Requirements from the market on customer responsiveness and pressure on the environmental profiles of companies, both internally and externally, are challenging companies to amend their processes in all possible aspects in order to stay competitive. For product development companies, the challenges often lie in developing and delivering products rapidly, customized and meeting the set requirements. For highly customized products, mass customization is a term describing a company setting in which products meet each customer’s individual requirements but are still produced and delivered at near mass-production efficiency. The concept of mass customization is becoming a prerequisite for the survival of companies within this niche. For more complex engineering products, the complexity increases as new technology is introduced, which needs to be integrated to increase the product’s performance at a rapid pace. Also for complex products, the level of customization is increasing, which motivates the support of tools enabling an increase in customization. In both mass customized and complex products, the obstacles to overcome are the repetitive resource inefficient work, knowledge capture and reuse, uncoordinated processes, and a high number of iterations between departments within the company. This often boils down to the well-established so-called design paradox describing the lack of knowledge about a product and process in the early stages of design, where the design freedom is still high. As knowledge increases throughout the process, the design freedom in contrast shrinks, and the costs of changes increase exponentially. Design automation, design optimization and the use of configurators are all methods used to reduce repetitive work, increase and capture knowledge, and integrate the product development process. This thesis presents how configurators based on optimization can be used and integrated into the product development process of engineering intensive configurable products and components, such as engineer-to-order (ETO) products. Design automation and design optimization have been identified as key building blocks to extend the use of configurators. This has been done in two different application cases within two different research projects, to evaluate how these configurator systems may be modeled and utilized. The first application case concerns the automation of hose routing in vehicles and the second application case concerns spiral staircases intended for mass customization.

Arbetet har utförts vid Högskolan i Skövde i samarbete med Parker Hannifin AB. Arbetets fokus har kretsat kring de frågeställningar som initialt sattes upp. Den inledande förstudien omfattar informationsinsamling angående Design for Manufacturing and Assembly vilket var essentiellt att utforska innan arbetet fortsatte. Litteraturstudien undersöker även hur hållbarhetsaspekter, användbarhet och Reversed Engineering kan inkluderas i arbetet. Ett stort fokus har även lagts på att analysera den nuvarande produkten för att få klarhet i problemet, vad produkten är, vad den används till, hur den används och vem som använder den. Analyseringen av produkten i kombination med litteraturstudien la sedan grunden för kravspecifikationen som i sin tur används vid konceptutveckling. Resultatet är konceptförslag på en omkonstruktion av snabbkopplingen som tillåter att likadan adapter kan användas på båda sidor om kopplingen, konceptförslaget kan även kombineras med olika omkonstruktioner som gjorts utifrån Design for Assembly på några av de ingående komponenterna. / The work has been carried out at the University of Skövde in collaboration with Parker Hannifin AB. The focus of the work has revolved around the research questions that were raised in the beginning of the project. The initial literature study includes information gathering regarding Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, which was essential to explore before future work was carried out. The literature study also examines how sustainability aspects, usability and Reverse Engineering can be included through the work. A great deal of focus has also been placed on analyzing the current product to get clarity on the problem, what the product is, what it is used for, how it is used and who uses it. The analysis of the product and the literature study then laid the foundation for the requirements specification, which in turn is used during the concept development. The result is a concept proposal for a redesign of the quick coupling that allows the same adapter to be used on both sides of the product, the concept proposal can also be combined with various redesigns made on some of the included components based on aspects of Design for Assembly.