Global production management in newspaper production and distribution coordination of products, processes and resources

Sammanfattning: This thesis covers an introduction to the present conditions for newspaper publishing, definitions and analyses of the processes of newspaper production and distribution, expected future developments with respect to products and production processes, and finally, conclusions regarding the need for global coordination of products, production and distribution.Primarily, the conditions in the Nordic countries have been analysed. Particular attention has been drawn to Swedish morning newspapers with a circulation exceeding about 50 000 copies per publishing day.The study has been carried out mainly through literature research, through case studies using the SDA-method, and through acquisition and analyses of production data from the case studies. In addition, interviews and questionnaires have been used.A modern newspaper printing plant requires heavy investments. The number of newspaper printing plants is decreasing, but he number of newspaper titles printed in each plant increases. The flexibility in and utilisation of the remaining plants increases as well as the complexity and variety of the products handled.In all case studies of newspaper production, the companies use fixed production and distribution plans, following the same timetable from day to day. Delayed press starts, deviations from the calculated production speed, and interruptions during the production immediately cause disturbances in the distribution, delay costs, and goodwill losses.The time needed to produce a fixed number of copies varies within a wide range. Days of more complex production in the production plants meet with problems more often. The average net production speed is progressively reduced at higher page counts. Inserting operations result in an accelerated reduction. The difference is mainly caused by product related differences in cruising speed and by the occurrence of unplanned stops. The coordination of products, production and distribution is essential already today, and will be even more important in the future.More flexible production and distribution plans would imply controlled and predictable risks. In addition, it will render increased utilisation of the resources available. A product model can be used in order to identify an associated production process model as a set of separate activities. Detailed modelling of the different activities demands detailed tracking and systematic use of the production history. A detailed activity modelling will make it possible to predict the capability of a certain activity in terms of production speed and reliability. This will facilitate coordination on a global level.