Improving The Order Handling Process Of Inventory Access : Case: ABB Oy, Drives Service
Vitikainen, Risto (2016)
Vitikainen, Risto
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2016
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201603082943
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201603082943
Tiivistelmä
The goal of this study was to identify the non-value-adding activities in the order handling process of service product and evaluate the current state of the process. The process was investigated from the customer service team’s perspective in the client company. Secondly the goal was to provide recommendation for how to improve the particular process. This study was mainly conducted in the fall of 2015 and in the winter of 2016. The research method used in this study was participant observation and informal meetings and interviews. The author has worked closely with the Inventory Access service product for the last two years.
In the modern world, companies have numerous different tools and theories to evaluate and define their processes and products. For example with the help of the business process maturity model, volume-variety matrix and value stream mapping, companies are able to detect the flaws and inefficient factors in their processes. In addition the use and adopting of lean-thinking and principles makes the discovering of non-value-adding activities easier, which leads to more efficient and cost-effective operations. In this thesis the Inventory Access service product was analysed, among other things, with the help of previously mentioned models and theories. The findings supported the improvement of the order handling process of the service product.
The conclusion was that the current state of process was challenging and vulnerable to errors. Manual repetitions in the operations greatly increased the workload of customer service team. Wasteful actions in the process were highlighted and appropriate recommendations given accordingly. The research and the current state analysis of the process provided useful information. It was found that the effectiveness of the process can already be increased with small incremental improvements. Availability of product and presales information, contract and agreement documentation, lack of automation and the upkeep practices of the service product were found to be the most challenging. Also the operating principle of the service product in general appeared to be a factor that makes the automatization of order handling a challenge.
In the modern world, companies have numerous different tools and theories to evaluate and define their processes and products. For example with the help of the business process maturity model, volume-variety matrix and value stream mapping, companies are able to detect the flaws and inefficient factors in their processes. In addition the use and adopting of lean-thinking and principles makes the discovering of non-value-adding activities easier, which leads to more efficient and cost-effective operations. In this thesis the Inventory Access service product was analysed, among other things, with the help of previously mentioned models and theories. The findings supported the improvement of the order handling process of the service product.
The conclusion was that the current state of process was challenging and vulnerable to errors. Manual repetitions in the operations greatly increased the workload of customer service team. Wasteful actions in the process were highlighted and appropriate recommendations given accordingly. The research and the current state analysis of the process provided useful information. It was found that the effectiveness of the process can already be increased with small incremental improvements. Availability of product and presales information, contract and agreement documentation, lack of automation and the upkeep practices of the service product were found to be the most challenging. Also the operating principle of the service product in general appeared to be a factor that makes the automatization of order handling a challenge.