Material handling challenges for manufacturing companies

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge about the material handling of a module house manufacturing company. In order to achieve the study's purpose, three research questions were formulated. ▪ Which factors affect material handling? ▪ Which factors are considered important for material handling? ▪ How can standardization improve material handling? Method – The study has been characterized by an inductive approach to conducting the case study. To achieve the purpose, empirical data has been collected via a pilot study, interviews, observations, and document studies from reality. Subsequently, previous theories were examined via a literature collection. Furthermore, the processing and analysis of collected empirics and theory have helped to answer the purpose and demonstrate the generalizability of the study. Findings – The study has focused on the entirety of the various processes and an understanding of the various factors that influence material handling has been obtained. The case study company has challenges to look at the entirety of the modular house production and separates the production and construction sites. The wastes transport, movement, waiting and unused skills are considered to be the most important wastes to reduce or eliminate. It is clear that the case study company’s new employees must constantly reinvent the wheel and learn from their own mistakes. Moreover, it is difficult to determine if the mistake is a deviation, error or insufficient knowledge. By implementing a standard for what should be on drawings and how materials are to be delivered from production to the construction sites, deviations and wastes can be reduced and costs reduced. Implications – The study is based on a problem area that already exists in separate theories and comparisons. However, operations that have a material handling that both concerns manufacturing and construction work have not previously been investigated to the same extent, which is the theoretical contribution of the study. The empirical contribution to the study is to identify which factors affect material handling in businesses that have common flows between manufacturing and construction work. Limitations – The study only addresses two of the material handling flows; the material flow and the information flow. The study also does not take into account the processes of suppliers, subcontractors, or customers. Finally, the study will not include financial calculations to demonstrate potential cost efficiencies. Keywords – Material handling, Lean, Construction logistics, Wastes, Current flow, Value stream mapping, Lean tools