Corporate strategies have a low success rate and strategic objectives are frequently not met. To gain insight into this phenomenon, this research explores the process of generating and implementing strategy through CAPEX projects within the mature Swedish process industry. By the use of the grounded theory methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven professionals from five different industries matching the description of a process industry. The results suggest that the concentration and capital intensiveness of the process industry in Sweden calls for an emphasis on asset management, production, and product portfolios with objectives primarily being sustainability or growth related. Examples of sustainability objectives are emissions, carbon footprint, raw materials and safety, whereas growth related objectives often refer to finding the firms position in the market, reaching economies of scope and scale, and optimizing the product portfolio regionally. A crucial tool for implementing strategy is project selection, the results suggest that a mix of two approaches (bottom-up and the bucket model) is often used. This combined approach is just briefly mentioned in literature, however, in this research it has been referred to as “empty bucket model” in this research due to similarities with the bucket model. Further research recommendations include conducting surveys based on identified themes or diving deeper into particular areas such as recent agility improvements.

The effects of implementing Lean has been widely studied within the context of discrete manufacturing, where it originated, but much less so within the process industry. Within discrete manufacturing there are major benefits to implementing Lean with a focus on respect for people and human aspects, particularly on employee health and organisational culture, but does the same hold true in the process industry? The purpose of this thesis is to look into this question. In order to do so, a case company within the process industry, which was working with a consultant firm to implement Lean, was contacted. The primary method of gathering data was through semi-structured interviews, further backed by KPIs provided by the case company. The data from the case company has been analysed and compared with theories and ideas gathered from literature, and then discussed. The results indicated that there had not been enough time to see the full extent of benefits or issues on employee health or organisational culture in relation to implementing Lean, only minor effects could be observed. However, better contact between employees, increased motivation, but also increased stress could be seen. In order to gain a broader understanding of the human aspects within the context of process industry while implementing Lean, future research could look at more long-term effects, or the generalisability through a quantitative approach.

Yes / Fault tree analysis is a widely used method of risk assessment in process industries. However, the classical fault tree approach has its own limitations such as the inability to deal with uncertain failure data and to consider statistical dependence among the failure events. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive framework for the risk assessment in process industries under the conditions of uncertainty and statistical dependency of events. The proposed approach makes the use of expert knowledge and fuzzy set theory for handling the uncertainty in the failure data and employs the Bayesian network modeling for capturing dependency among the events and for a robust probabilistic reasoning in the conditions of uncertainty. The effectiveness of the approach was demonstrated by performing risk assessment in an ethylene transportation line unit in an ethylene oxide (EO) production plant.

Problem: What are the most critical activities for process industry? Whether general view of impact of these value chain activities on product performance (quality, cost and innovation) applied to process industry? How do those activities impact to product performances? If they cannot affect product performance, what could be the reason behind it?   Purpose: This paper aims to conclude general view of impact of value chain activities on product performances (quality, cost and innovation). Accordingly we would create a conceptual model. And then test whether this model applies for process industry and further more figure out the reason behind through case study.   Methodology: In this paper, qualitative research is our approach. We choose single case study as research strategy and conduct three interviews. Documentation and interview data are collected and analyzed to provide theoretical framework and empirical evidence for the whole paper.     Result: Based on case study, and previous work, the model concerning impact of major activities for process industry (Marketing sales, Human Resource and Supplier management) on product performances (Quality, Cost and Innovation) is derived. This model contains answers to nine hypotheses assumed in theoretical part, giving reader a new and easy way to understand process industry.        Conclusions: Distinguished from other industry, process industry with its own unique characteristics does not lend support to all nine hypotheses. Fundamental analysis proved that some assumptions do not establish for process industry while the others may have more significant relationships. To be specific, there exists strong impact of human resource on product quality and cost, supplier management on product cost and also marketing and sales on product quality. But, to our surprise, the other assumed relationships are not that significant while product innovation has adverse affect on marketing and sales.