Quality Investigation of Goods in the Beverage Industry : - A case study on continuous quality improvements in a warehouse

Abstract: Despite several developments in logistics that strive to decrease costs, tendencies can be found for increased logistical costs (Pewe, 2011, p. 17). Some factors causing increased system complexity are increased selection and faster market movements. The Warehouse Department at Carlsberg Sverige in Falkenberg has been chosen to be studied regarding continuous quality improvements. Carlsberg Sverige implemented an automated inventory system and automated order-picking system in 2012-2013, which has had about 40% increase of stock keeping units (SKUs) since the investments. Since the implementation of the automation Carlsberg Sverige has encountered challenges with other quality of goods. The system has become more sensitive and it has become more important to eliminate deviation.The study aimed to develop a way for long-term reduction or elimination of quality errors that result in negative effects to the system. A specific area investigated was regarding both effect of the organization in a holistic perspective and on a level of detail of the analyzed area. The study did not include quality of beverages, but only external quality problems of goods, such as faulty stacking of packages or plastic wrapping hanging outside of the goods.An exploratory study was conducted with predominantly quantitative data collection methods. Initially a current state mapping was made, a flow chart was created through interviews and observations of employees. Critical activities / situations were identified in the flow chart and three areas were determined for further investigation regarding quality errors. Observations were carried out where all occurred abnormalities were registered. The results were analyzed and a focus area determined for continued deeper examination. A final model was created with the influence of theories and collected data from the case study.The examined focus area was part of the fully automated warehouse. Adaptation to the new automation was still under investigation and a need for more clarity in the continuous quality improvements . From the observations, it was revealed that in approximately 70% of the observing time in the focus area, there was an error in the area affected system. Registered errors were categorized into ten groups, seven groups were included in the research scope. Out of the seven categories there were two significance regarding amount of repetitions of registered errors; unreadable label was measured 30 times, and plastic wrapping outside goods was discovered 12 times during 7 hours of measurement. Significance regarding average duration was discovered for; system errors of labels and wood detected by sensors on conveyors.Detected errors with significance were further analyzed with fishbone diagrams to find root-causes. Several common causes were discovered in the fishbone diagrams, for instance regarding inadequate methods and measurements. The discoveries functioned as basis for the final model that consists of: Key Performance Indexes (KPI's), a flow chart of affecting processes, daily whiteboard meetings, improved communication channels and a process for implementation of routines. The model developed was to fit this case study, which represents; a complex system with lots of shift work, both manual and automated processes and handling of beverage goods. Despite this, the model is considered to function as a basis to work on continuous quality improvements for organizations outside the mentioned scope, but with modifications of the model.