This report is the result of a thesis work in mechanichal engineering performed at Volvo GroupTrucks Operations, Powertrain productions in Köping by the student Christoffer Jansson. Thework of 15 ECTS credits is conducted over a 20 week period at half speed equivalent to 400working hours.The background to the work is the desire to improve a workstation where the transmissions tothe IPS2/3 and IPS15 are assembled. The problem on the workstation is that the workers areperforming non value-added activities (NVAA) and it is of interest that one would examine thepossibility of how to squeeze two bearing rings in the same sequence. The aim is thus todevelop a suggestion of improvement for the bearing pressing method on the assembly line.The issue the thesis work is based on is: How does one manage to press together two bearingrings in the same sequence into a particular component? & How can one improve theergonomic circumstances on the workstation?To be able to perform this work, a case study based on the product development processaccording to Ulrich and Eppinger (2012) has been made. Product development tools are used tofacilitate the work of the student. Including Gantt chart, Pugh's analysis and functional analysis.The result of the work is a modification of the existing working table where the bearing ringsare pressed into the middle gear housing. The solution consists of a steel plate that rests on fivesprings which dampen the weight of the middle gear housing. The middle gear housing is thecomponent in which the bearing rings are pressed in. There are 5 guiding rods that are mountedon the steel plate, one for each spring, which has the function to keep the steel plate stablewhen the middle gear housing is set on top. These guiding rods are in turn controlled bybushings which serve to reduce friction. The bushings are standard components that aremounted into a component called the bushing holder, which is a component that is screwed intothe table.The new working process the solution provides eliminates the previous NVAA that has been onthe station before and allows the worker to press two bearing rings into the middle gearinghouse in the same sequence. The ergonomic circumstances have also been improved due to theelimination of the worker having to rotate the heavy middle gearing house 180 degrees. Thesolution thus meets the demands made in the report and solves the problems identified.

Globalization, shorter product life cycles and larger product variation has increased the competition for industrial companies in today's business environment. This creates a higher need for an efficient production where reduction of throughput time has proved to be a crucial efficiency factor. Production lead time, which is a part of the total throughput time, has gained limited attention in previous research. Therefore, this study aimed to design and evaluate a model for assembly lines, which analyzes it and makes it more efficient, especially focusing on production lead time. The model was later applied and evaluated at a company.   By conducting a literature review, interviews and observations with an abductive approach the purpose of the study was answered. A model was designed based upon ten identified factors, such as communication and quality, from both literature and the company. The model was then completed with suggested actions, such as 5S and supporting IT-systems, connected to the different factors. The structure of the model was inspired by a similar model, conducted earlier, but has been simplified and customized to the purpose of this study.   With the identified factors as a starting point, the model was applied to the company Eco Log AB by analyzing their harvester assembly line. This was completed with suggested actions. The model reached a satisfactory level by giving a clear picture of what factors were affecting the efficiency, allowing fast navigation between factors and actions and also the actions being seemingly suiting and relevant. To strengthen the generalization of the model, potentially, it can be applied to additional companies. Going more in-depth into each factor to find additional action propositions is perhaps a future development of the model. / Globaliseringen, kortare produktlivscykler och större produktvariation ökar konkurrensen på industriföretag i dagens affärsklimat. Detta ställer allt högre krav på en effektiv produktion där reducering av genomloppstid har visat sig vara en avgörande faktor för effektiviteten. Produktionsledtiden, som är en del av den totala genomloppstiden, har fått lite uppmärksamhet i tidigare forskning. Därför syftade denna studie till att utforma och utvärdera en modell för att analysera och effektivisera en monteringslina med särskilt fokus på produktionsledtid. Modellen tillämpades och utvärderades hos ett fallföretag.   Genom en litteraturstudie, intervjuer och observationer med utgångspunkt i en abduktiv ansats besvarades studiens syfte. En modell utformades med hjälp av tio identifierade faktorer, som exempelvis kommunikation och kvalitet, från både litteraturen och fallföretaget. Dessa faktorer kompletterades med åtgärdsförslag, som exempelvis 5S och stödjande IT-system, som också placerades i modellen. Strukturen till modellen har inspirerats av en tidigare liknande modell, men förenklades och anpassades till studiens ändamål.   Modellen tillämpades sedan på företaget Eco Log AB genom att dess monteringslina för skördare analyserades med utgångspunkt i de identifierade faktorerna. Detta följdes upp av förslag till åtgärder. Modellen har fungerat på ett tillfredsställande sätt då den givit en tydlig bild över de faktorer som påverkar effektiviteten, navigationen mellan faktorer och åtgärder har varit snabb samt att åtgärderna ansetts passande och relevanta. För att höja modellens generaliserbarhet kan tillämpning ske på flera företag. En vidareutveckling av modellen skulle kunna tänkas vara att fördjupa sig i de olika faktorerna och hitta ytterligare åtgärdsförslag.