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology (SMRT) tillverkar olika rullborrkronor som används för bergborrning. Rullborrkronan består av tre hopsvetsade ben. Benen är smidda och levereras från en extern leverantör. Rullborrkronebenen kommer in på en EU-pall sedan lyfts dem in i en fräs for bearbetning. Efter fräsen lyfts rullborrkronebenet igen till en mönsterpall. Metoden som används idag för att lyfta rullborrkronebenen anses inte vara optimal för operatörerna. Syftet med arbetet är att förbättra ergonomi vid förflyttning av rullborrkronebenen. Målet är att utveckla ett säkrare lyftverktyg. Lyftverktyget ska vara ergonomisk och lätt för operatörerna att använda. För att uppnå målet undersöktes tidigare forskning om riskbedömning av arbetspositioner samt att standarden SS-EN 13155:2009 användes. Metoden Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System, OWAS, användes för att bestämma vilka arbetsställningar som var mest påfrestande för operatörerna och som behöver åtgärdas. Resultatet från OWAS visade att den mest påfrestande arbetsställningen var lyftet av rullborrkronebenet från EU-pall. För att förbättra ergonomin hos operatörerna har ett vakuumlyftverktyg tagits fram. Konceptet som har tagits fram består av en sugtapp kopplad till en vakuumpump med en T-stycke. En trycksensor är även kopplad till t-stycket för att kontrollera vakuumsvärdet för lyftverktyget. Med hjälp av en backventil säkerställs behållningen av vakuumtrycket vid eventuell händelse av strömavbrott. Med det framtagna konceptet behöver operatörerna inte lyfta rullborrkronebenet för att fästa eller lossa lyftstroppen. Detta betyder att de arbetsställningarna med hög risk för belastningsskador kommer att minimeras. / Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology (SMRT) manufactures various roller-cone bits that are used for rock drilling. The roller-cone bit consists of three welded cones. The cones are forged and delivered from an external supplier. The roller-cone bit’s cones are collected in an EU-table then lifted into a milling machine for processing. After the milling, the roller-cone bit’s cone is lifted again to a pattern table. Today, the method used today to lift the roller cone bit’s cones is not considered optimal for the operators. To improve the ergonomics of the operators, a vacuum lifting tool has been developed. The purpose of the work is to improve ergonomics through the lifting process of roller-cone bit cones. The goal is to develop a safer lifting tool. The lifting tool must be ergonomic and easy to use. To achieve the goal, previous research was examined on risk assessments of the working positions and standard SS-EN 13155:2009 followed. The Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS) method was used to determine which working positions are considered most stressful for operators and needed to be addressed. The result from OWAS showed that the most stressful working position is the lifting of the roller-cone bit from the EU table. The concept, that was developed, consists of a suction pin connected to a vacuum pump with a T-piece. A pressure sensor is also connected to the t-piece to control the vacuum bar for the lifting tool. With the help of a non-return valve, the maintenance of the vacuum is ensured in case of power failure. After using the lifting tool, there will be no need to lift the roller-cone bit to load and unload the lifting strap. This means that the work positions with a high risk for load damage are going to be minimized.

The versatility of open source technologies could grant them an intriguing place in the industry. Moreparticularly, an open source hardware automated guided vehicle (AGV) might show up as an idealsolution for low-scale logistic process, as well as a useful development and didactic tool. What is more,a modular vehicle with interchangeable components would comply even better with this philosophy.Hereafter, besides from a literature review including research related to the many subjects that thisproject attempts to orchestrate, an open source hardware methodology has been followed, acomparison analysis of each component and structure performed and configurations of possible AGVsselected, in order to shed light on the viability of conducting this sort of project in reality. Plus, a modularframe has been designed and tested with computer-aided and simulation tools. The conclusions showthat constructing an open source-based industrial vehicle is to a high extent feasible, although theprecise economic outcomes are not clear and building a real model is a future requisite to give evidence. / <p>There are other digital material (eg. film, imgage or audio files) or models/artifacts that belongs to the thesis and need to be archived.</p>

