Master's Thesis

MASTER'S THESIS

Virtual Packaging of Parts Development of a E-course and Packing Logistics

Siar Cicek 2015

Master of Science in Engineering Technology Mechanical Engineering

Luleå University of Technology Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics

Acknowledgement

First of all I want to thank my family and friends who supported me through this whole project, I want also thank my supervisor Torbjörn Ilar at Luleå University of Technology without your teaching in different courses this project would been very difficult to do. I want also thank my supervisors at Scania: Lars Hanson, Franz Achieng Waker, Peter Lööv and Pär Mårtensson without yours expertise this projects wouldn’t be possible. I want to also thank all packing engineers that have given me tremendous amount of knowledge: Carl Malmgren, Mats Ahrin, Tom Varis, Jan Larsson, Benny Quist, and Ingemar Pihlblad. I want also thank the E-course developers at Scania: Carolina Munoz Jara, Marwan Alper and Matilda Rogstedt without your help it would be difficult to make an E-course. Last I want to thank everyone at the department Global Industrial Development for the support and advises.

Södertälje, 2015-11-27. Siar Cicek

Abstract

This thesis is about educating the packing engineers at Scania to their best potential. The education is made by developing an E-course adapted specially for the packing engineers at Scania. Content of the E-course was defined through analysis of literature, science articles and interviews with the packing engineers it was also decided from analysis. Reason why the packing engineers needed this education is because the packing engineers decisions has a big impact on the company. So it is therefore important that the packing engineers consider different parameters when deciding how the final package should look. One way to improve the packing engineers work is by the virtual packing software Pack-Assistant which is used to pack CAD-files, which is much more quicker then manual packing and efficient. The main purpose with this thesis is to investigate which parameters has to be taken in to consideration for the most efficient packing (and what is efficient from different perspectives). How do packaging influence logistic and vice versa and how to adapt the E- course in the most optimal way. The projects main purpose was to study different E-course educational methods, analysis of how Pack-Assistant works, observation of packages in Scania, experiments was conducted to see how real packages differ when the same parts was simulated in Pack-Assistant. Where it was concluded that Pack-Assistant was a more pack efficient for the majority of the tested parts. From the comparison it was also concluded that Scania could save 13 % of their freight cost, container cost and internal handling cost just from packing in Pack-Assistant. One other major result from the analysis is that packing engineers prefer to pack the number of parts with even “nice” numbers like 10, 20, 50, 100, etc. Which is a great problem economically for Scania, sometimes it is more efficient to pack with 11 parts instead of 10 parts. It was also observed how the setting in Pack-Assistant had for effect on the packing and also in which circumstances to use the different packing structures in the software. When the course was finish the main subjects is The packaging working process, number of parts in the package, package handle ability and packing structure. The course consist of two parts: Part 1: Which different parameters to consider in the making of packing instructions. Part 2: How to use the software Pack-Assistant and what in the software is of great importance for the packing engineer at Scania.