The purpose of the work is to analyze and balance an assembly line at Fläkt Woods in Jönköping. The work is going to answer the questions about today’s throughput time, how much waste that occurs, number of staff at the assembly line, how the supply of material works and possible improvements that can be made at the work stations. The work is also going to give a proposal of improve-ments that can be made. The methods used to get the result include observations and measurements, con-versations with technicians and operators and also data from Fläkt Woods’ data-base. Large variations in throughput time are measured during the measure period, from 3 hours up to 5 hours and 35 minutes. These variations depend mainly on the time the air handling unit spends between the stations. The identification of the bottleneck was shown that it occurred in the last station in the assembly line. This results in a pressure from the stations behind with a long throughput time as a con-sequence. The largest source of waste is the operators’ waiting time. The measures that have been made show that the operators wait 33.4 % on average of the time available. The number of operators varies from ten to twelve during the measure period. This number of operators is too high in consideration of the high waiting times. It results in difficulties for the operators to move between the stations be-cause every station is fully manned. The supply of larger components for example fans, batteries, rotary heat exchangers and dampers for the air handling units are made by a truck driver. This leads to disorder in the work stations and fixed posi-tions for a number of smaller components and tools go missing. The analysis of the result shows that the pressure that occurs in the assembly line results in high throughput time because the units wait a long time between the stations. To eliminate these waiting times, a suction must be created. The difficul-ties for the operators to move between the stations can be solved with a lower number of operators. This makes it easier for the operators to move between the stations and reduce the waiting time for the operators.

<p>The purpose of the work is to analyze and balance an assembly line at Fläkt Woods in Jönköping. The work is going to answer the questions about today’s throughput time, how much waste that occurs, number of staff at the assembly line, how the supply of material works and possible improvements that can be made at the work stations. The work is also going to give a proposal of improve-ments that can be made.</p><p>The methods used to get the result include observations and measurements, con-versations with technicians and operators and also data from Fläkt Woods’ data-base.</p><p>Large variations in throughput time are measured during the measure period, from 3 hours up to 5 hours and 35 minutes. These variations depend mainly on the time the air handling unit spends between the stations. The identification of the bottleneck was shown that it occurred in the last station in the assembly line. This results in a pressure from the stations behind with a long throughput time as a con-sequence. The largest source of waste is the operators’ waiting time. The measures that have been made show that the operators wait 33.4 % on average of the time available. The number of operators varies from ten to twelve during the measure period. This number of operators is too high in consideration of the high waiting times. It results in difficulties for the operators to move between the stations be-cause every station is fully manned. The supply of larger components for example fans, batteries, rotary heat exchangers and dampers for the air handling units are made by a truck driver. This leads to disorder in the work stations and fixed posi-tions for a number of smaller components and tools go missing.</p><p>The analysis of the result shows that the pressure that occurs in the assembly line results in high throughput time because the units wait a long time between the stations. To eliminate these waiting times, a suction must be created. The difficul-ties for the operators to move between the stations can be solved with a lower number of operators. This makes it easier for the operators to move between the stations and reduce the waiting time for the operators.</p>

För att Swepart Transmission AB ska fortsätta att hålla en hög standard på produkter som levereras till kunder, ska monteringslinan för Power Take-Off säkras. Budgeten som är avsatt till att kvalitetssäkra monteringslinan är 500 000 kr. Pick-to-Light och Pick-to-Voice är system som kan användas för att kvalitetssäkra monteringen av Power Take-Off. Systemen jämfördes med systemet med monteringskort som används i nuläget. Det mest lämpliga att införa har visat sig vara Pick-to-Light. I samband med införandet av detta system måste utredningar göras för vilka komponenter som behöver sensorer och vilka som kan säkras på andra sätt. Detta arbete innefattar också att utreda placeringen av komponenter som är optimalt för monteringen.

Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att hjälpa företaget Kanthal att kunna öka kapaciteten och sänka ledtiden i sin montering, inom produktionsområdet Heating Systems, genom att komma med förbättringsförslag. Idag tillämpar företaget bänkmontering, men vill även ha förslag på hur en monteringslina kan utformas. Det finns en klar koppling mellan kapacitet och produktivitet, där företaget har förbisett sin produktivitet. Därför har författarna valt att besvara följande frågeställningar:       Vad påverkar produktiviteten och ledtiden i en bänkmontering med hantverksmoment och processtider?   Hur utformar man arbetsprocessen för en monteringslina som ökar produktiviteten och sänker ledtiden i en montering med hantverksmoment och processtider?    Metod: Genom en fallstudie har författarna valt att undersöka valda frågeställningar. Tillvägagångsättet började med en processkartläggning och tidsstudie för att sedan kunna göra en värdeflödesanalys. Parallellt genomförde författarna en litteraturstudie som skapar en bredare förståelse vid analys av insamlande data. För att samla in data har författarna använt sig av intervjuer och observationer.     Studiens resultat: Resultatet av studien visar genom en processkartläggning nuläget över processerna på företaget där författarna har identifierade befintliga flaskhalsar. Kartläggningen har begränsats utifrån uppdraget av företaget där fokus legat på monteringen. Brister och flaskhalsar som uppdagats av processkartläggningens resultat. Dessa brister är bland annat torkningstid och onödiga arbetsmoment. För att tackla dessa brister har de två forskningsfrågorna hjälpt studiens framfart vilket har resulterat i en ny layout i kombination med förslag på arbetsprocesser kring monteringslinan.   Slutsats: Syftet har uppfyllts genom processkartläggningen och analysen av resultatet. Studien besvarar forskningsfrågorna som har möjliggjort en analys av monteringslinans utformning. Analysen över arbetet har resulterat i ett förslag på en ny layout och alternativa material och verktygspresentation samt andra arbetsmetoder.    Rekommendationer: För att gå vidare med förbättringarna som kartlagts bör företaget hitta ett standardiserat arbetssätt och samtidigt se över arbetsmetoderna och ergonomin i monteringen.     Nyckelord: standardiserat arbetssätt, slöserier, monteringslina, produktivitet, ledtidsförkortning.

Purpose – The purpose with this study is to investigate how an assembly line for products with long cycle time, high product variation and operators who follow the products through the flow can be planned for a high resource utilization as well as the challenges that can arise when planning an assembly line with an increasing demand and how these can be handled. Method – To fulfill the purpose of this study a case study was conducted at Mastec Components AB in Vaggeryd. The empirical data gathered from the case study was obtained through interviews, observations and document studies. The empirical data was then analysed against theory, which means that pattern matching was used and the analyse led to the studies results. Findings – This study illustrates how an assembly line with special demands can be planned to gain high resource utilization. When the products cycle times are multiple they can be sorted into product families to simplify the planning and it also enables a tacted planning method to be used. The study also presents how the usage of time buffers can facilitate the planning of an assembly line. Moreover the study illuminates the importance of controlling tact, both from the customer and the own production. When demand increases it is important that the production line is capable to keep up, therefore some arrangements can be done to reduce waste and increase capacity. Possible alternatives can be buffers, allocating resources and parallel assembly lines. Implications – The study investigates a type of assembly line where the operators follow the products through the flow. This type of assembly line is unexplored in theory and thereby a knowledge gap has been identified which partly have been covered by this study. Further on, the study contributed to an increased understanding of the consequences that occur when operators follow the flow and when products have long varying cycle times. The study also shows the value of calculating tact and use the advantages from it to easier handle variation in demand. Limitations – The case study was performed as one case study which means that only one unit has been analysed. This was due to the lack of resources to do several case studies, both regarding time and ability to find more facilities with similar conditions. If it were possible to conduct more case studies the results could have been more general. Keywords – Tact, tact time, tacted planning, assembly line, planning, operators, buffer.

