This Doctoral Thesis addresses the topic of measurement of excellence and cost in a supply chain. In this thesis, a framework for monitoring and analysis of cost in the supply chain is developed. A model for analyzing excellence in a supply chain is also developed. The work aims to facilitate improvements and to improve decisionmaking regarding Supply Chain Management (SCM) and excellence and cost improvements in supply chains. The thesis contains an introduction, a literature review and five papers. The first paper considers performance measurements in supply chains within companies having business in Sweden. An empirical study was initiated in order to investigate what performance measurements they use to measure the performance in the supply chain. Main focus has been on excellence and cost. Interviews with supply chain professionals within the selected 30 companies have been conducted in Sweden. In the second paper a framework is suggested for measuring cost in the supply chain. The framework defines Supply Chain Cost (SCC). Total SCC is the sum of Manufacturing cost, Administration cost, Warehouse cost, Distribution cost, Capital cost and Installation cost. The third paper considers. An Average Logistic Index, ALi , was suggested as a method for measuring excellence in the supply chain. This index combines the cost concept and the customer service concept. In paper IV are the SCC framework from paper II and the excellence model in paper III used in a framework for evaluating changes in a supply chain. Two scenario analysis are based on a five step approach measuring SCC and customer service measures, delivery precision and lead-time, before and after a performed or planned change. Paper V considers how offshoring and outsourcing activities are affecting excellence and SCC in the supply chain. Ten managers from different companies were interviewed. Pitfalls when handling decisions about offshoring and outsourcing and criterias for successful offshoring and outsourcing were identified. The papers in this thesis can be used in different ways and in that way help companies in taking the right decisions about improvements in the supply chain. People within the industry who are active in the supply area would then get models and frameworks for measuring excellence and SCC in the supply chain. Implementation of the models and frameworks are recommended to be implemented in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in order to simplify and secure the measurement of excellence and SCC in the supply chain. / <p>Godkänd; 2015; 20150615 (andbra); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen. Namn: Annelie Pettersson Ämne: Industriell logistik /Industrial Logistics Avhandling: Measurement of Excellence and Cost in a Supply Chain Opponent: Docent Björn Lantz, Avd för Operations Management, Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg Ordförande: Professor Anders Segerstedt, Avd för industriell ekonomi, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle, Luleå tekniska universitet, Luleå Tid: Måndag 5 oktober 2015 kl 10.00 Plats: A109, Luleå tekniska universitet; 2017-05-10 Nedladdad 339 gånger t.o.m. september 2016. För nedladdningsstatisik efter september 2016, se ovan. (marisr)</p>

While design and management of production systems based on digital models brings benefits, the communication of models comes with challenges since models typically reside in a distributed heterogeneous IT environment using different syntax and semantics. Coping with heterogeneity requires an appropriate integration strategy and methodology. One main paradigm to integrate information and consequently IT-systems is to deploy standardized information models. In particular, ISO 10303 STEP has been endorsed as a suitable standard to exchange a wide variety of product manufacturing data. The representation and integration of product, process and production resources information using different STEP application protocols are well covered and extensively investigated by many researchers. However, the information representation and integration of logical relations of material flow such as product routing, and its integration with factory layout information has been less subject of research focuses. Hence, this thesis first contributes to identifying, describing and clarifying information requirements for an integrated representation of material flow logic and plant layout using the STEP standard. One the other hand, service-oriented IT-tool integration solutions are increasingly deployed for the data and tool interoperability, especially with the evolution of Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) whose focus is on the linking of data from heterogeneous software tools. OSLC focuses on the integration of the most common concepts across domains. Assuming a loosely coupled distributed architecture of IT-tools and services, OSLC adopts the Linked Data (LD) approach to ensure data consistency across the data sources. Thus the thesis studies the use of OSLC for tool integration and has found that it cannot be practiced independently for all types of integration in the production engineering domain. Therefore, in practice, there should be a combination of the standardized information and linked data approaches to facilitate the integration process. Thus, this thesis investigates the integration applicability of linked data and OSLC, the principles behind them, and criteria to identify where to use which approach. In addition, the thesis explores the synergy between the standardized information and linked data approaches and consequently suggests an approach based on a combination of these. Further, different computer applications in industrial cases were implemented to verify the suggested approaches. Finally the thesis is concluded with a discussion and suggestions for future work. / <p>QC 20170503</p>

