Incorporating Sustainability as a Parameter in the Ocean Carrier Selection Process A Study Conducted at a Case Company

The study has been conducted at a case company in the biomaterials and paper business that delivers products worldwide. Procuring transportation services is critical due to its significant share of logistics costs and impact on business performance. The case company transports a large share of their products through maritime transport, hence, selecting ocean carriers that can meet their needs is critical. Maritime transport is considered environmentally friendly as it carries large volumes over long distances. However, it still faces significant sustainability challenges, including rising GHG emissions and air pollution. Sustainability is a key component of the case company’s corporate strategy and governance, and they want it to influence all aspects of their operations, including logistics. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to develop a framework for successful incorporation of sustainability as a parameter in companies’ LSP selection process for maritime transport. To fulfill this purpose, the current procurement process for maritime transport at the case company had to be identified. Secondly, through a literature review and empirical findings, suitable sustainability criteria for the container segment within maritime transport were identified. After this, a method that integrates sustainability as a parameter in selecting ocean carriers was developed. It regards the construction of a sustainability performance index which facilitates the assessment of ocean carriers’ sustainability performance by weighting and aggregating criteria scores. To obtain scores, a questionnaire based on identified sustainability criteria was created. The AHP method is recommended for weighting and an additive aggregation method for compiling weighted scores into sub-indices within each dimension which together form the sustainability performance index. Lastly, a framework was developed for how sustainability can be integrated as a parameter in the selection process. It is recommended to consider sustainability throughout the selection process to guarantee that ocean carriers’ performance is taken into account. In conclusion, implementation of the developed framework will improve the case company’s’ selection process, enabling better evaluation and comparison of ocean carriers’ sustainability performances

Reduction of capital tied up caused by the materialflow

Arbetet har utförts vid Tekniska Högskolan i Jönköping där en studie har genomförts i samarbete med Kitron AB som är ett elektroniktillverkande företag. Kitron strävar efter att reducera kapitalbindningen för att vara kostnadseffektiva och därmed hålla hög konkurrenskraft. Studiens syfte var att identifiera de aspekter som påverkar företagets kapitalbindning och ta fram åtgärdsförslag för att minska kapitalbindningen som orsakas av materialflödet för ett av Kitrons kundprogram inom medicinteknik. Olika metoder användes för att samla in data gällande materialflödet. För att finna åtgärder analyserades materialflödet utifrån insamlad teori och genomförd värdeflödesanalys. Studien resulterade i identifiering av ett antal aspekter som påverkar kapitalbindningen och utifrån de togs åtgärder fram. De rekommenderade åtgärderna grundas i teori om Lean production. Åtgärdsförslagen bidrar till att effektivisera materialflödet och minimera den totala ledtiden för att reducera kapitalbindningen. Ett effektivare materialflöde kan uppnås genom att producera enligt principerna inom just in time och minimera slöseri. God samverkan med de kunder och leverantörer som påverkar materialflödet är också önskvärt. Den produktstruktur som Kitron utgår ifrån kan även anpassas efter produktionen för att minimera produktionsledtiden. Sammanfattningsvis krävs en kortare ledtid för att reducera kapitalbindningen inom det studerade kundprogrammet. Med hjälp av en del av de presenterade åtgärdsförslagen skapades ett idealt materialflöde som innebar reducering av produktionsledtiden med 15,5 dagar. Detta skulle medföra en reducering av kapitalbindningen med ungefär 454 000 kronor.This project has been carried out at Jönköping University of Technology. The study has been executed in collaboration with the electronics manufacturing company, Kitron AB. Kitron aims to reduce the capital tied up to be cost efficient and improve the competitiveness. The purpose with this study was to identify the aspects that affect the company´s capital tied up and also find solutions to reduce the capital tied up caused by the material flow. A case study was executed at the company where the study was delimited to one specific customer of Kitron that make biomedical technology. Different methods were being used to gather data which has later been analyzed based on the theoretical framework. To find the solutions and identify the material flow an analyze was executed from theoretical aspects and a value stream map.  The study resulted in identification of several aspects that affect the capital tied up. From these aspects, solutions were found. The recommended solutions are based on theory about lean production. The solutions contribute to a more efficient material flow and help reduce the total lead time to enable a lower capital tied up. A more efficient material flow can be achieved by producing according to the principles of just in time and by reducing waste. It is preferable to cooperate with customers and suppliers that affect the material flow to improve it. The product structure can be arranged differently to enable a shorter production lead time. In conclusion, a shorter lead time is necessary to reduce the capital tied up concerning the studied customer. An ideal material flow was created by using some of the suggested solutions, which resulted in a shorter production lead time by 15,5 days. This would also contribute to a reduction of the capital tied up with 454 000 SEK.

