Operational Excellence and Lean Production at Haldex: Improving Haldex Way – The Value Stream Approach

Abstract: The increasing demands on the vehicle market regarding cost effectiveness, efficient production and innovative solutions create an unforgiving environment for the suppliers. Haldex has developed Haldex Way, a management and improvement framework focused on lean production to meet these demands. Although lean methodologies are utilized at Haldex, Haldex Way has currently issues with consistency and applicability in all areas of the organization. To address these issues and stay on the cutting edge of the market, further development of the Haldex Way concept must be made. Problem Definition: The identified problems with the currently existing Haldex Way can be summarized as Slow improvements of result. Low level of utilization and low general buy in of Haldex Way. Lack of ownership and applicability of Haldex Way in implementation. Purpose The purpose of this Master Thesis is to develop an improved framework for Haldex Way and a specific approach for the Value Stream processes. The approach should provide a descriptive way of how to work towards excellence and is specifically focused on improvements of Haldex´ strategic KPI’s; inventory days and delivery performance. Methodology: The thesis is built on a case study with a combination of an exploratory, explanatory and descriptive approach, to provide an in-depth understanding for the underlying problems. A qualitative research method was used with several interviews and observations at different sites as well as thorough literature studies. Abduction was used as an approach for linking the theoretical knowledge with the results from the interviews and observations. The development process followed a generic logic and loop adopted from the EFQM business excellence model. Result: The main results of the Master Thesis are: A redesigned Haldex Way framework with an incorporated generic logic. A descriptive Value Stream Approach. A redesigned challenge template. Conclusion: The development of an improved framework for Haldex Way with a pervading generic logic has made the structure much more coherent and consistent in every level. It has incorporated all areas of the Haldex organization and therefore also captured all the required applicability. The approaches have made Haldex Way less generic in its structure by linking the objectives closely with the strategically important KPI´s. The ways within each approach has also a more clearly defined content and scope.