Currently, customers are pushing companies by demanding high quality, customized products, reduced lead time, and reliable delivery. To provide such high customer sat-isfaction, companies have to rely on third-party logistics and warehouse operations. The variety of products, combined with shorter delivery times makes warehouse operations even more complex. To manage these complexities, warehouses are turning to "auto-mation technologies" that provide a competitive edge in the market by lowering costs and improving productivity in all operations, throughout the shop floor. This project aimed to explore how warehouses can implement automation successfully by analysing the challenges that arise with the automation approach. The project will be limited to the planning phase of the automation approach. Based on the aim, two research ques-tions were defined. The first one concerns identifying the challenges that arise when a warehouse is becoming automated, while the second one concerns, finding solutions that mitigate these challenges. To fulfill the purpose, a single case study was conducted in the warehouse of a logistic company in Jönköping. The case study method consisted of interviews and observations as primary data collection techniques. In total thirteen challenges were identified in the literature, out of which ten were found at the case company. The identified challenges were classified into the organisational, technolog-ical, and people factors. In order to mitigate the challenges, suggestions were provided to the case company. The thesis concludes that even though automation is a good strat-egy for improving production activities, it comes with several challenges within organ-isational, technological, and people dimensions. Moreover, the study will be useful, for researchers and practitioners working in warehouse automation to identify and solve challenges while automating the facility

During the process of cutting metals a coolant is often used for cooling the material being processed and to extend the lifespan of the cutting tool. After the process a mixture of coolant and metal chips remain. In order to separate these from each other vacuum filtration is used. The process of vacuum filtration works in such a way that a pump is used to generate a vacuum behind the filter. This causes the fluid to pass through the filter at an immense speed while the metal chips remain on the outside of the filter. After the separation the fluid may be reused in future cutting processes and the metal chips may be melted down and used in future products. The purpose of the project was to examine how different parameters like the flow, the vacuum, the pressure and the power consumption were affected by the chip coating on the filter. The goal was to observe the optimal working interval of the filtration system. In other words when the system filtrates fluid at the highest possible speed whilst still providing excellent filtration. The goal was also to examine how the different parameters changed in relation to the coating and each other. A machine for the testing was assembled. This machine used the same model of pump as the companies industrial filtration solutions. This meant that the flows, vacuums, pressures and power consumptions were all representative of the values produced by the industrial solutions. Instead of using an actual filter for the testing a check valve was used to simulate certain amounts of coating on the filter. The amounts simulated were between 10 and 60 degrees in intervals of 5 degrees. Another check valve was used for constricting the pressure side. This one was constricted between 10 and 50 degrees in intervals of 10 degrees. Constriction on the pressure side is used to extend the available working area of the system and decrease the vacuum. Although this decreases the flow as well. The tests illustrated clearly that the optimal working area for the system was between a vacuum of -0,4 and -0,7 bar with a pressure constriction of 10 degrees. The reason the area was not extended to -0,8 bar or the maximum -0,9 bar was because the immense vacuum effects the pump so much that it greatly decreases its lifespan.

Electrolux Professional AB is a multinational industrial appliance manufacturer and among many other things one of the leading global providers of laundry solutions in Ljungby, Sweden. Electrolux, being a global company with millions of customers, are always striving for the most efficient way of work in order to reach the best results. The ambition of this thesis was therefore to produce a specified suggestion of how to make a change in Electrolux Professional’s production to improve the resource, cost, and workflow efficiency directly and/or indirectly. This is done on the basis of answering two questions: 1. Is the current system improvable? 2. What kind of resources are needed to improve the efficiency in the assembly system? This thesis evaluates what kind of change of routines for picking and assembly workers (with the help of both theoretical framework and suitable solution for specifically Electrolux Professional) are needed to achieve a more efficient flow. Through the collected data, observations and unstructured interviews with the staff at Electrolux Professional, together with theoretical knowledge, important factors that need to be taken into account when implementing a more efficient work flow could be developed and thus answer the study’s question: Assuming that it is possible, with which resources/methods can the internal production system be changed to contribute to the company’s goal of making the production 50% more efficient? Several improvement suggestions were studied, including a rearrangement in the warehouse, and internal system change and even self-driving trucks. The solution that was proved to be most time and resource efficient to test and most optimal to change on short notice was a restructure in the assembly material feeding process. This could be achieved by changing the routine of the workers. By simulating a change in the daily work routines, it was proven that Electrolux Professional can use 4 fulltime workers instead of 5,5. In a long term this is quite an improvement, regarding time, money and production flow for the company.

