Cost Efficiency and Waste Reduction in Completely Knocked Down Production

Abstract: Purpose – To provide a framework for the improvement of the supply chain of Completely Knocked Down Products with a focus on waste reduction and cost-efficiency. Method– A case study at a company dealing with CKD assembly, based on observations and interviews. Triangulation of several sources from scholarly articles, examples from the automotive industries and researches. This investigation has been designed to provide logic and coherent structure backing the purpose following the red-thread of answering the research questions. The objective of the study is achieved combining literature review and a case study mainly based on observations and interviews. Results – CKD production can be beneficial depending on the specific content and market conditions. This thesis focuses on value creation throughout each stage of the production of CKD, from design to final assembly. The study found some guidelines that should be followed in managing the supply chain of CKD products. It fills a vacuum of knowledge on the topic. Implications – The frameworks resulting from the research, highlight the actions to be taken to implement CKD efficiently, with minimum waste and cost, leading to an overall improvement of the entire supply chain. Limitations – There have been found limited resources on the topic. Developing a framework without thorough examples from different industries contexts was a limitation due to the absence of available information. Observations and interviews limited to one company that locally assembles globally sourced parts.