Digitalisation of Predetermined Motion Time Systems : An Investigation Towards Automated Time Setting Processes

Abstract: Time setting in production operations is necessary to properly takt and balance the flow of assembly and logistics. Time setting activities is also crucial to achieve an optimised, healthy and ergonomic assembly and logistics operation. But time setting is seldom done on a detailed enough level before deployed on the shop floor which necessitates more work of the time setting to make it reflect the work carried out and fit it to the local production area. There is also a need to redo the time setting whenever a change to a process or product has occurred. Nowadays, the time setting is often performed using very manual methods with Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS), sometimes with the aid of digital tools to replace pen and paper but work otherwise practically the same way it has since its inception in the first half of the 20th century. This is a process that require skill, experience and often much time, but is also monotonous and repetitive. To aid in the time setting process, and bring PMTS into Industry 5.0; a digitalised, smart tool is proposed where video can be used to feed a computer program to do the movement classification and time setting accurately and faster than current manual processes can achieve. However, the needs, challenges, and general function of such a system is not well researched in literature. This thesis thus delivers an analysis of current state for the time setting process at a large multinational truck manufacturer with production sites in Sweden and abroad, an overview of technologies for a digitalised, smart PMTS, and a conceptual framework for analysing production tasks using a digitalised, smart system. The framework is then partially implemented to showcase the usefulness of the system and how it would work in practice.