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3442.pdf: 1314799 bytes, checksum: 72cd9127441471994abf8e917a56b30d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-17 / The purpose of this research is to determine and analyze the differences in the behavior of labor productivity between the process industry and assembly industry in the period 1990 to 2002. The main hypothesis which led to implementation of the study was that labor productivity growth in the assembly industry would have been higher than the labor productivity growth in the process industry. The reason for this lay in evidence in the literature showing that the adjustment of firms to new competitive context of the Brazilian economy was, mainly in their initial stages, through the adoption of modern management techniques and tools that were based on the toyota production system or lean production. Also according to this type of literature, such techniques and tools were most appropriate, and therefore more widespread, in the assembly industry. To achieve the objective and confirm or refute the hypothesis, the work was divided into four chapters. The first deals with the process of globalization and related issues, such as changes in industrial structure and economic reforms. The second chapter is devoted to discussing the concept of productivity and the results of several studies on the behavior of productivity in the Brazilian economy. The third chapter presents the characteristics of the process industry and industrial assembly.. The fourth chapter presents the methodology used to calculate the labor productivity in these different industries and presents also the results of calculations of labor productivity for the process industry and assembly industry made from three databases made available by IBGE. The main conclusion was that, especially in the period 1990 to 1996, growth in labor productivity in the assembly industry was actually higher than the growth of productivity in the process industry. / O objetivo da pesquisa é determinar e analisar a existência de diferenças no comportamento da produtividade do trabalho entre as indústrias de processo e de montagem no período de 1990 a 2002. A hipótese principal que conduziu a execução do trabalho foi a de que os ganhos de produtividade do trabalho nas indústrias de montagem teria sido superior aqueles apresentados pelas indústrias de processo. A razão para tal repousava em evidências encontradas na literatura que mostravam que o ajustamento das empresas ao novo contexto competitivo da economia brasileira ocorreu, principalmente nos seus momentos iniciais, através da adoção de modernas técnicas de gestão que tinham por base as ferramentas do sistema toyota de produção ou produção enxuta. Ainda de acordo com este tipo de literatura, tais ferramentas tinham o uso mais adequado e, consequentemente, mais difundido, nos processos produtivos das indústrias de montagem. Para atingir o objetivo proposto e confirmar ou refutar a hipótese citada, o trabalho foi dividido em quatro capítulos. O primeiro trata do processo de globalização e temas correlatos, como reestruturação produtiva e reformas econômicas. O segundo capítulo é dedicado à discussão do conceito de produtividade e dos resultados de vários estudos sobre o comportamento da produtividade na economia brasileira. O terceiro capítulo busca apresentar as características das indústrias de processo e das indústrias de montagem. No quarto capítulo é feita a apresentação da metodologia usada para o cálculo da produtividade do trabalho e é feita a apresentação dos resultados dos cálculos da produtividade do trabalho para as indústrias de processo e a indústrias de montagem. Tais cálculos foram realizados a partir de três bases de dados disponibilizadas pelo IBGE. O principal resultado encontrado foi o de que, principalmente no período 1990 a 1996, o crescimento da produtividade do trabalho nas indústrias de montagem foi realmente superior ao crescimento da produtividade nas indústrias de processo.

This thesis addresses industrial energy issues from a production economic perspective. During the past decade, the energy issue has become more important, partly due to rising energy prices in general, but also from a political pressure on environmental awareness concerning the problems with climate change. As a large user of energy the industry sector is most likely responsible for a lot of these problems. Things need to change and are most likely to do so considering current and assumed future governmental regulations. Thus, the energy intensive process industries studied and focused on in this thesis exemplify the importance of introducing a strategic perspective on energy, an appropriate approach for planning, as well as the possibilities of including energy issues in a production and supply chain planning model. The thesis aims to provide models, methods and decision support tools for energy related production and supply chain planning issues of relevance for process industries as well as for other energy intensive industries. The overall objectives are to analyze the strategic importance of energy management, production and supply chain planning, and the opportunities provided when energy is included in a production and supply chain planning model. Three different studies are carried out, analyzed, and presented as in this thesis. The first study is a case study at a specialty chemicals company and resulted in the first paper. Since the energy issue is not only a cost issue driven by supply and demand, but also a political issue due to its environmental aspects, it is likely to believe that political influence and especially continuity will have escalating effect on the energy intensive process industry sector. Thus, the strategic dimension of energy is highly relevant in this thesis. The importance of organizational