The Transport division is responsible for the internal transports on Sandvik Material

Technology AB. At the moment there is no clear picture of how the straddle carriers are

moving at the division Primary Products and if it is working in a satisfying way. It is

important to see the whole picture of the transportation flow so improvements can be made.

The purpose of this essay is to survey and analyse the truck flow in a Lean Production

perspective. The essay is delimited to only include straddle carriers transportation ways in the

Primary Products division. To survey the truck flow we have used a method called Walkthrough.

This means that we have walked thorough the whole production flow and

interviewed some of the employed on the way to get the necessary information. We have also

made an extensive literature study to gather all the necessary theories that is relevant for this

essay.

Since 2003 Sandvik Material Technology is running a project called “ledtidsprojektet”, the

purpose of this project is to create a more efficient production. This project is based on the

Japanese philosophy Lean Production but is audited to be suitable to Sandviks organisation.

Today most of the producing divisions within SMT are working according to

”ledtidsprogrammet”, unfortunately it is not introduced on the Transport division yet.

The result we got by studying the use of the straddle carriers showed that 40 % where with

cargo, 35 % without and 25 % where remaining times were breaks are included. The basis of

the study is from a GPS-transmitter which is placed on one of the straddle carrier. We have

also made our own study where we followed on the straddle carrier and measured the time for

the different activities. To get a more statistical secured investigation it is necessary to make a

more extensive study, when these study where made during a limited time.

On the basis of the truck flows survey some suggestions for improvements have been

identified. It has showed that today’s key measurements have to be overlooked to give a fair

picture of the situation. They also have to improve the way they are planning the transports.

This can be made by better communication with the producing divisions.

For the straddle carriers to be more Lean first the producing divisions have to work according

to the Lean philosophy. It is up to them to try to reduce the stock level and get a more evenly

production.