No / This paper proposes an innovative factory planning methodology to achieve the objectives that were defined by Flexitallic for the future expansion of the Thermiculite production line. The concepts under investigation extend to the analysis of flow benefits and restrictions considering product features and demands addressed in a proposed Batch/Flow Comparative Matrix. Furthermore, this paper introduces the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) concept to support the manufacturing line design using a mechanism of incorporating commercial awareness in all stages of the product deployment. The original QFD ensures process planning by bringing parts deployment into parts characteristics through the House of Quality. This study renews the original QFD by developing the Strategic Alignment of Quality Function Deployment (SAQFD) to achieve proactive management of Houses III and House IV. The case study demonstrates the utilization and applicability of the proposed methodologies, and demonstrates their importance during the design of a high volume production line.

This thesis examines and develops a proposed manufacturing system methodology and quality control for the design, planning, scheduling and implementation of the Thermiculite 866 high volume manufacturing line, through the use of Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management and Change Management principles. The concept under investigation extends to the analysis of flow production benefits and restrictions considering specific characteristics of the product. A novel factory design methodology is proposed to achieve required production volumes and cost effective implementation. Furthermore, high product quality levels are warranted by developing a Strategic Alignment of Quality Function Deployment which brings commercial awareness to the early stages in the product/process development, and reduces the time to market it whilst promoting long-term solutions. The process and the layout design are supported by a proposed Batch/Flow Comparative Matrix. As a result, the proposed factory design methodologies and management of change introduced in the organization led to a successful production system design as well as controlled implementation according to stakeholders requirements. The design and partial implementation of the Thermiculite 866 production line illustrates the effectiveness of the methodology proposed in this thesis to manage and design the equipment and quality for the future Thermiculite production line.

RSAT (Reticulation Sag And Tension) software is a tool available for use as part of the medium voltage Eskom Distribution standard. This software is scrutinised for its usability and for errors such that it can be revised to improve the usability of the tool. The type of software being studied is used to ensure optimum design performance and reduce the probability of a conductor failure on distribution lines. The algorithms for calculating tension, sag and clearance values take into account research into optimum design tensions. This ensures low bending forces due to conductor vibration. An algorithm for creep is designed based on common life expectancy of line conductors. The design methodology and algorithms were then put into software form as RSAT. Review and alterations include the changing of compiler, user interface, data storage mechanisms and the inclusion of options allowing the addition of new data.

Recent advances in social media have profound technical and economic implications for innovative design. This research is motivated to investigate social network effects on product design with a focus on the interface of engineering design, viral marketing, and social computing. This dissertation envisions a new paradigm of design, called viral product design for social network effects. The research problem is formulated as identification of both an optimal set of product configurations and an optimal set of seed customers so as to maximize product adoption via online social networks through equilibrium solutions to marketing-engineering coordination. Fundamental issues are investigated and a technical framework is proposed with integrated decision-based design methods. Results of case studies demonstrate that the proposed research is able to bridge the gaps between the domains of engineering design and viral marketing by incorporating social network effects. The proposed work is geared towards new design theory and decision models by integrating peer influence of social networks, which shed light on understanding the social aspect of design. The dissertation reveals the fundamental issues underlying viral product design, including the identification of viral attributes, customer preference modeling incorporating subjective experiences, the dynamics of the diffusion mechanism of online social networks, formulation of adoption maximization, and coordination between the marketing and engineering domains. In order to tackle the fundamental issues, a technical framework of viral product design for social network effects is proposed. Accordingly, mathematical and computational models are developed within the framework to support 1) latent customer needs elicitation for viral product attributes extraction, 2) customer preference modeling and quantification for product choice decision making, 3) social network modeling for product adoption prediction, and 4) viral product design evaluation by adoption maximization. These coherent models along the technical framework lay the theoretical foundation of this research, as described below. First, in order to extract potential viral product attributes, latent customer needs elicitation is emphasized. This is because latent customer needs can delight customers unexpectedly, and thus lead to potential product adoption to a large extent. We propose to elicit latent customer needs by use case analogical reasoning from sentiment analysis of online product reviews. A case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets shows the potential and feasibility of the proposed method. The extracted product attributes and attribute levels provide the choice set of viral product attributes. Second, based on the extracted product attributes, a customer preference model based on cumulative