integration, having a main responsible person, locating core business, and political continuity are addressed as prerequisites for including energy into the corporate strategy. Regarding long term profitability, the importance of correctly utilizing the energy system by appropriate energy planning and with respect to energy efficiency and effectiveness in both flexibility and investment issues are addressed. Further on, the quest of finding alternative revenue while striving for a proper exergy usage is addressed. The second study is a multiple case study with four different case companies involved; pulp, specialty chemicals, specialty oils, as well as a pulp and paper company. The need for improved production and supply chain planning is also addressed where for instance the lack of planning support for process industries is still an area of improvement. The production and supply chain planning in process industries is found to be rather poor compared to regular manufacturing companies. The planning methods found are often tailor made and adapted to the individual characteristics that are typical for many process industries. It has further on been difficult to distinguish similarities and differences among process industries regarding these planning issues and thus hard to generalize. The third study focuses on mathematical modelling and programming developing a combined supply chain and energy optimization model for a pulp company. Taking the first papers together there are reasons to believe that a planning and optimization model that take energy aspects in consideration, as a previously missing link, will contribute to improve the operations in process industries. A clear impact of involving energy issues into the supply chain planning is shown. The results show that a different production schedule is optimal when the energy issues are applied, and depend on, for instance, variations in energy prices such as the one for electricity. This is shown by using a model for a supply chain where the energy flow, and especially the utilization of by-products, also is involved.

Processindustrin är den största källan för utsläpp av svaveldioxid (SO2) i Sverige, vilket även inkluderar icke­järnmetallindustrin. Kopparsmältverket Boliden Rönnskär har ett miljötillstånd som tillåter SO2­-utsläpp på maximalt 3500 ton/år, en gräns som Rönnskär har legat nära under de senaste åren. För att minska svaveldioxidutsläppen på Rönnskär så har våtskrubbning (tillsammans med ett bagfilter för stoftrening) föreslagits som en metod för att rena de SO2-­bärande och intermittenta tappgaserna från flashugnen. För att göra ett optimalt val av våtskrubberteknik för ändamålet, undersöktes, utvärderas och jämfördes våtskrubbningstekniker baserade på de följande kemikalierna i denna rapport: lut, soda, peroxid, kalk and zinkoxid. Mätningar gjordes också på sekundärhuvsgaserna från konvertrarna, som också kan användas i skrubbern då flashugnens tappgaser har ett fluktuerande flöde. Vidare gjordes tester på olika processvatten på Rönnskär, som skulle kunna återanvändas i skrubbern. Skrubbrarna utvärderades sedan baserat på indata och olika systemkrav med hjälp av simulerings­ och designprogram samt teoretiska beräkningar. Resultaten visade att det är rimligt att rena sekundärhuvsgaser i skrubbern, då de innehöll ca 280 ton SO2/år. Detta kan jämföras med flashugnens tappgaser som innehöll ca 445 ton SO2/år. Bland skrubbrarna, så utvecklade peroxidskrubbern sig till att vara den mest attraktiva tekniken på grund av dess relativt låga livscykelkostnader och dess lämplighet med både lakverket och flashkyltornsprocessvattnet. De andra teknikerna med packade torn, lut­ och sodaskrubbern, hade högst livscykelkostnader, huvudsakligen på grund av deras höga kemikaliekostnader. Sodaskrubbern, som var den billigare av de två natriumbaserade skrubbarna, skulle kunna vara lämplig ändå på grund av teknikens enkelhet. De öppna tornen hade lägre livscykelkostnader jämfört med de packade tornen. Dock så hade kalkskrubbern flera nackdelar som gör att den inte är ett lämpligt alternativ. Zinkoxidskrubbning har i sin tur inte studerats tillräckligt och är en relativt oprövad teknik, men den bör studeras vidare då den skulle kunna integreras med zinksmältningsprocessen på Rönnskär. Användningen av processvatten i skrubbern skulle leda till en nettominskning av processvatten till reningsverket. Det skulle även leda till minskade reagentkostnader ifall en stripper installeras för att ta bort SO2 från processvattnen innan de går in i skrubbern. / The processing industry is the largest source of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions in Sweden, which includes the non­ferrous metals industry. The copper smelter Boliden Rönnskär has an environmental permit to emit a maximum of 3500 tonnes of SO2/year, a limit that the smelter has been close to in recent years. To reduce the SO2 emissions at Rönnskär, wet scrubbing (together with a bag filter for dust cleaning) has been proposed as a method for cleaning the SO2­-bearing, intermittent tapping gases from the flash furnace. To find the optimal wet scrubbing technique for the purpose, wet scrubbing techniques based on the following reagents were investigated, evaluated and compared in this report: caustic soda, soda ash, peroxide, lime and zinc oxide. Measurements were also done on the secondary hood gases from the converters, which could make use of the remaining capacity in the scrubber. Further, tests were conducted on various process waters from other processes at Rönnskär, waters that could be reused in the scrubber. The scrubber techniques were then evaluated based on the input data and system requirements using simulation and design software as well as theoretical calculations. The results suggested that it is reasonable to clean