A major challenge in designing and controlling flow lines is to achieve high customer service level while stay lean. Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing approach has triggered various 'pull production system', such as CONWIP or Kanban controls, which emphasizes on response to demand rather than forecasts. We identified and documented the anatomy of various pull type control policies. Based on the analysis, we designed a new class of control policy called Extended CONWIP Kanban control (ECK). We conducted comprehensive simulation comparison studies. Simulation results showed that the new control policy can achieve higher service levels with lower inventories than other policies including hybrid ones. We developed a state space comparison methodology to compare various policies with that of optimum solution. Our analysis reveals that our ECK policy provides the most adjustment flexibility toward the optimum. We also proposed a parameter design procedure and an adaptive parameter adjusting system. A case study verifies the advantages and utilities of the ECK policy. Beside the cost savings, another major advantage of the ECK policy is its robustness. That is, the total cost of the ECK policy is less sensitive to demand or system variations.

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There are many business in Taiwan that their production type are indistinct between make-to-stock and make-to-order. This kind of production type can shorten the lead time of order and decrease the fluxion of customer¡¦s demand, on it¡¦s technology of predicting customer¡¦s demand for pre-production and inventory. Thus, the efficacy of production must depend on it¡¦s precision of predicting customer¡¦s demand. Recognition that traditional work order dispatching made to some specific standardization. Therefore, it is leaded to customization product and less flexible. And the decision-maker must choose one goal between minizing inventory cost, WIP¡¦s level and lead time. The production type, work order dispatching must have flexibility,and it must accomplish the customer¡¦s order on time considering inventory cost and customer service. This thesis hopes that it would be to develop a work order dispatching method to improve the efficiency of WIP administering, the flexibility for work order dispatching and decreasing lead time of customer¡¦s order. According to production¡¦s characteristic of different manufacturing stage, it can create one applicable dispatching rules to increase the production efficiency. Finally, using simulation software, applying to case study comparing the performance of the real case and new work order dispatching

Background: There are various manufacturing methods and systems in automobile industries throughout the world. Of these, many practice lean manufacturing methods. The most effective and influential to all of these methods is the “Toyota Production System” (TPS). The TPS was invented by Toyota's founding fathers in 1930 in Japan. The TPS continuously evolves making it a benchmark for the manufacturing, product development or any other sector of industry. It is fully based on “Socio-Technical” systems in a continuously changing manufacturing environment. It is about learn through doing and also about tacit knowledge and not explicit procedural knowledge. Outcome: The Toyota Production System is called “The Toyota Way” and it actually gives you a roadmap or more of a compass to set your direction and helps you steer your own course. Toyota has internally developed simple but effective tools and consistently trains their team members to implement those in all aspects of manufacturing and designing their vehicle. For example, Toyota has developed Kaizen or continuous improvement through which they eliminate waste that adds cost without adding value no matter how small it is. Toyota is known for the quality of their products. Not surprisingly their product is made at a significantly lower price within a given segment of the auto market. It is a result of hard work, innovation, and a Japanese work culture of generations at Toyota all across the world. Conclusions: Through theoretical analysis backed by my personal observations as an employee and from the sales figures of Toyota automobiles, I firmly believe that Toyota backs up its philosophy of long term benefits over short term financial goals. The right processes will produce right results. It is also one of the top companies among their group of long term suppliers as Toyota challenges them and helps them to improve. Initial quality and customer satisfaction surveys of J.D.Powers and Associates for Toyota and Lexus vehicles have won numerous awards since 2001. / text

