Mapping and improving the after sales flow in a high-tech assembly plant : A case study of the aftermarket at Saab Järfälla

• Main Authors: Toftberger, Viktor, Jörnelius, Gustaf
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle 2018
• Subjects: Aftermarket; After Sales Services; High-Mix Low-Volume Production; Production Planning; Visual management; Eftermarknad; Hög-variation låg-volym produktion; Produktionsplanering; Visuell styrning; Produktionsvisualisering; Engineering and Technology; Teknik och teknologier; Luleå
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-67334

This thesis report is the final element of the Master of Science degree in Industrial Design Engineering at Luleå University of Technology, conducted between January and September 2017 at Saab AB Surveillance in Järfälla, Sweden. The purpose of this thesis project was to analyze the current situation inside production of aftermarket products with an aim to create an extensive mapping of the current situation. Resulting in suggestions for improvements to stabilize the production and creating integration between the aftermarket and new production. Products produced at Saab Järfälla are used in military defense applications where the larger systems in electronic warfare (EW) and countermeasure systems have very long life cycles, i.e. up to 40 years, and are being used in harsh environments. The products have to be maintained through various service agreements to include support with repairs, maintenance, supplies and transports between Saab and the client. One of these service agreements has a demanded net average lead time of N+12 days between Saab’s facilities and the client whereas N days inside the Järfälla production site. Mapping the situation and handling all the product information in a production with high-mix, low-volume characteristics have not been easy. The aftermarket processes inside Järfälla include diagnosing, reparation, assembling and testing to ensure the performance of the products. The aftermarket shares resources with the production of newly manufactured products which is one of the reasons creating a vast difference in the lead times standard deviation. Other reasons such as information handling, priority inference, flexibility issues and bad visual management has been the effect of causing delays in the production. The thesis project has been conducted through a development process using various methods for mapping the current situation and to come up with new ideas to improve the situation. Starting with a search in available literature and research about HMLV production, aftermarket ...