This thesis describes the characteristics, treatment and processing of biomass into a form shaped solid biofuels. It contains an overview of the requirements for pellets quality, possible means of improving the quality of pellets and methods of processing materials in order to achieve the desired quality of pellets. This thesis has shaped economic production of biofuels and shaped the recommendations for the design of pelletizing production line alternative pellets.

The aim of this master’s thesis Simulator of Production Lines is to design a concept of the simulator of conveyor production lines with focus on testing control software for PLC and to implement this simulator. The thesis includes description of ready to use solutions available on the market, description of PLC control algorithm to be tested, designed concept of the simulator, description of the implemented software, demonstration of the simulator on a specific task and evaluation of its capabilities.

This master thesis describes the design of increasing the efficiency of production lines with solder robots. In beginning of this work is a description of product and current process. There are also variants of design solutions for soldering palettes and the best on is chosen. The last part of this work includes design automation soldering process.

This Master‘s thesis is dedicated to the design and modernization of the control of production line for the small-lot production of various plastic products. As a control unit will be used 8-bit microcontroller ATmega128. This thesis also deals with design of the needful electronics to control the production line by using appropriate elements and necessary software solution.

The current industry landscape is witnessing a trend towards high-mix production, which requires a reconsideration of the existing production systems. Although high levels of automation have been achieved in the industry, the traditional automated production line, designed for mass production of homogeneous goods, is not well-suited for high-mix production. To address this situation, flexible and adaptable alternatives have been sought to replace the inflexible and rigid traditional production lines. One of the proposed solutions is the combination of digital technology and physical automation, creating a highly connected and intelligent production environment. Such an environment requires the implementation of a cyber-physical production system that integrates Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and flexible robots. This system enables a set of robots to perform different tasks instead of being exclusively dedicated to a specific task, making it moreadaptable and flexible. The integration of advanced technologies, such as AGVs and Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), can significantly enhance workflow optimization, reduce production times, and enable flexible layout adaptations to cater to the specific requirements of different products in the production line. Furthermore, it can facilitate better control of information and enable real-time monitoring of the production process, leading to improved production efficiency and quality. To demonstrate the potential of such a system, a virtual commissioning of a fully innovative production line has been carried out, encompassing all the previously mentioned technologies and elements. The virtual commissioning of the production line serves as a proof-of-concept for the cyber-physical production system and its ability to provide a highly connected, intelligent, and adaptable production environment. / <p>Utbytesstudenter</p>

Se tiene por entendida a la simulación como una herramienta científica que genera diversos contextos a los cuales se puede ver incluida a la empresa, mejorando los cuellos botella de la empresa, tiempo ciclo o costos elevados, con la finalidad de mejorar por ejemplo la productividad, eficiencia o rentabilidad. En base a ello para el presente trabajo de investigación se toma como objeto de estudio a la línea de producción de pollos frescos y limpios de la empresa avícola “Fénix SAC” la cual opera de manera ineficiente debido a que se registran problemas en los puestos de trabajo tanto físicos, como de ruido, iluminación, termomagnético y disergonómico. Para esto se ha buscado realizar propuestas de mejora que conlleven a incrementar la productividad en la empresa mediante la simulación de procesos. Específicamente hablando, se desarrolló un diagnóstico del proceso productivo, luego se ha elaborado propuestas de mejora sobre los indicadores en base al estudio de puestos de trabajo, luego se simulo la línea de producción antes y después de las mejoras propuestas, y por último se estimó la viabilidad económica de la propuesta. Como resultado se obtuvo que existirá un incremento de la productividad económica del 1%, en la MOD se registró un incremento del 32%, en cuanto a la productividad laboral 29,1%. En cuanto a la viabilidad económica, con respecto al VAN, TIR, B/C y PRI, se obtuvo 119 516.67 soles, 65.28%, 1.75 y 1 año con 3 meses y 17 días, respectivamente hablando. / Simulation is understood as a scientific tool that generates various contexts in which the company can be seen to be included, improving the bottlenecks of the company, cycle time or high costs, in order to improve, for example, productivity, efficiency or profitability. Based on this, for the present research work, the production line of fresh and clean chickens of the poultry company "Fénix SAC" is taken as an object of study, which operates in an inefficient manner due to the fact that problems are registered in the positions of physical, noise, lighting, thermomagnetic and disergonomic work. For this, we have sought to make improvement proposals that lead to increased productivity in the company through process simulation. Specifically speaking, a diagnosis of the production process was developed, then improvement proposals were made on the indicators based on the study of jobs, then the production line was simulated before and after the proposed improvements, and finally it was estimated the economic viability of the proposal. As a result, it was obtained that there will be an increase in economic productivity of 1%, in the MOD an increase of 32% was registered, in terms of labor productivity 29.1%. Regarding the economic viability, with respect to the VAN, IRR, B/C and PRI, 119 516.67 soles were obtained, 65.28%, 1.75 and 1 year with 3 months and 17 days, respectively speaking.

