The development of a conceptual test facility : A case study

Abstract: Background There exist an external demand forcing the manufacturing industry to increase their sustainable practice. For manufacturing companies to stay competitive it is necessary for them to transform their organization and operation to be more sustainably responsive. To meet the external demand for sustainable practice in the manufacturing industry, companies need to find new innovative solutions for their production processes.  Implementing new process innovations in production processes can be an uncertain task for companies to manage. To reduce the uncertainty, it is important to experiment with different solutions before implementation. To conduct experiments in an efficient and safe way, companies can use the tool simulation to validate process innovations before implementation.  There exist different simulation methods a company can use. Physical simulations are used when a company have production processes that cannot be simulated through a computer. Physical simulations are conducted in test facilities where companies can analyze material behavior in a laboratory scale production process.  Research questions RQ1: What need exists for test facilities in manufacturing companies?  RQ2: What benefits can be obtained using test facilities?  Aim A1: Identify stakeholder needs and based on these needs develop a conceptual test facility adapted to the case company.  Method To answer the research questions and fulfill the aim of the study, a literature review and a case study was conducted. The literature review explored the need and benefits of conducting physical simulations in test facilities when implementing new innovations in production processes to meet the demand for sustainability.  The case study was conducted at Volvo Construction Equipment in Hallsberg where the need to implement a test facility for their chemical production process was explored together with the benefits such a facility might contribute with. The case study also entailed information with stakeholder’s need for the development of a conceptual test facility to fulfill to the aim of the thesis.  Findings The findings suggest that there exists a need for implementing test facilities in manufacturing companies with chemical production processes. To transform production processes to meet external demands, companies must experiment with new innovations before implementation. A test facility could increase the efficiency when transforming and improving chemical production processes as well as strengthen the knowledge within the company for organizational development.  Furthermore, findings contributed with the development of a conceptual test facility adapted to the case company’s chemical production process. This facility was constructed increase the company’s ability for conducting quality and development test of their current state production process.