prospect theory is presented, accommodating subjective experiences in the product choice decision making process. Moreover, a hierarchical Bayesian model with Markov chain Monte Carlo is used to estimate parameters involved in the model. Based on the case study of aircraft cabin interior design, the model parameters under different experimental conditions show systematic influence of subjective experiences in choice decision making. Furthermore, a copula structure is used to construct a holistic product utility, showing customers' overall preferences to a product. This measure is crucial to product choice decision making in the context of social networks. Third, in order to predict product adoption incorporating peer influence of social networks, a linear threshold-hurdle model is proposed. It overcomes multiple drawbacks of traditional diffusion models by modeling activation thresholds, influence probability, adoption spread, holistic utility of the product, and hurdle utility of a customer in a holistic fashion. A case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets demonstrates both the predictive power of the proposed model and interesting results about customers' adoption behavior. This model paves the way for product adoption maximization in large social networks. Fourth, in order to coordinate between marketing-engineering concerns, I formulate a bi-level game theoretic optimization model for viral product design evaluation, in which the leader maximizes product adoption, while the follower optimizes product line performance. Through social network effects in terms of viral product attributes and viral influence attributes, the expected number of product adopters and the expected shared surplus, resulting from the identified product configurations and seed customers, are proved to be larger than those obtained from existing practice of viral marketing and product line design respectively, based on the case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets. Thus, the proposed paradigm of design extends the traditional boundaries among domains of engineering design, viral marketing, and social computing.

This thesis examines and develops a proposed manufacturing system methodology and quality control for the design, planning, scheduling and implementation of the Thermiculite 866 high volume manufacturing line, through the use of Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management and Change Management principles. The concept under investigation extends to the analysis of flow production benefits and restrictions considering specific characteristics of the product. A novel factory design methodology is proposed to achieve required production volumes and cost effective implementation. Furthermore, high product quality levels are warranted by developing a Strategic Alignment of Quality Function Deployment which brings commercial awareness to the early stages in the product/process development, and reduces the time to market it whilst promoting long-term solutions. The process and the layout design are supported by a proposed Batch/Flow Comparative Matrix. As a result, the proposed factory design methodologies and management of change introduced in the organization led to a successful production system design as well as controlled implementation according to stakeholders requirements. The design and partial implementation of the Thermiculite 866 production line illustrates the effectiveness of the methodology proposed in this thesis to manage and design the equipment and quality for the future Thermiculite production line. / Technology Strategy Board for the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to explore how productivity can be improved in an assembly line in manufacturing industry. In order to fulfill the purpose, following three research questions have been formulated: 1. How can an assembly line be designed? 2. Which potential improvement areas can be found in an assembly line? 3. How can assembly line balancing be used to improve productivity? Method – A case study was performed in order to answer the research questions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data have been collected. To build an understanding of existing theories and research within the study area, a literature study was conducted which formed a theoretical framework. Parallel to the literature study, empirical data was collected through a case study. Data collection methods included observations, document studies, time measurements and focus group meetings. The reviewed theories and the collected data were later analyzed and a result was generated. Findings – In order to improve productivity, Theory of Constraints enabled the identification of potential improvement areas. To address the improvement areas, Assembly Line Balancing was found an appropriate method. Through the case study it was found that through Assembly Line Balancing, a reduction of takt time can be achieved which opens up the possibility to increase the production volume. Also, when re-allocating operators between work tasks, a reduction in numbers of operators is possible which results in lower costs. By lowering costs and increasing production volume, improved productivity is achieved. Implications – This study presents an application of the two improvement methods Theory of Constraints and Assembly Line Balancing in a manufacturing industry. Therefore, the thesis can be used as a basis when performing improvement work related to reduction of takt time in other manufacturing industries, to gain a better understanding for the implementation of the studied methods. Limitations – One limitation of the study was the pandemic Covid-19, which enforced restrictions on the case company. This disturbed the conduction of the case study since less focus group meetings were conducted, and suggested improvements could not be tested. Another limitation was the limited study time frame. Consequently, the collected time measurements were relatively few and the study scope was delimited to only packaging activities. To increase reliability, a more extensive time frame is necessary. The analysis has been adopted to the situation at the case company. The conclusions may hence be biased, which could restrict to what extent the study can be generalized.

