The thesis deals with planning and scheduling of production in the food industry. The theoretical part is concerned with the formulation and structure of the task scheduling and analyses the flow shop in the detail, for which a real application for an unnamed company has been created. It also briefly describes the technical specifications of production, which are crucial for the practical part. The practical part deals with the formulation of a mathematical model. The optimal solution is obtained using the optimization program MPL for Windows. Mathematical model includes variables that solves serial and parallel processors and try to capture as most exact as possible manufacturing processes with the technical specifications for a particular enterprise. The criterion for optimization is to minimize the cost in terms of the selected technology of production.

This thesis focuses on the analysis material flow of the production systemat Thermona Ltd. and suggestions for improvements. The work consists of theoretical, analytical and design parts. Thetheoretical part contains the basic concepts of production. In the analytical part, there is described a current situation in production area softhe company on the basis of theoretical knowledge. In the final part, the solutions are designed to help improve the business.

Market economic values have for the last decades been given an increasing role with the establishment of financial institutes and global organisations with a capitalistic focus as a consequence. As a counter reaction, the concept of sustainable development has emerged complementing the economic focus with environmental and social aspects. However, there are still challenges on how to make balanced decisions based on all three view points and consequently the decision makers still primarily reside to the established tangible financial data. Within the industrial setting there is no difference. The manufacturing system design is based on multiple criteria and requirements, but commonly the final investment decision is primarily based on what can be financially justified. Longterm solutions probably lies in combining the tangible economy with the less tangible soft values that cannot be valued in monetary means. Therefore, to find this sweet spot, the purpose of this research is to in-depth investigate the world of economy, but from an engineers' point of view. A financial analysis is done to understand the economical components and how these are related to the manufacturing system. Furthermore, to connect cost with contributed value of the manufacturing system, a holistic business value chain analysis is done to ensure that less tangible aspects can be understood and utilised. The result of this research, highlights for example that sales volume has a larger impact on the manufacturing profitability, than that of the initial investment cost. Therefore, manufacturing systems should also be evaluated on the bases of how well it can meet the volatility in market demands. Another result presented is a portfolio of new graphical representation used as a support tool for investment decisions. Furthermore, to be able to invest in manufacturing systems that contribute to a more competitive company, the wider business value with manufacturing is discussed.

With the advances in the information and computing technologies, the ways the manufacturing enterprise systems are being managed are changing. More integration and adoption of the system perspective push further towards a more flattened enterprise. This, in addition to the varying levels of aggregation and details and the presence of the continuous and discrete types of behavior, created serious challenges for the use of the existing simulation tools for simulating the modern manufacturing enterprise system. The commonly used discrete event simulation (DES) techniques face difficulties in modeling such integrated systems due to increased model complexity, the lack of data at the aggregate management levels, and the unsuitability of DES to model the financial sectors of the enterprise. System dynamics (SD) has been effective in providing the needs of top management levels but unsuccessful in offering the needed granularity at the detailed operational levels of the manufacturing system. On the other hand the existing hybrid continuous-discrete tools are based on certain assumptions that do not fit the requirements of the common decision making situations in the business systems. This research has identified a need for new simulation modeling approaches that responds to the changing business environments towards more integration and flattened enterprise systems. These tools should be able to develop comprehensive models that are inexpensive, scalable, and able to accommodate the continuous and discrete modes of behavior, the stochastic and deterministic natures of the various business units, and the detail complexity and dynamic complexity perspectives in decision making. The research proposes and develops a framework to combine and synchronize the SD and DES simulation paradigms to simulate the manufacturing enterprise system. The new approach can respond to the identified requirements in simulating the modern manufacturing enterprise systems. It is directed toward building comprehensive simulation models that can accommodate all management levels while explicitly recognizing the differences between them in terms of scope and frequency of decision making as well as the levels of details preferred and used at each level. This SDDES framework maintains the integrity of the two simulation paradigms and can use existing/legacy simulation models without requiring learning new simulation or computer programming skills. The new framework uses a modular structure by which the SD and DES models are treated as members of a comprehensive simulation. A new synchronization mechanism that that maintains the integrity of the two simulation paradigms and is not event-driven is utilized to coordinate the interactions between the simulation modules. It avoids having one simulation paradigm dominating the other. For communication and model management purposes the SDDES formalism provides a generic format to describe, specify, and document the simulation modules and the information sharing processes. The SDDES controller which is the communication manager, implements the synchronization mechanism and manages the simulation run ensuring correct exchange of data in terms of timeliness and format, between the modules. It also offers the user interface through which users interact with the simulation modules.