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur Scania har gått tillväga vid översättning av Lean samt hur organisationen håller denna reform vid liv. Det började på sent 80-tal då Scania hade hög personalomsättning som ledde till sjunkande kvalite och missnöjda kunder. Ledningen på Scania skickade en grupp till Toyota för att ta inspiration och kunskap om hur Toyota arbetade med Lean. Vilket resulterade i att Scania påbörjade sitt första Lean projekt. Det första Lean projektet utvecklades vidare vilket resulterade till slut i Scania production system som är Scanias version av Lean. Ända sedan 90-talet har Scania arbetet utifrån Lean och för att det aldrig ska prioriteras bort och glömmas bort har Scania en del metoder som de arbetar med för att ständigt hålla Lean vid liv. Bland annat punkt ronder, standardiserat ledarskap och ständig utveckling av Scaniahuset som är en illustration av Scania production system. Studien är en fallstudie och genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer på en tillverkande avdelning på Scania, även interna dokument analyserades i syfte att få en mer nyanserad uppfattning av Scaniahusets delar och punktronder. Vi har utgått ifrån översättningsteori samt tidigare forskning om Lean vid utformning av frågebatteri samt vid analysering av den insamlade data. / The purpose of this study is to examine how Scania has proceeded in the translation of Lean and how the organization keeps this reform alive. It started in the late 80s when Scania had high staff turnover that led to declining quality and customer satisfaction. The management at Scania sent a group to Toyota for inspiration and acquire knowledge about how Toyota worked with Lean. This resulted in Scania starting its first Lean project. The first Lean project was further developed, which ultimately resulted in the Scania production system, which is Scania's version of Lean. Ever since the 90s, Scania’s work has been Lean based and for it to never be deprioritized and forgotten, Scania has some methods that they work with to keep Lean alive. For instance, rounds, standardized leadership and constant development of the Scania house which is an illustration of Scania production system. This case study was conducted through semi-structured interviews at a manufacturing department at Scania. Internal documents were also analyzed in order to gain a more nuanced view of Scania’s various parts and rounds. We, when designing our questions and in the analysis of the collected data, have our basis in a translation theory and previous research on Lean.

As the effort of today’s industries to continuously move towards lean production, pull production system has been developed as one possible solution of lean. It is popularly known in the industry world, and is indeed a proven technique to achieve substantial savings on inventory, production cost incurred by manufactures all over the world. However, a careful understanding of pull production systems is required to access its suitability to a particular production setup. It is necessary to develop a proper way to implement pull production systems.             This study is based on a real life scenario in a leading driveline manufacturing company. The production system is studied in detail as regard to its production characteristic. A theoretical review is first made as research foundation. A careful analysis study within the company is conducted with all the existing constrains to figure out improvement opportunities. Eventually, from the applicability point of view, proposals of future pull production system implementation have been developed. The objective of the proposals is to minimize the identified weaknesses of the current system, including long lead time, low flexibility and unconnected flow.

In order to meet the expectations of today’s market and compete in the global world we live in, many companies are facing changes. A low cost production and high quality is not enough to be competitive. Companies must also satisfy the external customers’ claims, which to a great extent imply demands on an increased productivity. It is not enough to look to the external customers. The people working within the production system are the internal customers and the production system must be designed to suit their needs. Increased productivity can be stressful for operators, especially in the automotive industry, where heavy and frequent lifting is part of the daily work. The increased competition can thus in the long run lead to consequences for operator health as a result of heavy, and frequent, lifting. Due to this, more companies are looking over the possibilities to automate parts of their production process. The purpose of this thesis is to explore, using simulation tools, how automation of heavy lifting can affect productivity and work environment in processing or manufacturing processes. The research questions that will be answered are: o In what way does automation affect productivity in processing processes? o How can simulation tools act as an aid in designing automation? o What impact does automation have on the operator’s ergonomic work environment? To answer these questions, a literature study has been conducted in three main areas: production development, automation and simulation. A case study was carried out in a processing cell within the heavy vehicle industry, which currently does not have an approved ergonomic working environment. The company wanted to implement a robot and the purpose was to investigate how ergonomics and productivity was affected. The comparison was made using a simulation created in the ExtendSim software. The purpose of the simulation was to compare the current production system with a layout where a robot was implemented in the system. From this thesis, the conclusions were drawn that automation can affect a company’s productivity in a positive way provided that the preparatory planning is carried out thoroughly. The thesis shows that a simulation tool can be helpful from a number of aspects when automation is to be designed, and not least that it can undoubtedly be positive for the operator’s ergonomic work environment to automate parts of the production that includes heavy and frequent lifting.

