CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There is a strong concern to adjust the supply system in a company (Machline, 2008) to achieve a higher service lev­el internally and to the outside customers. This brings to a higher operational level and even a possible differential when compared with the other competitors (Milan, Paiva & Pretto, 2006; Paiva, Carvalho Jr. & Fensterseifer, 2004).

Materials handling management is among many factors that contribute to improve a company’s performance. The Materials Handling Industry of America [MHIA] defines materials handling man­agement as “Material Handling is the movement, storage, control and protection of material, goods, and products throughout the process of manufac­turing, distribution, consumption and disposal. The focus is on the methods, mechanical equip­ment, systems and related controls used to achieve these functions” (mhia.org/learning/glossary). Then it is observed that handling is broader than simple materials movement, although both terms are sometimes used as synonyms. The relevance of materials handling stems from the intrinsic relationship that it has with production flow. When it presents an imbalance, there is forma­tion of extra stock or rupture in supply. When the flow does not have enough velocity, transit time is long and the system is not capable of serving the customers when they need it.

It is well understood that material handling im­provement may have positive effects over produc­tion. However, it is not only production, but the way the employees see the new situation. When the per­ception is favorable, the benefits are possible; if not, behavioral issues can emerge. Evaluations are im­portant when interventions into the work environ­ment are implemented. The present work is specifi­cally related to materials handling management. By means of effective materials handling management, the company’s operational performance may im­prove (Chopra & Meindl, 2001; Rosenbloom, 2003) aiming to satisfy the customers or meet their expec­tations in terms of their needs, desires and demands (Oliver, 2010; Stock & Lambert, 2001).

The case study related in this work was performed in an automotive industry located in the northeast­ern part of Rio Grande do Sul State of Brazil. It was founded more than 50 years ago and is classified as a large-sized company since it has more than 2000 employees. This region contains a cluster of indus­tries of metal-mechanic, automotive and metallurgi­cal sectors that in its majority belong to production chains which demand a high internal performance level from their partners.

The company in question, after analyzing produc­tion flow as a whole, identified that among other measures it would be necessary to improve mate­rials handling management in the manufacturing process. This was motivated by the observed de­lay in forklifts service and their high maintenance cost. Forklifts were used both for parts handling and transportation and to assist in tooling changes, which many times resulted in excessive setup time leading to production delays. Changes were made in the materials handling process to address these concerns.

The main objective of this case study was to evalu­ate internal customers’ satisfaction levels after the change. In order to do this, it was necessary to iden­tify the factors that explain overall satisfaction; to do it, open-ended questionnaires were applied. The re­spondents – 26 people directly linked to daily mate­rials flow – were requested to identify the attributes and unfold them into sub-factors which represented the internal process in more details. The identified attributes were cost, safety in service, service reli­ability and agility. After this step, a second question­naire with close-ended questions was applied to the same respondents in order to evaluate performance satisfaction at each factor and sub-factor and also overall satisfaction. The questions requested the re­spondent perception about the improvement – per­ceived or not – after the interventions.

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