| 31. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950
(författare)
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Avrapportering av projekt ”Dokumentation av Volvo Personvagnars slutmonteringsfabrik i Uddevalla”
- 1995
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This publication reports on some of a research foundation's (Arbetsmiljöfonden) financed parts of Engström’s and his colleagues' (researchers a well as other individuals) participation in the design, development, starting-up and full-scale production phases of the Volvo Automobile assembly plant in Uddevalla. This particular initiative (for the publication now treated here) resulted on in the fact that all of the documents from this assembly plant was collected (thereafter sorted on site in order to eliminate redundancies), and finally were each and every binder of documents etc. sent to the basement at of Engström’s final experimental workshop located at Chalmers University of Technology (such workshops are nowadays utopian, see below). There these documents were harboured at this premise for several years until totally new building facilities were provided for a number of different departments. At this moment were rents accelerated (bewildering costs was claimed on individual scientists) (an experimental workshop proved to be utopian). Engström’s research group was therefore forced to let this documentation to be sent to external store rented outside of Chalmers. Moreover, this documentation included (in a similar manner but much better prepared from our side), all of the documents from the Volvo Kalmar assembly plant which was closed approximately a year after the Volvo Uddevalla assembly plant (see some of the other publications registered in Chalmers Public Library CPL). Later on (more than approximately two decades), was this totally unique documentation transferred to Volvo’s Historical Archive (organised under the Volvo Museum) who in all respects mistreated this material and also unfortunately neglected a written agreement (contract) with Chalmers and Engström. In fact, it was by no means a professional treatment of the material in question. In fact, they gradually proved to neglect it. as a part of a protracted process, i.e. this Volvo organisation dragged for years to do anything at all with it (they changed manager and proved to not be able to deal with these two documentations in any professional manner, among other things due to lack of space and must probably for other reasons as well). On the other hand, interest and help from Chalmers side were almost non-existing, at the very end of Engström’s employment were some rather lame efforts to carried out. Individuals at Chalmers were afraid to create conflicts Volvo by asserting the contract due to ongoing financing and the fact that Engström had to retire anyway. Consequently, were no help available from Chalmers side to claim the agreement with the previous manager of Volvo Museum etc. As a result, this material from the two unique/pioneering assembly plants was forever lost to the scientist, or lest severely mutilated (see comment below) (sadly, we never got time to gain any academic merits of this material, it just cost money drawn from Engström's donation granted from Volvo Uddevalla assembly plant). And believe the author here, it was an enormous (almost frightening) amount of binders, books etc. each of them scrupulous registered by Engström and his research colleagues as well as by local Volvo personnel that also kindly helped us out. Note, two written agreement with the top manager of each of these two assembly plants were both predating the contract with the Volvo archive by decades. Among other things, the material was partly used once again by local Volvo personnel than the Autonova plant later was constructed, i.e. some years after the closing down, i.e. the rebirth of the Volvo Uddevalla plant. However, to be frank, here, some of the material was just thrown in pallets at the very end, due to time restraints during our documentation processes. But generally speaking, were most of the material fully organised and saved in bookshelves at the basement of our final experimental workshop at Chalmers (and each binder etc, was assigned a sequence number that corresponded to our register sequence number, denotation, finding-place etc. (in accordance with the written agreements with the two top managers). It was in many respects a bewildering work carried out during several years (e.g. it was not easy for us to figure out exactly how) besides during the period of closing down were not Volvo personnel keen to let the central Volvo organisation get hold of anything (no other would probably have managed to carry through such documentation for a number of different reasons). A comment and important: The documentation work from our side was organised in accordance with the process and organisation of each of the two assembly plants. Thus, was it not following the Swedish Archive Standard usually supported by rather unmanageable PC-based systems (which Volvo’s Historical Archive practised). This archive standard would, in fact, have fragmented et the two documentations, and thereby not enhanced a deeper understanding of each assembly plant (such standards are used for saving of single/individual documents or series thereof) (interrelation between binders and documents are thereby entirely lost). This fact was clear to us and also considered by the earlier manager at the Volvo archive and thus dealt with in the agreement between Chalmers and the historical archive. Among other things was Engström from the beginning supposed to help Volvo out by means of packing up the material. However, this was not considered by the new manager (who, as said before, neglected the registering and work carried out by Engström's research group).
