AbstractThe fast spreading industrialization revolution around the world has resulted in a rapid cycle of production and consumption of resources. Resulting in sustainable solutions being a fundamental need and resolutions which include efficient resources use. The concept of Circular Economy includes specific practices which take into consideration reusing resources through sustainable solutions resulting in the minimization of waste as well as the use of resources more efficiently. This study shows that organization approach circular economy in different ways, resulting in various definitions. Furthermore, the study emphasizes on the importance of developing a framework for circular economy when seeking to implement the concept. This research aims to develop a framework for the implementation of circular economy in consideration to furniture manufacturing companies. Furthermore, this research focuses on four theories: circular economy, sustainable solution, resource efficiency, and product End-of-Life (product EoL). A mixed method approach consisting of a semi-structured interview and a survey were used to help reach the aim of this study. The results from the interview two furniture manufacturing companies show that the companies use different aspects of the circular economy. In conclusion, companies with goals of being more sustainable should start considering circular economy principles from an early stage. This includes having a strict rule of only approving environmentally friendly materials. This also leads to the benefit that the practices of refurbishing and reusing allows for products to live for numerous lifetimes

Examensarbetet handlar om kartläggning av befintliga automatiska lösningar till sortering av avfall. Behovet till detta grundar sig på att hushållen i Sverige inte källsorterar rätt i tillräckligt stor utsträckning och efterhandssortering krävs. Syftet och målen med arbetet har varit att ta fram väsentlig information om sortering av plast, glas och metall och analysera metoderna. Under arbetets gång riktades fokuset in på plast eftersom plast är den största utmaningen för klimatet i dagsläget. För genomförandet krävdes litteraturstudier som handlade om ämnet. De rapporter och artiklar som studerades diskuterades sedan med handledare på AÖS för snabb återkoppling. Dessutom invigdes en ny anläggning i Stockholm för efterhandssortering under projektets gång och mycket information samlades från anläggningen när det gäller kapacitet och kostnader. Projektet resulterade i en SWOT-analys som påvisade styrkor och svagheter hos en eftersorteringsanläggning och eventuella hot kartlagdes. Även alternativa metoder för efterhandssortering presenterades i arbetet. Dessa metoder är avfallskontroll och kemisk återvinning som inte kräver sortering av avfall i samma utsträckning. / The final year project handles mapping of known automatic solutions for sorting of waste. The need is based on the fact that households in Sweden does not handle their recycling sufficiently and post-sorting is necessary. The purpose and main objectives with the project have been to propose essential information about plastic, glass and metal and analysing the methods. During the project, the focus targeted plastics due to plastics impact on environment. During the implementation studies of literature about the subject was necessary. The rapports and articles studied were discussed among the group and the mentor at AÖS to gain fast feedback. During the project, a new plant for postsorting were inaugurated in Stockholm. Information from the plant were collected regarding price, efficiency and layout. The project resulted in SWOT-analysis which showed the strengths and weaknesses at post-sorting plants. Eventual threats were mapped out. Alternative methods for post-sorting were presented in the project. These methods are wastehandling check and chemical recycling which does not need sorting of waste in the same extent.

Nowadays, the industry is witnessing the revolution called Industry 4.0. Many manufac‐turing industries are jumping to this new technology, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to improve performance and efficiency in their processes. However, some industries do not want to jump to this new era due to big changes. That is where this project comes in, being its aim to create a CPS from an existing process, working with IIoT. In order to accomplish this, Mosquitto, CoDeSys, ThingSpeak and MQTT Dashboard, as well as Simumatik are going to be used to create a communication system based on three layers. The development of the project is based in adapting sensors and actuators to IIoT in Simumatik, configure all the connections between services and programming inside CoDeSys and Thing Speak, as well as creating an MQTT Dashboard inside a mobile application. Once the project has been developed, some conclusions could be taken out, such as easy scalability and cheaper implementation, con‐suming less wire and less PLC modules, although it is needed cutting edge technologies tools to process all data and find ways to optimize a process.

Prodma i Mariestad tillverkar flertalet vitvaror, bland dessa är torkskåpet en viktig produkt. Tillverkningsprocessen inbegriper stansning, bockning, pulverlackering och montering på plats. Produktionstempot är högt och det finns inte stor tolerans för brister inom viktiga processer. Examensarbetet har utförts för att utreda om det finns möjlighet att implementera vision-teknologi för att avläsa produktens orientering, denna information kan senare används för att justera processer med brister. Genom att utföra problemlösningsmetodik i form av DMAIC analyseras produktionen och de väsentliga faktorerna som orsakar missförhållandena separeras för vidareanalys. Under arbetes gång efterforskas olika metoder för att hantera avläsningen genom att laborera på videomaterial inhämtat under pågående produktion. Efter genomförd studie kunde ingen korrelation mellan kvalitetsbrister och produkterna orientering påvisas. Arbetet visar att det är möjligt att avläsa vinkel på produkter. / Prodma in Mariestad produces several appliances, among these the drying cabinet, the manufacturing process includes cutting, bending, powder coating and assembly, which is done on location. The Production rate is high and there isn’t much room for fault in important processes. The degree project has been done to conclude if it is possible to implement vision-technology to measure products orientation, this information can then be used to adjust faulty processes. By using problem solving methodology in the form of DMAIC the production is analyzed to separate the important factors that can result in faults for further analysis. Through the use of videos recorded in ongoing production, different methods for measuring an angle are analyzed. After the project was concluded there was no proven correlation between the angle and any known defects. The work done proves that it is possible to measure an angle of products.