The increasing globalization of the market has rendered the competitive situation for companies worldwide more fierce than ever with order winners becoming order qualifiers and the demand continues to rise. Especially, the situation has become more complex for SME´s that are suppliers to large global companies. To ensure themselves that the suppliers are conforming to the high standards set by the large companies. In mediating the quality of the production as well as having a well-performing production, practitioners are using the term industrial look and feel to encapsulate a production that both deliver and looks the part. However, this term is loosely used, and a clear definition of it is missing, hence creating problems when the term industrial look and feel is used in production line design. In this study, the authors aim to investigate the possibilities of providing a clear definition of the term industrial look and feel and what it involves. Further, the authors want to investigate what are the important aspects to consider when designing a production line considering industrial look and feel. The study was directed by these three research questions: * How can Industrial Look and Feel be defined? * How does Industrial Look and Feel contribute to increased performance of a production line? * What is important to consider when designing a production line considering industrial look and feel in an HMLV environment? To answer the research questions a case study has been conducted at a company producing the robust data communication equipment and a literature review was conducted with the aim of understanding the concepts included in the term industrial look and feel. The study resulted in a definition of industrial look and feel, how industrial look and feel may contribute the production performance and important aspect to consider and include in the design of a production line considering industrial look and feel. Taking the newly defined concept of industrial look and feel into consideration, a concept assembly line was developed at the case study company.

En verkstad som tillverkar växellådor planerade att bygga om verkstaden. Det fanns flera problem i verkstaden som indirekt påverkade produktionen. Att tåg stod stilla utan att göra ett aktivt arbete på en huvudled i verkstaden sågs som ett stort problem. Ett annat problem var att det fanns för många tåg i verkstaden. Den planerade ombyggnationen var till för att få ned antalet tåg i verkstaden. Med ombyggnationen ville verkstadens ansvariga undersöka ytterligare möjligheter hur verkstaden skulle kunna förändras och kunna lösa delar av problemen. Det var även intressant att se om möjliga implementeringar av verkstaden skulle ge en ökad produktion. Målen var att skapa ett simuleringsverktyg för att undersöka hur olika lösningar som baserades på ombyggnationen skulle kunna påverka ett tåg som fyllde på material till monteringslinor i verkstaden. För att kunna testa olika lösningar behövde en simuleringsmodell utvecklas och verifieras mot den befintliga lösningen i verkstaden. Därefter utökades modellen för att testa nya lösningar. Från verkstaden fanns det data på konsumering av material. För tåget som skulle fylla på material fanns det teoretiska tider för olika arbetsmoment. Konsumeringen av material uppförde sig enligt en slumpfördelning som var normalfördelad. Resultatet blev att endast konsumeringen av material kunde verifieras då det bara fanns data på hur konsumtionen av material skedde. Resterande delar av simuleringen använde teoretiska planerade värden. Av de undersökta lösningarna var det en lösning med en ny hållplats på en mindre trafikerad väg, där ett tåg kunde vänta, som visade ett mer önskat resultat än de andra som undersöktes. / A workshop that produces gearboxes planned to remodel the workshop. There were several problems that indirectly affected the production. The fact that trains stood still without doing active work on the main road in the workshop was a major problem. Another problem was that there were too many trains in the workshop. The planned reconstruction was to reduce the number of trains in the workshop. With the remodel, those responsible for the workshop wanted to explore further possibilities on how the workshop could be changed. It was also interesting to see if the implementation of changes would give an increased production. The goals were to create a simulation tool to investigate how different solutions based on the rebuild could affect a train that loaded the material into assembly lines in the workshop. To be able to test different solutions, a simulation model needed to be developed and verified against the existing solution. Then the model was expanded to test new solutions. From the workshop there was data on the consumption of materials. For the train that would load up on materials, there were theoretical times for various work tasks. The consumption of materials behaved according to a random distribution that was normally distributed. The result was that only the consumption of materials could be verified as there was only data on how the consumption of materials took place. Remaining parts of the simulation used theoretically planned values. Of the solutions investigated, it was a solution with a new bus stop on a less busy road, where a train could wait, that showed a more desirable result than the others that were investigated.

