Jonatan Berglund

Energy efficiency analysis for a casting production system

A growing number of manufacturing industries are initiating efforts to address sustainability issues. A study by the National Association of Manufacturers indicated that the manufacturing sector currently accounts for over a third of all energy consumed in the United States. There are many areas and opportunities to reduce energy costs and pollution emissions within a manufacturing facility. One way to achieve an energy efficient manufacturing system is to measure and evaluate the combined impact of process energy from manufacturing operations, their resources (e.g., plant floor equipment), and facility energy from building services (e.g., ventilation, lighting). In this paper, issues associated with integrating production system, process energy, and facility energy to improve manufacturing sustainability are explored. A modeling and simulation case study of analyzing energy consumption in a precision casting operation is discussed.

Combining point cloud technologies with discrete event simulation

Utilizing point cloud models from 3D laser scans for visualization of manufacturing facilities and systems provides highly realistic representations. Recent developments has improved the accuracy of point cloud models in terms of color and positioning. This technology has the potential to generate savings in time and money compared to traditional methods. Visualization in terms of accurate geometrical factory data has traditionally not been feasible when developing discrete event simulation (DES) models. Currently, methods for utilizing point clouds in DES models are lacking. Better visualization could improve communication of results and make them available to a wider target audience. Creating methods to combine point cloud technologies with DES would enable realistic visualization and improved accuracy including level of detail regarding geometric representation in DES models.

Integration of Life Cycle Inventories Incorporating Manufacturing Unit Processes

Sustainable manufacturing (SM) concerns the manufacture of products with regard to environmental, social, and economic impacts over the entire life cycle. With a primary focus on environmental concerns, life cycle assessment (LCA) can support SM practices. The life cycle inventory (LCI) is a key phase of LCA, and this paper considers the integration of manufacturing unit processes (MUPs) into system-level LCIs, which requires consideration of process flow diagrams at different levels of abstraction. Furthermore, uncertainty quantification is an important compo- nent of LCA interpretation, and this paper proposes a method to synthesize LCIs from the process-level to the system-level that consistently quantifies uncertainty in the inventories. The method can incorporate MUP data derived from measurements and/or modeling and simulation. Further development towards a complete methodology is discussed.

Using 3D laser scanning to support discrete event simulation of production systems: lessons learned

Using 3D laser scanning, the spatial data of an entire production system can be captured and digitalized in a matter of hours. Such spatial data could provide a current state representation of the real system available at the hand of the simulation engineer. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of 3D laser scanning in Discrete Event Simulation (DES) projects in the area of production systems. The evaluation relies on three simulation studies performed with the support of 3D laser scanning. 3D scan data, if available, can support most steps in a DES study. Particularly, the 3D scan data acts as a reference model when formulating the conceptual model and collecting input data. During model building the scan data provides physical measurements for accurate positioning of simulation objects. Furthermore the scan data can be used for photorealistic visualization of the simulated environment without requiring any CAD modeling.

Toward the Ideal of Automating Production Optimization

The advent of improved factory data collection offers a prime opportunity to continuously study and optimize factory operations. Although manufacturing optimization tools can be considered mainstream technology, most U.S. manufacturers do not take full advantage of such technology because of the time-intensive procedures required to manually develop models, deal with factory data acquisition problems, and resolve the incompatibility of factory and optimization data representations. Therefore, automated data acquisition, automated generation of production models, and the automated integration of data into the production models are required for any optimization analysis to be timely and cost effective. In this paper, we develop a system methodology and software framework for the optimization of production systems in a more efficient manner towards the goal of fully automated optimization. The case study of an automotive casting operation shows that a highly integrated approach enables the modeling and simulation of the complex casting operation in a responsive, cost-effective and exacting nature. Technology gaps and interim strategies will be discussed. Copyright

Change Agent Infrastructure (CHAI)—A Stakeholder Analysis Tool for Ergonomics- and Work Environment-Related Change Projects

This paper is a short communication introducing a novel method for stakeholder analysis, Change Agent Infrastructure (CHAI). The method is specifically developed in the context of ergonomics/work environment-related change projects and is meant for early stages of change projects. It maps potential stakeholders against eight distinct “roles” that have been found in previous research to facilitate or hinder workplace change. Mapping the “decision dilemmas” that stakeholders may face, as well as identifying over- or underrepresented roles, may benefit the change project in terms of determining information needs and how the project team should be staffed. The method has been iteratively developed and tested in educational and research projects. The method is visual, participative and helps to clarify the various participants’ understanding of the change at hand and what it means for them—this contributes positively to information strategies and decisions that facilitates the planning and execution of a sustainable change.