No description available.

According to Folgiatto, da Silveira and Borenstein (2012), the current trend in the industry indicates a change from a mass production to a mass customization manufacturing. This mass customization means an increase on the need of flexibility, as the production line must be ready for frequent changes in order to adapt for producing different product variants. Human-Robot collaboration has demonstrated to be a great tool for increasing not only the flexibility but also the productivity, as either the human operator or the robot will be working on the task under issue. Within this collaborative environment, equipment for providing the robot with the information about where to move, pick and place a part is needed. Multiple types of sensors are used in the industry to fulfill this need. However, the adoption of this type of technical equipment might result very expensive. This thesis focuses on the assembly of a valve-hood on top of a truck diesel engine, for which a collaborative robot will be used in order to remove the task of lifting this part from the human operator. Later both parts will screw in conjunction the bolts of the valve hood, hence, a solution for finding the bolts is needed. Despite providing a brief study of the current options in the market, regarding high resolution cameras for robots, this thesis aims to provide a low-cost alternative by not making use of any of them. A blind solution is proposed. This solution consists in the implementation of coordinate geometry equations in the robot software in order to create a program that allows the robot to find the bolts without regard to the orientation with which the valve-hood is placed in front of the robot. This code is used later for creating a sequence in which the robot is assigned to find the entirety of the bolts. In order to evaluate the performance of the adopted solution an accuracy experiment is conducted. This experiment is divided in three parts in which three different positions of the valve-hood are tried. Within each position ten repetitions are made at the 50% and 100% percent of the speed. The main metric used for measuring the accuracy is the deviation (in mm), which is measured between the target bolt position and the actual contact position found by the robot. The overall results of this experiment show a good accuracy, with a precise enough alignment to the center of the bolt position so to allow a correct screwing operation. As a conclusion, the adopted blind solution shows to be feasible for being implemented in this scenario. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p>

Manufacturing companies have adapted to globalisation and collected their globally dispersed factories into factory networks, known as international manufacturing networks (IMNs). This requires coordination to access the associated competitive advantages, synchronise the factories, and exploit the capabilities inherent in those individual factories. However, when IMNs introduce digital transformation into the factories, the coordination is often hindered by uncertainty and complexity, as digital transformation requires an extensive adjustment that affects everything from the organisational structure to ways of working. Different parts of the network that are dependent on one another, for example, may be difficult to track and foresee the consequences of digital transformation. Hence, due to the respective challenges, complexities, and uncertainties, the coordination of digital transformation in IMN is paramount to examine.  This licentiate thesis begins with exploring coordination mechanisms to increase the understanding of existing research and shape it into a comprehensive overview. Moreover, through case studies, this thesis explores the challenges in and enablers for coordinating digital transformation in IMNs. Altogether, the challenges and enablers are analysed within the dimensions and categories of coordination mechanisms, i.e., they are collected into an overview and described within the case study context. The most significant findings of this thesis are related to the organisational structure, which enables the coordination of digital transformation. However, plenty of challenges remain, foremost connected to the formalisation of the organisational structure, e.g., balancing the rules and guidelines for digital transformation but providing space for people performing the activities to explore and investigate digital technologies.  This thesis further contributes to the existing body of research by untangling the complexity of coordination itself and, specifically, the coordination of digital transformation in IMNs, explicitly adding to the operations management field and the management of global operations. Practical contributions are also made, i.e., this thesis promotes practitioners’ increased understanding by providing specific examples and descriptions of the findings within their context. Based on the findings, this thesis offers multiple paths for future research, keeping in mind that coordination is not static but evolving, depending on the context in which it is performed.

