Successful companies nowadays know that they have to adjust their operations
to meet consumer requirements since consumers become more aware of what they
want, when they want it and what price they are willing to pay for it. To
retain a competitive advantage companies must have an optimized supply chain
that includes short lead times and keeping costs low.
LensLogistics is a third party logistical company selling warehouse and
inventory management services as well as distribution of contact lenses to
mail order companies, eye care practitioners and wholesalers. Since founded
in year 2000 LensLogistics has experienced a substantial growth. The growth
has placed the company processes and the whole organization in state of
constant change. It has thereby made the processes more complex and some
areas inefficient which is the main reason for conducting this thesis.
Some products distributed by LensLogistics are ordered when demand arise and
cannot be sent to customer until the products are placed in stock shelf.
Therefore are short lead times in the early part of the supply chain as
important as in later steps to provide fast deliveries. The purpose of this
thesis is therefore to map the process of receiving goods. Specifically, the
aim is to identify inefficient operations in the process and give
suggestions on how to increase efficiency.
The process could be mapped after initial observations and interviews had
been conducted. The theory was searched in the supply chain management area
as well as warehouse management and process mapping. For theory regarding
increased efficiency, improvement and management tools were also
investigated. By further data collection and the theoretical research,
analysis could be written and lead to the result and suggestions given by
the authors. Tools used in this thesis are, beside the theoretical research,
benchmarking and time studies.
The main result of this thesis has led to suggestions regarding following
improvements:
? Use of Mobile computer
? A stated order priority
? Less operator movement
? Less document handling
? Use of 5S
These...
