Intense competitive pressures have led to compressed product life cycles and frequent introduction of new products. This creates demand volatility and a consequent pressure on manufacturing to meet this variable demand. In this paper we model the manpower planning issues for a computer manufacturer during the product introduction phase when a quick ramp-up of production to meet rapidly increasing demand is a key requirement. A mix of permanent and contingent workers with different skill sets is considered. Some important issues addressed in this research are (a) how to assign workers with different skills to maximize production (b) what is the induction rate of contingent workers to achieve the desired ramp-up and (c) what are the key decision factors that impact manufacturing performance An LP model is proposed to minimize overall costs subject to complex scheduling, skills, and learning rate requirements. Our analysis indicates that cost of induction of contingent workers, overtime cost premium, and the amount of overtime have significant impact on performance. The findings of the study will be useful to managers in planning and allocation of workers of different skills to various manufacturing processes and to determine the optimal number of contingent workers to induct. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Production ramp up corresponds to « the period between the end of the production development and the full capacity utilization ». The manufacturing process often does not work perfectly during this early time of the new product production and some adjustments are necessary to obtain full capacity utilization. In order to assess the assembly process during this period, the train manufacturer Bombardier Transportation has created an improvement process called “VPI” (which stands for “Validation du Processus Industriel” or “Validation of the manufacturing process” in English). Its purpose is to “validate the material and the documentation for every movement independently” in order to ensure quality of final product and safety of the workers. It aims at detecting and solving rapidly safety problems and deviation from the normal process. This thesis is a case study of VPI during MI09 contract (new trains for ¨Paris subway). It aims at assessing VPI framework and identifies possible causes of the delay in validation of MI09 production process. Four main MI09 production line specificities have been identified: long assembly time, low production volume, system complexity and process variability. VPI framework meets partially these production line prerequisites. VPI is a process that allows systematizing problems detection, formalizing the improvement process and managing a high number of problems with a clear view of the VPI validation. The most important drawbacks of the VPI seem to be the lack of problems detection after the initial observation, problem definition framework and root cause analysis. Four reasons could explain the delays during the realization of VPI on MI09 contract: undetected problems, normal treatment timeframe for the improvements, inadequate objectives and lack of framework to select the best solution to solve problems. VPI may be improved by including root cause analysis, better problem definition and knowledge management between contracts. However, these methods are time consuming and a prioritization of the problem should be made. FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) methodology may help to identify the problem on which the VPI should focus on.

Yes / We present a decision-support framework for speeding up the ramp-up of modular assembly systems by learning from past experience. Bringing an assembly system to the expected level of productivity requires engineers performing mechanical adjustments and changes to the assembly process to improve the performance. This activity is time-consuming, knowledge-intensive and highly dependent on the skills of the engineers. Learning the ramp-up process has shown to be effective for making progress faster. Our approach consists of automatically capturing information about the changes made by an operator dealing with disturbances, relating them to the modular structure of the machine and evaluating the resulting system state by analysing sensor data. The feedback thus obtained on applied adaptations is used to derive recommendations in similar contexts. Recommendations are generated with a variant of the k-nearest neighbour algorithm through searching in a multidimensional space containing previous system states. Applications of the framework include knowledge transfer among operators and machines with overlapping structure and functionality. The application of our method in a case study is discussed. / Funded by the European Commission as part of the 7th Framework Program under the Grant agreement CP-FP 229208-2, FRAME project.

