Production preparation methodology in Swedish metal working industry - a State of the Art investigation

This article presents a brief state of the art in the Swedish metal working industry regarding the production preparation process for the machine centre. The article is based on a relationship model from which a questionnaire was developed. The model incorporates the perceived preparation process efficiency, the amount of systematic preparation work, in relation to the companies’ premises as possible causes. The investigation is based on a general hypothesis that a more systematic approach in the preparation process leads to higher preparation process efficiency. This hypothesis was supplemented by two more hypotheses and additional analyses to create an understanding of the situation. The main finding in this investigation is that there appear to be no relationship between increased systematic preparation work and perception of higher preparation efficiency. The investigation also indicates that many metal working companies have little knowledge about the performance of their preparation process and that there is an efficiency improvement potential of nearly 30%.