The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the effect of introducing the qualitystandard ISO 9001:2000 at Metso Paper Service in Sundsvall. The investigation has been focused on implementation of the new method of work, Continuous improvements. The implementation has been studied in a case study with both a qualitative and quantitative method. Continuous Improvements is a way of working focused on continuously increasing the efficiency and having the purpose of achieving the formulated goals. This is often accomplished by the organisation carrying out the changing process to a great extent in small but efficient teams.

The thesis has investigated how Sandvik Coromant could implement the SMED principle on one of their grinders groups and what improvements it would lead to. The aim of the thesis is to identify the current situation and investigate how their setup times would be affected by SMED. The work initiated with a literature analysis about the SMED principles and then proceeded with an analysis of the current situation where the activity was time mapped. The analysis consisted of time trials of the process that the thesis would include. The time studies revealed opportunities for structural improvements to create environment for a more structured process.

An organization that uses all of its improvement opportunities has a great advantage compared to its competitors. It is an important task when it comes to continuous improvements of every process. Up until September 2007, Husqvarna AB had a suggestion committee who evaluated every suggestion separately and the proposer received a payment if the suggestion was approved by the committee. However, this system did not work satisfying enough to fulfill Husqvarna?s needs and they are now looking for a system that can handle the ideas from the employees in a more effective way.

Today it becomes more and more important to work with continuous improvements to stay ahead of the competitors. Pfizer in Strängsäs started working with continuous improvements in 2010. By the end of 2012, the company?s goal is to reach 24 improvements per employee at the factory.Their project has two main purposes; to examine the need and possibilities for visualization regarding continuous improvements at the production department and to develop a concept for visualisation of the entire factory?s continuous improvements.To attain the information required to examine the needs at the production department, interviews with relevant employees at the department were conducted. Using interviews as a benchmarking instrument was also helpful in getting different points of views.

The purpose with this report is to give structure to the storage area betweenproduction and packaging at Spaljisten AB in Åseda. The purpose is also to givesuggestions for improvements of work tasks and thereby simplify and improve thematerial handling at the packing process.The background of the task is that Spaljisten AB is going to increase theirproduction and thereby they also need to increase the packing rate of theirproducts. They will manage this by installing a new automated packing line andincrease the efficiency of the old manual one. The theoretical background ismostly obtained from literature which contains relevant facts for our report.The storage area has been studied visually in order to search for improvements oftoday?s layout.

The purpose with this report is to give structure to the storage area betweenproduction and packaging at Spaljisten AB in Åseda. The purpose is also to givesuggestions for improvements of work tasks and thereby simplify and improve thematerial handling at the packing process.The background of the task is that Spaljisten AB is going to increase theirproduction and thereby they also need to increase the packing rate of theirproducts. They will manage this by installing a new automated packing line andincrease the efficiency of the old manual one. The theoretical background ismostly obtained from literature which contains relevant facts for our report.The storage area has been studied visually in order to search for improvements oftoday?s layout.

Return handling is often regarded as a slow and complex process. Studies have shown that it is not unusual for a return to cost up to nine times as much as a standard outbound delivery. An efficient return handling process is therefore essential to all competitive companies dealing with logistics. This report investigates, analyzes and gives suggestions on development with the purpose to improve the return handling process at LensLogistics AB in Kista, north of Stockholm, Sweden. The study has been conducted from a deliberately practical point of view in order to suggest improvement suggestions possible to implement and thereby change the entire return handling process.

 AbstractTitle                                      Continuous improvement ? Motivating ICA´s  personnel to    a greater engagement.Problem                                  Getting ICA: s employees involved with continuing improvements.Purpose                                  To motivate ICA: s employees to a higher degree of commitment and    contributing with ideas and embracing approved improvements. Research questions   - How should the employees be properly motivated to contribute with   suggestions for improvement?  - What message and content should improvements send to inspire the   employees? - Witch channels should be used to capture the employee?s attention? - How can best practice be recognized and how can the knowledge be spread  through the organization?Methodology                          Initially a theory study was completed and from the results a case study were  conducted.Conclusion                             Combining success factors for continuing improvements.  To get the      employees feeling appreciated with their work. Results             By combining ten sucessfactors and trying to see the whole picture.                .