Additive manufacturing brings versatility and new degree of freedom for part design and manufacturing possibilities. Binder jetting is powder bed printing technique that does not require direct energy transfer rather binding powder metal particles through mechanical entanglement by use of the organic binder. The polymer chains in the solution hardens when heated thus creating a green part. Green parts are sintered in high temperature to adhere metal powder particles together creating a solid body. Binder jetting still developing to its full potential in scalability and material portfolio. This thesis aims to contribute know how in process and material development of H13 tool steel in very fine particle size distributions from -16 µm to -10µm. Process parameters as well as sintering cycle developed specifically for H13 fine powders. With 52 samples printed, sintered in four different temperatures and analyzed material properties such as density and hardness to evaluate how particle size distributions affect printing process, densification and shrinkage in the sintering. Density of the green body has been evaluated through measurements of dimensions and weight, sintered density was analyzed by Archimedes method and light optical metallography. Trials for the processing and evaluation of the powders concluded that it is possible to use ultra-fine PSDs in binder jetting process with good results, this opens up opportunity for increased sustainability and profitability for powder manufacturing industry. Particle size distribution of -10 µm has outperformed the -16 µm in areas of relative density of the green body, sintered density and hardness. Although superior performance, the -10 µm requires higher ultrasonic intensity and lower spreading speed to achieve homogeneous powder bed. For the -16 µm powder it is worth noting that it is possible to bring up green density with further process development. Although materials presented high hardness in as printed state compared to that of PIM manufactured parts, achieved hardness is not satisfactory for the applications of the alloy and requires heat treatment corresponding to customer requirements.

The emergence of new digital technologies and their potential strategic contribution is currently one of the most prominent concerns for organizations. Despite the opportunity brought on by modern digital technology, an estimated 66-84% of digital transformation projects end up failing. Therefore, a research question was formulated as; How to formulate a strategy for digital transformation that supports manufacturing business value? An abductive research approach was utilized to reach two main research objectives; Creating a description of how the current and future digital landscape is understood and creating a description of how digital transformation can be constructed and what strategies and/or strategical elements exist within that construct. Furthermore, one manufacturing case company within the automotive industry and specifically its formal initiative and efforts to conduct a digital transformation were examined. By creating this comprehensive context, it was believed that existing knowledge could be solidified, and new knowledge could be created to answer the research question. Scattered and diverse findings regarding a multitude of elements are presented in the frame of reference, in order to build a strong basis for analysis. Distinguished levels of conceptual strategies within the construct of digital transformation are recognized as “Digital Business Strategy” and “Digital Transformation Strategy”. An empirical study is presented that examines present elements such as a conceptual roadmap, task teams, and an overall description of a formal initiative towards digital transformation, as well as how these elements are interpreted and understood by leaders within the organization. The analysis consists of a comparison between the presented literature and the empirical findings. This is viewed through the lens of the research objectives in order to show commonalities and differences between the literature and the case company, and to corroborate findings. Most prominent is the absence of a digital business strategy at the case company in contrast to the expressed necessity for one in the literature. In a presented discussion, strategy as a linkage between business value and digital transformation is argued to be direct through a digital business strategy. The answer to the stated research question is that digital transformation and strategy formulation can not be understood as a linear, but rather an iterative and evolving process involving building an absorptive capacity, assessing maturity, formulating a digital business strategy, and creating a roadmap and a digital transformation strategy that support the digital business strategy and the maturity level. Conclusively, the findings of this report are corroborated by each other but lack empirical evidence as to the meaning of being successful and valuable manufacturing business in the setting of the fourth industrial revolution is yet unknown. However, practitioners are encouraged to employ a conscious business model perspective, while researchers are discouraged of thinking about digital transformation as a linear and sequential process.

