysis has also yielded information that Alfa Laval DC Lund can use to start new projects with the purpose to reduce lead time and/or improve their business. It has been concluded that human interference with as well as wrong data in the ERP system drives lead times. The research also demonstrates the importance of working with the ERP system and using its features in a correct way instead of working beside and overriding it

Vägen till europeisk toppfotboll - En studie av svenska yrkesverksamma utlandsspelares fotbollsutbildningsbakgrund

Svensk fotboll satsar mer pengar än någonsin för att få fram spelare av så hög kvalite som möjligt och arbetet med talangutveckling går längre och längre ner i åldrarna med bland annat en ny elitförberedande klass i Gothia Cup och Akademicertifiering för U17 och U19 i svenska klubbar. Men vad ger denna satsning för resultat? Denna studie försöker skapa tydlighet kring vilken fotbollsutbildning av bredd och akademi som skapar flest fotbollsspelare som lyckas ta sig till de 20 högst rankade ligorna i Europa. Därefter valdes 101 spelare med olika utbildningsbakgrund ut efter kriterier som innefattar om man har varit i en Akademi samt hur högt man spelat. Data bearbetades i Excel och SPSS och resultatet visade att Akademierna producerar fler spelare till samtliga ligor rankade 1–20 i Europa. Dock visade ett Chi-2 test att det i studiens population inte fanns någon skillnad i procentuell fördelning vad gäller spelare från Akademi och bredd. Man kan diskutera om resultatet visar att Akademierna har missat de spelarna som blivit yrkesverksamma utomlands utan att gå genom en Akademi eller om det handlar mer om talang än om utbildning för spelare att nå till toppen i Europa. Den slutsats som till sist drogs var att båda utbildningarna skapar spelare till liga 1–20 i Europa men att i vår population var spelare med Akademibakgrund överrepresenterade. Mer forskning med en mer kontrollerad och jämt fördelad population skulle vara bra för att få ett tydligare resultat om samband mellan utbildning och hur högt man kan nå som fotbollsspelare

Jakten på Heffaklumpen : Ett personligt, hermeneutiskt angreppssätt på entreprenören

Genom en holistisk syn, med utgångspunkt i vår uppfattning av entreprenörskap var från uppväxten gav vi oss ut på en så kallad Heffaklumpsjakt för att utveckla vår förförståelse för entreprenören. Via en kvadrohermeneutisk utgångspunkt och en abduktiv forskningsprocess tolkades tre livsberättelser med vad vi såg som riktiga entreprenörer. Utifrån livsberättelserna upptäckte vi egenskaper/beteenden som var viktiga för entreprenörernas framgång. De var oberoende, beslutsfattare, innovatörer, tävlare, människokännare och mentorer spelade roll för dem. Hur dessa egenskaper gav sig uttryck skilde sig hos de tre entreprenörerna. Vi insåg att det är orättvist att koppla egenskaperna till individer, egenskaperna är så pass breda och kan passa in på individer som inte direkt är entreprenörer. Däremot kan vi se att framkomna beteenden kan ge en god grund till entreprenörskap, men de är inte måsten hos en entreprenör.Through a holistic outlook from out childhood and what we thought entrepreneurship was we tried to grasp the so called Heffalump. In that way we, were going to develop our preunderstanding about the entrepreneur. With a quadro-hermeneutics standpoint and an abductive research process three life stories were made with what we perceived as true entrepreneurs. From their life stories we came across characteristics/behaviours that were important for the success of the entrepreneurs. They were independent, decision makers, innovators, competitors, had high social skills and had help from mentors. These characteristics/behaviour expressed themselves in different manners with the entrepreneurs. We realized it would not be fair to connect them generally to all entrepreneurs since they are so wide and can fit many different types of people. We did, however realize that they instead of a requirement could make a good foundation for entrepreneurship

Design and Construction of an LED-Based Excitation Source for Lock-In Thermography

Active thermography is an established technique for non-destructive testing and defect localisation. For external excitation, powerful light sources are commonly used. In addition to a high optical output, a good signal shape and response characteristic as well as control ports, which allow for multiple operation modes, are important for active thermography applications. In this work, the schematics for an excitation source based on infrared LEDs is presented. It features multiple control modes for easy integration into existing measurement setups as well as sophisticated control electronics to realize a wide range of excitation patterns. The phase and amplitude stability of this prototype is investigated and compared to the performance of a modulated halogen lamp as well as a halogen lamp and mechanical chopper combination

Design and Construction of an LED-Based Excitation Source for Lock-In Thermography

Active thermography is an established technique for non-destructive testing and defect localisation. For external excitation, powerful light sources are commonly used. In addition to a high optical output, a good signal shape and response characteristic as well as control ports, which allow for multiple operation modes, are important for active thermography applications. In this work, the schematics for an excitation source based on infrared LEDs is presented. It features multiple control modes for easy integration into existing measurement setups as well as sophisticated control electronics to realize a wide range of excitation patterns. The phase and amplitude stability of this prototype is investigated and compared to the performance of a modulated halogen lamp as well as a halogen lamp and mechanical chopper combination