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Engaging Service Providers in Continuous Improvement: How Volvo's actors, systems and chemical management service provider could work together towards continuous improvement and sustainable development.

Helman, Douglas (2007)
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Abstract
Continuous improvement is not a new idea in business. Six Sigma, Lean Production and the PDCA cycle are some of the approaches companies can take to conduct continuous improvement of their operations. However, when a buyer is engaged with a supplier via a service provision contract, their combined effort to work towards continuous improvement is made more complex. This research adds to the understanding of how a large business could engage its supplier in continuous improvement, specifically where a service provision contract exists between the buyer and supplier. A case study at Volvo Construction Equipment revealed that a number of actors and systems, that fulfilled the theoretical requirements for a successful engagement, already... (More)
Continuous improvement is not a new idea in business. Six Sigma, Lean Production and the PDCA cycle are some of the approaches companies can take to conduct continuous improvement of their operations. However, when a buyer is engaged with a supplier via a service provision contract, their combined effort to work towards continuous improvement is made more complex. This research adds to the understanding of how a large business could engage its supplier in continuous improvement, specifically where a service provision contract exists between the buyer and supplier. A case study at Volvo Construction Equipment revealed that a number of actors and systems, that fulfilled the theoretical requirements for a successful engagement, already existed. This allowed for the proposal of a solution to Volvo Construction Equipment concerning the best way for them to engage with BP Castrol, their chemical management service provider. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Helman, Douglas
supervisor
organization
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Chemical management service, Product-service system, Buyer-supplier relationship, Supplier integration, Continuous improvement, Lean production, Environmental studies, Miljöstudier
language
English
id
1324809
date added to LUP
2007-12-03 00:00:00
date last changed
2007-12-03 00:00:00
@misc{1324809,
  abstract     = {{Continuous improvement is not a new idea in business. Six Sigma, Lean Production and the PDCA cycle are some of the approaches companies can take to conduct continuous improvement of their operations. However, when a buyer is engaged with a supplier via a service provision contract, their combined effort to work towards continuous improvement is made more complex. This research adds to the understanding of how a large business could engage its supplier in continuous improvement, specifically where a service provision contract exists between the buyer and supplier. A case study at Volvo Construction Equipment revealed that a number of actors and systems, that fulfilled the theoretical requirements for a successful engagement, already existed. This allowed for the proposal of a solution to Volvo Construction Equipment concerning the best way for them to engage with BP Castrol, their chemical management service provider.}},
  author       = {{Helman, Douglas}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Engaging Service Providers in Continuous Improvement: How Volvo's actors, systems and chemical management service provider could work together towards continuous improvement and sustainable development.}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}