Syftet med detta arbete är att få en bättre förståelse av vad Lean Production innebär, med dess ingående grunder såsom Toyota Production System (TPS), samt hur det implementeras rent praktiskt i industrin, där teorin bakom Lean Production sätts i verksamhet. Lean Production är en filosofi där man arbetar för att uppnå en så resurseffektiv produktion som möjligt, genom att bland annat minska på olika former av slöseri. För att gränsa av arbetets omfång, undersöks specifikt Scanias motoravdelning och hur deras implementering av Lean Production och tolkning av Toyota Production System ser ut. Arbetet utfördes både som en litteraturstudie, med vetenskapliga källor från KTH:s databas och litteratur inom Lean Production och Toyota Production, och fältstudie i form av en intervju med en anställd inom motoravdelningen på Scania, rundtur i produktionen samt föreläsning om Scania Production System (SPS). Toyota är grundaren bakom Toyota Production System, där de utvecklat ett unikt system som ger resultat i form av kvalité och effektivitet. Från att vara ett litet företag utvecklades de till värdens största bilproducent och är en av de främsta anledningarna varför Lean och TPS uppmärksammats så pass mycket. Toyota har 14 principer som berör deras filosofi, människor, processer och problemlösning där dessa principer anses vara till nytta för företag som söker att utveckla sitt företag, både inom service och tillverkning. Lean Production är en filosofi som härstammar från TPS, där man i huvudsak fokuserar på att eliminera sju olika typer av slöseri och istället tillföra mer värde till kunden. Resultatet av detta arbete har genererat en helhetsbild av vad Lean Production och dess grunder är och hur det implementerats i Scanias motoravdelning, där de utvecklat ett eget produktionssystem SPS, modulsystemet och individhanteringen. I SPS återfinns många av de begrepp som diskuteras i TPS och Lean Production och är också den väsentliga likheten mellan dessa tre produktionssystem. Det som skiljer Scania från TPS och Lean Production är främst individhanteringen och modultänket. Slutsatsen att Scania har en bättre anpassning efter Lean än vi tidigare trott och att deras arbete stämmer väl överens med vad Lean Production är idag. / The purpose of this work is to gain a better understanding of what Lean Production entails, with its basic foundations such as the Toyota Production System (TPS), and how it is implemented practically in the industry, where the theory behind Lean Production is put into operation. Lean Production is a philosophy in which you work to achieve as resourceefficient production as possible, by among other things reducing various forms of waste. To limit the scope of the work, Scania's engine department is specifically investigated and how their implementation of Lean Production and interpretation of the Toyota Production System looks. The work was carried out both as a literature study, with scientific sources from KTH's database and literature within Lean Production and Toyota Production, and field study in the form of an interview with an employee in the engine department at Scania, a tour of the production and a lecture on the Scania Production System. Toyota is the founder of the Toyota Production System, where they developed a unique system that gives results in terms of quality and efficiency. From being a small company, they were developed into the world's largest car manufacturer and are one of the main reasons why Lean and TPS were noticed. Toyota has 14 principles that address their philosophy, people, processes and problem solving, where these principles are of benefitial to companies seeking to develop their business, both in service and manufacturing. Lean Production is a philosophy that originates from TPS, where it mainly focuses on eliminating seven different types of waste and instead adding more value to the customer. The result of this work has generated an overall picture of what Lean Production and its foundations are and how it has been implemented in Scania's engine department, where they developed their own production system SPS, the modular system and individual management. In the SPS, many of the concepts discussed in TPS and Lean Production are found and are also the main similarity between these three production systems. What distinguishes Scania from TPS and Lean Production is primarily individual management and the modular thinking. The conclusion is that Scania is better adapted to Lean than we previously thought and that their work fits well with what Lean Production is today.

