INTRODUCTION

MATERIAL HANDLING �NEED:Increasing competition in the business environment has influenced production industries during the last decades. Also Volvo CE(Construction Equipment) Braås needs to adjust to these changes. A new Volvo production system was recently developed. In order to define a level of implementation the current situation needs to be analyzed. The main objective of this thesis is to describe the internal material handling process at Volvo CE Braås and give suggestions on how to improve it. A continued disposition will show the structure of this thesis and a timeframe picture, how the work of this thesis was scheduled and how the work was finally performed. In the last decades companies have faced more and more competition on the world market. Today it is common practice to source and supply globally. This is a great potential for the manufacturing companies, but also an increasing necessity for cost- effectiveness, which alone is not enough anymore . Because of the high competition, companies have to change internal processes continuously. The intensity has increased more and this results in shorter life-cycles, shorter lead times and more need of flexibility. These, and also the focus on time and responsiveness, link the external market changes with internal activities to stay competitive. Lean management is a concept developed by the Japanese company Toyota Motor Corporation to create fast and flexible flows in processes. It helps to improve the quality and productivity and minimizes all unnecessary stages in the production that do not add value. There are several tools that can be used to reduce waste and improve processes for example value-stream mapping (VSM) and take time (a method of translating true quantitative customer requirements into production targets and balancing the workload among the operators and different work stations . VSM refers to the drawing of an existing state map and afterwards developing a prospective map with improvements. By decreasing the amount of inventory and by handling it more effectively the company will be able to reduce waste. Material handling is a large part of a company´s internal work and represents between

15 % and 70 % of the total cost of a manufactured product. Furthermore the material handling in average takes 55 % of all factory space and 87 % of the production time.By improving the internal handling of material more efficient distribution and manufacturing flows are possible. It is important to have the right materials in the right amount and at the right place to perform well. Other advantages of a well-