Quality insurance is an important part of a manufacturing company in order to achieve and maintain its competitiveness. To measure how the company’s processes are performing, it is necessary to have reliable measurement data. Reliability of measurement data is naturally a crucial and important factor for a company to deliver the right quality to its customers. Without confidence in the measurement data, there is a potential risk that the customers end up with defective products if the measurement results are misinterpreted. This thesis project has been conducted at Volvo GTO in Skövde at the crankshaft manufacturing department. Volvo GTO wants to understand how well their manufacturing process of crankshaft performs by assigning a capability value. One of the requirements for obtaining a reliable capability value is that the measurement system is reliable. Volvo suspects that they do not have a reliable measuring system for measuring the roundness of bearing surfaces on a crankshaft. To clearly identify the problems of the measurement system, several possible causes of errors were identified and then analyzed deeper. These possible causes have attempted to be disproved and the errors which couldn’t be disproven may be a possible cause of error. The result of this thesis project shows that the company doesn’t meet the requirements to perform reliable measurements with such small tolerances. The main cause of the uncertainty in the measurement process is the external factors, such as the measuring environment. This report also includes recommendations on how the company can eliminate the measurement uncertainties to get a more reliable measurement process. / För att ett tillverkande företag ska kunna uppnå och bibehålla sin konkurrenskraft är kvalitetssäkring en viktig del av verksamheten. För att kunna uppmäta hur företagets processer presterar är det nödvändigt att företaget har tillförlitlig mätdata. Tillförlitlighet till mätdata är av naturliga skäl en avgörande och viktig faktor för att ett företag ska leverera rätt kvalitet till sina kunder. Utan tillit till mätdatan finns det en potentiell risk att defekta produkter hamnar hos kunden genom att tolka mätresultatet felaktigt.   Detta examensarbete har utförts på Volvo Group Trucks Operations (GTO) i Skövde på vevaxels-avdelningen. Volvo GTO vill förstå hur väl deras tillverkningsprocess av vevaxlar presterar genom ett duglighetstal. Ett av kraven för att få ett pålitligt duglighetstal är att mätsystemet är tillförlitligt. Volvo anser idag att de inte har ett tillförlitligt mätsystem vid rundhetsmätning av vevaxlar. För att tydligare kartlägga de problem som idag finns med mätsystemet så identifierades ett antal felmöjligheter som analyserades djupare. Dessa felmöjligheter har försökts att motbevisas och de som inte har kunnat motbevisas kan vara en möjlig felorsak. Resultatet uppvisar att det finns brister i de grundförutsättningar som krävs för att en tillförlitlig mätning skall kunna utföras. I arbetets gång är det tydligt att det främst är de yttre faktorerna som skapar en osäkerhet i mätprocessen. Rapporten avslutas med en rekommendation kring hur företaget kan eliminera mätosäkerheten för att få en tillförlitligare mätprocess.

In this age of safety awareness, technological emergencies still happen, occasionally with catastrophic results. Often human intervention is the only way of averting disaster. Ensuring that the chosen emergency managers are competent requires a combination of training and assessment. However, assessment currently relies on expert judgement of behaviour as opposed to its impact on outcome, therefore it would be difficult to incorporate such data into formal Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA). Although there is, as yet, no suitable alternative to expert judgement, there is a need for methods of quantifying the impact of emergency management on risk reduction in accident and incidents. The Task Performance Resource Constraint (TPRC) model is capable of representing the critical factors. It calculates probability of task success with respect to time based on uncertainties associated with the task and resource variables. The results can then be used to assess the management performance based on the physical outcome in the emergency, thereby providing a measure of the impact of emergency management on risk with a high degree of objectivity. Data obtained from training exercises for offshore and onshore emergency management were measured and successfully used with the TPRC model. The resulting probability of success functions also demonstrated a high level of external validity when used with improvements in emergency management or design changes or real data from the Piper Alpha disaster. It also appeared to have more external validity than other HRQ/QRA techniques as it uses physical data that are a greater influence on outcome than psychological changes - though this could be because the current HRA/QRA techniques view human unreliability as probability of error rather than probability of failure. The simulation data were also used to build up distributions of timings for simple emergency management tasks. Using additional theoretical data, this demonstrated the model's potential for assessing the probability of successf or novel situations and future designs.