The master's thesis contains 89 pages, 21 tables, 30 figures, 41 names of used sources. The object of this work is industrial enterprises that implement projects aimed at developing the production system. The subject of the study are the organizational and management relationships that arise when implementing the concept of "lean manufacturing". The purpose of this thesis is the development of methodological approaches and recommendations for the organization of management processes for the development of the production system based on the concept of lean manufacturing using the example of JSC "Uralelectromed". In order to achieve this goal you need to solve the problem:  analyze the theoretical foundations of the lean manufacturing concept with the aim of determining the possibility of developing the production system of an industrial enterprise;  analyze the efficiency of development of the production system of JSC "Uralelectromed";  develop methodological approaches and recommendations for management processes of the development of the production system on the basis of the lean manufacturing concept using the example of Uralelectromed JSC. Practical significance is confirmed by the definition of a set of practical recommendations for the development of the industrial system of industrial enterprises in terms of analyzing the performance of the production system, planning work in eliminating the bottlenecks of the enterprise and training personnel. In the paper, the performance indicators for lean manufacturing are presented, which can complement the existing system of indicators and quantify the results of work on the development of the production system. In the thesis, methods of analysis are used, such as horizontal, vertical, comparative, graphic. The structure of this dissertation consists of reference, three chapters, conclusion, list of literature and applications. / Магистерская диссертация содержит 89 страниц, 21 таблицу, 30 рисунков, 41 наименований использованных источников. Объектом данной работы является промышленные предприятия, реализующие проекты, направленные на развитие производственной системы. Предметом исследования являются организационно – управленческие отношения, возникающие при внедрении концепции «бережливое производство». Цель данной диссертации – разработка методических подходов и рекомендаций для организации процессов управления развитием производственной системы на основе концепции бережливого производства на примере АО «Уралэлектромедь». Для того, чтобы достичь поставленной цели нужно решить задачи:  проанализировать теоритические основы концепции бережливого производства с целью определения возможности развития производственной системы промышленного предприятия;  проанализировать эффективность развития производственной системы АО «Уралэлектромедь»;  разработать методические подходы и рекомендации для процессов управления развитием производственной системы на основе концепции бережливого производства на примере АО «Уралэлектромедь». Практическая значимость подтверждается определением набора практических рекомендаций по развитию производственной системы промышленных предприятий в части анализа эффективности функционирования производственной системы, планирования работ в устранении «узких мест» предприятия и обучения персонала. В работе приведены показатели оценки работ по бережливому производству, которые могут дополнить существующую систему показателей и дать количественную оценку результатам работ по развитию производственной системы. В диссертации используются такие методы анализа, как горизонтальный, вертикальный, сравнительный, графический. Структура данной диссертации состоит из ведения, трех глав, заключения, списка использованной литературы и приложений.

Swedish wood product industry contributes significantly to the economy of the country. This industry adds more value to the sawn timber produced in order to manufacture different wooden products. Companies in Swedish wood product industry are presently seen as underdeveloped in terms of investments and developments in automation technologies. Automation technologies are seen by companies as a solution for improving productivity, product quality, manufacturing cost reduction and ultimately improving competitiveness. This has driven competing companies to pursue automation technologies that improve manufacturing processes. Literature in the Wood product industry field shows that there is need for extended automation technologies. The wood product industry has high degree of handcraft; for instance, some Swedish wood product manufacturers still have an essentially manual manufacturing process. This study seeks to understand the role of automation in the Swedish wood product industry and mainly focuses on the factors that drive and restrain companies in this industry to adopt and use automation technologies. An abductive research approach was applied, consisting of a literature review and multiple empirical case studies. The literature review was conducted to provide theoretical background on the general view of automation and the factors that affect adoption of new technologies in companies. The case studies were performed in collaboration with four wood product manufacturers within different business areas in order to analyse and compare similarities and differences in the factors that drive and restrain adoption of automation technologies. The findings imply that companies in the Swedish wood product industry face different factors that drive and restrain them from adopting automation technologies. The factors are both internal and external to the companies. Among the noticeable ones are the high product variety, lack of automation strategies, heterogeneous material property of wood, low competence levels regarding automation technologies, varying demands from the customers, and relationship with the suppliers of automation technologies. Regardles of the restraining factors faced by companies in the Swedish wood product industry, there is a great opportunity to improve their production systems in terms of automation technologies. There is now a growing treand in these companies to prioritise automation technologies as a competitive factor. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the factors that drive and restrain the adoption of automation technologies and how companies could deal with such factors in the Swedish wood product industry.