Argues that the design of the Volvo Uddevalla plant may be described as a process with an “internal logic” in which design options were eliminated through irreversible design decisions until only one alternative remained ‐ an unorthodox alternative comprising, for example, long cycle time work never used before for full‐scale production of automobiles. Contends that the most innovativ…
In recent years, assembly lines have been reintroduced in the Swedish automotive industry and, in many cases, have replaced those so-called alternative assembly systems which had their roots in the 1970s. This paper reviews and evaluates some explicit reasons given for the return to the assembly line. It also considers whether the decisions to replace alternative assembly systems with assembly …
There is an increasing focus on reducing time‐to‐market for new products and a prerequisite for succeeding in this is the ability to transfer and use information about the products early on in projects, thus facilitating early problem‐solving. This paper focuses on the use of product data and information systems for the design of materials supply systems in product development projects.…
Discusses experiences from the design of parallellized flow assembly systems. Also discusses factors influencing the performance of collective work and relates these to the flow parameters in the Saab Automobile′s final assembly plant in Malmö and the Volvo Uddevalla final assembly plant. Illustrates this discussion by empirical data from the shopfloor of the Volvo Uddevalla plant. Focuses…
The materials planning (MP) environment sets the prerequisites for the MP process. Before and during production transfer and start-up (PTS) supply chain uncertainty of the MP environment increases, as the company goes from a known to an unknown situation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of the MP environment on the MP process before and during PTS.
Presents a methodology useful when analysing the efficiency of order picking systems. The main feature of the analysis is the ability to compare different system designs. The methodology has earlier been applied mainly to assembly production systems, and has in these cases proved to be an effective management tool in discussions concerning the choice of production system.
The purpose of this paper is to determine how kitting, compared to continuous supply, affects the time spent by the assembler fetching parts in manual assembly.