This study was conducted at Glimek AB, a company that has chosen to decentralize its central storage unit in order to increase production efficiencies. The purpose of the study was to identify the problems in the production cycle that lead to the decision to decentralize the central storage unit, as well as identifying what the decentralization entails. The effects of the decentralization have not been analyzed in the study, and consequently neither financial nor production disadvantages have been considered.

Appropriate questions were formulated based on the chosen underlying theories, and were asked to selected individuals with relevant knowledge. The study is based on the information that was gathered from interviews with management as well as staff within the company. In addition, supporting information such as flowcharts, drawings, orders and decision support documents were supplied by the company. The study was conducted in close cooperation with the employees of the company. The bases from which the conclusions were derived are the information gathered from the interviews and the authors’ documentation efforts.

The assessment concludes that the problems that arose in the production cycle were the results of insufficient supply of input material. These shortcomings arose from several different underlying factors, such as degree of work in the central storage unit and relocation of material. Previously existing problems within the production cycle could not be resolved with the implementation of a JIT-methodology. The decentralization of the central storage unit implied that all specific material would be present at each manufacturing plant. The decentralization also resulted in the fact that the manufacturing personnel would get the main responsibility for selecting and reserving input material from the computer system. The study also showed that no one among the production staff had been assigned the ultimate management responsibility for this process.