St. Jude Medical Inc is one of the worlds leading companies in the medical technology area with cardiovascular devices as its specialty.Manufacturing implantable medical devices such as Pace Maker Electrodes requires complex design, safe processes and well trained operators. User friendly manufacturing operations are a necessity.Lately there?s been an increase of the manufacturing volume which also increased the number of operators. More operators need to be trained and cross-trained.

The purpose of this study is from a case study develop a model that aims to cost effectively improve productivity in a manufacturing production process. The study highlights the importance of having knowledge about customer needs and using a holistic process perspective when improving productivity to identify the relations between the process stations and by this find problems that cause waste and losses in productivity. Tools and methods used to make production more efficient such as single minute exchange of die, spaghetti diagram, 5s and master production schedule is presented an applied in the model to see how these effect costs, productivity etc.Maintenance effects on quality and productivity in a manufacturing company will as well be covered in this thesis. The results and conclusions finally reveals how the process improvement tools, maintenance and production planning for example effects each other and why it is important to establish an attitude in the company where continuous process improvement should be emphasized..

Shock absorber units play a key role in establishing the driving dynamics and performance of automobiles. Öhlins Racing has manufactured high-tech automotive shock absorbers for over 30 years. Öhlins Racing?s advanced technology has contributed to over 200 world championships in automobile racing. Öhlin?s Manufacturing Process has long utilized automated fluid filling equipment during the final shock absorber unit assembly stage. The filling process consists of vacuum pumping the shock absorber unit and subsequent transfer of fluid. Vacuum pumping is necessary to remove residual air from the shock absorber unit prior to initiating the liquid filling stage. The presence of undesirable gases drastically compromises the performance of a shock absorber. The filling degree, defined as the final ratio of air to oil, is determined by the specific filling protocol as well as the specific equipment utilized.The current investigation aims to develop a viable technique to accurately determine residual air content in shock absorber units. If the filling degree can be appropriately quantified for a specific Manufacturing Process, then the air/oil ratio may be quantitatively related to shock absorber performance. The utilized measurement method must be completely integrated into the Manufacturing Process to guarantee shock absorber performance specifications according to the manufacturer?s standards. By utilizing the measurement method developed in this work, the manufacturing process, manufacturing equipment and product specifications can all be tailored to provide improved filling conditions.The developed measurement method provides accurate quantification of the filling degree under a wide range of processing conditions. The method establishes the relative quantity of air in the shock absorber unit by performing in-situ compressibility tests. The fill ratio can be controlled and varied by manipulating the vacuum pressure exerted during the filling process. Performance tests, however, indicate no correlation between filling degree and unit performance..

In the last decades the continuous work for more sustainable manufacturing has become a large part of the manufacturing companies? operations. It is also well known that the factory planning shapes the Manufacturing Process to a great extent. Consequently it is logical to assume that the manufacturing companies? factory planning process plays a major role in the work for increased sustainability.

The aim with this study was to investigate the effects a change of Manufacturing Process would have on the mechanical properties of drill bits made of a WC/Co composite used for stone cutting. The method used today is sintering, where the material is heated in a conventional sintering oven. The other method was microwave sintering, where the material is heated by radiation in the microwave region. Also an investigation of the manufacturing cost were made.The main difference between the two heating methods is that the conventional way is a rather slow process and the microwave method is very fast. The material is also heated homogeniously in the method with mirowaves, aposed to the case with the conventional sintering where the material is heated from the outside in.This makes the material harder and more wear resistent.

The thesis investigates if it is possible to replace several pumpimpellers with one controllable pumpimpeller, with a economical and a manufacturing analisys aspect. The studied pumpimpeller is mounted on a midrange wastewaterpump, N3127MT.In the thesis a contemplated Manufacturing Process is evaluated for a concept that are supposed to act as a controllable pumpimpeller. The pumpimpeller are studied in a manufacturing and flow matter and are presented in the thesis.The manufacturing cost is also estimated, and this has been compared to the storage cost and other costs that the existing pumpimpeller generates.The thesis also shows that the concept has minor losses in cutting quality aswell as the effiency comparing to the existing pumpimpeller.The concept also raises the manufacturing cost and this increasing cost makes the presented concept to expensive to carry through.An investigation of the costs that the existing pumpimpeller produces has also been done, and this shows that there is not that much expenses to earn regarding to for example the storage cost. The storage cost includes information from Flygt?s central storagecenter in Lindas, Sweden and Metz, France, and also an inventory about the pumpimpellers located at Flygt?s different distributors worldwide.The thesis shows that a controllable pumpimpeller will generally increase the cost for the pumpimpeller and the performance of the pumpimpeller will decrease..