Sammanfattning

Denna avhandling handlar om att utbilda förpacknings ingenjörer på Scania till sin bästa potential. Utbildningen sker genom att utveckla en E-kurs anpassad speciellt för förpackningsingenjörer inom Scania. Innehållet i E-kursen definierades genom analys av litteratur, vetenskapliga artiklar och intervjuer med förpackningsingenjörer och från analysen. Anledningen till att förpacknings ingenjörerna behöver utbildningen beror på att deras olika beslut har en stor inverkan på företaget. Så det är därför viktigt att förpackningsingenjörer tar hänsyn till olika parametrar vid beslut om hur den slutliga förpackningen ska se ut. Ett sätt att förbättra förpackningsingenjörer arbete är av den virtuella förpackningsprogramvaran Pack- Assistant som används för att packa CAD-filer, vilket är mycket snabbare sedan manuell packning och effektiv. Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilka parametrar måste tas i beaktande för den mest effektiva packningen (och vad som är effektivt ur olika perspektiv). Hur påverkar förpackningar logistik och vice versa och hur anpassar man en E-kursen på det mest optimala sättet. Projektets huvudsyfte var att studera olika E-kursutlärningsmetoder, analys av hur Pack- Assistant fungerar, observationer av förpackningar på Scania, experiment gjordes för att se hur observerade förpackningar skiljer sig när samma delar simulerades i Pack-Assistant. Där det konstaterades att Pack-Assistant var mer pack effektivt för de flesta av de testade artiklarna. Från jämförelse så kunde också slutsatsen dras att Scania skulle kunna spara 13% av sin fraktkostnaden, container kostnader och interna kostnadshantering bara från att bara använda Pack-Assistant. Ett annat viktigt resultat från analysen är att förpacknings ingenjörer föredrar att packa antalet artiklar med jämna "fina" siffror som 10, 20, 50, 100, etc. Vilket är ett stort problem ekonomiskt för Scania, ibland är det mer effektivt att pack med 11 artiklar istället för 10 artiklar. Det observerades också hur inställningen i Pack-Assistant hade för effekt på förpackningen och även under vilka omständigheter man ska använda de olika förpackningsstrukturer i programvaran. När kursen var klar så var de viktigaste kategorierna: arbetsprocess vid förpackning, antal artiklar i paketet, paketet hanterbarhet och förpackningsstruktur. Kursen består av två delar: Del 1: Vilka olika parametrar att beakta vid skapandet av förpackningsinstruktioner. Del 2: Hur man använder programvaran Pack-Assistant och vad i mjukvaran är av stor betydelse för förpackningsingenjör på Scania. E-kursen var också granskad av vissa förpackningsingenjörer och alla gillade kursen väldigt mycket!

Contents 1.0 Background ...... 2 1.1 The Problems ...... 3 1.2 Purpose ...... 4 1.3 Delimitations ...... 4 1.4 Disposition ...... 4 2.0 Theory ...... 6 2.1 Packaging ...... 6 2.2 Logistics ...... 8 2.3 Packing-logistics ...... 9 2.4 Product development processes...... 11 2.5 Product Quality ...... 12 2.6 Package handle ability ...... 13 2.7 Number of parts in container ...... 15 2.7.1 Economic order Quantity ...... 15 2.7.2 Distance to supplier ...... 15 2.8 Part considerations: ...... 16 2.8.1 Volume-to-Weight ratio...... 16 2.8.2 Value-to-Weight Ratio ...... 16 2.9.0 logistic costs ...... 16 2.9.1 Inventory costs ...... 16 2.9.2 Transportation methods and costs ...... 17 2.10 E-learning ...... 19 2.10.1 Delivery strategies ...... 19 2.10.2 Course Content...... 20 3.0 Methodology ...... 24 3.1 Surveys ...... 24 3.2 Experiments ...... 24 3.3 Case Study ...... 24 3.4 Interview methods ...... 25 3.4.1 The relationship between the interviewer and the participant ...... 25 3.5 Observation Method ...... 26 3.6 The ADDIE-Model ...... 26 3.7 Research methods used and why?...... 27 3.7.1 Analysis phase ...... 27 3.7.2 Design phase ...... 28 3.7.3 Development ...... 29 3.7.4 Implementation and Evaluation ...... 29 4.0 Analysis ...... 32 4.1 Pack-Assistant ...... 32 4.2 Packing structures for the software Pack-Assistant ...... 35 4.2.1 Compartment packing ...... 35 4.2.2 Planar intermediate packing with overlapping ...... 36 4.2.3 Stacking ...... 36 4.2.4 Flexible Intermediate layer ...... 37 4.2.5 Bulking ...... 37 4.3 Containers and intermediate layers at Scania ...... 38 4.4 The packing process at Scania ...... 39 4.4.1 Scania selection sheet...... 39 4.5 How to integrate the packaging with production, supplier and construction? ...... 41 4.6 Real observation of packing...... 41 4.6.1 Group 1 Parts form the same supplier ...... 42 4.6.2 Group 2 Observation: Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers...... 43 4.6.3 Group 3 Observation: Parts with highest consumption rate from different suppliers ...... 44 4.7 Psychologic factor when packing ...... 44 4.8 Simulations in Pack-Assistant ...... 45 4.8.1 Group 1 Experiment: Parts from the same supplier ...... 46 4.8.2 Group 2 Experiment: Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers ...... 47 4.8.3 Group 3 Experiment: Parts with highest consumption rate from different suppliers ...... 47 4.8.4 Summation of simulation results ...... 48 4.9 Comparison between simulations and real observations ...... 48 4.10 Interview data summation ...... 49 5.0 Result...... 52 5.1 Package handle ability ...... 53 5.2 Number of parts in the container ...... 54 5.3 Packing structure ...... 55 5.4 The working process for packing the packing engineers...... 55 5.5 Test 1 ...... 56 5.6 Pack-Assistant description ...... 56 5.7 Test 2 ...... 57 5.8 Evaluation of the course ...... 57 6.0 Discussion ...... 59 6.1 Theory relevance to the result...... 59 6.2 The result relevance ...... 59 7.0 Conclusion ...... 62 7.1 Further work ...... 63 8.0 Reference ...... 65 Appendix ...... 68 Appendix 1: Packing Instruction ...... 68 Appendix 2...... 69 Appendix 3: Summation of simulation experiments ...... 70 Appendix 4: Result of simulations in Pack-Assistant ...... 71 Group 1: Part 1 ...... 71 Group 1: Part 2 ...... 72 Group 1: Part 3 ...... 73 Group 1: Part 4 ...... 74 Group 1: Part 5 ...... 75 Group 2: Part 1 ...... 76 Group 2: Part 2 ...... 77 Group 2: Part 3 ...... 78 Group 2: Part 4 ...... 79 Group 2: Part 5 ...... 80 Group 2: Part 6 ...... 81 Group 3: Part 1 ...... 82 Group 3: Part 2 ...... 83 Group 3: Part 3 ...... 84 Group 3: Part 4 ...... 85 Group 3: Part 5 ...... 86 Group 3: Part 6 ...... 87