Det här examensarbetet är utfört på ett legotillverkande företag och de arbetar bland annat med avverkande bearbetning, vilket detta arbete har fokuserat på. Produktionen som bedrivs på företaget brukar kallas för HVLV produktion. Det innebär att företaget oftast har nyproduktion på sina detaljer och att de återkommande arbeten som finns är väldigt få, vilket resulterar i långa ledtider. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att identifiera vilka aktiviteter som operatörerna lägger mest tid på och därefter välja fokusområde. Vidare kunna kartlägga valt fokusområde ”ställ” med tidsstudier och spagettidiagram för att definiera mer specifika mål. Reducera antalet verktygsrelaterade aktiviteter som sker under ett ställ med 50%, reducera förflyttningar mellan maskin och ställplats med 75% och letandet av verktyg under ett ställ med 50% var de mål som låg till grund för arbetet. För att uppnå dessa mål har några förbättringsförslag tagits fram. 14 stycken verktyg som alltid ska sitta i maskinerna, så kallade standardverktyg har valts ut och implementerats. Tillhörande verktygslistor med relevant information om verktygen och dess utformning har även skapats för att underlätta för operatörerna. Verktygen är utvalda med flexibilitet i fokus för att passa Kramers HVLV produktion, detta via inköpspris, mest köpta verktyg från största verktygsleverantören, bearbetningstid och operatörernas egna erfarenheter. Utifrån standardverktygen har en rutin skapats som operatörerna skall följa från att de programmerat en detalj tills det är dags att starta maskinen. En genomgång av tidigare arbeten gjordes för att se i vilken utsträckning valda standardverktyg hade gått att använda. Vilket visade att 40% av de tidigare genomgångna arbetena hade gått att tillverka enbart med utvalda standardverktyg. Vidare gjorde en teoretisk jämförelse med tidigare kartläggning som visar att via standardverktygen och rutinen kunde antalet verktygsrelaterade aktiviteter reduceras med cirka 40%. Detta till största del för att oklarheterna angående vilka verktyg som sitter i maskinerna och i vilken hållare eliminerats. Därmed elimineras också letande av verktyg där målet var satt till en reducering på 50%. Sett till kartläggningen av ställen gör operatören fler förflyttningar till maskinen än vad det är verktyg som skall ställas. Om operatörerna följer rutinen och använder sig av verktygsvagnen krävs endast en förflyttning till maskinen efter att alla verktyg är ställda. Detta medför en kraftig reducering av förflyttningar till och från maskinen. Resultatet visar att cirka 90% av förflyttningarna under ett av de kartlagda ställen hade gått att reducera. / This final year project has been carried out at a legomanufacturing company and they work, among other things, with cutting-edge processing which this work has focused on. The production type at the company is usually called HVLV production. This means that the products they produce are often made for the first time and that the recurring work are few. Which results in long lead-times. The purpose of this final year project was to identify which activities that the operators spent the most time on and then select a focus area. Furthermore, map the selected focus area "setup", with time studies and spaghetti charts to define more specific goals. Reduce the number of tool-related activities that occur in a setup by 50%, reduce movements between machine and setup-location by 75% and reduce the search of tools during a setup by 50%. This were the goals that lay as a foundation for the final year project. To achieve these goals, some suggested improvements were made. A number of tools that always will be used in the machines, so-called standardtools were selected and implemented. Related tool lists with relevant information about the tools and their design have also been created in order to facilitate the operators work. The tools were selected with flexibility in focus to fit the HVLV production. This were made through comparing purchase price, the most purchased tools from their largest tool supplier, processing times and the operators own experience. Based on the standard tools a routine was made which the operators should follow, from programming until the operator is ready to start the machine. A review of previous work was made to see in what extent the selected standardtools could be used. This showed that 40% of the previously reviewed work could have been manufactured using only the selected standardtools. Furthermore, a theoretical comparison with previous mapping showed that with the standardtools and routine, the number of tool-related activities could be reduced by approximately 40%. This mostly due to the elimination of uncertainties regarding which tools and toolholders that were located in the machines. This also eliminated the search of tools where the target was 50% reduction. According to the mapping of the setups the operator made more transportations to the machine than the number of tools that were to be set. If the operators follow the routine and use the tool carrier, only one transportation to the machine is required after all the tools are set. This results in a great reduction of movements to and from the machine. The result shows that about 90% of the movements in one of the mapped setups had been reduced.

No description available.

Today’s industries face an increasing global competition. Decision makers have to deal with different kinds of uncertainty, a complex business ecosystem, a high pace of change, and an unforgiving market when less than best decisions are made. One, among many others, approach that can lead to these better decisions is to have a strategy. The objective of this research is: “To design a model that supports the formulation of product strategy and manufacturing strategy in accordance to each other and thereby facilitate and encourage continuous communication and collaboration between product development and manufacturing system development.” To help meet the objective, three chapters of frame of reference are presented; Strategy, development processes and design for X. The frame of reference together with discussions in industry (ITT Flygt) has in an iterative manner lead to a suggested model that supports the formulation of product strategy and manufacturing strategy. Future research will improve, evaluate and validate both the usability of the model and the results from using it in practise. A method for using the model will be developed. The research project presented in this licentiate thesis is one of seven parallel research projects with a shared objective – to develop systematic working procedures, a generic decision model and decision sub models that support the practical design of a workshop that supports the business strategy of the company. / QC 20101125