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Planning of the optimised production system is an intricate task. The reason behind this is changing demand, variations, and other disturbances. The main purpose of this study the current performance in the existing production system and provide recommendations for optimising the production in order to accommodate a new product. Since, the addition of new products may lead to bottlenecks in the flow which affects the output performance. The bottlenecks would lead to ineffective results, while tying up the capital in the production downstream as inventory gets stagnated in the assembly lines. The performance evaluation is a tedious process however, the study probes into the use of flow simulation tool to analyse the production performance. In this thesis work, Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is utilised as a tool to examine the performance of the production systems and to determine the cost consuming areas. To achieve that, the production system is replicated as a functional model into the DES system with the appropriate logics and parameters, with the thorough understanding of the existing workflows. To supplement it, the data from the orders, resources, and parts are charted.In the later part, production flow is analysed with the additions of determined improvisations to understand the impact on the output. Later, investigations are performed to identify the challenges and applicable changes required to meet future output. As an outcome, the production system is restructured and optimised, thus getting an overview of the future production set up as a digital factory layout., Planering av det optimerade produktionssystemet är en invecklad uppgift. Orsaken bakom detta är förändrad efterfrågan, variationer och andra störningar. Huvudsyftet med denna studie är den nuvarande prestandan i det befintliga produktionssystemet och ger rekommendationer för att optimera produktionen för att rymma en ny produkt. Eftersom tillägg av nya produkter kan leda till flaskhalsar i flödet som påverkar uteffekten. Flaskhalsarna skulle leda till ineffektiva resultat, samtidigt som kapitalet i produktionen binds nedströms när lagret stagnerar i löpande band. Prestationsutvärderingen är en tråkig process, men studien undersöker användningen av flödessimuleringsverktyg för att analysera produktionsprestanda. I detta avhandlingsarbete används Discrete Event Simulation (DES) som ett verktyg för att undersöka produktionssystemens prestanda och bestämma de kostnadskrävande områdena. För att uppnå det replikeras produktionssystemet som en funktionell modell i DES -systemet med lämpliga logiker och parametrar, med en grundlig förståelse av de befintliga arbetsflödena. För att komplettera det kartläggs data från order, resurser och delar. I den senare delen analyseras produktionsflödet med tillägg av bestämda improvisationer för att förstå effekten på produktionen. Senare utförs undersökningar för att identifiera de utmaningar och tillämpliga förändringar som krävs för att möta framtida produktion. Som ett resultat omstruktureras och optimeras produktionssystemet och får därmed en överblick över den framtida produktionsuppsättningen som en digital fabrikslayout.

In the domain of developing production systems, the design of a good factory is typically distributed over many disciplines and organizations to cover all involved technologies and levels of detail (process, logistics, machinery etc.). Modelling and simulation used to support the design process within each of the disciplines typically represent different contexts and perspectives. To cross the discipline borders and share experiences, to encourage innovation and make holistic decisions, one challenge is to interrelate various digital models and to reach a mutual system understanding between stakeholders. This paper presents a study based on principles from Social Science, Production Engineering, Computer Science and Information Design to address cross-disciplinary collaboration. Principles concerning visual communication and theories in regard to tangible boundary objects are used to clarify how to describe production system interdependencies in a digital factory context. Work in process of implementing a digital factory framework based on the principles is described, with a use case demonstrating the development of a digital factory for a new type of automotive vehicle., QC 20161125

Internet of things (IoT) in manufacturing can be defined as a future where every day physical objects in the shop floor, people and systems (things) are connected by the Internet to build services critical to the manufacturing. Smart factory is a way towards a factory-of-things, which is very much aligned with IoT. IoT not only deals with smart connections between physical objects but also with the interaction with different IT tools used within the digital factory. Data and information come from heterogeneous IT systems and from different domains, viewpoints, levels of granularity and life cycle phases causing potential inconsistencies in the data sharing, preventing interoperability. Hence, our aim is to investigate approaches and principles when integrating the digital factory, IT tools and IoT in manufacturing in a heterogeneous IT environment to ensure data consistency. In particular this paper suggests an approach to identify what, when and how information should be integrated. Secondly it suggests integration between IoT and PLM platforms using semantic web technologies and Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) standard on tool interoperability., QC 20161212

The complexity of product realization has increased significantly due to the requirements on ecological and social as well as economical sustainability. This has led to an increased demand on innovations concerning new materials and product- and process technologies, as well as on new business models for a better utilization of products and materials. Most innovations occur through a learning process where various actors, individuals as well as organizations, take part. Breakthroughs do not necessarily occur within the research or development departments, they are equally likely to occur during production or utilization. The challenge thus lies in providing platforms and tools for cross-divisional, collaborative innovation and for sharing Best Practices. This paper describes an initiative at KTH Royal Institute of Technology for supporting the integration of various company disciplines and external expertise through a collaborative framework where industry and academy can collaborate, supported by modeling, simulation and visualization during the innovation process. The approach combines theories and methods concerning innovation and digital factories and emphasizes aspects concerning learning, communication and collaboration., QC 20150223

This paper presents an evaluation and discussion of the digital factory tools, based on various software applications. The aim is to map the software tools within the digital factory and evaluate them with regard to the digital factory theory. This work aims to compare research theory with the software tools that are available on the market and how they differ. It is important to know how the commercial state-of-the-art software tools differ from the research theory of the digital factory, for further research development. A test case has been carried out to realize a mini digital factory based on commercial software., Part of ISBN 9783642104299QC 20101012

This paper presents a discussion and review of the digital factory and digital manufacturing, based on various papers and the authors’ understanding and experience. The aim is to clarify different perspectives and concepts, to make them more transparent and consistent. This work is necessary due to the large variations in scope and definition of these two concepts. The different views, and understandings of, the digital factory concept can vary due to the different perceptions, depending on background, knowledge etc, which may lead to the developments of digital factory and digital manufacturing being diffuse from different research perspectives., QC 20101012