Company A is a company based in Skövde with headquarters in Lidköping. They are world leaders in ventilation units that purify air in a production environment. They have subsidiaries in Germany, the United States, China, and France. The company is currently undergoing a transition from contract production to mass production. This degree project has been carried out on assembly line 1, where the work is limited to the assembly's work with product A. Product A is the most produced model in assembly line 1. The assembly line consists of four different stations manned by one person at each station. The work performed is manual work. The purpose of the project is to theoretically reduce all stations cycle time to less than 20 minutes. To enable this, a current state analysis is performed with the support of production engineering tools and methods. The improvement proposals are based on the data collected with these. The study was conducted using observations such as Genchi Genbutsu, spaghetti diagrams of the operators' movement in the various work steps, balancing scheme for operator showing the value-adding, non-value-adding and necessary non-value-adding time and time studies that produce the correct standard time for the work steps using the snapback method. A preference matrix has been developed to facilitate the future balancing of the assembly line. The improvement proposals presented reduce the lead time by 23.1% and the theoretical cycle time to less than 20 minutes on each station. / Företag A är ett företag som är baserat i Skövde med huvudkontor i Lidköping. De är världsledande inom ventilationsenheter som renar luft i en produktionsmiljö. De har dotterbolag i Tyskland, USA, Kina och Frankrike. Företaget genomgår just nu en omställning från legoproduktion till massproduktion. Detta examensarbete har genomförts på monteringslinje 1 där arbetet begränsats till monteringens arbete med produkt A. Produkt A är den modell som byggs oftast av de olika modellerna i monteringslinje 1. Monteringslinjen består av fyra olika stationer som bemannas av en person på varje station. Arbetet som utförs är manuellt arbete. Projektets syfte är att teoretiskt bevisa att en cykeltid på 20 minuter är möjlig på samtliga stationer. För att möjliggöra detta utförs en nulägesanalys med hjälp av produktionstekniska verktyg och metoder. Förbättringsförslagen bygger på den data som samlats in med de produktionstekniska verktygen och metoderna. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av observationer så som Genchi Genbutsu, spaghettidiagram av operatörernas rörelse i de olika arbetsmomenten, balanseringsschema för operatör som visar den värdeadderande, icke värdeadderande och nödvändig icke värdeadderande tid och tidsstudier som tar fram den korrekta standardtiden för arbetsmomenten med hjälp av nollställningsmetoden. En företrädesmatris har tagits fram för att underlätta vid framtida balansering av monteringslinjen. De förbättringsförslag som presenteras sänker genomloppstiden med 23,1% och med det blir den teoretiska cykeltiden under 20 minuter på samtliga stationer.

Nowadays, the profession of a robot programmer is becoming more and more necessary. However, due to the complexity of the software used, a lot of experience and training is necessary. Training that not everyone can access due to the lack of availability of these machines. In addition, new technologies such as virtual reality (VR) are emerging, providing a world of new possibilities. This project aims to create a more straightforward and intuitive way of programming, taking advantage of VR technology. In addition, it is expected to flatten the learning curve required for the operators, thanks to a more natural way of programming. A software has been developed in order to achieve that. Within this software, the user can interact with the virtual robot to create the path that the robot will follow, specifying all the necessary parameters for its programming. In addition, one of the most important functionalities of this software is program exportation. The user can export a program at the touch of a button. This generated robot program is ready to be imported to the physical robot, where it will perform the same path as the virtual robot was performing.