secondary hood gases in the scrubber, as they contained approximately 280 tonnes of SO2/year. This could be compared to the flash tapping gases that contained approximately 445 tonnes of SO2/year. Among the scrubbers, the peroxide scrubber evolved as the most attractive technique due to its relatively low life cycle cost and due to its suitability with the leaching plant and the flash cooling tower process water. The other packed tower techniques, caustic soda and soda ash had the highest life cycle costs, mainly due to their high reagent costs. The soda ash scrubber, which was the cheaper of the two sodium­-based scrubbers, could still be a suitable alternative due to its simplicity. The open spray towers had lower life cycle costs than the packed towers. However, the lime scrubber had several disadvantages that makes it an unsuitable alternative. In turn, the zinc oxide scrubber is a relatively under­researched and unproven technique, but should still be studied further as it could be integrated with the zinc smelting process at Rönnskär. The use of process waters in the scrubber would lead to a net reduction of process water to the process water treatment plant and would lead to reduced reagent costs if a stripper is installed to remove the SO2 from the process waters before entering the scrubber.

Submitted by Patrícia Valim Labres de Freitas (patricial) on 2016-03-30T19:29:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gustavo Adami.pdf: 2445130 bytes, checksum: d010b74234328835418d4d0ff2a01f40 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-30T19:29:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gustavo Adami.pdf: 2445130 bytes, checksum: d010b74234328835418d4d0ff2a01f40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-23 / Nenhuma / Características existentes no processo de produção da indústria de fluxo contínuo, particularmente a petroquímica, requerem que a medição de eficiência inclua características diferentes da indústria de produção intermitente, tais como a maneira de quantificação dos produtos finais e a natureza das perdas que são consideradas no cálculo da eficiência de produção. Indicadores de eficiência global de produção tipicamente são derivados do OEE (Overall Effective Equipment), proposto por Nakajima (1988) para a indústria de produção intermitente e, por vezes, são utilizados em indústrias de produção contínua sem uma análise prévia de suas limitações. Doze indicadores identificados na literatura foram analisados e comparados com características do processo de produção da indústria petroquímica, obtidos a partir da revisão teórica e de entrevistas com profissionais e pesquisadores dessa indústria. Dessa análise identificou-se que o indicador OAE (Overall Asset Efficiency) apresenta maior aderência em relação à classificação de perdas e às características do processo de manufatura da indústria petroquímica. Os resultados de eficiência global de produção obtidos através da utilização do OAE foram confrontados com os provenientes do OEE e do TEEP (Total Effective Equipment Productivity), com base em dados reais de uma empresa localizada no Pólo Petroquímico do Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados obtidos através do cálculo de eficiência utilizando o indicador selecionado OAE, se mostraram mais descritivos da realidade da empresa quando comparados com aqueles atualmente utilizados. Outras práticas que geram interferências sobre o cálculo do OEE também foram identificadas nas entrevistas. Ainda, foi identificada a necessidade de uma discussão mais ampla no sentido de melhor definir os conceitos de capacidade e nível de atividade na indústria petroquímica e sua estimação operacional para fins de análise de eficiência, bem como, a incorporação de termos relativos à eficiência de insumos e custeio na análise de eficiência operacional global dessa indústria. / Due to singular characteristics present in the production of continuous flow process industry, especially petrochemical, efficiency measurement require different features of intermittently producing industry, such as how to quantify the final products and the cause of the losses that are considered in the calculation of production efficiency. Production efficiency indicators are typically derived from the OEE (Overall Equipment Effective) proposed by Nakajima (1988) for intermittent production industry, they are sometimes used in continuous manufacturing industries without a prior analysis of their limitations. Twelve indicators identified in the literature were analyzed and compared with features of the petrochemical industry production process, obtained from theoretical review and interviews with professionals and researchers in this industry. This analysis identified that the indicator OAE (Overall Asset Efficiency) has a better production losses structure and fits the characteristics of petrochemical manufacturing process. The results of overall production efficiency obtained using the OAE were compared with results from OEE and TEEP (Total Effective Equipment Productivity), based on manufacturing data from a company located in Rio Grande do Sul petrochemical complex. The results obtained from the efficiency calculation utilizing the selected indicator OAE, are more descriptive of the company situation when compared to those currently used. Other practices that causes interference on the calculation of OEE were also identified in the interviews. It was also identified the necessity for a broader discussion in order to better define the concepts of capacity and activity level in the petrochemical industry and also the operational way define them in order to make analysis of efficiency as well as the incorporation of terms concerning the efficiency of inputs and costing the analysis of overall operational efficiency of this industry.