Efficient production scheduling is important for both maximizing productivity and minimizing costs in manufacturing environments. This thesis presents an approach to optimizing production scheduling using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs). The primary goal is to develop a generalized solution that can be modified and adapted to the varying needs that different production- or manufacturing lines may have. This research has two main research questions that address the problem at hand. (1) Can Genetic Algorithms be used to optimize a sequence of products in a production line? and (2) How effectively can Genetic Algorithms optimize the sequencing of production tasks in diverse production lines to minimize total order processing times? Through experimentation with various GA configurations the results achieved suggested that GAs were appropriate for sequence optimization. The study demonstrates that GAs can optimize a production line up to almost 42% , which significantly reduced the total processing time. The thesis also highlights the importance of the representation of data, which is essential for the optimization of the sequence.

While costing methods have developed over time, they are often static in nature and ill-suited to the dynamic nature of production lines. Static costing systems are often developed for long-term analysis. Due to this, they lack the ability to aid short-term decision-making. In addition, the use of averaged data prohibits a static costing system from accurately tracing the cost effects of changing system behavior like random downtime events. A dynamic costing system, however, can capture the cost effects of changing system behavior in a manner that can aid short-term operational management. The proposed methodology is a dynamic activity-based costing method that relies on real-time production line data to track costs, specifically the added costs of unused capacity and downtime events. The methodology aims to trace these costs to responsible cost centers on the production line to give a better representation of the total cost of production, specifically in regards to normal production costs, added downtime costs, and added costs from unused capacity. In addition to monetary costs, the methodology provides a framework for tracking environmental costs, such as energy use, in order to aid plant managers with determining the environmental impact of their operations. The methodology addresses a gap between activity-based costing and downtime costing by combining the two under a single methodology. It traces both monetary and environmental costs to cost centers on the manufacturing line to aid continuous improvement efforts and the allocation of resources. By using real-time data, the methodology alerts management to changing system performance in a shorter time frame than static costing systems. The methodology will be shown in a case study of an automotive assembly plant. The case study will model the resource use of an automotive paint shop and trace this resource use to line segments in order to highlight areas of possible improvement.

Process improvement is one of the challenging tasks within manufacturing companies. This study has been focused on analysing a packaging station by using a discrete event simulation tool. Packaging is an important part of the production and logistics process, but it is seldom considered when analysing non-value added activities. Discrete event simulation has been used in the analysis of non-value added activities in production systems, but noted by the low number of articles related to the usage of discrete event simulation within packaging, there exists a limited understanding of discrete event simulation use in this area. The authors divided the scope of the research into the following research questions, which are presented below: RQ1: How can discrete event simulation be used as a tool to identify time wastes and create efficiency in a packaging station? RQ2: What method is suitable when creating a simulation project? These questions were to be answered by performing a literature review and a case study in ABB AB Control Products Vasteras, mentioned as ABB in later in the thesis, where the packaging station were in need of improvements. The results from theoretical and empirical finding were analysed, they highlight the importance of packaging and its impact on logistics and supply chain management performance. By creating discrete event simulation models for both current and future stage, the authors were able to provide analysed improvements of the packaging station. The result of the models illustrated by implementing the improvements it could generate in less pressure on the operators as well as an approximated improvement of 125% more packed product. The improvements of the model involve a better material handling and a more optimized packaging station in order to create a more efficient workstation. The conclusion of the study is that the company should develop the product simultaneously as the production, were every activity and process should be included. They should also consider what impacts the development has on the entire supply chain.  This could be a way to eliminate non-value activities from the start.  Discrete event simulation is a tool that could be of help when visualizing the process and it allows the developers to see the impact of a change or improvement on the other processes.

Almedahls have for some time started to receive more customer complaints about uneven roller blind fabrics or so-called waves over fabric. The waves are a major problem for Almedahls customers since they make it hard to cut the fabric into roller blinds. The company believes that the waves appear due to different process parameters within their finishing line but the company do not yet know how or where. The thesis project strives to find an explanation to what waves over fabric are, why they appear and how they can be reduced. The documentation that Almedahls have made of the problem so far, including photographs and customer complaints reports, was examined. Orders produced from four selected grey-weaves during the last three years was examined and compared to received customer complaints and standard operations lists. No clear relationship was found and weaves with longer process lines did not seem to cause more waves to appear. However, addition of an extra colouring to the standard operations appeared to be more frequently occurring when a standard operations list had been changed.Waves over fabric were at an early stage related to the mechanical properties of the weaves as the weaves are exposed to stresses and strains during the entire production line. In Almedahls’ finishing line the web and the beam tensions and the levelling mechanisms in the stenter frames appeared to be the parameters which especially apply stresses and strains. Tensile tests were performed to examine the mechanical properties of a few of Almedahls grey-weaves and half processed weave. The test results showed that a strain between 11-27 % can be applied before the test samples start to deform while calculations of the amount of strain applied by the stenter frames showed to be much less, between 2.5-3.5 %. The difference in size between the test samples and the weaves must be considered when comparing these results. The small, repeated strains applied by the finishing line may eventually lead to permanent deformation of the weaves and appear as waves. The combination of the web and the beam tensions can also result in a stretch in the bias-direction of the weave which cause deformation in the middle of the weave where waves most often appear.The thermal properties of the same weaves were also tested through DSC, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, tests. The test results showed that the polyester material in the weaves does not melt or deform at the temperatures Almedahls use in their processes. The shrinkage of the grey-weaves during the de-sizing processes was also considered through width measurements. The conclusion was that the structure of the grey-weave influences how much the weave will shrink and the dimension change of the weave may influence the appearance of waves and needs more investigation. / Program: Magisterutbildning i textilteknologi