Produktionskapacitet är en viktig faktor för att ett företag ska kunna bibehålla konkurrenskraften på marknaden. Det finns olika sätt för att optimera produktionskapaciteten och detta examensarbete fokuserar på hur effektivt Lean konceptet och dess metoder och verktyg är för att optimera kapaciteten i monteringslinjer. Nobia Production Sweden är ett dotterbolag till Nobia som är baserad i Tidaholm. De är specialister inom utveckling, tillverkning och försäljning av kök på Europas marknad. Examensarbetet är genomfört i en monteringsavdelning där det monteras högskåp. Syftet med studien är att kartlägga och analysera högskåpslinjen med hjälp av Lean konceptet, vilket ska leda till en tydligare bild över kapaciteten och skapa förbättringsförslag för att öka den. Nobia strävar efter att öka kapacitetsförmåga i högskåpslinjen för att kunna bemöta den ökande efterfrågan av högskåp. Studien är baserad på en fallstudies forskningsmetodik och består av fyras faser. Första fasen är identifieringsfas och består av introduktion till projektet, problemformulering, syfte och målsättning. Andra fasen är planeringsfas och bygger på den teoretiska referensramen och litteraturstudien. Den teoretisk referensram sammanställer teorin som är grunden för de valda metoder och verktyg, medan litteraturstudien samanställdes med syfte att relatera tidigare studier till denna studie. Detta är gjort för att utforma en metod och tillvägagångssätt. Tredje fasen är genomförandet av arbetet som består av datainsamling för att skapa nuläges tillstånd och kartlägga monteringslinje. Därefter skapades det önskade framtida tillståndet med hjälp av värdeflödeskarta och Kaizen-events. Fjärde fasen består av resultatet och utvärderingen av det. Studien resulterade till reducering av ledtider, processtider och de icke värdeskapande aktiviteter, vilket generade till en kapacitetsökning med 26 %. De förbättringsförslag som framtogs var framför allt förflyttning av delmomenteter, minskning av icke värdeskapande aktiviteter och skapa en grund för arbetet med standardiserat arbetssätt med syfte att skapa mer effektiva och robusta processer. / Production capacity is a fundamental factor for a company's ability to maintain and sustain its competitive advantage in the market. There are many and different ways to utilize production capacity and this thesis will be focusing on how efficient the methods and tools of Lean concept are for optimizing capacity in assembly lines. Nobia Production Sweden is a subsidiary of Nobia and is based in Tidaholm. They are specialized in manufacturing, developing and sales of kitchens within the European market. The project is carried out in the assembly department where they assemble long-sized cabinets. The study's purpose is to stream map and analyze the long-sized cabinet line using the Lean concept which will help in building a better understanding of the capacity of the assembly line and the basis on which improvement proposals will be created. One of Nobia's aims is to increase its capacity in its long sized cabinets in order to meet the needs of its increasing customer demand. This study is based on a case study's research methodology and can be divided in four phases. The first phase is the so called identification phase and consists of an introduction, problem formulation, purpose and objectives. The second phase is the planning phase and is based on the theoretical frame of reference and the literature study. The theoretical frame of reference compiles the theory which is the base of the chosen methods and tools, while the literature study's aim was to relate previous studies on this studies subject. This is done in order to design a method and approach. The third phase is carried out on the basis of data collection and research to create the current state and map the assembly line. Thereafter, the desired future state was created by using value stream map and Kaizen-events. The fourth and last phase consists of the result and evaluation. The study's results show a reduction of lead times, process times and non-value adding activities. This reduction generated a capacity increase of 26%. The improvement proposals that were suggested were primarily focused on the relocation of sub-activities, reduction of non-value adding activities, and the creation of a basis for working with standards which aims at creating more efficient and robust processes.

