Monica Bellgran

Fundamental mindset that drives improvements towards lean production

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present a fundamental mindset that an experienced Japanese Toyota Production System (TPS) consultant has when he drives a series of improvement activities during a lean transformation.Design/methodology/approach – The main author of this paper conducted participant observations on two lean transformation cases at two medium‐sized Swedish manufacturing companies. The studied lean transformations are driven by the mentioned Japanese consultant. Before he became a consultant, he had practiced TPS more than 20 years at a supplier company of Toyota.Findings – Instead of making a detailed plan to implement lean production, the consultant focuses on creating the need for improvement. The identified fundamental mindset that drives a lean transformation can be described as “occasionally by force, create a situation where people have no choice (or little choice) but to feel the need of improvement. The situation is such that it brings different problems up to surface. Throug...

Sustainable Manufacturing - Challenges and Possibilities for Research and Industry from a Swedish perspective

The need for environmental sustainability and a globally increasing manufacturing, drive a gigantic need for technology and strategies that will reduce CO2 emissions globally. The paper reflects on the situation for Swedish research and industry, with a focus on technology for environmentally sustainable manufacturing. Sweden has competitive equipment and system suppliers to the manufacturing industry with potential of contributing to the development of a sustainable manufacturing industry globally. Environmentally conscious actions need no longer be seen as challenges and contrary to financial considerations. On the contrary, it can be the basis for successful companies. Enabling features includes manufacturing systems and supply chain structures for sustainability e.g. local manufacturing providers, high energy efficiency in manufacturing processes and techniques for replacing fossil based energy generation by CO2 neutral generation.

Integrated portfolio planning of products and production systems

Purpose – The purpose of the research presented is to analyse and discuss critical challenges related to the development of a production system portfolio. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a longitudinal case study of an industrialization project at a global supplier in the automotive industry. Findings – This research makes two clear theoretical contributions. First, it extends the existing research on the manufacturing and R&D interface by proposing an innovative structure for production system development facilitating manufacturing companies in their efforts of being fast and cost-effective when introducing new products to the market. Second, this research identifies challenges related to the adoption of a production system portfolio and the necessary actions of a manufacturing company applying such a portfolio strategy. Research limitations/implications – The findings should be seen as a first attempt at assisting the development of a production system portfolio that matches the product ...

Green Performance Map: An Industrial Tool for Enhancing Environmental Improvements within a Production System

Empirical findings indicate a need of support for environmental management within the manufacturing industry for improving the environmental performance of their production systems. This paper elaborates on a generic, three step visualization tool, here called Green Performance Map (GPM). The GPM adds to the framework of ISO 14001, providing the user with a systematic procedure to visualize environmental performance in order to facilitate the identification, prioritization and communication of relevant environmental aspects. The results are based on theoretical studies and an extensive case study at a Swedish automotive company. Pilot tests indicate a vast potential for the GPM tool.

Characteristics affecting management of design information in the production system design process

Although it has been argued that the design of production systems is crucial, there is a general lack of empirical studies analysing and identifying resources and capabilities required for an efficient production system design process. One of these resources is the critical role attributed to design information and one such capability is how the design information is managed. To address this research gap, this paper reports the results from two in-depth case studies in the automotive industry focusing on the management of design information in the production system design process. Our results show that design information management needs to be understood as a multidimensional concept having three dimensions: acquiring, sharing and using design information. By focusing on the three dimensions, six characteristics affecting the management of design information when designing the production system are identified. The characteristics are information type, source of information, communication medium, formalisation, information quality and pragmatic information.

Design information for efficient equipment supplier/buyer integration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the underlying design information and success factors for production equipment acquisition, in order to support the design of high‐performance production systems.Design/methodology/approach – The research strategy employed was an in‐depth case study of an industrialization project, together with a questionnaire of 25 equipment suppliers.Findings – The study provides the reader with an insight into the role of design information when acquiring production equipment by addressing questions such as: What type of information is used? How do equipment suppliers obtain information? What factors facilitate a smooth production system acquisition?Research limitations/implications – Limitations are primarily associated with the chosen research methodology, which requires further empirical studies to establish a generic value.Practical implications – The implications are that manufacturing companies have to transfer various types of design information with respect to...

Factory-in-a-box - Demonstrating the next generation manufacturing provider

Meeting customer demands require manufacturing systems with a high degree of flexibility, low-cost/low-volume manufacturing skills, as well as short delivery times. On top of these challenges, there is a gigantic need within industry for technologies and strategies that will reduce CO2 emissions globally. In this challenging environment there is a need to identify and develop new and improved manufacturing capabilities within the manufacturing industry. The Factory-ina-Box concept consists of standardized production modules that are e.g. installed in a container and transported by truck or by train. The concept has been developed, exemplified and realized in five industrial demonstrators developed by researchers together with competitive manufacturing companies in Sweden such as ABB Robotics, Bombardier and Pharmadule. The objective of this paper is to discuss the possibility of realizing a Product Service System (PSS) using the results from the Factory-in-a-Box project

Characteristics of product introduction process in low-volume manufacturing industries A case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how the characteristics of low-volume manufacturing industries influence the product introduction process and factors which can facilitate that process in low-volume manufacturing industries. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review and a multiple-case study were used to achieve the purpose of the paper. The multiple-case study was based on two product development projects in a low-volume manufacturing company. Findings – The main identified characteristics of the product introduction process in low-volume manufacturing industries were a low number of prototypes, absence of conventional production ramp-up, reduced complexity of the process, failure to consider the manufacturability of the products due to an extensive focus on their functionality and increased complexity of resource allocation. It was determined that prior production of similar products could serve as a facilitator of the manufacturing process. Research limitations/implications ...

Creating a competitive edge when designing production systems – facilitating the sharing of design information

When designing production systems, design information must be shared among functions at the manufacturing company and the external equipment supplier in order to integrate the various work activiti ...

On the production location decision: a case study on process and criteria

The paper explores the process and criteria used in production location decisions, based on a literature overview and a case study in a Swedish manufacturing company with a global production network. The data collection comprised interviews with top management and project management as well as a document analysis. The findings indicate that the production location decision process is facilitated by following a stepwise process with an initial strategic analysis with a broad scope including also the selection of the future production system concept.