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No / Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) are designed based on the current and future requirements of the market and the manufacturing system (MS). The first stage of designing an RMS at the tactical level is the evaluation of economic and manufacturing/operational feasibility. Because of risk and uncertainty in an RMS environment, this major task must be performed precisely before investment in the detailed design. The present paper highlights the importance of manufacturing capacity and functionality for the feasibility of an RMS design during reconfiguration processes. Due to uncertain demands of product families, the RMS key-design factors, i.e. capacity value, functionality degree and reconfiguration time, are characterized by the identified fuzzy sets. Consequently, an integrated structure of the analytical hierarchical process and fuzzy set theory is presented. The proposed model provides additional insights into a feasibility study of an RMS design by considering both technical and economical aspects. The fuzzy analytical hierarchical process model is examined in an industrial case study by means of Expert Choice software. Finally, the fuzzy multicriteria model is sensitively analysed within the fuzzy domains of those attributes, which are considered to be critical for the case study.

Examensarbetet inleddes med en förstudie där olika förbättringsområden inom organisationen identifierades. Kommunikation i praktiken kan liknas vid ett förstärkningsverktyg vilket påverkar de vanligaste faktorerna för ett lyckat förändringsarbete. Idag måste en ledare och chef vara kommunikativ och det fungerar inte längre med att peka med hela handen. Medarbetarna måste förstå sin chef och ledare och det måste finnas ett samspel mellan dem. För att chefer och ledare ska styra förändringsprocessen behövs kommunikation. Syfte med examensarbetet är att undersöka hur kommunikationsprocessen kan användas som styrmedel mot en social förändring. Målet med examensarbetet är att beskriva kommunikation för förändring på Volvo i Olofström och att identifiera förbättringsområden inom organisationen. Examensarbetets avsikt är att undersöka olika synvinklar ur kommunikation, ledarskap och förbättringar kring en förändringsprocess. De slutsatser som examensarbetet visar är att kommunikationsprocessen kan användas som styrmedel via information, kommunikation, möten och genom dialog. Kommunikation måste ske via chef och ledare och visuellt ledarskap. Kommunikation innebär att i dialog tala med varandra. Förbättringsarbetet som påbörjats bör fortsätta som del i organisationens förändringsarbete. Utifrån målbeskrivningen - Hur ledare kommunicerar för att uppnå förändringsmål visar resultat att chef/ledare ansvarar för kommunikations-processen när det gäller planering och genomförande av förändring i en arbetsgrupp. Organisationen kan då se chef/ledare som en förändringsledare. Förändringens resultat påverkas av hur kommunikationen genomförs. Förändring och utveckling sker via kommunikation och dialog i en samverkan. Utifrån målbeskrivningen – Hur kommunikation kan leda medarbetare mot förändring bör chef/ledare börja med att diskutera och kommunicera vad det innebär att gå från ett läge till ett annat läge i en LEAN förändring. Vidare visar resultat att chef/ledare behöver studera innebörden av resultat via analys och diskussion men framför allt vad det innebär att ge support och feedback. Strategisk kommunikation kan vara den del som saknas då kommunikation inte förstås. Utifrån målbeskrivningen – Hur Kommunikationen påverkas av LEAN ledarskap på Volvo Personvagnar AB Karosskomponenter (VCBC) noteras i resultatdelen att förändring och ledarskap inte kopplas ihop. Då kan chef/ledare inte utveckla kommunikationsprocessen mot en social förändring. / This thesis work began with a pre-study which intended to identify areas of improvement within the organization. Communication in practice is like a strengthening tool, which affects the most common factors for successful change management. Today, a manager must be communicative; just to point out the direction is not longer working. Employees must understand their manager and leader, and there must be an interaction between them. For managers to guide the change process communications is needed. The purpose of the thesis work is to investigate how the communication process can be used as instruments of social change. The goal of the project is to describe the communication of change at Volvo in Olofström and to identify areas for improvement within the organization. The intention is to examine different perspectives from communication, leadership and improvement on a process of change. The conclusions of the thesis work are that the communication process can be used as instruments through information, communication, meetings, and through dialogue. Communication goes through the manager and leader, and visual management. Communication means dialogue and to talk to each other.  The Improvement work which has started should be continued as part of the organization's change process. The central part of - How leaders communicate in order to achieve the goals of implementation. The responsibility of the communication process lies with the manager / leader for planning and implementing of the change in a workgroup. The organization can see the manager / leader as a leader of change. The results of implementation are affected by how communication is carried out. Change and development is done through communication and dialogue in an interaction. The central part of - How communication can lead people through implementation and development. It is up to the manager / leader to begin to discuss and communicate the meaning of transformation in a LEAN implementation. Furthermore the manager / leader need to study the implications of the results through analysis and discussion, but above all what it means to give support and feedback. Strategic communication can be the part that is missing when communication is not to be interpreted. The central part of - How communication is affected by LEAN leadership at Volvo Cars Body Components (VCBC). Found in the results is that change and leadership can’t connect to each other. In this case manager / leader do not develop the communication process of social change.