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Improving the working routines with outgoing articles - A research project at IKEA San Diego

Fredlund, Claes and Biorklund, Erik (2006) MIO920
Production Management
Abstract
The purpose of this Masters thesis is to improve IKEA San Diego’s existing working routine
related to the out phasing process of outgoing articles.
At the retailer IKEA San Diego, the process of phasing in and out articles was not working
efficiently. To this day there have been several problems to get the process of phasing in and
out articles that approach their end date sale (EDS) to work smoothly. Management has
been reluctant to act and the routines have been poorly communicated. During the last year
numerous events have taken place that further demands the out phasing process to be
enhanced. The IKEA Corporation is currently changing their supply strategy which affects
the out phasing routines. The store is transforming its... (More)
The purpose of this Masters thesis is to improve IKEA San Diego’s existing working routine
related to the out phasing process of outgoing articles.
At the retailer IKEA San Diego, the process of phasing in and out articles was not working
efficiently. To this day there have been several problems to get the process of phasing in and
out articles that approach their end date sale (EDS) to work smoothly. Management has
been reluctant to act and the routines have been poorly communicated. During the last year
numerous events have taken place that further demands the out phasing process to be
enhanced. The IKEA Corporation is currently changing their supply strategy which affects
the out phasing routines. The store is transforming its operational ownership from franchise
to a corporate ownership, thus decreasing the possibilities to set prices independently. The
store is missing space to ensure growth and the Logistics Department at IKEA San Diego is
failing a must-pass review, where one of the main issues was – to handle outgoing articles.
All these factors are related to the purpose of this thesis and have been explored and
evaluated.
The research process has been executed in a cyclic and intimate manner with the sponsor
company. Data have been collected through a global benchmark web survey and by
continuous observation within IKEA. Once the problems have been identified and
evaluated there has been a successive implementation, followed by further examination and
new implementations. It is an Action Research based thesis and the method is inspired by
Cunnigham’s Organizational Development theory.
As a result of the authors work the IKEA San Diego store is now experiencing a more
efficient and clear routine for how to handle the out phasing process. Administrative tasks
have been reduced and improved, management have a higher awareness and a greater
proactive attitude and are as result less reluctance to action. The average amount of
outgoing articles has during the execution of this thesis been decreased by 35%. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Fredlund, Claes and Biorklund, Erik
supervisor
organization
course
MIO920
year
type
M1 - University Diploma
subject
other publication id
06/5253
language
English
id
1988581
date added to LUP
2011-06-28 14:28:53
date last changed
2011-06-28 14:28:53
@misc{1988581,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this Masters thesis is to improve IKEA San Diego’s existing working routine
related to the out phasing process of outgoing articles.
At the retailer IKEA San Diego, the process of phasing in and out articles was not working
efficiently. To this day there have been several problems to get the process of phasing in and
out articles that approach their end date sale (EDS) to work smoothly. Management has
been reluctant to act and the routines have been poorly communicated. During the last year
numerous events have taken place that further demands the out phasing process to be
enhanced. The IKEA Corporation is currently changing their supply strategy which affects
the out phasing routines. The store is transforming its operational ownership from franchise
to a corporate ownership, thus decreasing the possibilities to set prices independently. The
store is missing space to ensure growth and the Logistics Department at IKEA San Diego is
failing a must-pass review, where one of the main issues was – to handle outgoing articles.
All these factors are related to the purpose of this thesis and have been explored and
evaluated.
The research process has been executed in a cyclic and intimate manner with the sponsor
company. Data have been collected through a global benchmark web survey and by
continuous observation within IKEA. Once the problems have been identified and
evaluated there has been a successive implementation, followed by further examination and
new implementations. It is an Action Research based thesis and the method is inspired by
Cunnigham’s Organizational Development theory.
As a result of the authors work the IKEA San Diego store is now experiencing a more
efficient and clear routine for how to handle the out phasing process. Administrative tasks
have been reduced and improved, management have a higher awareness and a greater
proactive attitude and are as result less reluctance to action. The average amount of
outgoing articles has during the execution of this thesis been decreased by 35%.}},
  author       = {{Fredlund, Claes and Biorklund, Erik}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Improving the working routines with outgoing articles - A research project at IKEA San Diego}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}