1. Introduction This chapter consist of what packaging has for effect on industries and what the purpose is for this research.

1.0 Background The main subject of this thesis is about packaging for arrival goods in the company Scania AB, where the study has been focused in Södertälje where the headquarters are. Briefly Scania is a Swedish company which manufactures heavy trucks, buses and marine/industry engines but is own by Volkswagen since the year 2008. The study consist of 20 weeks of research which is equal to 30hp master in mechanical engineering with the field study of production in Luleå Technical University. The study is focused on the importance of packaging in Scania mainly in two of the production facility’s chassis and engines. The department in Scania where this project has been conducted is Digital Factory. There is a software called Pack-Assistant that are been used by some packing-engineers in the company to simulate packing without the physical product. The software is going to support and educate packing-engineers to their best potential when a packing is made, and what to consider in the process of making a packing-instruction to the supplier. When a packing engineer have decided how to pack a specific part from different packing criteria’s it then sends a final packing instruction to the supplier which can be observed in the appendix 1. Before the packing instruction is sent it is important that all essential consideration has been taking. The thesis consist of two major objectives: what to consider when a packing instruction is made for the supplier and take that information into account in the framework of the E-course. Pack-Assistant is a software which is used for packing simulations of cad-details into different containers to get the optimal packing arrangement. According to producers of Pack-Assistant Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI: This program saves time for the packing planers because they don’t need to try to pack with the actual physical product. The packing can also be planned in an earlier stage of the product development process. Benefits with the program is: optimal container utilization, avoiding time-consuming packing tests, allowing early-stage transport, container and storage planning.

Two examples of companies that has been successful by using Pack-Assistant are Audi AG and KTM Power Sports AG:

 “In the case of Audi AG they benefited because of rapid calculation and realized the enormous potential savings for parts in large quantities as seen in the case of rear lights for automobiles where they went from 36 part per container to 45 which reduced the transport cost with 57 thousand per year”.