Tillverkning av elektroniska produkter ökar och utvecklas vilket medför till att flera skyddsåtgärder behöver vidtas under tillverkningsprocessen. Elektroniska komponenter kan skadas av elektrostatisk urladdning (ESD). Elektroniktillverkande industrier vill minimera ESD-risken inom produktionsmiljön för att minimera skaderisken i samband med produkterna. Företag använder sig av skyddsåtgärd i form av olika ESD-skyddssystem vilket bidrar till en ESD-kontrollerad produktionsmiljö. Ett projekt har utförts på företaget Veoneer, projektet bygger på en undersökning av det nuvarande ESD-systemet samt en undersökning av två alternativa ESD-skyddssystem. Vetenskapliga artiklar baserat på tre olika ESD-skyddssystem har undersökts för att evaluera kostnaderna och implementationsmöjligheten i produktionen. Undersökningen användes för att utvärdera neutraliseringseffektiviteten av den statiska uppladdningen. De undersökta ESD-skyddssystemen är följande ESD-emballagen som används i nuläget, ersättning av ESD-plast till enbart plast i samband med jonisatorer och slutligen justering av luftfuktigheten. Det nuvarande ESD-systemet skyddar produktionen från elektrostatiska urladdningar. Problemet med systemet är det höga priset för ESD-emballagen. Projektstyrningen baseras på tillvägagångsättet projekt base, projektstyrningsmetoden består av följande fyra stadier förstudier, planering, genomförande och avslut. Den nuvarande ESD-systemet och jonisator systemet undersöktes genom forskningsstudier och experiment. Justering av luftfuktigheten undersöktes enbart via litteraturstudier samt via företagsrapporter. För att möjliggöra experimenten anordnades mätverktyg för att uppmäta den elektrostatiska uppladdningen av ESD-emballagen samt plastemballagen. Jonisatorer implementerades inför slutexperimentet för att uppmätta den elektrostatiska neutraliseringsförmågan. Ekonomiska kalkyler av ESD-plastemballagen har utformats i samband med jonisatorer och plastemballage för att fastställa prisskillnaden mellan ESD-skyddssystemen. Experimentet bidrog till säkra och godkända mätvärden vilket medför ur ett experimentperspektiv till att jonisator systemet och det nuvarande system inte utsätter produkterna för någon ESD-risk. Införandet av jonisatorer leder till en stor ekonomisk besparing om lösningen skulle tillämpas som ersättningsalternativ. Jonisatorn bör inte implementeras direkt, fler utförliga studier behöver åstadkommas innan ett nytt ESD-system införskaffas. Företagets luftfuktighetsstudier påvisade negativa resultat vilket medförde till att inga fysiska luftfuktighetsexperiment kunde verkställas på företaget. Flera förbättringsförslag har åstadkommits i samband med nulägets ESD-skyddssystem och jonisator systemet. Förbättringsförslagen innefattar materialbyte ur ett ekonomiskt och ekologiskt hållbarhetsperspektiv samt har förslag på arbetsstandarden åstadkommits. / As time goes on, the manufacturing of electronic products is increasing and evolving, which calls for the introduction of protective measures on electronic components. Electronic components can be problematic as they produce electrostatic discharge (ESD), something that the manufacturing industry aims to reduce. By implementing safety measures in various ESD-protective systems, which leads to a minimized risk of ESD damage. A project has been carried out at the company Veoneer, the project is based on a study regarding the current ESD-system and a study on two other ESD-protection systems. Literature study and experimentation have been accomplished in relation to the three ESD-protective systems to evaluate the costs and implementation possibilities of production and to further evaluate the effectiveness of neutralization of the static charge. The following ESD-protective systems examined are the currently using ESD-packaging, replacement of ESD-plastic to plastic trays only in combination with ionizers and finally adjustment of the relative humidity. The current ESD-system protects production from electrostatic discharges. The problem with the current system is the costly price ratio of the ESD-packaging. Veoneer carried out a project based on a study regarding the current ESD-system and a study on two other ESD-protective systems. Through the study of relevant literature and experimentation, the three ESD-protective systems have been analyzed to evaluate the costs and implementation possibilities of production and further evaluate the static charge's effectiveness of neutralization. The following ESD-protective systems currently use ESD-packaging, replacement of ESD-plastic trays to plastic trays with ionizers, and finally, adjusting the relative humidity. On the one hand, the current ESD-system protects production from electrostatic discharges, but the current system's problem is the costly price ratio of the ESD-packaging. Project management is centered around the project-based approach. The project-management method consists of four stages of feasibility: studies, planning, implementation, and closure. The control methodology has ensured that the project runs smoothly. The current ESD and ionizer systems were investigated through research studies and experiments, whereas adjustment of humidity was investigated solely through literature studies and company reports. To begin the experiments, measuring tools were arranged to calculate the electrostatic charge in regards to the ESD-packaging and the plastic packaging. Ionizers were utilized for the final experiment to measure the electrostatic neutralization capacity with plastic packaging. Economic calculations have been carried out by the ESD-plastic packaging in conjunction with ionizers and discovered that plastic packaging alone can determine the price difference between the ESD-systems. The experiment resulted in safe and approved readings, meaning that from an experimental perspective, the ionizer system and the current system do not expose products to any ESD-risk. The introduction of ionizers could lead to huge savings if they were to be used as a replacement option. The ionizer should not be implemented directly; more detailed studies need to be carried out before a new ESD-system is acquired. The company's humidity studies showed negative results, implying that the company could not carry out physical experiments concerning humidity. Several proposed improvements have been suggested regarding the current ESD-protection and ionizer system. The improvement proposals includes change of material from an economic and ecological sustainability perspective, and several proposals havebeen made regarding the working standards.