Syftet med denna rapport är att analysera samt presentera förslag på vilka ledarskapsstilar och metoder som kan användas under en ramp-up. Vidare undersöker rapporten vilka ledarskapsstilar som bör användas när en stabil respektive instabil efterfrågan råder.  Både kvantitativa samt kvalitativa forskningsmetoder ligger som grund för rapporten för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. De kvantitativa metoderna som används är huvudsakligen insamling av vetenskapliga artiklar och kurslitteratur vilka bygger det teoretiska ramverket. Även data från fallföretaget ingår i dem kvantitativa metoderna. Vidare är semistrukturerande intervjuer samt observationer inom fallföretagets produktion tillvägagångssättet för dem kvalitativa metoderna.  Det agila ledarskapet lämpar sig bra för företag som befinner sig i en situation där det krävs en högre grad av flexibilitet. Det skulle kunna vara under oroliga perioder som gör att snabba omställningar inom verksamhetenen blir nödvändigt. Företag som smidigt kan genomgå förändringar för att anpassa sig har en högre chans för fler marknadsandelar och blir därför lönsammare under perioder som kräver detta. Ett leant ledarskap har stort fokus på kontinuerlig förbättring, minimering av slöserier och människans utveckling inom företaget. Detta ledarskap bör därför implementeras i företag som är verksamma i marknader som är stabila under längre perioder. När det gäller personalens utveckling kan det dock vara gynnsamt att implementera denna form av ledarskap under en ramp-up. Detta på grund av att personalens kompetens ökar, det skapas en förbättringskultur och en gemensam strävan efter perfektion sprids på arbetsplatsen.  Inget företag är det andra likt, vilket betyder att varje företag befinner sig i en unik situation och bör implementera ledarskap, verktyg och metoder därefter. Denna rapport hoppas kunna vidga vyerna hos företag för hur dessa hjälpmedel kan underlätta arbeten med diverse processer, samt visa att dessa hjälpmedel finns tillgängliga. De föreslagna verktygen och metoderna i studien fungerar i de nämnda situationerna och även liknande, det är därför viktigt att testa implementera dessa för att undersöka vad som fungerar.  Studien baseras på intervjuer, observationer, insamling av data samt tidigare forskning om agilt och leant management. Med den insamlade informationen har förslag på när de olika formerna av ledarskap som lämpar sig som bäst för att styra verksamhetens processer tagits fram. Det har även gjorts en lista med verktyg och metoder inom de två filosofierna. Till detta finns en beskrivning för hur de kan användas för att optimera ramp-up processen av en produktionslina. / The purpose of this thesis is to analyze as well as present suggestions on which leadership styles and methods that can be used during a Ramp-up. Additionally, the thesis will explore the most suitable leadership style for both stable and unstable demands.  Both quantitative and qualitative research methods lie as a base for this thesis to answer the research questions. The qualitative methods that are being used are the collection of peer reviewed articles and course literature which is the base for the theoretical framework. Data collected from the case company is included in the qualitative methods. Furthermore, semi structured interviews and observations within the case company’s production constitute the approach for these qualitative methods.  The Agile leadership suits well for companies facing situations requiring a higher degree of flexibility. These could be turbulent periods requiring swift operational adjustments. Companies that smoothly can apply adaptive changes have a higher chance of acquiring more market shares and can therefore be more profitable during periods that demand it. A Lean leadership style have a big focus on continuous improvements, minimizing waste and the individual’s growth within the company. This leadership style should therefore be implemented in companies that are active markets where the demand is stable during longer periods. Regarding the staff’s development, it can be favorable to implement this form of leadership during a ramp-up. The reason behind this is that the staff’s competence increases, creating a culture of improvement and facilitates a shared pursuit of perfection that spreads in the workplace.  No company is the other alike, meaning that every company exist in a unique situation and should implement leadership, tools and methods thereafter. This Thesis hopes to broaden the views in companies to help them better understand how these aids can facilitate work with various processes and also show that these aids are available. The proposed tools and methods in the thesis work in the mentioned situations and also others like them, it is therefore important to try and implement these to examine what works.  The thesis is based upon interviews, observations, collection of data and also earlier research revolving around Agile and lean management. With the collected data, suggestions have been made on the different forms of leaderships that are best suited to steer the operational processes. There have also been made a list with tools and methods within the two philosophies. With it there is a description on how they can be used to optimize the Ramp-up process on a production line.