If Sweden want to be able to compete internationally with its production capacity,it is important to work actively with production development and production ofresource-and time-efficient. This report is a bachelor thesis of 15 hp conducted atthe University of Halmstad. Using the principles of continuous improvement andLean Production, the author developed a concept for HAGS Aneby AB to changeto the customer order driven assembly of spring toys.First of all, the theories of Lean Production, logistics and ergonomics are used tobuild and present a theoretical framework for further examination. Then, toachieve the target, the current assembly process is analyzed to develop some firstconceptual ideas for improvement. In order to develop the best advice, theconcepts are evaluated against the company?s requirementsThe developed action plan gives recommendations on how the company shouldrestructure their assembly process and the organization of the related departmentin order to produce spring toys in a more time efficient and lean way.

The purpose of thesis was to investigate and compare how two companies within pharmaceutical industry and nuclear power industry are currently working with quality development regarding continuous improvement and Lessons Learned in business processes. In addition, a simple comparison was made with the automotiveindustry.McNeil AB are improving their processes continuously and are according to the findings of this report performing well in their pursuit of world-class pharmaceutical production. They have a well functioning process regarding improvements proposed in weekly improvement meetings engaging all employees. However, during interviews it was made clear that the functionality of the process which administer improvement proposals generated in addition to, or beside the weekly improvement meetings, were inadequate. McNeil AB is proposed to administer this through an IT solution instead of by paper and e-mail, that simplifies the process of adding, implementing and follow up an improvement proposal.The nuclear power plant Ringhals AB recently made major improvements in their business processes as well as the plant itself.

Producing a building is a long and complex process. It consists of several parts, from the feasibility study and design stage onto the construction and finally the management of the building. The design process is a critical part of the process where construction plans are made. The quality of the plans affect the production phase in great extent and faulty plans can pose a risk for extra costs for all parts in the process. The cost of producing dwellings has increased the last years and the detail design process is one of many phases where improvements can mean cost savings within the whole building process.This report aims to point at parts within the detail design process which could be more efficient, regarding communication, follow-up and time planning, and to give suggestions for improvements.

Mapping a process enables a greater understanding of the work, and is standard to evaluate and improve a process. This thesis is conducted at Test Bed Mechanical Design at Scania in Södertälje. Test Bed Construction is a complex process, characterized by a large amount of creative work, technical challenges and coordination between different people and different organizational functions.The aim of the thesis was to identify the Test Bed Construction Process and to develop a visual model of the workflow that also served as support for the engineers in their daily work. During the mapping process, comparisons were made with previous research in lean product development to identify process improvement.A literature review on process mapping and process visualisation resulted in a method for process mapping. The study showed that research on process visualisation is neither structured nor well defined.

This thesis was commissioned by Volvo Powertrain, where manufacturing and assembling of transmissions is performed, which is used in the company's trucks and buses. The thesis has consisted of a case study that intends to study the problem areas in the current proposed activities and continuous improvements in the assembly department in the Volvo Powertrain facility.In the current situation, the proposals that are submitted by the employees suggest mainly minor improvements. The proposals concern for example, labelling of materials boxes and holders for tools, which do not generate any significant profit for the company. Directors and executives want an increased amount of proposals with a more results-oriented type, in terms of reduced costs, time consumption and stops, and improved quality. The company would also deal with the problems that arise when implementing improvements in the production.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of activities, flows and waste in a company's production process. By performing a value stream analysis, non-value adding activities are identified in a production process and then the suggested improvements that can reduce lead times will be stated. The value-stream mapping identifies the flow of information and the flow of material in a production process and this provides the basis for the identification of non-value adding activities.We conducted the study at Lammhults Möbel AB in Lammhult Sweden, where the production flow of Spira-21 has been investigated. This to identify any non-value adding activities that affect the flow negative and consumes time and money in a non-value adding way.A reasonable approach for the project was taken by studying the methodologies and theories. We conducted interviews and site surveys at Lammhults Möbel AB where the flow of information and material in the production process were investigated.

Volvo Penta has been producing boat engines since 1907 and are world leading in this seg­ment. They have today an extended range and also sell industrial power stations. Quality, safe­ty and environmental care are three core values for Volvo and together they strive to give their customers the right product with the right quality.Volvo has developed a production system named Volvo Production System, VPS, and one of the pillars is continuous improvements. Within this pillar you can find value stream map­ping, which is used to analyze the value stream through the process. This tool gives a wide perspective and helps to keep focus on the entire process instead of just parts of it.Volvo Penta in Vara has earlier done value stream mapping but without good results since they didn?t take set-up times and imbalances in account.