Processorientering i ett tillväxtföretag - Processanalys och processbaserad mätning på Formidabel AB

Abstract

Formidabel is a function oriented company in the processed food industry.
Due to rapid growth and an ever-changing market the company is constantly
exposed to new challenges, and running the risk of loosing focus on its
vision and goals. The company’s target market is predominantly small and
middle sized organizations and its business concept consists of having great
knowledge in market trends and the creation of fine tastes and consistencies.
This paper is a case study using semi structured interviews to map the
processes of Formidabel. The authors used the map to analyze the business
and to create a foundation for a process based measure system. Four head
processes were identified to represent all activities within Formidabel. These
are named: Generate business, Assure the supply of raw material, Produce
mixture and Prepare delivery and deliver. Each head process consists of a
number of smaller sub-processes and activities that vary in the overall
importance to the company and the satisfaction of their customers. The
authors also identified a number of support processes to support the head
processes.
The main purpose of the head process, Generate business, is to develop new
products, but also to identify and create customer demand. In order to
succeed it is imperative to have strong knowledge of the processed food
industry and the trends influencing the market. The process consists of a few
activities that are considered to be value-adding, and since the process has
no waste activities it is regarded to be efficient. This process is time
consuming and if Formidabel in the future introduces additional routines,
there is a possibility of staff shortage. In this case it is important to focus on
the value-adding activities and make other activities more effective. The
head process, Assure the supply of raw material, consists of a number of
activities considered to be waste. To minimize their occurrence it is
important that Formidabel use dependable suppliers and introduce an
automatic system to keep track of inventory positions and levels. Only one
activity in this process directly contributes to increase customer value. It
involves the negotiation with suppliers on terms of trade and delivery. The
added value of the activity should be allocated to the purchasing personnel.
Produce mixture has a sequential structure making it somewhat slow, but at
the same time the structure reduces the number of responsibility handovers
needed. As the refinement of the product mainly takes place here, this
process evidently include value-adding activities. The few waste activities
identified in this process are consequences of the insufficient inventory
system. Problems within this process occur when there is a shortage of raw
materiel or when the mixture rooms are insufficient. The forth head process,
Prepare delivery and deliver, consists of a substantial number of qualityassuring
activities, which do not directly add value to the product. They do,
however, play an important roll in assuring product quality and maintaining
the good reputation of Formidabel. A possible bottleneck in the future
occurs when the bags are being sorted and placed upon pallets. The
equipment is arraigned in a fashion where there is only room for one person
to sort the bags. A queue may occur if the production rate continues to
grow.
To measure and steer the processes identified, a well designed measure
system based on the business strategies of Formidabel is required.
Interesting attributes to measure are for example usability, customer
specificity, delivery accuracy, taste continuity, value added and how or if the processes can show the personnel how to create customer value. Aside
from this a couple of general demands have been identified, which can be
connected to all processes even down to activity level. The most important
general demands are predictability, flexibility and efficiency and should be measured in various parts of the business.

• author: Kantoft, Emma and Zikovic, Maria
• supervisor: Ola Alexanderson
• organization: Production Management
• course: MIO920
• year: 2007
• type: M1 - University Diploma
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• other publication id: 07/5259
• language: Swedish
• id: 1980696
• date added to LUP: 2011-06-20 11:01:20
• date last changed: 2011-06-20 11:01:20