Developing high-performing products at a low cost while keeping development time down is increasingly important in today’s competitive market. The current state presents a need for efficient product development processes. One of the challenges is knowledge often being limited in early stages where the cost of making changes is still relatively low. As the process progresses more knowledge is gained to better support decisions; however the cost of making changes increases, limiting the design freedom. To increase knowledge while retaining design freedom, several computer-based tools are available to both generate and evaluate designs in order to make iterations faster and more accurate. Design Optimization (DO) can be utilized to explore the design space and find optimal designs. A Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model is often required as input to analysis tools evaluating the designs. By utilizing Design Automation (DA) several tasks involved in creation and modification of CAD models can be automated. For this reason, DA is sometimes considered an enabler for DO although its use is far wider, covering several aspects of the design process mainly focusing on automating repetitive and routine tasks. Machine Learning and other data-driven methods are becoming increasingly viable in the context of DO and DA. This thesis explores the use of data-driven methods to enhance the usability of DO in different ways such as a faster process, new use-cases, or a more integrated and automated process.   Literature in the area is reviewed, identifying applications, trends and challenges. Furthermore, two support tools are developed, incorporating data-driven methods tied to an industrial case. The applications focus on parameterizing geometry and predicting design performance respectively. Potential benefits, limitations, and challenges are discussed based on the literature review and insights from the two support tools. The focus of the thesis is mainly on how data-driven methods can facilitate automation and integration in the design process, specifically for complex products requiring significant engineering efforts. / <p><strong>Funding agencies:</strong> The work is part the research project AutoPack (2017-03065) which is funded by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova and the partnership program Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (FFI).</p>

Skaraborg Hospital (SkaS) in Skövde is an emergency hospital that offers care in medical-, surgical- and psychiatric specialties. This project is based on SkaS in Skövde, where the largest volume of operations takes place. To limit the scope of the project to a more manageable level, the project was divided into two different goals, where the first goal was to include an analysis of referrals and first-time visits and the second goal to do a simulation study of the operation process.The simulation model was made in the software Facts Analyzer Beta 4 and through in-depth data collection and compilation in Excel, data could be analyzed and integrated into the simulation model. Two different what if scenarios were developed together with improvement group at SkaS in Skövde to be able to contribute with the basis for improvements. Based on the results and analyzes from unstructured interviews, study visits, meetings with the improvement group and the developed simulation model, the project will contribute with improvement suggestions to the problem of long waiting times.A theoretical study in general about simulation is included in the project and how it could be applied in health care, including the approach of a simulation study using various methods. The report also describes how simulation can contribute to the different aspects of sustainable development.The authors also wanted to include departments and the post-operative department in the simulation model, but due to lack of time, this was one of many delimitations and is something that should be reviewed in future work.The goals of the project were clarified at a higher level of abstraction and have contributed with improvement suggestions using methods and tools within the Lean concept. This would help reduce waiting times for patients and a better work environment for the staff, by using analysis and simulation.