Atualmente, a grande concorrência de mercado faz com que as empresas busquem maior confiabilidade e qualidade em seus produtos, aumentando assim a confiança e fidelidade de seus clientes. Além disso a diminuição dos gastos com garantia e a possibilidade de extensão da mesma é um grande diferencial de mercado, e pode ser obtido com a realização de estudos de confiabilidade dos sistemas e equipamentos. Este trabalho propõe um método para esse estudo e apresenta um caso exemplo, aplicando o método sugerido, e, propondo melhorias. O presente trabalho reúne conceitos básicos de confiabilidade, apresentando as ferramentas mais utilizadas e explana sobre análise de dados de retorno em garantia. São propostas também algumas soluções para vencer as dificuldades possíveis de serem encontradas. O método consiste em adequar os dados obtidos, de um banco de dados qualquer, para se realizar uma análise de confiabilidade partindo do conhecimento do produto através de materiais apropriados e da execução da árvore funcional, seguida da Análise de Modos e Efeitos de Falha, e, realizando a análise dos dados de garantia, classificando o tipo de registro, como suspenso, completo ou agrupado, e atribuindo a aproximação dos dados a uma distribuição estatística adequada para se calcular os parâmetros e obter a confiabilidade do equipamento ou sistema. A partir dessa análise dos dados é possível se obter relações de sazonalidade entre falhas, entre falhas e lotes de produção, entre tempos até a falha, além de estimativas de confiabilidade e taxa de falha, entre outras. Além disso, é possível se realizar a validação da análise de modos e efeitos de falha a partir dos dados de retorno em garantia. A aplicação do método é realizada através de um caso exemplo, central telefônica. O estudo segue o modelo proposto e, de posse da estimativa de confiabilidade, é possível se calcular os custos de garantia e realizar melhorias, principalmente no banco de dados de retorno em garantia, para que a análise seja cada vez mais precisa. / Nowadays, the great market competition makes that the companies look for higher reliability and quality in their products, the customers' fidelity trust. Besides the decrease of the expenses with warranty makes possible its extension which is a great market differential this objective can be accomplished with product reliability – based analysis. The objective of this work is to propose a method for that study and to present an example of analysis, proposing improvements and validation the suggested method. The present work gathers basic reliability concepts, presenting the most used tools for data associated with warranty period. The method consists on adapting the failure data, of any database, to develop a reliability analysis, following basic steps such as product analysis based on functional trees, followed by the Failure Mode, Effects and Analysis, to define the critical components and, to accomplish the analysis of the warranty data, the failure data are classified as suspended complete or contained, and an appropriate statistical distribution is adjusted to evaluate the reliability of the equipment or system. Starting from that data analysis it is possible to obtain seasonal relationships among faults, between faults and production lots, among times to failures. Besides, it is possible to validate the Failure Mode, Effects and Analysis based on warranty registers. The application of the method is demonstrated through an example, involving the reliability analysis of an analogic PABX of. The study follows the proposed model and, based on reliability estimative, it is possible to calculate the warranty costs and to propose possible product and data collection improvements, mainly in the warranty database in order to improve the reliability analysis results.

In today's society we are all strongly dependent on correct functions of technical systems. These systems tend to increase in both complexity and criticality, at the same time as they often have a rather long life. During this long life the stakeholders' requirements on the functions of the systems change. In order to maintain a high level of stakeholder satisfaction organisations responsible for the system have to respond to the changes through system development and continuous improvements. When the technical system is both complex and critical it is even more important that the work with continuous improvements is done in a systemic and systematic way. This is because a modification may result in unwanted side effects and a small change in one part of the system may have a major negative impact on many other parts of the system, and also have far reaching decisive consequences. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe how an organisation can work with continuous improvements of complex technical system functions in the context of changing stakeholder requirements, in order to increase stakeholder satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources. To fulfil the stated purpose a case study supported by a literature study has been made. The case study focused on a modern combat aircraft, which is considered as a highly complex and safety critical system with stringent requirements on low life cycle cost. The result of the study may be described in two parts. The first part is a theoretical management framework that combines aspects of Quality Management, Requirements Management, and Health Management. The framework describes on a conceptual level how the work with continuous improvements may be enhanced through synergism achieved by the combination. The second part, which is based on both theoretical and empirical findings, is a model intended to support the work with continuous improvements. The model includes a number of combined and adapted methodologies and tools that enable traceability between stakeholder requirements and the critical system functions that should be covered by tools that support Condition Monitoring, Diagnostics, and Prognostics.