The loss of senior expertise in power line design poses a critical challenge to the sustainable energy transition. Current methods of knowledge transfer fail to prevent the loss of invaluable knowledge necessary for future junior power line designers. Additionally, the rise of informal deployment of generative language models may also threaten to bury hand-written knowledge documents before this knowledge can be extracted, structured, and preserved for future guidance. This thesis proposes a framework where large language models are integrated into knowledge transfer and decision-making guidance for an engineering enterprise. Using this framework, this thesis further explores how data-driven knowledge tools can assist junior design engineers by supporting information retrieval and directing to knowledge sources. The ability of a large language model to retrieve relevant knowledge from an engineering design document was validated by comparing the process of human designers manually completing a similar task. In this evaluation involving six participants and the large language model, responses to questions on mechanical dimensioning of stays for utility poles were ranked by experts. The results showed that the large language model responses were ranked similarly to the junior designers on average. Additionally, a small-scale demonstrative knowledge tool, insights from interviews, literature studies as well as the results from the validation study lead to the conclusion that large language models can assist power line designers via a knowledge tool. Beyond power line design, this thesis contributes to the understanding of how data-driven language models can assist knowledge retrieval and decision-making across other engineering design domains. This work utilizes a professional education document on the mechanical dimensioning of wooden power line poles including an analysis on the wind and weight span’s affect on the dimension of the pole, developed parallel to this work. The original design data from the document supported the tests conducted in this thesis. The professional education document on the mechanical dimensioning of wooden power line poles was developed in parallel to this thesis as a case study supporting the tests with original design data on power line design knowledge. The work also discusses risks and ethical aspects when implementing such a knowledge tool. Risks such as leakage of classified information are emphasized and need comprehensive systems and methods to be avoided. It is therefore highlighted how important it is to carry out the project with care and expertise to avoid damage to companies and society. Local language models or highly trusted AI system providers are recommended to ensure that no sensitive information is leaked to an unwanted third-party. With a high degree of caution and consideration of risks, an effective knowledge tool can contribute to increased efficiency, faster and more sustainable development of power line infrastructure, and thus an faster energy transition. / Förlusten av senior expertis inom kraftledningskonstruktion utgör en kritisk utmaning för den hållbara energiomställningen. Nuvarande metoder för kunskapsöverföring är otillräcklig för att förhindra förlusten av ovärderlig kunskap som är nödvändig för framtida juniora kraftledningsprojektörer. Dessutom kan den ökade informella användingen av generativa språkmodeller hota att begrava mänskligt skrivna kunskapsdokument. Detta arbete presenterar ett ramverk d¨ar storskaliga språkmodeller används för att underlätta kunskapsöverföring och tillhandahålla vägledning vid beslutsfattande inom ingenjörsföretag. Med hjälp av detta ramverk utforskar arbetet ytterligare hur datadrivna kunskapsverktyg kan hjälpa juniora kraftledningskonstrukt¨orer genom att stödja informationsinhämtning med hänvisning till kunskapskällorna. En storskalig språkmodells förmåga att hämta relevant kunskap från ett tekniskt designdokument validerades genom att jämföra processen för mänskliga designers som manuellt slutförde en liknande uppgift. I denna utv¨ardering, som involverade sex deltagare och den storskaliga spr˚akmodellen, rankades svaren på frågor om mekanisk dimensionering av stag för kraftledningsstolpar av experter. Resultaten visade att den storskaliga språkmodellens svar i genomsnitt rankades på liknade nivå som de juniora ingenjörerna. Tillsammans med  ett småskaligt demonstrativt kunskapsverktyg, insikter från intervjuer med kraftledningskonstruktörer, litteraturstudier samt resultat från valideringsstudien dras slutsatsen att storskaliga språkmodeller kan stödja kraftledningskonstruktörer