 “When setting up a new production facility KTM Power Sports AG has used Pack- Assistant to plan container sizes and the optimal packing of 450 parts. Since neither real parts or prototypes were available during the set-up phase, planning was carried out using CAD-parts. Strategic planning for the containers revolved around the future logistics processes, flow of materials and the production cycle within the plant. So with Pack-Assistant it was possible to shorten the lead times for planning and implementation of new containers by more than 50 percent compared with an industry standard of nine to twelve months, where KTM used only four months”.

So almost every physical part that flow through the logistic network is packaged. The main goal with packaging is (Hannan Sadjady, 2011):

 To protect or preserve items

 To identify the product and provide basic information.

 To facilitate the handling and storage of products.

 To improve the product appearance, assist in promoting and marketing

The thesis only covers the first three points and nothing about the last point. Reason for why the last point is not emphasized is because the products are already bought from the supplier.

The second major point in this thesis is to know which information to be the relevant for the E-course and how to present the education material. Identification of the knowledge of the participants how are going to use the E-course what their difficulties are. The reason an E- course is chosen is because it resource efficient for Scania instead of having classroom education.

1.1 The Problems So why is packaging an important subject for Scania ? Packaging is a relevant subject because it stands for 5 – 10% of the logistical cost ( Bjöörn, 1990) and 8% according to Lancioni & Chandran, 1990. In Sweden alone the potentials of package handling savings for retails outlets and distributions outlets is about five million euro for every second (DULOG,1997). Packaging also affect logistics and vice versa (Hellström, 2007). Also if more products can be packed into a certain container the transport cost per product reduces which then reduces the product price, if the transport cost is depended per product. Packing also influence ergonomics because of the handling of packaging and unpacking from containers. How sensitive or expensive the product is must also be taking into consideration in the making of the packing-instruction. So the arrangement of the packing structure influence all this aspects which was mentioned because the main purpose of packing according to Paine, F.A. (1990) is: protecting, collecting and providing information about the content.

1.2 Purpose The whole purpose is to make the packaging-engineers job easier, efficient and more integrated with the rest of the company. First of all a E-learning course going to be made to educate new upcoming packing-engineers and packing-engineers who has not used the software Pack-Assistant what to considerate when deciding the right packing for a specific part. The main purpose is:  What parameters has to be taken in to consideration for the most efficient packing ?  How do packaging influence logistic and vice versa ?  How to adapt the E-course in the most optimal way for packing engineers ?

1.3 Delimitations Because the limited time of 20 weeks some delimitations had to be made, first of all the project is mainly focused on packing in two departments at Scania Södertälje which is Engine Assembly and Chassis-Manufacturing. Most of the interviews was also conducted in this two departments. The project also limited the packaging analysis on smaller containers and more general information about the bigger sized packing containers. It was not relevant also to interview all packing engineers at Scania because there are too many. 1.4 Disposition 1.Introduction This chapter consist of what packaging has for effect on companies and what the purpose is for this research. 2.Theory This chapter consist of all the theory’s about packing, logistics, ergonomics and E- learnings. 3.Methodology This chapter consist of the different methods relevant for this research and why the methods was selected. 4.Analysis This chapter consist of analysis of how the software Pack-Assistant works, packing process at Scania, observation of packages and simulations. 5.Result This chapter consist of the main content for the E-Course 6.Discussion This chapter discusses the relevance of the Result for Scania. 7. Conclusion This chapter concludes what has been achieved with this research and further research.