Flera divisioner inom processindustrin står inför många utmaningar på grund av förändringar i processindustrins landskap. Faktorer relaterade till lågkonjunkturen, klimatförändringar och ökad konkurrens har satt sina spår. Följaktligen finns det flera enheter inom processindustrin som söker andra möjligheter för att bredda sin kompetens och utveckla innovativ teknik i nya landskap inom processindustrin. Eftersom det har blivit allt vanligare för företag att delta i ett partnerskap med externa aktörer för att utveckla och kommersialisera nya innovativa teknologier och lösningar, är det fortfarande en ganska komplicerad process och har inte heller tillräckligt avspeglats på i akademiska studier. Målet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka och analysera vilka utmaningar och problem  som  FoU-företag  inom  processindustrin  står  inför  vid  bildandet  av allians/partnerskap   för   extern   teknologi   exploatering,   och   även   identifiera framgångsfaktorer. Examensarbetet avgränsas till planeringsfasen av ett  projekt eftersom den har identifierats som den mest avgörande fasen. Syftet är att förse FoU- företag med insikt om de potentiella problem och utmaningar som kan uppstå och därmed kunna anpassa sin strategi mer effektivt. Examensarbetet genomfördes med en  kvalitativ  metodgång  där  två  dussin  nyckelpersoner  från  företag  i  process industrin  intervjuades,  och  även  en  fördjupad  undersökning  av   ett  projekt. Trianguleringsmetoder utnyttjades för att kontrollera och stärka insamlad data från intervjuer, och därefter analyserades i samband med en litteraturstudie. Vi har i undersökningen kommit till underfund till 11 utmaningar och problem ett FoU- företag  kan  uppleva,  till  exempel  risker  relaterade  till  kraven  på  samordning, partner-val och planeringsverktyg etc. Vi har även identifierat 15 framgångsfaktorer ett FoU-företag bör överväga att implementera, såsom potentiella synergier mellan mindre   teknologier   och   innovationer   för   att   framhäva   en   mer   betydande kombinerad effekt, och en strategisk parter urvalsprocess. / Several divisions in the process industry are facing numerous challenges due to changes in the process industry landscape. Factors related to the recession, climate change and an increasing competition have left its mark. Consequently, there are several units within the process industry that seeks other opportunities in order to extend their expertise and develop innovative technologies in new landscapes within the process industry. As it has been increasingly prevalent for companies to participate in a partnership with external actors in order to develop and commercialize new innovative products and solutions, it is still a rather complex process and has insufficiently been reflected upon in academic studies. The aim of this master’s thesis is therefore to investigate and analyze what challenges and problems R&D companies within the process industry faces when entering an alliance/partnership for external technology exploitation, and also identify success factors. The master’s thesis is delimited to the planning phase of a project as it was identified as the most crucial phase. The purpose is to allow companies adjust their strategy more efficiently and competently when knowing what the potential problems and challenges are, thus providing results that would be of great practical use for R&D companies overall. The master’s thesis was conducted by a qualitative approach, interviewing two dozen key persons and in-depth investigation of a project. Triangulation methods was employed in order to verify and strengthen the gathered data from the interviews, and analyzed in relation with literature. We have identified 11 challenges and problems an R&D company could experience, such as risks related to coordination requirements, partner selection, planning tools etc. However, there are also 15 of success factors an R&D company should contemplate upon, such as potential synergies between small inventions in order to utilize and attain a larger combined effect, and designing a strategic partner selection process.