Student Number : 9803381J - MSc Dissertation - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Although pulsed power has been used in many parts of the world over the last few decades to initiate high-voltage discharges through rock, no systematic test work on South African ore bodies and related rock types has been done so far. As part of CSIR Miningtek’s integrated approach of combining underground comminution with a novel Tore© hydrotransport system, which has been shown to operate well with coarse particles up to 10 mm, various rock types were fragmented in single discharge mode under laboratory conditions. The work was conducted at the University of the Witwatersrand’s high-voltage laboratory with a custom-designed test rig. The rig configuration was based on a critical review and analysis of the literature and on assessments of existing test facilities elsewhere. Core samples with diameters ranging from 16 to 48 mm were cut from test specimens with thicknesses ranging from 8 to 48 mm. Rock types included Ventersdorp Contact Reef, Carbon Leader, Elsburg Formation, UG2 and Merensky, as well as pure quartz, shales, lava and dykes. A six-stage Marx generator provided a voltage rise time of 2 000 kV/μs to create a discharge through the rock, in preference to a discharge through the surrounding water, which acts as an insulator at ramp-up times faster than 0,5 μs. High-speed photography, and an analysis of the voltage and current signals for various rock types and for water alone, were used to quantify the potential benefits of rock breaking by electric discharge. It was found that some Kimberlite specimens and mineralised gold-bearing reefs were much easier to fragment than hanging wall or footwall material. Merensky reef appeared to be more susceptible than the less brittle UG2 material. A correlation was derived between the dynamic resistivity of various rock types, measured at 16 MHz excitation frequency, and the electrical breakdown strength at which discharge took place. The fragments created had a more cubical shape than would be created by conventional impact crushing. However, the high voltage requirements of about 30 to 35 kV per millimetre of rock thickness would necessitate not only efficient mechanical and electrical contact between the electrodes and the rock, but also considerable safety features for underground installations. The clearly identified, preferential fracturing of reef rock types, compared with the hanging or footwall materials, suggests that the greater benefit of electric rock breaking may lie in primary rock breaking as a mining method, rather than in secondary comminution of broken rock to enable hydraulic transportation by pipeline to surface.

Esta dissertação está baseada no trabalho desenvolvido para adequar a usina de Conceição 1 (da Vale S.A.) para o processamento de itabiritos compactos e semi compactos, situada em Itabira-MG. Até 2014, a usina de Conceição 1 foi alimentada com hematitas e itabiritos friáveis e produzia cerca de 22 Mt/ano. Com o consumo progressivo das reservas de minérios friáveis, tornou-se necessário que a usina processasse minérios mais competentes e com menor teor de Fe: itabiritos compactos e semi compactos (40%Fe). Até então, este material era considerado estéril, uma vez que os circuitos de beneficiamento não possuíam capacidade para transformá-lo em concentrados, tendo em vista às exigências de mercado. Portanto, o principal objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o processo de ramp-up para aumentar a capacidade de alimentação da planta para 34 Mt/ano. O dimensionamento dos equipamentos, desenho dos circuitos, bem como as premissas adotadas durante o projeto de adequação serão apresentados neste estudo. Comparando a curvas de ramp-up prevista à praticada, notou-se que houve perdas mássicas consideráveis. Dentre os principais fatores responsáveis, está a grande quantidade de materiais compactos alimentados à usina com granulometria e, talvez, dureza maior do que poderia ser previsto. Os teores de ferro na alimentação da flotação e a qualidade dos concentrados (sínter feed e pellet feed) mostraram-se um pouco abaixo, também, do previsto, porém satisfatórios A estratégia de divisão por fases teve forte impacto positivo, evitando perdas maiores, pois reduziu o número de dias de parada consideravelmente. O desenvolvimento do projeto, denominado FRAGCOM (fragmentação e cominuição), pode ter ajudado a revelar as soluções para os problemas encontrados: este visou a obter melhorias no processo de desmonte e, consequentemente, na cominuição. Os resultados analisados de alguns testes deste projeto mostraram que, na britagem, a usina atingiu maiores taxas de produtividade nesta ocasião. Dado que a britagem é o primeiro circuito de processamento (um gargalo), isto é um fator relevante. Para estes testes foi utilizada uma razão de carga maior no desmonte. Com esta e outras melhorias, uma maior quantidade de material compacto pôde ser processado. Por fim, os resultados mostraram que a falta de aderência da curva de produção prevista com respeito à praticada, deveu-se entre outros fatores, à maior dificuldade de alimentação do circuito de moagem, impactado pelo baixo rendimento operacional da britagem. / This dissertation is based on the work developed to adapt the plant of Conceição 1 (Vale S.A.) to the processing of compact and semicompact itabirites, located in Itabira-MG, southeastern Brazil. Conceição 1 plant was fed with friable hematite and itabirite and produced 22 Mt/year) until 2014. With the progressive consumption of friable ore reserves, it became necessary to process more competent and lower grade ores: compact and semicompact itabirites. Until then, this material was considered waste, since the beneficiation circuits did not have the capacity to transform it into concentrates, especially regarding market requirements. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to analyze the ramp up process in order to fed 34Mt/year. The adopted strategies and their impacts on ramp up process to achieve the production rate were analyzed. Equipment scaling, circuit design, as well as, premises and tests, which were performed during the adaptation project, are presented in this study. Comparing the planned ramp-up curve to the implemented curve, it was noted considerable mass losses. The amount of compacts that fed the plant with particle size and perhaps hardness greater than could be predicted is among main responsible factors The content of Fe in the feed of the flotation and the quality of the concentrates (sinter feed and pellet feed) was a little lower than was expected, but satisfactory. The phasing strategy had a strong positive impact, avoiding greater losses, as it considerably reduced the number of shutdown days. The development of the FRAGCOM (fragmentation and comminution) project may have helped to reveal solutions to the encountered problems: this project aimed to improve the blasting process and, consequently, the comminution. The results of some tests of this project showed that the crushing achieved higher productivity rates at that time. Since crushing is the first processing circuit (a bottleneck), this is a relevant factor. For these tests, a higher blasting load ratio was used. With this and other improvements, a greater amount of compact material could be processed. Finally, the results suggested that the mass losses occurred greater difficulty in feeding the grinding circuit, impacted by the low operational efficiency of the crushing.

Esta dissertação está baseada no trabalho desenvolvido para adequar a usina de Conceição 1 (da Vale S.A.) para o processamento de itabiritos compactos e semi compactos, situada em Itabira-MG. Até 2014, a usina de Conceição 1 foi alimentada com hematitas e itabiritos friáveis e produzia cerca de 22 Mt/ano. Com o consumo progressivo das reservas de minérios friáveis, tornou-se necessário que a usina processasse minérios mais competentes e com menor teor de Fe: itabiritos compactos e semi compactos (40%Fe). Até então, este material era considerado estéril, uma vez que os circuitos de beneficiamento não possuíam capacidade para transformá-lo em concentrados, tendo em vista às exigências de mercado. Portanto, o principal objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o processo de ramp-up para aumentar a capacidade de alimentação da planta para 34 Mt/ano. O dimensionamento dos equipamentos, desenho dos circuitos, bem como as premissas adotadas durante o projeto de adequação serão apresentados neste estudo. Comparando a curvas de ramp-up prevista à praticada, notou-se que houve perdas mássicas consideráveis. Dentre os principais fatores responsáveis, está a grande quantidade de materiais compactos alimentados à usina com granulometria e, talvez, dureza maior do que poderia ser previsto. Os teores de ferro na alimentação da flotação e a qualidade dos concentrados (sínter feed e pellet feed) mostraram-se um pouco abaixo, também, do previsto, porém satisfatórios A estratégia de divisão por fases teve forte impacto positivo, evitando perdas maiores, pois reduziu o número de dias de parada consideravelmente. O desenvolvimento do projeto, denominado FRAGCOM (fragmentação e cominuição), pode ter ajudado a revelar as soluções para os problemas encontrados: este visou a obter melhorias no processo de desmonte e, consequentemente, na cominuição. Os resultados analisados de alguns testes deste projeto mostraram que, na britagem, a usina atingiu maiores taxas de produtividade nesta ocasião. Dado que a britagem é o primeiro circuito de processamento (um gargalo), isto é um fator relevante. Para estes testes foi utilizada uma razão de carga maior no desmonte. Com esta e outras melhorias, uma maior quantidade de material compacto pôde ser processado. Por fim, os resultados mostraram que a falta de aderência da curva de produção prevista com respeito à praticada, deveu-se entre outros fatores, à maior dificuldade de alimentação do circuito de moagem, impactado pelo baixo rendimento operacional da britagem. / This dissertation is based on the work developed to adapt the plant of Conceição 1 (Vale S.A.) to the processing of compact and semicompact itabirites, located in Itabira-MG, southeastern Brazil. Conceição 1 plant was fed with friable hematite and itabirite and produced 22 Mt/year) until 2014. With the progressive consumption of friable ore reserves, it became necessary to process more competent and lower grade ores: compact and semicompact itabirites. Until then, this material was considered waste, since the beneficiation circuits did not have the capacity to transform it into concentrates, especially regarding market requirements. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to analyze the ramp up process in order to fed 34Mt/year. The adopted strategies and their impacts on ramp up process to achieve the production rate were analyzed. Equipment scaling, circuit design, as well as, premises and tests, which were performed during the adaptation project, are presented in this study. Comparing the planned ramp-up curve to the implemented curve, it was noted considerable mass losses. The amount of compacts that fed the plant with particle size and perhaps hardness greater than could be predicted is among main responsible factors The content of Fe in the feed of the flotation and the quality of the concentrates (sinter feed and pellet feed) was a little lower than was expected, but satisfactory. The phasing strategy had a strong positive impact, avoiding greater losses, as it considerably reduced the number of shutdown days. The development of the FRAGCOM (fragmentation and comminution) project may have helped to reveal solutions to the encountered problems: this project aimed to improve the blasting process and, consequently, the comminution. The results of some tests of this project showed that the crushing achieved higher productivity rates at that time. Since crushing is the first processing circuit (a bottleneck), this is a relevant factor. For these tests, a higher blasting load ratio was used. With this and other improvements, a greater amount of compact material could be processed. Finally, the results suggested that the mass losses occurred greater difficulty in feeding the grinding circuit, impacted by the low operational efficiency of the crushing.

Esta dissertação está baseada no trabalho desenvolvido para adequar a usina de Conceição 1 (da Vale S.A.) para o processamento de itabiritos compactos e semi compactos, situada em Itabira-MG. Até 2014, a usina de Conceição 1 foi alimentada com hematitas e itabiritos friáveis e produzia cerca de 22 Mt/ano. Com o consumo progressivo das reservas de minérios friáveis, tornou-se necessário que a usina processasse minérios mais competentes e com menor teor de Fe: itabiritos compactos e semi compactos (40%Fe). Até então, este material era considerado estéril, uma vez que os circuitos de beneficiamento não possuíam capacidade para transformá-lo em concentrados, tendo em vista às exigências de mercado. Portanto, o principal objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o processo de ramp-up para aumentar a capacidade de alimentação da planta para 34 Mt/ano. O dimensionamento dos equipamentos, desenho dos circuitos, bem como as premissas adotadas durante o projeto de adequação serão apresentados neste estudo. Comparando a curvas de ramp-up prevista à praticada, notou-se que houve perdas mássicas consideráveis. Dentre os principais fatores responsáveis, está a grande quantidade de materiais compactos alimentados à usina com granulometria e, talvez, dureza maior do que poderia ser previsto. Os teores de ferro na alimentação da flotação e a qualidade dos concentrados (sínter feed e pellet feed) mostraram-se um pouco abaixo, também, do previsto, porém satisfatórios A estratégia de divisão por fases teve forte impacto positivo, evitando perdas maiores, pois reduziu o número de dias de parada consideravelmente. O desenvolvimento do projeto, denominado FRAGCOM (fragmentação e cominuição), pode ter ajudado a revelar as soluções para os problemas encontrados: este visou a obter melhorias no processo de desmonte e, consequentemente, na cominuição. Os resultados analisados de alguns testes deste projeto mostraram que, na britagem, a usina atingiu maiores taxas de produtividade nesta ocasião. Dado que a britagem é o primeiro circuito de processamento (um gargalo), isto é um fator relevante. Para estes testes foi utilizada uma razão de carga maior no desmonte. Com esta e outras melhorias, uma maior quantidade de material compacto pôde ser processado. Por fim, os resultados mostraram que a falta de aderência da curva de produção prevista com respeito à praticada, deveu-se entre outros fatores, à maior dificuldade de alimentação do circuito de moagem, impactado pelo baixo rendimento operacional da britagem. / This dissertation is based on the work developed to adapt the plant of Conceição 1 (Vale S.A.) to the processing of compact and semicompact itabirites, located in Itabira-MG, southeastern Brazil. Conceição 1 plant was fed with friable hematite and itabirite and produced 22 Mt/year) until 2014. With the progressive consumption of friable ore reserves, it became necessary to process more competent and lower grade ores: compact and semicompact itabirites. Until then, this material was considered waste, since the beneficiation circuits did not have the capacity to transform it into concentrates, especially regarding market requirements. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to analyze the ramp up process in order to fed 34Mt/year. The adopted strategies and their impacts on ramp up process to achieve the production rate were analyzed. Equipment scaling, circuit design, as well as, premises and tests, which were performed during the adaptation project, are presented in this study. Comparing the planned ramp-up curve to the implemented curve, it was noted considerable mass losses. The amount of compacts that fed the plant with particle size and perhaps hardness greater than could be predicted is among main responsible factors The content of Fe in the feed of the flotation and the quality of the concentrates (sinter feed and pellet feed) was a little lower than was expected, but satisfactory. The phasing strategy had a strong positive impact, avoiding greater losses, as it considerably reduced the number of shutdown days. The development of the FRAGCOM (fragmentation and comminution) project may have helped to reveal solutions to the encountered problems: this project aimed to improve the blasting process and, consequently, the comminution. The results of some tests of this project showed that the crushing achieved higher productivity rates at that time. Since crushing is the first processing circuit (a bottleneck), this is a relevant factor. For these tests, a higher blasting load ratio was used. With this and other improvements, a greater amount of compact material could be processed. Finally, the results suggested that the mass losses occurred greater difficulty in feeding the grinding circuit, impacted by the low operational efficiency of the crushing.

The ongoing globalization of companies has resulted in a highly competitive business climate where companies have to be cost-effective but still flexible with fast response to customer feedback and present in the international scene. In order to meet the fast paced technological development from the competition and changing demand of the customers, companies focus on creating new products and reducing their time-to-market with an early product launch to gain profits from increased market shares. However, in order to maintain profitability of the new product, it becomes even more important for the company to quickly deploy a full-scale production of the product, also known as the production ramp-up phase. Despite being known as a major cost driver in new product development projects, production ramp-up is a research area which have yet received sparse attention compared to research on product launch and time-to-market in new product development projects. However, with shorter product life-cycles and higher market competition it has resulted in a need to shorten the length of a new product’s ramp-up time without making any trade-off to the cost-effectiveness of the ramp-up project and the end product’s final quality. The study identifies the common problems in volume production of a contract electronics manufacturer and their sources of disturbances from the new product introduction process. It also identifies the factors influencing the new product introduction process at the company and how these factors are connected different sources of disturbances. To identify these findings, a single case study was designed and performed at Orbit One AB, a contract electronics manufacturer with a low-volume production of products. The data collection course was executed in an iterative manner over a period of four months through interviews, observation and internal documentation and was backed up and analyzed with a literature study. The data collection through interviews was carried out in two separate rounds, where the first round of interviews was focused on identifying the common problems in volume production and the second round was focused on the factors influencing the output from the new product introduction process. The discoveries from the interviews were analyzed together with the other sources of collected data to reach a conclusive analysis. The results of the study showed that the most common problems in volume production of the company could be traced to six different sources of disturbances: Product, Production System, Design-Production Interface, Quality, Resource Management, and Personnel. The most common problems could also be summarized as: Problems with manufacturability of product; High variation of process performance, Poor correctness of information, Quality issues with products, and High workload on resources. The factors identified in the findings of the study shows that there are multiple and connected factors which affects the final output of the new product introduction process which corroborates with earlier studies and research in the area of production ramp-up. The study did identify two factors which has not been identified by other ramp-up studies, these were: Lack of organizational project culture and customer flexibility.

Purpose - A research gap was identified in relation to the production related factors during ramp-up. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to “simplify production ramp-up by defining how measures could be prioritised in high technology company.” Method – The study used a single-case study method with a qualitative and explorative approach. This method was used to gain in-depth knowledge of the case. The study was conducted at Saab, a high technology company within the aerospace industry. Findings – The findings included a list of critical factors for ramp-up control and two additional critical factors that are relevant to high technology companies, along with five additional measures. From the case the main critical factors were related to personnel, education and experience. Implications – The study has contributed with a simplified ramp-up control method with implications for high technology industries. The new method will contribute to a more effective time to volume phase relevant for both practitioners and researchers. Limitations - As the study uses a new ramp-up control method it has only been applied to one case. The complete data from the case cannot be showcased due to secrecy.