Virtual Reality and 3D Imaging to Support Collaborative Decision Making for Adaptation of Long-Life Assets

European companies of today are involved in many stages of the product life cycle. There is a trend towards the view of their business as a complex industrial product-service system (IPSS). This trend shifts the business focus from a traditional product oriented one to a function oriented one. With the function in focus, the seller shares the responsibility of for example maintenance of the product with the buyer. As such IPSS has been praised for supporting sustainable practices. This shift in focus also promotes longevity of products and promotes life extending work on the products such as adaptation and upgrades. Staying competitive requires continuous improvement of manufacturing and services to make them more flexible and adaptive to external changes. The adaptation itself needs to be performed efficiently without disrupting ongoing operations and needs to result in an acceptable after state. Virtual planning models are a key technology to enable planning and design of the future operations in parallel with ongoing operations. This chapter presents an approach to combine digitalization and virtual reality (VR) technologies to create the next generation of virtual planning environments. Through incorporating digitalization techniques such as 3D imaging, the models will reach a new level of fidelity and realism which in turn makes them accessible to a broader group of users and stakeholders. Increased accessibility facilitates a collaborative decision making process that invites and includes cross functional teams. Through such involvement, a broader range of experts, their skills, operational and tacit knowledge can be leveraged towards better planning of the upgrade process. This promises to shorten lead times and reduce risk in upgrade projects through better expert involvements and shorter iterations in the upgrade planning cycle.

Adaptation of High-Variant Automotive Production System Using a Collaborative Approach

Automotive manufacturing systems are high investment assets in need of continuous upgrades and changes to remain relevant and effective. The complexity of such a system is reflected in the difficulty of making holistically informed decisions regarding the upgrades and changes. To reach holistic and sound decisions it is important to collaborate between departments, experts, and operational actors during the planning and development of upgrades and changes. Such collaboration should be supported by tools, models, and methods that facilitate understanding and enable the users to express their input and feedback in a clear and understandable manner. This chapter describes the development and evaluation of one set of tools. The developed tools combine 3D imaging and virtual reality technologies to facilitate the creation of decision support models that are accurate, realistic, and intuitive to understand. The developed tools are evaluated by industrial engineers in the area of manufacturing R&D.

Digital Tools to Support Knowledge Sharing and Cooperation in High-Investment Product-Services

The manufacturing industry needs to adapt their product-services to meet customer requirements in today’s rapidly changing markets. This paper presents how technologies can support knowledge sharing and collaboration during product-service processes. This work was part of the European Union Use-it-Wisely project and summaries demonstration results from the project. Six cluster cases from different industry sectors (energy, machinery, space, office workplace, vehicles, and shipbuilding) were developing their tools and processes during the project. Based on the demonstration evaluations, it seems that the Use-it-Wisely project has enabled companies to improve their product-services by using interactive collaborative environments and new business models. Participants that took part in the demonstrations felt that the new approach makes users’ work easier, provides competitive advantage, facilitates knowledge sharing and decision making, extends the efficient lifecycle of existing machinery and supports sustainable development.

Evaluation and Calculation of Dynamics in Environmental Impact Assessment

In ten years customers will select products not only based on price and quality but also with strong regard to the product value environmental footprint, including for example the energy consumed. Customers expect transparency in the product realization process, where most products are labeled with their environmental footprint. Vigorous companies see this new product value as an opportunity to be more competitive. In order to effectively label the environmental impact of a product, it is pertinent for companies to request the environmental footprint of each component from their suppliers. Hence, companies along the product lifecycle require a tool, not only to facilitate the computing of the environmental footprint, but also help reduce/balance the environmental impact during the lifecycle of the product. This paper proposes to develop a procedure that companies will use to evaluate, improve and externally advertise their product’s environmental footprint to customers.