Discrete Event Simulation (DES) has been a powerful tool for modeling and optimization of production lines for many years. Developing detailed models may be very time consuming and might also be computationally costly to execute, especially if optimization techniques are to be applied. Aggregation techniques, simplifying a detailed system into fewer objects, can be an effective method to reduce the required computational resources as well as a way to shorten the development time. An aggregated model can be used to identify the main constraints in a system, dimensioning inter-line buffers, and focus development activities on the critical issues from a system performance perspective. An aggregated model of a real-world plant wide production system has already been developed in the discrete event simulation software FACTS Analyzer. Due to the limitations of FACTS Analyzer this model was instead rebuilt using the discrete event simulation software Plant Simulation which, while less user friendly, has much more configuration options. This model is then validated against the FACTS Analyzer model to ensure accurate results that can be implemented on a real life system. In addition some typical optimization experiments are carried out on the Plant Simulation model and the results analyzed. The first of these optimizations alters the buffer sizes to find the minimum amount of buffer capacity needed to get the minimum lead time while maintaining the highest possible throughput. The second optimization uses the same parameters but also adds alteration of the batch size. Both of these optimizations shows that it is possible to get better results with lower settings on both the buffer capacity and batch size then the default value. At the end of the report the project is evaluated and conclusions are drawn on what can be improved in the model, such as adding more streamlined updating of variant sequence.  Additionally future experiments that can be interesting to look at is specified based upon the results from the project.

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This paper presents a design optimisation of a mechanism used to lift and turn heavy objects, in this case, a specific gear that weights 3000 kg. The objective pursued during the development of the project was to reduce the weight of the mechanism, and thus, make it more cost-efficient, as well as to improve the clamping system to secure that the heavy objects are safely handled. The method followed was to first identify the critical parts in cooperation with the client. Then, the corresponding analysis has been developed for each of those parts, by minimising the mass of two of them, and by selecting and dimensioning the guideways for the clamping motion in the other case. The key results obtained from these analyses were that the weight of one of the parts was reduced by 50 %, the clamping system was improved and that the stress analysis shows that the maximum stress is far below acceptable levels. Hence, it is concluded that it was possible to optimise the mechanism and reduce the weight, improving the handling of heavy objects.

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The introduction of industry 4.0 initiated the vision of a smart factory with all the supplied characteristics of highly individualized processes connecting the real world with virtual reality. Collaboration between humans and machines has been desirable for a long time but the associated risks have been a restriction. The interaction between collaborative processes and virtual reality offers the possibility where new concepts and ideas can be developed in a safe and sustainable environment. The capability to reconstruct, evaluate and test new concepts and ideas without affecting the real world is desirable relative to the newly introduced awareness in sustainability. The purpose of this project is to investigate the possibilities regarding in what extent virtual reality can contribute when training operators, identifying possible improvements, identifying risks associated with ergonomics and assisting the simulation development. The projects associated company is located in Skövde and is regarded one of the leading companies within the vehicle manufacturing industry. The overall aim of the project is to develop a simulation environment using human-robot collaboration capable of interaction through virtual reality. Several limitations have been engaged in order to narrow the project scope down to a reasonable level. These limitations involve exclusively using Siemens Process Simulate software, HTC Vive for equipment regarding virtual reality and usage of Universal Robots UR10e as the collaborative robot. In order to construct the simulation environment in a good way and achieve the project aims a suitable methodology has been developed. The procedure started with an extensive literature review and theoretical framework in order to obtain the necessary knowledge in the area. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used for gathering relevant information regarding necessary equipment and manufacturing operations. A summary of the collected data and theory resulted in a specification for the simulation environment prior to the construction phase. The two final versions of the simulation environment have successfully been able to achieve the project goals of training operators, possible improvement identification and ergonomics.

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