Titel: Innovate or Stagnate! ? Open innovation in manufacturing small and medium-sized businesses in Småland.The purpose of the study is that, from a leadership perspective (innovationmanagement), create a better understanding of open innovation in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises. The study therefore intends to contribute to the understanding of how open innovation processes leads to greater innovation in manufacturing small and medium sized businesses.We have used a qualitative research method and adopted an abductiveapproach. We made interpretations and created meaning based on our research results.Our theoretical framework is based primarily on Chesbroughs (2003) research on open innovation. Based on this model, we have selected a number of other theories, which we perceived as prerequisites for small andmedium sized companies in open innovation processes.

This essay answers the question: How can a manufacturing business fulfill the information demand in the processes; purchasing, production, warehousing, order and delivery?The question has been answered through different kind of studies, such as literature, documents, Internet search, interviews and observations. The essay is written from a hermeneutic point of view and by using qualitative research. The result has been validated by two different manufacturing businesses.A simple information logistic model is the result of a comparison made between theory and empery. The aim of the model is to describe how a manufacturing business can fulfill the information demand by using different methods.

GE Healthcare wants to investigate whether additive manufacturing would be an alternative method in their workshops in the Umea? plant. Additive manufacturing is called 3D printing in everyday language and manufactures details by building them up layer by layer in an automated machine. The purpose of this work is therefore to investigate how mature additive manufacturing methods are and how they could be used at GE.The work has been divided into three parts. The first section investigates how additive manufacturing would work in the production workshop at GE.

GE Healthcare wants to investigate whether additive manufacturing would be an alternative method in their workshops in the Umea? plant. Additive manufacturing is called 3D printing in everyday language and manufactures details by building them up layer by layer in an automated machine. The purpose of this work is therefore to investigate how mature additive manufacturing methods are and how they could be used at GE.The work has been divided into three parts. The first section investigates how additive manufacturing would work in the production workshop at GE.

Background - Swedish trade and industry primarily involves small corporations, including small manufacturing corporations. Currently, most costing models that are used are based on studies accomplished at large corporations. This conveys to the fact that product costing that occurs at small manufacturing corporations is based on all complexities that large corporations bring, which rarely match with small corporations. It occurs that small manufacturing corporations unconsciously rely on incorrect information that has been calculated based on great corporations? product costing.

AB Sandvik Cormorant?s production unit in Gimo has identified a need to examinethe handling of products between operations with the purpose of generatingproposals of improvement for the product handling.The aim of this project is to study the existing Manufacturing Process and givesuggestions for improvement. The proposals should reduce the manual handling ofproducts, decrease the risk of damaging the products during the manufacturing andform a basis for increased traceability. Based on a mapping of the manufacturingprocess and the problem description, a specification of requirements has beencomposed.The mapping of the Manufacturing Process suggests that a change of the currentsystem is required. The company is recommended to decide how the producthandling between operations should be performed as guidelines for the productionteam.

The project explores the possibilities of using additive manufacturing (3d-printing) to build architecture. Through a combination of theoretical research and practical experiments a building system has been developed which has the capabilities to create houses with great geometric flexibilities to a affordable price today. The construction system Perimeter is demonstrated in a pavilion situated at Norra Djurgården in Stockholm. .

The project was carried out with SwedSafe AB, engaged in hearing and manufacture of earplugs. Since the company is a world leader in the sale of these products, it is important that they keep a higher level of quality of these products.Production of earplugs is currently a automated Manufacturing Process that is divided into four conveyor belts and one of the conveyor belts is what will be affected in the project. The belt affected during this process is exposed to various elements such as filling, closing, fermentation and extraction of products. Because the belt gets dirty, degraded products and the work environment is affected. To increase the quality of products and improve the working environment requires an automatic cleaning process, which collects dirt from the belt.The aim of the project is to design a machine that prevents the belt from becoming dirty, preserve molds clean and improve the working environment without disrupting production.

This report presents thesis of Liisa Kokkonen in collaboration with Muovikilpi Oy.The project?s goal is to find a new construction for an existing lamp made of acrylic. Form and design retains and the manufacturing occurs at Muovikilpi Oy. The project contains the new construction and manufacturing of the lamp and also a proposition for a set with floor and wall lamp.  The paper gives an outline of acrylic as material and how it reacts with light.