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| 32. |
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Developments in Assembly System Design: The Volvo Experience
- 1999
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Ingår i: Coping with Variety: Flexible Production Systems for Product Variety in the Automobile Industry; Lung, Y., Chanaron, J. J., Fujimoto, T. and Raff, D. (eds.); Ashgate, Aldershot. - : Routledge. - 9780429839931 ; , s. 192-223
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This chapter focuses on experiences concerning the development of assembly systems within the Volvo Corporation. It provides research and development work within the Swedish automotive industry. The chapter considers a specific trajectory concerning assembly system design in the Swedish automobile industry, generalising the Volvo Kalmar and Volvo Uddevalla experiences. During 1988–1990, the managers at Volvo were planning the manufacturing of the new 800 model at the main Volvo Torslanda plant, as well as looking for a total redesign of the plant. The average product quality in the Uddevalla plant was high–in fact better than in Volvo's line assembly plants–but the product quality varied considerably. Productivity and flexibility proved to be superior to traditional serialassembly systems. Two ways of decreasing the time losses are to introduce parallel flow assembly systems–that is assembly systems consisting of many, short, unpaced flows–or to introduce buffers between work-stations.
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| 36. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Effektiv småbåtsproduktion. Delrapport
- 1984
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Consumer report ("avnämarrapport" in Swedish) for a research foundation (Styrelsen för Teknisk Utveckling, Stockholm). A comment: Publishing consumer reports was the praxis during this (early) period of time at Chalmers University of Technology, as well as probably at some other universities. This means that frequent and vast academic publication by means of e.g. conference papers and refereed contributions to scientific journals was almost unheard of. At least so for some of the applied science disciplines. However, today are the situation indeed very different (i.e. earlier was the publication in many respects focused on trying to satisfy the executive administrator the research foundation in question etc.). To be more precise, this early praxis was definitively the case for the research and development work carried out at the Department of Transportation (a broadly applied science discipline), which was characterized by more practical strives to e.g. engineer research results. Rather than relying on truer scientific efforts in a narrower sense. Functional satisfaction (i.e. something engineered work as planned instead verification/falsification of a hypothesis) was judged as being a primary aim of this research and development work. Therefore are (in the context of the publications registered in Chalmers Public Library CPL) the author making distinctions between consumer reports, on one hand. And, one the other hand, reports and preprints (manuscripts), while instead the academically orientated publications are various sort of scientific contributions presented at conferences or published in scientific journals (actually it is somewhat more complex, but further explanations are omitted here). The consumer reports were aimed at a various external organization with who the authors cooperated, and these are in many cases not available in PDF format to be easily read by logging in at CPL. This particular approach has judged as being fair/relevant fair in order to mirror of work conducted by the author or authors during the passing decades. Besides, the competencies at Chalmers Library, who actually have been very helpful, have not managed to provide appropriate answers to the various questions implied being at hand just above (this despite trying to get hold of such answers, hence this very comment).