Kvalitet är en konkurrensstärkande faktor inom processindustrin, men samtidigt ett av de mest kritiska problemen när den är bristande. Processindustrin omvandlar råvaror till produkter, ofta genom kontinuerliga och irreversibla processer. Detta kan leda till kostsamma kvalitetsproblem i form av felaktiga slutprodukter, trasiga maskiner, miljöfarliga utsläpp och i värsta fall allvarliga skador på medarbetare. Syftet med denna studie är att ta fram förslag för att effektivisera arbetssättet vid ankomst och lagring av material i processindustrin för att uppfylla de kvalitetskrav som finns. Studien har använt sig av det vetenskapliga angreppssättet abduktion för att besvara de forskningsfrågor som funnits. Syftet som studien haft är uppfyllt genom att en fallstudie har genomförts på Stora Enso Skutskärs Bruk där hanteringen av material vid ankomst och lagring har undersökts. Detta har gjorts genom intervjuer, observationer, workshops samt en litteraturstudie inom de områden som ansetts relevanta för arbetet. För att uppfylla de kvalitetskrav som finns har tre insatsvaror analyserats och legat till grund för de förbättringsförslag som framkommit. Vidare har studien bidragit med teoretiska bidrag i form av tre kritiska kvalitetsfaktorer. Dessa är analyscertifikat (bevis på utfört kvalitetstest),kontroll vid lossning samt kontroll av lagrad insatsvara. De praktiska bidrag som studien lett fram till är att ett affärssystem bör användas för informationshantering, tydliga rutiner bör skapas för de aktiviteter som görs samt att allting bör dokumenteras för att klara interna och externa revisioner. De kritiska kvalitetsfaktorerna samt förslagen för ett effektiviserat arbetssätt som ges till Stora Enso Skutskärs Bruk kan även användas av andra organisationer med liknande förutsättningar och kvalitetskrav. Dessa förslag bör implementeras stegvis och i samråd med ansvariga avdelningar i organisationen. Förbättringsåtgärderna bör även testas och utvärderas vid fortsatt forskning. Ytterligare forskning på hur förslagen har en inverkan på exempelvis miljö, arbetsmiljö och kostnadseffektivitet rekommenderas. / Quality is a competitive factor in the process industry but at the same time one of the most critical problems when it is lacking. The process industry transforms raw materials into products, often through continuous and irreversible processes. This can lead to costly quality problems in the form of faulty end products, broken machines, environmentally hazardous emissions and, in the worst case, serious injuries to employees. The purpose of this study is to develop proposals to streamline the working method of arrival and storage for materials in the process industry to meet the quality requirements that exist. The study has used the scientific approach of abduction to answer the research questions that have been defined. The purpose of the study has been fulfilled by conducting a case study at Stora Enso Skutskärs Bruk, where the handling of material on arrival and storage has been investigated. This has been done through interviews, observations, workshops and a literature study in the areas that are considered relevant to the work. In order to meet the existing quality requirements, three inputs have been analyzed and formed the basis for the improvement proposals that have emerged. Furthermore, the study has contributed to theoretical contributions in the form of three critical quality factors. These are certificate of analysis (proof of quality test performed), control during unloading and control of stored input goods. The practical contributions that the study led to are that an ERP software should be used for information management, clear routines should be created for the activities that are done and that everything should be documented to cope with internal and external audits. The critical quality factors as well as the proposals for a more efficient way of working that are given to Stora Enso Skutskärs Bruk can also be used by other organizations with similar conditions and quality requirements. These proposals should be implemented gradually and in consultation with the responsible departments in the organization. The improvement measures should also be tested and evaluated in further research. Further research on how the proposals have an impact on the environment, work environment and cost efficiency for example is recommended.