Track: Case Studies

Abstract

The telecommunications market is characterized by high unpredictability and volatility of demand as well as a great instability due to the existing strong competitive environment. Thus, it has become imperative for companies to invest on several continuous improvement tools, with a view to enhancement and stabilization of processes, standardization of labor and elimination of waste along the value chain. The work described in this paper was carried out in the warehouses of a well-known Portuguese telecommunications company that is characterized by a considerable innovative dimension and, due to its recent growth in the market, presents several problems in its logistics sector, which was not able to keep up with this expansion. The main objective was to eliminate/reduce the waste in the warehouse processes reducing logistics cost and therefore, creating value for the company. The implementation of a set of continuous improvement (lean) tools such as ABC analysis, spaghetti diagrams, and layout redesign allowed the looked-for value adding to the inner processes.