2. Theory This chapter consist of all the theory’s about packing, logistics, ergonomics and E-learnings.

2.0 Theory 2.1 Packaging The Packaging system can be categorised into three main subjects (Dominic, 2000):

Logistic Flow Requirements: Contribute to the efficiency of management in packaging within the supply chain, the flow requirements can generate more favourable handling efficiency in production and distribution to stores. Market Requirements: Gives the product more attractiveness, and more value for the consumer if the package is appealing. It also gives information about the product. Environmental Requirements: Improve the environmental impact, resource management and recycling. So the ten functions which packaging depend on is (Parvini, 2011) : 1. Containment: The details has to be contained to move them around together and protect them from the outside. 2. Quantity: How many objects which should be in the container depended of customer demand and storage levels. 3. Package Convenience: where the package has features which simplifies in distribution, handling, appearance, use and reuse. 4. Information Transfer: The package and labels communicate how to use the package and what to take into consideration when handling the package. Where some information is a must by the government like chemical, pharmaceutical and food product etc. 5. Physical Protection: Where the package protects the objects from bumping on each other, shock, vibration, temperature, compression and other forces on the package. 6. Barrier Protection: Are usually used in the food industry to keep the food fresh and clean for intended shelf life, where preservatives are used like desiccants and oxygen absorbers. 7. Marketing: How appealing is the package for the customer with design of package and graphic on the surface of the package. 8. Security: To reduce the risk of the package from pilferage a more secure container can be used, electronic article surveillance tags and tempered proof with special bolts so that an unauthorized person cannot open the box. 9. Logistic: Package has to consider logistic in the development of the package as transport and warehouse etc. 10. Environmental: If the package are going to be reused or if it is only one use package and how environmental friendly is the package material.

Packaging itself can be categorised into three main subtitles primary, secondary and tertiary packaging as seen in figure 1 (Bramklev, 2007).

Figure 1 shows different packing containers depending on where it is one the supply chain. (Greenblue.org, 2015) Primary Packaging This package is build for the direct consumer of the product. Example of this is the wine bottle in figure 1. The product is in direct contact with it, in this case the wine with the glass bottle. The objectives for the primary is to contain, preserve and protect.

Secondary Packaging Secondary packaging is for distribution and multi-unit packaging in this example it's the cardboard box (Figure 1) which is used by the shop assistant to maybe put the wine bottles on to the shelf. Basically secondary packaging is designed to contain several primary packages.

Tertiary Packaging Tertiary is used as a transport package as seen in figure 1, with many secondary packages stacked on each other. Sealed and then transported.

The package is also a product and therefore packages differ from intended customer and destination. The package can be classified into four main packages (Hanlon, 1998): Industrial, Institutional, consumer and military packages. Where industrial packaging emphasizes the logistic aspect, the institutional packaging which focus more on consumer utility. Consumer packages focuses on optimizing consumer utility and military packaging emphasizes protection, identification and inspection.

In some cases the part and the package is the same thing for example a red coca cola can is as important as the actual beverage so the package to the customer is as important. So in this case the package has a brand associated with the package and this is a consumer package. But in some cases the marketing of the package is not as important for example industrial packaging. For example the operator in the production line which unpacks the part from a container don't prioritize how its package looks from the outside they only care about functionality of the package for their different jobs. (Hanlon, 1998)

Package development process consist of the generals steps according to De Maria, 2000 (Figure 2):

Figure 2: Package development process (De Maria, 2000)

Where it consist of three major categories planning, proving functionality and package launch. The majority of steps is in the planning category which has goals set for the package and the business, then a project team has to be arranged of the people how are involved in the packing process. The team then comes up with different packing concept and with feasibility assessment to a conclusion for a final concept which is then tested by the consumer of the package and evaluated. After the evaluation development for a prototype package begins which is then tested again by the consumer which is evaluated and developed again further. Then after all this steps the final concept begin to take shape after evaluation. When the final concept is approved packaging test begins and a final approval from the consumer. Then production start-up begins and monitoring the performance of the whole production process from concept of a package to the final package.

2.2 Logistics Logistic has its origins from the military when they supplied troops in the field with guns, food, clothes, maintenance of forces, hospitalization of personnel etc. The word logistics comes from the Greek word logistikos meaning skilled in calculations. The definition of the word logistics in term of business is: “Logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from point-of-origin to point-of-consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements”(vogt,2002). Key components for logistics is: Warehousing: physical requirements of holding inventory space determination and stock layout etc., Materials Handling: is the requirement of moving in the warehouse and to other facility’s. Purchasing: deals with buying of goods and services so that the business can function, where timing and quantity is crucial. Packaging: where the design for handling, protection, transport and storage is vital. Cooperate with Production Operations: synchronizing the demand in production with the transport of recourses is very important for the business to work properly. Information Maintenance: information is what links all the other logistics subjects. It consist of info collection, data analyses, control procedures, customer service which mean recognize desires of others (Ballou, 2003). A more detailed view of the logistic system is seen in figure 3.

