Volvo Cars' Assembly Instructions Evaluation
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DF Volvo Cars’ assembly instructions evaluation Identification of issues related to the assembly instructions used at Volvo Cars’ final assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden. Master’s thesis in Production Engineering FANNY JOHANSSON, JEANETTE MALM Industrial and Materials Sciences CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2020 Volvo Cars’ assembly instructions evaluation Identification of issues related to the assembly instructions used at Volvo Cars’ final assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden. FANNY JOHANSSON JEANETTE MALM DF Department of Industrial and Materials Sciences Division of Design and Human Factors Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg, Sweden 2020 Volvo Cars’ assembly instructions evaluation Identification of issues related to the assembly instructions used at Volvo Cars’ final assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden. FANNY JOHANSSON JEANETTE MALM © FANNY JOHANSSON, JEANETTE MALM, 2020. Supervisor: Cecilia Berlin, Industrial and Materials Sciences Examiner: Cecilia Berlin, Industrial and Materials Sciences Department of Industrial and Materials Sciences Division of Design and Human Factors Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg Telephone +46 31 772 1000 Cover: The three main issues found related to the assembly instructions. Typeset in LATEX Printed by Chalmers Digitaltryck Gothenburg, Sweden 2020 iv Volvo Cars’ assembly instructions evaluation Identification of issues related to the assembly instructions used at Volvo Cars’ final assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden. FANNY JOHANSSON, JEANETTE MALM Department of Industrial and Materials Sciences Chalmers University of Technology Abstract This thesis has investigated the development, implementation, and usage of the as- sembly instructions within Volvo Cars, focusing on the humans and their behaviors and experiences. The purpose was to reveal, analyze and give recommendations on how to handle issues connected to the instructions. A study including a litera- ture study, interviews, surveys, observations, and an internal document review, was performed. Initially, a theoretical framework was formulated based on the litera- ture study. Data from interviews, surveys, and observations were gathered within a limited part of Volvo Cars. The research questions aimed at revealing the main issues connected to the in- structions, and how these issues can be handled. The identified main issues were; communication, culture, and instruction layout and content. The main communication issue was the lack of sharing information, both upstream and downstream. This problem was found both between manufacturing engineers and process technicians, and the production manager and the operators. Further, the culture issue included two main problems; the differing goals and prioritization between manufacturing engineering and the plant, and the shop floor culture allow- ing for undesired behavior. The final issue is the instruction layout and content, where the main problem is excessive complexity, leading to misunderstandings and incorrect usage. The problem concerning the communication between the manufacturing engineers and the process technicians is likely based on unawareness of the other party’s work. Therefore, it is important to increase understanding. This research indicates that the communication problem within the plant is caused by an undesired culture, partly caused by deficient leadership skills. The culture within the plant leads to undesired behavior such as incorrect usage of the instructions and neglecting of helping tools. This can be handled by developing the leadership structure, which requires further investigation. The issue regarding the differing goals and prioritization between ME and the plant are not reasonable to try to change. Instead, it is important to improve the relationship and adapt to the other party’s work situation. The issue connected to the instruction layout and content can be handled in several ways. The instructions could be simplified, including less information and clearer formulations. Additionally, the need for detailed instructions will decrease if the work station supports the operator and if the training period is sufficient. Keywords: manual assembly, automotive, production, instructions, communica- tion, culture, organization, work design v Acknowledgments Cecilia Berlin, Chalmers University of Technology Thank you for all the interesting discussions and very useful help during the project. Your knowledge on the subject, and overall engagement in the project, have been of great use. Tony-Michael Andersson, Volvo Car Corporation Thank you for the support you have given us during the project, including wise words, encouragement, and administration. Joakim Pernstål, Volvo Car Corporation Thank you for your great interest in the project, and all good inputs. Your knowledge of research work, and report writing overall, have been very helpful during the project. Jerry Carlund, Volvo Car Corporation Thank you for enlightening us regarding what OIS’s and WES’s are, and how to navigate in the databases. Engineers at ME, Volvo Car Corporation Thank you all for participating in the interviews during the project. Your inputs have been of great value, although we wished to interview some of you further. Operators at Line X, Volvo Car Corporation A huge thanks to all the 14 operators at Line X who participated in the interviews. Your valuable knowledge has been one of the main cornerstones in our project. We further want to thank all the operators at Line X who responded to our surveys. Process technicians, Volvo Car Corporation Thanks to you, the process technicians in Plant C, for your honest answers and valuable inputs to our project. Your inputs during the interviews were eye-openers for us, and very much helped to form this thesis. Production managers, Volvo Car Corporation Thanks to the production managers at Line X in Plant C. Your input during the interview has been of great value in the project. We also want to thank you regarding the distribution of surveys at Line X, and for making it possible to interview the operators. Further, we want to thank you for helping us get camera equipment for the observations of the operators. Jeanette Malm and Fanny Johansson. Gothenburg, April 2020. vii Acronyms ME Manufacturing Engineering OIS Operator Instruction Sheet PcE Process Engineer PcT Process Technician PII Process and Inspection Instruction PM Production Manager TL Team Leader TMU Time Measurement Unit VP Verification Prototype VBE Virtual Build Event WES Work Element Sheet ix Glossary Falling behind When an operator, due to a lowered working pace, cannot finish the work station’s operation within the given amount of time, they fall behind. If the product exceeds a predefined, physical limit, the entire line stops. Key symbol Key symbols are used in the instructions, i.e. WES’s and OIS’s, to indicate when an operation requires extra precaution, and is decided by the team leader. There are six different symbols; safe- ty/environment, ergonomics, critical operation, quality, error proof- ing, and visual factory. Line X Line X includes two laterally reversed lines, i.e. two principally identical but reflected lines. Line X is located in Plant C, and is the part of the plant where the majority of the data was gathered from. Manufacturing Organization constituting the interface between product develop- Engineering ment and manufacturing by securing that the developed products (ME) are possible to manufacture. ME are responsible for the develop- ment of the PII’s. Operator In- The instructions for an assembly sequence at one work station, struction Sheet for one product type, with the cycle time 60 seconds. The OIS (OIS) includes all the operations performed at the work station. The process technician, production manager, and safety officer have a shared responsibility for the development of the OIS. Operator In this project, the term operator refers to the people performing the manual assembly work. Process and In- The PII is an instruction including all the information necessary to spection Instruc- assemble one part, to one car model, e.g. the required operations tion (PII) and tools. The PII’s apply to all of Volvo Cars’ assembly plants, producing the specific car model. The operations in the PII are split and assigned to different work stations in forms of WES’s. The PII’s are created by the manufacturing engineers at ME. Plant C Volvo Cars’ final assembly plant in Torslanda, Gothenburg, Sweden Plant Launch Volvo Cars’ launching organization in Torslanda, Gothenburg, Swe- den. xi Production man- The production manager is responsible for an entire line, including agers several teams of operators and their team leaders. Slow build The product is built with a lowered pace in the test-factory, focusing on evaluating ergonomics, tools, and work methods. Team leader The team leader is responsible for one team at a line. One team consists of six to twelve operators. Time setter One of the time setter’s responsibilities is setting the time, in sec- onds, for the operations in the PII. Initially, the PII includes an estimated time in TMU’s. Time mea- The TMU is a time unit corresponding to 0.036 seconds. For the surement unit PII’s, it is used when estimating the required time for the opera- (TMU) tions. Virtual Build The manufacturing engineer, responsible for a PII, builds a VBE Event (VBE) to test suitable tools and work methods. Verification The product is built in a test-factory with the purpose to test and prototype (VP)- evaluate the PII. series