via ett kunskapsverktyg. Utöver kraftledningskonstruktion bidrar detta arbete till förståelsen av hur datadrivna språkmodeller kan hjälpa till med kunskapsinhämtning och beslutsfattande  inom andra tekniska designområden. Arbetet använder ett professionellt utbildningsunderlag om mekanisk dimensionering av kraftledningsstolpar i träkonstruktion, inklusive en analys av vertikala- och horistontella linspannets påverkan på stolpens dimension, utvecklat parallellt med detta arbete. Orginaldesigndata från underlaget stödde de tester som genomfördes. Arbetet belyser även risker och etiska aspekter vid implementering av ett sådant kunskapsverktyg. Risker som läckage av sekretessbelagd information betonas, och omfattande system och metoder behövs för att undvika dem. Därför understryks hur viktigt det är att genomföra liknande projekt med noggrannhet, försiktighet och expertis för att undvika skador på företag och samhälle. Lokala språkmodeller eller API-leverantörer med högt förtroende rekommenderas för att minimera risken att känslig information läcker ut till en oönskad tredje part. Med stor försiktighet och hänsyn till riskerna kan ett effektivt kunskapsverktyg bidra till ökad effektivitet, snabbare och mer hållbar utveckling av kraftledningsinfrastruktur, och därmed en snabbare energiomställning.

This thesis addresses designing Product Lines (PLs) of Graphical Editors (GEs). It provides a feasible top-down design approach specialized on such Graphical Editor Product Lines (GEPLs), which can be configured dynamically. Furthermore, the end product's features are implemented modular, which has numerous positive effects on the development and maintenance processes for the family. These effects reach from decreasing the complexity of big PLs, allowing to delegate split up development tasks onto multiple isolated working teams, easier debugging and flexibility to extend or specialize a family of products as well as being able to use functionalities developed by third-party vendors. While design methods avoiding monolithic architectures and implementations exist for many PL domains, there are none known for GEPLs. Yet, the domain of those offers many challenges as GEPLs are actually comprised of Software Product Lines (SPLs) and Language Product Lines (LPLs), which is a combination untackled by any modular design approach known to me. Additionally, products in the domain require to implement multiple distinct and specific concerns, leading to artifacts which differ significantly but have to be located and managed in a single component. Overall, this justifies the need for specialized design approaches for the GEPL domain. In regard to this need, this thesis gives an overview of the existing landscape of approaches to design PLs, analyzing solutions offered by other researchers. Furthermore, a requirement analysis for the GEPL domain is conducted. Its results are the foundation for the presentation of a top-down design approach for dynamically configurable GEPLs, which are implemented feature modularly. Finally, a case study documenting the development of such a family of GEs is providing a proof of its feasibility.:1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Problem Definition 1.3 Outline 1.4 Terminology 2 Survey on Software and Language Product Line Design 2.1 Classification Scheme 2.1.1 Domain 2.1.2 Configuration 2.1.3 Design Method 2.1.4 Modularity 2.2 Overview 2.3 Discussion 2.3.1 Evaluation 2.3.2 Results 3 Requirements of Graphical Editor Product Lines 32 3.1 Functional Requirements 3.1.1 Edit Concerns 3.1.2 Language Family Concerns 3.2 Non-Functional Requirements 3.2.1 User Requirements 3.2.2 Development Requirements 4 Design of Graphical Editor Product Lines 4.1 Characteristics 4.2 Design Approach 4.2.1 Edit Concerns 4.2.2 Language Family Concerns 4.3 Discussion 4.3.1 Techniques 4.3.2 Evaluation 5 Case study: Modularization of a Family of Graphical Editors 5.1 Background 5.1.1 Compartment Role Object Model 5.1.2 Full-fledged Role Modeling Editor 5.1.3 Reusable Technology 5.2 Realization 5.2.1 Edit Concerns 5.2.2 Language Family Concerns 5.3 Discussion 5.3.1 Requirements 5.3.2 Limitations of the Modularization 5.3.3 Results 6 Conclusion 6.1 Summary 6.1.1 Desired Properties 6.1.2 Feasibility 6.2 Contributions 6.3 Future Work 6.3.1 Bottom-Up Design Method 6.3.2 Requirements 6.3.3 Modularization