Corporate environmental management is becoming less driven by regulatory compliance and more driven by corporate strategy. In order to gain competitive advantage, systematically assure regulatory compliance and develop more efficient operations an increasing number of organisation adopt the environmental management system (EMS) tool. Ever since the introduction of the EMS standard ISO 14001 in 1996, the effects of EMSs has been evaluated. Using meta-evaluation, the existing evidence on environmental effects of EMS is in this thesis evaluated. The reviewed studies are not consistent regarding benefits of EMS and it is therefore not possible to generally suggest a causal linkage between EMS implementation and improved environmental performance. Another meta-study in this thesis focused on the influence of different organisation characteristics on environmental effects of EMS. The results indicate that benefits of EMS seem to be inert of the drivers for adoption and the cultural setting. Large organisations as well as smaller ones benefit from EMS, but for different reasons. EMS appears to be a functional tool in the industrial sector but also in service organisations with complex environmental impact. EMS has the disadvantage that it is developed with larger organisations in mind. A common approach used by small and medium-sized organisations to facilitate the implementation of EMSs is joint EMS and group certification. Through a case study, it was found that the approach, despite a few short cuts, is effective for small and micro-sized companies in achieving ISO 14001 certification as fast and cost effective as possible. The identification and assessment of environmental aspects and the implementation of environmental policy through objectives, targets and programmes are in this thesis characterised by the use of two multiple-case studies. It is concluded that the implementation of environmental policy is strictly controlled by specifications in EMS standards. Some organisations are forced to design their environmental policy implementation in a way that is not suited for their type of organisation. Many organisations find it hard to measure their environmental goals and to set long-term or medium- long-term time periods for their goals. In addition, the organisations do not involve their employees to a very great extent in this policy implementation. Six problematic elements when identifying and assessing environmental aspects have been identified: definition of environmental aspects, update of aspects, aggregation of aspects, exclusion of business considerations in the assessment, employee and stakeholder participation, competence levels of people involved in the process. In addition, inadequacies exist regarding the reproducibility of the methods used for identification and assessment of environmental aspects. In order to improve the reproducibility, an approach to a new method is suggested which is based on life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology. / Organisationers miljöarbete drivs mindre och mindre av lagkrav och mer och mer av deras övergripande strategi. För att kunna vinna marknadsfördelar, systematiskt uppfylla lagkrav och utveckla mer effektiva processer, väljer ett ökande antal organisationer att införa miljöledningssystem (MLS). Ända sedan introduktionen av miljöledningsstandarden ISO 14001 har studier utförts för att utvärdera effekterna av MLS. Med hjälp av en meta-studie har existerande data gällande miljöeffekter av MLS utvärderats i denna avhandling. En granskning av tidigare studier visar att det inte är möjligt att fastställa ett causalt samband mellan införandet av MLS och förbättrad miljöprestanda. En andra meta-studie i denna avhandling har fokuserat på påverkan av olika organisationsfaktorer på miljöeffekterna av MLS. Resultaten visar att nyttan av MLS verkar vara oberoende av drivkrafterna för införande av MLS och den kulturella miljön. Både större och mindre organisationer verkar ha nytta av MLS, men av olika anledningar. MLS verkar vara ett fungerande verktyg i den industriella sektorn men även i serviceorganisationer med komplex miljöpåverkan. MLS är främst utvecklat för större organisationer. Ett vanligt angreppssätt för att underlätta införandet av MLS i små och medelstora organisationer är gruppcertifiering. En fallstudie visar att gruppcertifiering, trots en del genvägar, är ett effektivt sätt för små- och mikroföretag att införa MLS. Identifiering och värdering av miljöaspekter samt nedbrytning av miljöpolicy genom övergripande mål, detaljerade mål och förbättringsprogram har karakteriserats genom två multipla fallstudier. Studierna visar att nedbrytningen av miljöpolicy är strikt styrd av kraven i MLS-standarder. En del organisationer tvingas att utforma nedbrytningen av miljöpolicyn på ett sätt som inte är lämpat för dem. Många organisationer har svårt att mäta sina miljömål och att fastställa medellånga och långa tidsperioder för målen. Organisationerna verkar inte involvera sin anställda i särskilt stor omfattning vid nedbrytning av miljöpolicyn. Sex problematiska delmoments när miljöaspekter identifieras och värderas har identifierats; definition av miljöaspekt, uppdatering av miljöaspekter, gruppering av miljöaspekter, uteslutande av affärskriterier vid värdering av miljöaspekter, involvering av anställda och intressenter och kompetensnivåerna hos dem som utför arbetet. Dessutom finns brister i reproducerbarheten i rutinerna för identifiering och värdering av miljöaspekterna. Som ett försökt att förbättra reproducerbarheten har riktlinjer för en ny metod tagits fram. Metoden är baserad på livscykelanalys (LCA). / Godkänd; 2005; 20061001 (ysko)