Ständiga förändringar tillhör vardagen i dagens globaliserade marknad. Tillverkningsindustrierna måste hålla takten med de förändringarna som äger rum för att behålla sin plats på marknaden och framstå som konkurrenskraftiga bland andra företag. För att kunna vara ledande bör företagen ha grunden stadigt uppbyggd, så att basen står stadigt genom de förändringarna som kommer ta plats i framtiden. För en stadig uppbyggnad och för att uppnå konkurrenskraft eftersträvar många företag att gå över till ett dragande produktionssystem från det befintliga tryckande produktionssystemet. De söker därför vägar till en förändring. För att undersöka detta vidare så har ett fallföretag studerats, där studien skall bidra till att identifiera de flaskhalsarna som kan vara i vägen för att uppnå det önskade tillståndet som är ett dragande produktionssystem.  Studien fokuserar på produktionssystemet inom fallföretaget, där djupare undersökningar görs kring vilka orsaker som håller produktionen tryckande i dagsläget. Genom Värdeflödesanalys skapas en visuell bild över flaskhalsarna som finns och genom observationer hos produktionsavdelningen anknyts orsakerna till de identifierade hindren. Målet med studien är att besvara frågeställningen, ”Vilka processer inom tillverkningen definierar produktionen till att vara ett tryckande produktionssystem? Vad behövs implementeras för att transformera de processerna till ett dragande produktionssystem?” Empirin till studien är insamlad hos fallföretaget på plats med egna observationer och datainsamling. Analys av empirin identifierar att det bland annat råder överproduktion hos fallföretaget. För att bekräfta det gjordes analys över produkternas förbrukning och lagerhållning för år 2018. Genom ledtiden från VSM kunde man ta fram vad den egentliga medellagern borde vara. Den framtagna medellagernivån påvisar bland annat att den nuvarande storleken på orderkvantitet behöver uppdateras för vissa produkter, då det visar sig att medelagernivån är allt för hög för vissa produkter i jämförelse med förbrukningen. Efterfrågan förändras alltså ständigt och därför är det viktigt att företaget uppdaterar det kontinuerligt. Ett idealt framtida tillstånd presenteras med VSM och resterande förbättringsförslag anges med utförd analys och lagerberäkningar som bakgrund.

Examensarbetet har genomförts på SKF Mekan AB i Katrineholm som tillverkar lagertillbehör, bland annat lagerhus, hylsor och muttrar. I ett av de produktionsflöden som tillverkar hylsor har SKF Mekan AB problem med långa genomloppstider och överproduktion. Produktionsprocessen som tillverkar dessa hylsor är helt kundorderstyrd vilket betyder att alla artiklar som tillverkas där inte finns på lager utan tillverkas när kunden lägger en beställning. SKF Mekan AB ser den långa genomloppstiden som ett problem då det påverkar kunden och bidrar till högre kostnader, vilket har lett fram till arbetets syfte. Genom att undersöka flödet och ta reda på vilka faktorer som påverkar den långa genomloppstiden, har förbättringsförslag tagits fram för att ge SKF Mekan AB verktyg för att sänka genomloppstiden. Genom intervjuer och observationer har en undersökning av flödet kunnat genomföras. För att kunna utesluta var i flödet de bidragande faktorerna till den långa genomloppstiden befinner sig, har en värdeflödesanalys genomförts med hjälp av insamlade data. En litteraturstudie har legat till grund för vilka teorier och verktyg som kan användas för att lösa problem som SKF Mekan AB har. Resultatet från värdeflödesanalysen visade att bearbetningsmaskinen BBM101agerar flaskhals i flödet. De största bidragande faktorerna till skapandet av flaskhalsen är problem vid inkörning av nytt program och omställningar mellan olika produkter. Utöver dessa problem identifierades även oreda bland halvfärdigt och överproducerat material som stod utspritt i flödet. Genom att införa ett CAD/CAM system för beredningen, lägga mer fokus på 5Sarbetet och genomföra en SMED-analys skapas möjligheter till en sänkt genomloppstid.