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| 37. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Engström, T. and Jonsson, D. (2016). Development and Application of (Certain) Principles for Work Structuring
- 2015
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This manuscript is an extensive book (or preprint not yet finished to due to one the author’s retirement) summaries four decades research and development work dealing with development work of alternatives to assembly lines and assembly line work, as have been the case for one of the two authors from a technical point of departure (he is a senior research competency in mechanical engineering). On the other hand, the other authors have an even longer time perspective, but he has a social science background (he is a senior research competency within sociology for more than four decades). That is, they have been working at Chalmers University of Technology respectively at Gothenburg University all throughout their professional life. This while they both are belonging to a normative sociotechnical research tradition earlier at hand in the Gothenburg area, which actually has emanated from specific precursors at Gothenburg University (i.e. mainly professor Edmund Dalhström at the Department of Sociology), this research tradition was later on brought over to Chalmers by professor Ulf Karlsson responsible for operation management at the same university. It is fair to state that this research area required the amalgamation of technical as well as social science aspects. Efforts that during the passing years have been substantiated by extensive help and support from the Swedish automotive industry (Saab Scania and Volvo companies, as well as other parts of the industry) and also from several governmental research foundations. In fact, a truer cross and multi-science research approach than what usually is at hand has always been required. The extensive book manuscript is exceeding more than 600 pages. Twelve chapters exists as well as also a number of freestanding appendixes and the necessary (all-pervading) definitions of primary concepts and term in combination with explaining various synonyms and homonyms (a particular dilemma for cross and multi-science approaches) (i.e. are we in agreement with the text it alone, or are we eventually together understanding the underlying meaning). Moreover, the text is scrutinized by word process programs in form of Word as well as by the professional English check-up program Grammarly) and all of the necessary figures are completed. i.e. several revisions of this manuscript have been iterated first between the authors and later on against other parties. Most notable are external revisions by two senior research competencies (professor David Bennet responsible for operation management at Aston Business School, Birmingham and professor Lennart Nilsson responsible for vocational learning and training at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg). The authoring just described (involving the initiated hinted just above) have occupied our minds for more than one decade (our co-authoring and work with specific Japanese research colleagues, have most certainly underlined a need for careful writing, since among other things just nicking the practitioners’ nomenclature will be misleading, as is also the case while relaying on one or a few scientific research areas) (see some of the other publications registrated in Chalmers Public Library CLP) (it is most certainly an extensive research area, and the skills needed to be mastered in order to understand are indeed wide). The underlying principles of any (real-life) assembly system must, according to our understanding, are inventible required to be explained. Thus, it is important for the analyst to grasp whether or not the principle applied is correct or if the practice is questionable. This means, metaphorically speaking, is the original drawings accurate or have the execution (practice) faulty. The two most sociotechnically advanced (real-life) assembly systems both proved to be successful (more efficient and flexible in relation to comparable assembly lines, and work and work conditions were far better). They were both based on correct principles (i.e. the nowadays defunct Volvo Uddevalla plant and the so-called assembly docks at the Volvo Tuve heavy truck chassis plant located in Gothenburg). As will become evident by the content brought forward in this extensive book manuscript. A comment. The most socio-technically advanced assembly system designs inventible requires reformed/reconfigured information systems dealing with product data (which in turn defines the product architecture and product variation). In fact, no any such (real-life) plant or assembly system would work as anticipated otherwise. And this publication is to some extent describing some selected aspects of this (very) dilemma (changing information systems are usually not something considered than designing assembly systems) (thus are totally new plants – and in turn totally new information systems – most often the real practical change to create something unorthodox) (however, which scientist will gain such opportunities, this is really rare, i.e. the projection of the Volvo Uddevalla plant was thus an exception and the trust given by the industry – by Volvo Uddevalla project organisation – was appreciated by some of the authors).
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation Methods for Assembly Work and Product Design in Radically Different Production Systems: Results from case studies and action research in Swedish industry
- 1993
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Ingår i: Productivity & Quality Management Frontiers – IV, Proceedings 4th Int. Conference on Productivity & Quality Research, Miami; Suthmanth, D. J., Edosomwan, J. A., Poupart, R. and Sink, D. S. (eds.), Industrial Engineering and Management Press, Norcross, Georgia. ; 2, s. 333 - 342
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 40. |
- Engström, Tomas, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Extended Work Cycle Assembly - A crucial learning experience
- 1994
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Ingår i: The International journal of human factors in manufacturing. - : Wiley. - 1045-2699 .- 1522-7111. ; 4:3, s. 293-303
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on a crucial learning experience relating to design principles applied in the Volvo Car Corporation final assembly plant in Uddevalla, Sweden. These principles include the concept of holistic learning, specifically through the creation and transformation of complementary, interrelated physical, semantical, and cognitive structures. We report on the learning environment and learning aids, as well as the learning method applied to the assembly of one-quarter of an automobile performed by one single person. Through the application of this learning concept, it proved possible to dramatically reduce the learning time required for long cycle time assembly work, making cycle times of 2 hours or more a practical proposition for full-scale automotive manufacturing today.
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