Classifying logs and boards has an essential economic impact on the forest products industry. In contrast to other process industries the sawmills do not try to homogenize the raw material, but instead try to utilize the inherent properties of every single log and board in the best way. The aim of this thesis is to improve the quality control and decrease the costs for poor quality by introducing new methods to measure and describe the raw material. The work is focused on the grading procedures, and thereby 1) analyzing the relevance of the current classification systems and investigating the characteristics that are the most important ones in today´s grading procedures; 2) evaluating models developed to detect interior defects in logs automatically, giving suggestions for improvements; 3) suggesting ideas and methods for a classification system for tomorrow. The investigation comprises partly about 1100 Scots pine (Pinus silvetris) logs harvested on 16 randomly selected stands in Sweden and graded both by graders and by an automatic equipment; partly around 600 pine logs from permanent sample plots in Sweden and scanned by a CT-scanner (Computed tomography). The predictability between the grade of a log and its boards is very low, around 20%. Repeated investigations show that two graders assess the same grade on about 50% of the logs and boards, i.e., they judge the properties equally. The results also emphasize that the current manual classification systems are not in concordance with the customer´s demand and the natural variations in the material cannot be handled in an efficient way by current grading rules and transformed by human beings. The CT-scanner is used to measure the interior properties (defects) of a log. The validation of the methods and models shows that when the accuracy is improved for small knots, the models identify a knot with an accuray of +/- 5 mm. An embryo to a property index, PI, that gives an individual description of the inherent properties of logs and boards, is given. Based on customer-orientation and various strategies for describing log properties, a clustering procedure can be evaluated in order to form and describe appropriate classes (clusters, grades). Then, by an allocation rule with the function for assessing a grade, every single log or board can be automatically classified into one group. / Godkänd; 1995; 20070428 (ysko)

The Environmental Policy Deployment (EPD) process is identified as the heart of an Environmental Management System. Since so little is known about EPD, the aims of this thesis is to characterise the EPD process and identify factors of importance, with focus on the processes of identification and assessment of environmental aspects, and deployment of environmental goals. This new knowledge constitutes the basis for development of new methods within EPD. The empirical base for this thesis is taken from 46 organizations from three counties in Sweden and from 14 business units within the integrated forest product company Stora Enso in Sweden. Six major areas where the process of identification and assessment of environmental can be improved are identified: the definition of environmental aspects, the procedures for update of aspects, the aggregation of aspects, the exclusion of business considerations in the assessment, employee and stakeholder participation and the competence levels of people involved in the process. In addition to these six problem areas, results from the study within Stora Enso also indicate great problems with subjectivity in the identification and assessment process. It is concluded that the subjectivity has negative effects on the stringency and transparency of the process. This thesis includes an approach for a new method based LCA methodology, with focus on the identification of aspects. The goal deployment process within EPD was also characterized. This process is strictly controlled by specifications in ISO 14001/EMAS. Many organizations find it hard to measure their environmental goals and to set long-term horizons for their goals. In addition, the organizations usually do not involve their employees in the process. / Godkänd; 2001; 20070313 (ysko)

