Sven-Axel Svenssons Bijouterier in Söderköping is a company that imports, stores and sell accessories. They have a chain of stores called Glitter but they are also a wholesaler for retailers. They have expanded by opening new shops throughout a period of years. This expansion has caused a delay in the development of the Supply chain. In 1999 there was 14 shops in Sweden and today it is 123 shops in Norden Europe, 2004.
The goal with this degree thesis has been to find out how the store delivery works today. If the company continues to expand the workflow to the warehouse and the shops will be affected. With simulation the store delivery can be explained and how it affects the work done in the warehouse.
By creating a model of the real system, we have simulated how the system works today. The model is not an exact copy of the real system, it is a rough simplified image of the reality. The creation of this model makes it possible together with interviews and literature studies to make assumptions about how the delivery pattern could changes for expansions in the future.
We start with a theoretical background about supply chains and simulation throughout a literature study. We continue with a description of the conditions for this degree thesis. The simulations have been done with a simulation tool called Arena.
Pretty soon we could se that the pattern of the deliveries can be an obstacle for the company, in their future expansion. The warehouse deliveries works today but not satisfactory, which the company is well aware of. With help of simulation, theory and the knowledge we have got from our education, we have made some assumptions that some changes are necessary to do. In our work there are several proposals on continuing studies that can be done.