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Examensarbetet har utförts under våren 2020 i förtillverkningen på Itab Shop Products. Syftet med arbetet var hitta förbättringar i dagens arbetssätt så att förlusterna i de studerade produktionsgrupperna kunde reduceras. Förbättringar innefattade att hitta nya arbetsmetoder som skulle kunna bidra till ett mer effektivt arbete. I förtillverkningen finns det fem olika produktionsgrupper. Arbetet har fokuserats på två av dessa, kantpress och svets. För att kunna ta fram förslag på förbättringar och för att kunna identifiera olika typer av förluster utfördes en frekvensstudie på de två valda områdena i förtillverkningen. Detta krävde förberedelser i form av att observera arbetsprocessen och ta fram tänkbara moment som operatörerna utför under sitt arbetspass.  Resultatet av frekvensstudien visade att båda produktionsgrupperna lade mycket tid på logistik och kvalitetskontroller. Det gick även åt mycket tid till att ställa om de olika maskinerna. Dessa aktiviteter är exempel på moment som anses som icke värdeskapande och ett antal åtgärdsförslag togs fram för att reducera dessa.  Åtgärdsförslagen presenterades för företaget och med hjälp av dessa skulle de kunna ha en mer effektiv förtillverkning. Detta skulle kunna resultera i att operatörerna jobbar på ett smartare sätt utan att behöva jobba hårdare. Några av förslagen som har presenterats var att implementera SMED-analyser för att reducera ställtiden och att företaget kan börja använda sig av OEE för att få fram exakt data för att mäta sin effektivitet. Resterande förslag som togs fram syftar till att öka effektiviteten och reducera antalet förluster. Förslagen kan även leda till en kapacitetsökning i de båda produktionsgrupperna. Avslutningsvis diskuteras slutsatser och vidare arbete för företaget.

Customers today demand products of high quality, and industries must cope with issues related to that to stay competitive. Therefore, an endeavor to achieve zero defects and to work with zero defect manufacturing (ZDM) is common in industries today. ZDM aims to reduce the number of failures within a manufacturing process and thus only producing faultless products. Since defected items result in unexpected work, extra costs, claims and unsatisfied customers, it is important to avoid that in order to secure the company’s market share. Even though it implies challenges, companies must work with ZDM and quality tools to stay competitive. However, there is a gap between the literature of ZDM and how to accomplish ZDM in practice, which makes it hard for companies to apply the method. Hence, this thesis aims to address this gap and present how the human factors and quality contribute to the goal of zero defects. When working with a manually driven manufacturing setting, human factors must be considered as an important aspect. Mistakes will occur as long as humans work with the products, but the prerequisites for doing right must be as good as possible to be able to decrease the number of mistakes. Another factor to consider is the internal quality of different processes to ensure that customer demands are achieved through all stages. This study focused on finding suggestions for improvements towards zero defects in manual assembly and to present general improvement actions. The thesis is based on three main fields: ZDM, quality and human factors. The findings are connected both to literature searches made within these fields, but also through a case study at the focal company. In the analysis chapter, the reader is provided with information about how the specified problem areas are linked together and to the three main fields. By combining the literature search with a case study at a focal company, findings could be detected, collected and analyzed. Four areas could be identified in the analysis and highlighted in the discussion of the research questions. The highlighted areas were further used as a foundation to establish suggestion within the important areas. These acts as practical guidelines for how to reach zero defects in an existing production with the goal of minimizing the implementation gap of ZDM.