The growth of global competition caused remarkable changes in the way manufacturing companies operate. These changes have affected maintenance and made its role even more crucial in business success. In order to stay competitive, manufacturing companies need to continuously increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their production processes. Further, by introducing lean manufacturing the concern about equipment availability is increased and so, the demand for effective maintenance. Despite the increasing demand on reliable production equipment, few manufacturing companies work with strategic maintenance development. Moreover, conventional maintenance strategies such as corrective maintenance are not sufficient today to fulfill the industrial needs on maximum reduction of failures and degradations of manufacturing systems. The concept of maintenance has evolved over the last few decades from a corrective attitude (maintenance intervention after a failure), to a predictive attitude (maintenance intervention fixed to prevent the fault). Strategies and concepts such as Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) have thus evolved to support this ideal situation. CBM is a set of maintenance actions based on real-time or near real-time assessment of equipment condition, which is obtained from embedded sensors and/or external tests and measurements taken by portable equipment and/or subjective condition monitoring. CBM is becoming recognized as the most efficient strategy for carrying out maintenance in a wide variety of industries. However, the practical implementation of advanced maintenance technologies, such as CBM, in manufacturing industry is more scarce. Therefore, the objective with this research is to study on how to implement and develop an effective and efficient CBM strategy in manufacturing industry. This thesis will start with an analysis of the overall maintenance management to illustrate how to formulate a maintenance strategy, following with the focus on CBM; cost effectiveness of implementing CBM; an introductory review of applied CBM practices and CBM implementation process, all in manufacturing industry. The data was collected through case studies mainly at one major manufacturing site. The main part of the data was collected during a pilot project to implement CBM. As the result, a formulated maintenance strategy has been developed and presented. Factors to evaluate CBM cost effectiveness have been assessed. These factors indicate the benefits of CBM mostly in reducing probability of having maximal damage in production equipment and reducing production losses particularly in high production volumes. Further, a process of CBM implementation has been presented. Some of the main elements in the process are selection of the components to be monitored, techniques and technologies as well as installation of the technologies and finally how to analyze the results from the condition monitoring.

M.Ing. / In this thesis aspects of reliability management in a multi-level support environment are researched. Complex systems are generally supported over a number of support levels due to the specialist nature and support infrastructure requirements of the individual subsystems. Such a support approach also ensures optimum availability of the system whilst the subsystems are still in the repair cycle. Once a new system is put into service, it is exposed to the actual operational environment and not the simulated environment that was used to qualify the system during its development. In the operational environment, the system is also exposed to the support infrastructure. These factors, as well as any latent design and production defects, impair the achieved operational reliability of such a system. False removals and premature failures after a repair action further degrade the actual operational reliability of the system. It is generally not possible to qualify the logistic support infrastructure fully before placing a new system into operational service. Support stabilisation should take place early on in the support phase of such a system to correct all latent defects and deficiencies of any of the logistic elements required to support the system. Any latent design and production process defects not eradicated from the system will also surface during the support stabilisation period. Support stabilisation will ensure a constant failure rate for the operational life of the system at the lowest life-cycle cost. The methodology used to achieve system reliability growth during the support phase is similar to reliability growth during the development phase. However, additional variables of the operational and support environment are now included in the reliability growth process. The process is also further compounded by the geographic separation of the different levels of support each generally with their own support management infrastructure. The proposed approach is: get total management commitment and close the management loop over the different levels of support. establish the root cause of every system failure implement a test, analyse and fix policy eliminate ineffective repair actions ensure that the system operational environment is within the system specification remove latent design defects from the system correct deficiencies in the logistic elements.