Figure 3: Describe the logistic system.( https://gc21.giz.de)

2.3 Packing-logistics Packing is not by itself like an island in the ocean, packaging influences many aspects in a business including logistics where the name packing-logistics comes from. The packaging system influences logistics, marketing, production and product development (figure 4).(Johnsson 1998; Jönson 2000;Klevås 2005; Prendergast 1995; Saghir 2004)

Figure 4: Describes the relationship between packaging system and other areas. (Hellstöm,2007) The term packing-logistics is a quite new concept that has getting attention lately from the scientific community. (Johnsson 1998;Twede 1992;Dominic et al. 2000;Öjmertz 1998;Twede & Parsons 1997;Henriksson 1998; Saghir 2002) In figure 5 you can see if one decision is made in logistics it affects packaging and vice versa. So the term packing-logistics stands for bridging the gap between them as close as possible (Hellstöm,2007). Packaging as a significant impact on the logistical costs and it’s the other way around also, for example: storage and transports are directly related to the package density and size. How the components are packed in the container also affect handling costs. Customer service depends on protection of the package and unpacking costs. Transport costs are related to tertiary packages (pallets and roll cages) and how adaptable is the package for transportation and stack ability (Saghir, 2002). The main purpose of packing logistics is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems together and not each by its own (Hellström, 2007).

Figure 5: How decisions in the packaging effect logistics and vice versa.(Hellstöm,2007)

The package decisions of for example change of package, equipment, material and packing structures affects the logistics because of standards of: storage areas, material handling equipment’s, and transportation, etc. To build an efficient logistic system standards is a must, where most of the standards of the packages has shaped the logistic systems. So it is necessary to find an appropriate balance between standards in logistics and differentiated packaging. In the table below shows the packing cost tradeoffs by Lambert, 1998 Logistics activity Trade-offs Transportation Increased package information Decreases shipment delays; increased package information decreases tracking of lost shipments. Increased package protection Decreases damage and theft in transit, but increases package weight and transport costs. Increased standardisation Decreases handling costs, vehicle waiting time for loading and unloading; increased standardization; increases modal choices for shipper and decreases need for specialized transport equipment. Inventory Increased product protection Decreased theft, damage, insurance; increases product availability (sales); increases product value and carrying costs. Warehousing Increased package information Decreases order filling time, labour cost. Increased product protection Increases cube utilisation (stacking), but decreases cube utilisation by increasing the size of the product dimensions. Increased standardisation Decreases material handling equipment costs. Communications Increased package information Decreases other communications about the product such as telephone calls to track down lost shipments.

Table 1: The table shows how logistics and packaging are affected by each other. (Lamber, 1998)

To integrate all involved parties in packaging the package development process which is adapted for packing-logistics according to Chan, 2006 is the following six steps:

Step 1: Identify the possible package flow route and the packaging level. Step 2: Integrate packaging logistics in the product type stage. Step 3: Create a preliminary package design. Step 4: Establish information flow among all parties. Step 5: Redesign the packaging system. Step 6: Use value-chain model to evaluate the finalized chosen package.

This six steps integrate packaging process with other processes which affects indirect or direct.

2.4 Product development processes According to Ulrich 2014 to: The development of a product consist of the following steps shown in figure 6: Phase 0 : Planning, Phase 1: Concept Development, Phase 2: system- level design, Phase 3: detail design, Phase 4: Phase testing and refinement and Phase 5: Production ramp-up

Figure 6: Describes the steps to develop a physical product. Phase 0: Is the planning phase where a mission statement has to be defined and what the purpose with the project is. Also the goals and delimitations to the project has to be stated. The process of the product development has to be defined and the method to gather information. Phase 1: Is the phase where different concepts is developed and compared to each other and evaluated, then some concepts is selected because of higher value for the research. The selected concepts is then tested and for further development. In the concept definition there is the function, properties, and analysis of the competitors product. Phase 2: System level design means that there is a preliminary design on the most important components and a decomposition of the product into subsystems and components. A functional specification for each product subsystem and a preliminary description of the final assembly process.