This dissertation studies important issues in supply chain management and marketing interface research: competition, product line design, and channel efficiency, at the presence of vertically differentiated products. Vertical differentiation as a means of price discrimination has been well-studied in both economics and marketing literature. However, less attention has been paid on how vertical differentiation has been operationalized. In this dissertation, we focus our study on two types of vertical differentiation: the one created by a product line which is produced by the same firm, and the one created by products from different firms. We especially are interested in the so-called private label products vs. the national brand products. Specifically, this dissertation explores how vertical differentiation can affect the interactions among the members of a supply chain in several different contexts. In the first piece of work, we use a game theoretic model to explore how the ability of a retailer to introduce a private label product affects its interaction with a manufacturer of a national brand. In the second essay, we are investigating how an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will be affected by the entry of a competitor when there are strategic suppliers of a critical component. If these suppliers behave strategically, it is not clear that the entry of other players will necessarily be harmful to the incumbent. In the last work, we pay our attention to an emerging change happening in the industry: some retailers begin to sell their private labels through their competitors. We investigate the strategic role of a retailer selling her own private label products through another retailer. In summary, this dissertation illustrates how vertical differentiation play a crucial role in firms' supply chain as well as marketing strategies. Therefore, it is important for firms to recognize these strategic issues related to vertically differentiated products while making operations/marketing decisions. / text

Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit portent sur la conception des lignes de désassemblageen contexte incertain. Une ligne de désassemblage consiste en unesuccession de postes de travail où les tâches sont exécutées séquentiellement au niveau de chaque poste. La conception d'un tel système, de revalorisationdes produits en fin de vie, peut être ramenée à un problème d'optimisation combinatoire.Ce dernier cherche à obtenir une configuration permettant d'optimiser certains objectifs enrespectant des contraintes techniques, économiques et écologiques.Dans un premier temps, nous décrivons les activités principales de la revalorisation des produitsen fin de vie, en particulier le désassemblage. Puis, après présentation des travaux de la littératureportant sur la prise en compte des incertitudes des durées opératoires lors de la conception des lignesde production, nous nous focalisons sur l'étude des incertitudes des durées opératoires des tâches de désassemblage.Ainsi, nous présentons trois modélisations principales avec leurs approches de résolution.La première s'intéresse à la minimisation des arrêts de la ligne causés par les incertitudes des durées des opérationsde désassemblage. La deuxième cherche à garantir un niveau opérationnel de la ligne lié à sa cadence de fonctionnement.Le but de la troisième modélisation est l'intégration des problématiques de conception des ligneset de séquencement des tâches de désassemblage. Enfin, les performances des méthodes de résolutionproposées sont présentées en analysant les résultats d'optimisation sur un ensemble d'instances de taille industrielle. / This thesis is dedicated to the problem of disassembly line design in uncertain context. A disassembly linecan be represented as a succession of workstations where tasks are performed sequentially at each workstation.The design of such a product recovery system can be reduced to a combinatorial optimization problem which seeksa line configuration that optimizes certain objectives under technical, economical and environmental constraints.We begin by describing the principal product recovery activities especially disassembly. Then, after a literaturereview on the design of production lines under uncertainty of task processing times, we focus our study on the consideration of the disassembly task time uncertainties. Hence, we present three main models as well as the associatedsolution approaches. The first one is interested in minimizing the line stoppages caused by the task processing timeuncertainties. The second one seeks to guarantee an operational level closely related with the line speed. The goal of thethird model is to integrate the line design and sequencing problems. At last, the performances of the proposed solutionapproaches are presented by analyzing the optimization results on a set of instances of industrial size.