Reduction of capital tied up caused by the materialflow

Arbetet har utförts vid Tekniska Högskolan i Jönköping där en studie har genomförts i samarbete med Kitron AB som är ett elektroniktillverkande företag. Kitron strävar efter att reducera kapitalbindningen för att vara kostnadseffektiva och därmed hålla hög konkurrenskraft. Studiens syfte var att identifiera de aspekter som påverkar företagets kapitalbindning och ta fram åtgärdsförslag för att minska kapitalbindningen som orsakas av materialflödet för ett av Kitrons kundprogram inom medicinteknik. Olika metoder användes för att samla in data gällande materialflödet. För att finna åtgärder analyserades materialflödet utifrån insamlad teori och genomförd värdeflödesanalys. Studien resulterade i identifiering av ett antal aspekter som påverkar kapitalbindningen och utifrån de togs åtgärder fram. De rekommenderade åtgärderna grundas i teori om Lean production. Åtgärdsförslagen bidrar till att effektivisera materialflödet och minimera den totala ledtiden för att reducera kapitalbindningen. Ett effektivare materialflöde kan uppnås genom att producera enligt principerna inom just in time och minimera slöseri. God samverkan med de kunder och leverantörer som påverkar materialflödet är också önskvärt. Den produktstruktur som Kitron utgår ifrån kan även anpassas efter produktionen för att minimera produktionsledtiden. Sammanfattningsvis krävs en kortare ledtid för att reducera kapitalbindningen inom det studerade kundprogrammet. Med hjälp av en del av de presenterade åtgärdsförslagen skapades ett idealt materialflöde som innebar reducering av produktionsledtiden med 15,5 dagar. Detta skulle medföra en reducering av kapitalbindningen med ungefär 454 000 kronor.This project has been carried out at Jönköping University of Technology. The study has been executed in collaboration with the electronics manufacturing company, Kitron AB. Kitron aims to reduce the capital tied up to be cost efficient and improve the competitiveness. The purpose with this study was to identify the aspects that affect the company´s capital tied up and also find solutions to reduce the capital tied up caused by the material flow. A case study was executed at the company where the study was delimited to one specific customer of Kitron that make biomedical technology. Different methods were being used to gather data which has later been analyzed based on the theoretical framework. To find the solutions and identify the material flow an analyze was executed from theoretical aspects and a value stream map.  The study resulted in identification of several aspects that affect the capital tied up. From these aspects, solutions were found. The recommended solutions are based on theory about lean production. The solutions contribute to a more efficient material flow and help reduce the total lead time to enable a lower capital tied up. A more efficient material flow can be achieved by producing according to the principles of just in time and by reducing waste. It is preferable to cooperate with customers and suppliers that affect the material flow to improve it. The product structure can be arranged differently to enable a shorter production lead time. In conclusion, a shorter lead time is necessary to reduce the capital tied up concerning the studied customer. An ideal material flow was created by using some of the suggested solutions, which resulted in a shorter production lead time by 15,5 days. This would also contribute to a reduction of the capital tied up with 454 000 SEK.