In the light of the increasing demands and competition in the automotive industry to rapidly introduce new products to the market, management of production ramp-ups and production ramp-downs has become a new decisive competitive factor. For this reason, a well-designed strategy has become essential to succeed. For Scania Engine Assembly, this novel challenge is underway in the form of a ramp-down of the old assembly line (DL) and simultaneous ramp-up of the new assembly line (DW). This is to deliver the new and more sustainable engine platform Super. DL consists of a basic assembly and a final assembly (TMS-line), where the latter was the focus of this thesis project. Since the transition is already put in motion, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a production ramp-down strategy stretching until the complete transition. Therefore, this project was initiated to develop an optimal strategy of the production ramp-down with regard to interconnected projects and functions, as well as to the factors of economics, efficiency, ergonomics, and quality. The project also aimed to establish an ideal project progression regarding the management and implementation of the strategy. Considering that the TMS-line involves 59 workstations, more than 200 personnel daily, 10 engine types with unique variants, different technical systems, and must align with multiple operational functions, a comprehensive and considered strategy was essential. An additional objective was to reduce the gap in research between production ramp-up and production ramp-down. Although, the interest of production ramp-up has increased considerably in the last two decades, that of production ramp-down still remains widely neglected, despite their similar importance. Hence, the project aimed not only to contribute to Scania, but also to contribute with empirical data to future research in production ramp-down. Altogether, the reduction in the research gap can contribute to more sustainable production systems. To achieve the project objective and aims, a substantial literature review was conducted and a wide array of scientific methods were used. The literature review established a basis for the project, and brought theories from multiple languages and standpoints together to culminate in a comprehensive understanding of production ramp-down. The scientific methods were used to gather empirical data and to design the strategy. In addition, relevant expertise was incorporated throughout the project by a continuous cooperation with Scania employees of different roles and specialisations. The project also followed Scania’s change process to facilitate the realisation of the strategy. In total, three distinctive strategy concepts were generated and evaluated, called Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Then, after a systematic evaluation process, a combination of Alpha and Gamma was designed in detail to form the final strategy. The strategy can be described as a stepwise capacity reduction. The first step is the planning and preparation for the necessary competence shift, organisational changes, and technical solutions. In the second step, a new takt and work standard corresponding to 50% capacity is implemented. Also, a decision regarding the final production years is made to either offshore production, change layout, or continue without change. The third step involves major structural changes in the form of a new organisational structure and the implementation of a technical solution for a permanent 50% capacity reduction. Similarly, in the fourth step, the technical solution is adjusted and a new work standard is implemented to correspond to a 33% capacity need. The fifth step regards the phase-out of the TMS-line, which completes the transition between DL and DW. Finally, the sixth step includes the revitalisation of the freed-up operational area and recycling of production equipment and materials. Altogether, the strategy ensures an optimal production ramp-down of the TMS-line with regard to interconnected projects, functions, and factors. To ensure the success of the strategy, recommendations in management and implementation of the strategy were established based on research and empirical findings. The result is an optimal strategy that fulfils the objective and aims, and contributes with new empirical findings