Introduction and purpose: Traceability is central for the identification of the root cause(s) behind a product deviation and thus to achieve a product and process quality that is both high and even. Continuous processes contain several characteristics complicating traceability which are not usually discussed in the scientific literature. The overall purpose of this thesis is to provide a theoretical framework for traceability and to test and develop methods for traceability in continuous processes. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review and interviews with engineers in continuous processes were performed in order to identify existing traceability theories and applications as well as characteristics complicating traceability in continuous processes. In addition, experiments evaluating traceability applications in three continuous processes were conducted at the Swedish iron ore refinement company Loussavaara Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), chemical tracer, and ideal flow simulations were, for example, used within the studied applications.Findings: A theoretical framework for traceability in continuous processes is outlined based on existing scientific literature. Several traceability methods suitable for continuous processes are described and illustrated within the framework. Furthermore, the complicating characteristics in continuous processes that each method may deal with are described. This thesis also presents and illustrates how traceability may be achieved in three continuous processes operating within ore refinement industries.Research limitations/implications: The presented research gives an insight into traceability theory and more specifically into traceability problems in continuous processes. However, the empirical results from the experiments are based on three specific processes, and research in other processes should be performed to validate the results.Practical implications: The presented results illustrate how to increase the ability to trace, track, and predict the product location in processes where traceability previously has been difficult.Originality/value: Prior research has primarily focused on discontinuous processes. By contrast, this thesis presents traceability from a continuous process perspective as well as the design and development of traceability applications for three of these processes. / Introduktion och syfte: Spårbarhet är centralt för identifiering av rotorsaken(erna) bakom en produktavvikelse och därmed förmågan att uppnå en hög och jämn produkt- och processkvalitet. Kontinuerliga processer inrymmer ett flertal egenskaper som försvårar spårbarhet och som vanligtvis inte diskuteras i den vetenskapliga litteraturen. Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att utveckla en teoretisk referensram för spårbarhet och att testa samt utveckla metoder för spårbarhet i kontinuerliga processer. Design/metod/forskningsansats: En litteraturstudie samt intervjuer med ingenjörer i kontinuerliga processer genomfördes i syfte att kartlägga befintliga spårbarhetsteorier och tillämpningar samt egenskaper som komplicerar spårbarhet i kontinuerliga processer. Dessutom utfördes experiment för att utvärdera spårbarhetsapplikationer i tre kontinuerliga processer inom det svenska järnmalmsförädlingsföretaget Loussavaara Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), kemiska spårämne och ideal flödessimuleringar är exempel på metoder som användas inom de studerade applikationerna.Resultat: En teoretisk referensram för spårbarhet i kontinuerliga processer baserad på befintlig forskningslitteratur har utvecklats. Flera spårbarhetsmetoder lämpliga för kontinuerliga processer beskrivs och illustreras inom den framtagna referensramen. Vidare beskrivs vilka komplicerande egenskaper i kontinuerliga processer som varje metod kan hantera. Denna avhandling presenterar och visar också hur spårbarhet kan uppnås i tre kontinuerliga processer som återfinns inom malmförädlingsindustrier.Forskningsbegränsningar/konsekvenser: Den presenterade forskning ger en inblick i spårbarhetsteorier och mer specifikt den spårbarhetsproblematik som återfinns i kontinuerliga processer. De empiriska resultaten från experimenten bygger dock på tre specifika processer, och fortsatt forskning kan med fördel utföras i andra processer för att validera resultaten.Praktiska konsekvenser: De presenterade resultaten visar hur man kan öka möjligheten att spåra, följa och prediktera en produkts position i processer där spårbarhet tidigare varit komplicerat.Originalitet/forskningsvärde: Tidigare forskning har främst fokuserat på diskontinuerliga processer. Denna avhandling presenterar dock spårbarhet utifrån ett kontinuerligt processperspektiv samt utvecklar och skapar spårbarhetsapplikationer för tre kontinuerliga processer. / Godkänd; 2010; 20101020 (bjokva); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Kvalitetsteknik/Quality Technology & Management Opponent: Professor Josse De Baerdemaeker, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Ordförande: Professor Bjarne Bergquist, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Onsdag den 24 november 2010, kl 13.00 Plats: D770, Luleå tekniska universitet