Optimized Transport and Efficient Goods Reception - Using Time Slot Management to Optimize Performance at the Interface Between External and Internal Logistics

Abstract

This master's thesis study investigates the possible use of Time Slot Management (TSM) in live-unload goods receptions at automotive production facilities. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Volvo Group and is based on their pilot study of a TSM software at their production facility in Bourg, France. Volvo Group’s production facility in Tuve and its surrounding context has been used to exemplify the theoretical findings of this study by placing them in a real-world context. The use of TSM in different industry settings was mapped and analyzed through multiple, iterative literature reviews and semi-structured interviews with people in the logistics field. The findings from the literature review and interviews were combined to create an analytical framework. The framework describes a live-unload goods reception at an automotive production facility from a TSM perspective and was used to conduct the analysis. The analysis discusses each of the seven parts of the framework: geography and infrastructure, incoming goods flow, at the gate, the goods reception, internal logistics, time slot management and disruption management. Each part results in a number of recommended considerations when designing or choosing a TSM solution. To conclude each of the three research questions posed to be able to evaluate the study’s fulfilment of its purpose were answered. The first and second research questions were adequately answered through a presentation of important aspects to consider when designing a TSM solution along with important contextual conditions that can affect the suitability. The third research question regarding a suitable design of time slot management practices at the live-unload goods reception at the Tuve production facility was not possible to fully answer as there was not enough information available. Hence the first step in finding a suitable TSM solution for the Tuve production facility should be to gather more information about the facility, its context, and incoming goods flows.