and recommendations for future research in production ramp-down and connected research fields. / Med bakgrunden av det ökande kraven och konkurrensen i fordonsindustrin att snabbt introducera nya produkter till marknaden, har ledning av produktionsupprampningar och produktionsnedrampningar blivit en ny avgörande konkurrensfaktor. För att lyckas med denna ledning krävs en välutvecklad strategi. För Scania motormontering pågår denna nya utmaning i formen av en nedrampning av den gamla monteringslinan (DL) och samtida upprampning av den nya monteringslinan (DW). Detta genomförs för att leverera den nya och mer hållbara motorplattformen Super. DL består av en grundmontering och en slutmontering (TMS-line), där den sistnämnda utgör fokus i detta examensarbete. Eftersom övergången redan är i gång finns det ett brådskande behov för utformningen av en produktionsnedrampningsstrategi som sträcker sig fram till den fullständiga övergången. Därför initierades detta projekt för att utveckla en optimal strategi för produktionsnedrampningen med hänsyn till sammankopplade projekt och funktioner, likväl till ekonomi, effektivitet, ergonomi och kvalitet. Projektet ämnade även till att utforma en idealisk projektprogression gällande styrning och implementering av strategin. Då TMS-line involverar 59 arbetsstationer, över 200 operatörer dagligen, 10 motortyper med unika varianter, olika tekniska system, och måste anpassas till flera operationella funktioner, krävdes en heltäckande och genomtänkt strategi. Ett ytterligare mål var att minska forskningsgapet mellan produktionsupprampning och produktionsnedrampning. Även om intresset för produktionsupprampning har ökat avsevärt de senaste två decennierna, frånses produktionsnedrampning fortfarande trots deras liknande betydelse. Därför ämnade projektet inte bara till att bidra till Scania, men också till att bidra med empirisk data till framtida forskning inom produktionsnedrampning. Sammantaget kan minskningen av forskningsgapet bidra till mer hållbara produktionssystem. För att uppnå projektets syfte och mål utfördes en omfattande litteraturstudie och olika vetenskapliga metoder användes. Litteraturstudien upprättade en grund för projektet, och sammanförde teorier från flera språk och perspektiv för att ge en heltäckande förståelse av produktionsnedrampning. De vetenskapliga metoderna användes till att samla empirisk data och designa strategin. Dessutom integrerades relevant expertis genom hela projektet genom ett kontinuerligt samarbete med anställda på Scania med olika roller och specialiseringar. Projektet följde även Scanias förändringsprocess för att underlätta implementeringen av strategin.  Totalt skapades och utvärderades tre distinkta strategikoncept: Alfa, Beta, och Gamma. Efter en systematisk utvärderingsprocess designades en kombination av Alfa och Gamma i detalj till att utforma den slutliga strategin. Strategin kan beskrivas som en stegvis kapacitetsreducering. Det första steget utgör planeringen och förberedelsen gällande kompetensskifte, organisatoriska förändringar, och tekniska lösningar. I det andra steget implementeras en ny takt och arbetsstandard motsvarande 50 % kapacitet. Dessutom görs ett beslut gällande de sista produktionsåren att antingen flytta produktion utomlands, ändra layout, eller fortsätta utan förändring. Det tredje steget involverar stora strukturella förändringar i formen av en ny organisatorisk struktur och implementeringen av en teknisk lösning för en permanent kapacitetreducering på 50 %. I det fjärde steget justeras den tekniska lösningen och en ny arbetsstandard implementeras motsvarande ett kapacitetsbehov på 33 %. Det femte steget berör utfasningen av TMS-line vilket slutför övergången mellan DL och DW. Slutligen inkluderar det sjätte steget vitaliseringen av den frigjorda operationella ytan och återvinningen av produktionsutrustning och material. Sammantaget säkerställer strategin en optimal produktionsnedrampning av TMS-line med hänsyn till sammankopplade projekt, funktioner och faktorer. För att säkerställa strategins framgång upprättades rekommendationer i styrning och implementering baserat på forskning och empiriska fynd. Resultatet är en optimal strategi som uppfyller syfte och mål, samt bidrar med nya empiriska fynd och rekommendationer till framtida forskning i produktionsnedrampning och relaterade forskningsfält.