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In recent years, Hallsta Paper Mill has experienced significant changes in the demand for paper. The ordershave become smaller and more customer-specific, while the graphical paper industry has steadily declined.As a result of these changes, the employees at Hallsta Paper Mill feel that the finished goods warehouse isno longer optimally designed, and they have identified that waste occurs in the warehouse. Therefore, thepurpose of the study was to provide suggestions on how the activities in the warehouse could become moretime-efficient and investigate how the finished goods warehouse could be designed to suit today’s demandbetter. To facilitate the answering of the purpose, three research questions were formulated: What areas ofimprovement exist in the finished goods warehouse regarding its activities and layout? What effects can beobtained by addressing the identified areas of improvement? and What solutions are recommended for thefinished goods warehouse at Hallsta Paper Mill? The study’s first research question was answered by conducting interviews, a spaghetti diagram, and ananalysis of produced paper rolls. The interviews were conducted with employees who either workoperationally or administratively in the warehouse to get a comprehensive picture of how the work isperformed and where waste occurs within the activities. The spaghetti diagram identified the movementpattern for the trucks in the warehouse and provided indications if unnecessary long transports occurred ornot. The analysis of produced paper rolls examined how well the storage compartments in the finishedgoods warehouse were dimensioned based on today’s demand. Based on the collected data, nine areas ofimprovement were identified, seven areas linked to the activities in the warehouse and two areas linked tothe layout of the warehouse. After the areas of improvement were identified, the study’s second research question was answered bydeveloping solutions within each area of improvement. To develop the solutions linked to the activities inthe warehouse, root cause analyses were performed, where each area was examined to find the root causeof the problem. For the solutions linked to the design, inspiration was instead taken from the warehouselayout and article placement literature. A total of 23 solutions were developed, 19 linked to the activitiesand four linked to the layout. For each solution, it was then analysed what effects an implementation of thesolution would provide, focusing on possible time savings. The effects were analysed with help from theliterature and the authors’ knowledge of logistics. After the effects had been analysed, each solution was assessed based on the effects identified in theprevious research question. The solutions were placed in effort-impact diagrams based on how much effortis required to implement the solution and how much impact is expected from the solution. When assessingthe impact, extra consideration was given to possible time savings, as it was the highest priority accordingto the directives from Hallsta Paper Mill. The assessment then resulted in a recommendation on how thesolutions should be approached. The less effort required and the more impact a solution would bring, thehigher priority was given to the solution. To summarise, two solutions were recommended to beimplemented immediately, nine solutions should be implemented in a second step, seven solutions shouldbe considered and investigated further, and two solutions should be rejected. The solutions aimed to makethe warehouse activities more time-efficient and suggest how the warehouse could be designed to suittoday’s demand better. |