Phase 3: The design of the product at the end of this phase should be complete where material, tolerances, measurements and design etc, are defined in a control document. The

11 standard parts is identified which is going to be purchased by the supplier. It is also defined how to manufacture the product which tools, quality control, methods and machines to use.

Phase 4: In this phase there is testing and refinement which consist of construction and evaluation of multiple pre-produced versions of the product in order to test whether the product works as designed. The prototypes has two categories alpha and beta prototypes: where alpha is the early prototype which has the same material properties and geometry but has not necessarily the same manufacturing process for the actual product. Beta prototypes are in other hand manufactured in the same way but not necessarily assembled the same. Differences between the two is that alpha emphasizes more the function and that it satisfies the most important customer needs, and beta is more focused on performance and reliability issues to improve for the product.

Phase 5: Is the last step in the product development process which is production ramp-up which translates to start the manufacturing process. The purpose is to train and educate the workforce for upcoming problems in the manufacturing process. It also important to get feedback from the customer to evaluate the whole process.

2.5 Product Quality The type of product affect which quality requirements is needed for the specific product packaging. For example sugar needs an environment where the moisture low where the paper package help just for that. Some parts are sensitive for vibrations for example electronic equipment’s where vibration could occur under the transportation. There is also parts where the surface of a part is milled in high tolerances so it is crucial to protect it from scratching or even worse a dent caused by the parts in the container bumps into each other. When a package is made it is vital to know every property of the specific part which can affect the package quality, where the sensitivity of: vibration, temperature, humidity, chemical, electromagnetic field, mechanical abrasion most be considered. (Dominic, 2000) The package methods can be categorised into five subjects ( Dominic, 2000): 1. Adapted packaging: Which is the ideal case, where product and package withstands stresses from the distribution environment. 2. Under packaging: In this case there is not enough protection which can cause product damage. 3. Over packaging: In this case there is too much packaging protection then what is necessary which causes distribution costs to rise and the environment is affected negatively because more material is distributed. As a result the whole package also get more expensive. 4. Optimization 1: If the product itself is more tolerant so can fewer package protections be used, this could be a good alternative if it cost less to improve the part then to make the package more damage resistant. 5. Optimization 2: Sometimes it is better to use a simplified package when the stresses from the distribution environment is reduced if for an example the form of transport method is changed.

2.6 Package handle ability Handle ability refers to how well the packaging is adapted to different handling activities that the packages goes throw in the logistic flow. It refers not only for the end customer but all individuals which interact with the package under the flow process. It is important that the package not contribute to a safety risk of the person who packs the package and unloads. The arrangement of the parts, weight, volume, stack ability, possibility to recycle and hygiene are all important factors for the package handle ability (Dominic, 2000). The package handle ability can be explained as the ease of handle packages within a storage area involving loading, unloading, pelletizing, de palletizing, transportation, etc. (Vogt, 2002) The handle ability can be categorized as manual, semi-automated or fully automated. Manual handle ability refers to package handling with only the human body. Examples of manually operation could be to pick up parts from a package or lifting the whole package. Semi- Automated operation could be the use of for example an overhead crane to lift parts from a package or lift the whole package with a forklift. Automated handling can use automated guided vehicle (AGV) for transport of packages or usage of industrial robots for packing operations.(Vogt,2002) In the design phase of the package, different handle abilities has to be considered. For ergonomic purposes the grip opening in figure 8 facilitates for that person who is going to lift the box tremendously both ergonomically and comfortable. Also tools which are adapted to facilitate manual handling is important to not contribute to ergonomic injuries, figures 9-12. The package most be designed in a way so that the power zones are accounted for shown in figure 7 or tools equipment which can help handle the package as the scissor lifts figure 12 (NIOSH, 2007)

Figure 7: Work is safest when lifting and reaching is performed in these zones. (OSHA, 2004) Figure 8: Vacuum lifters make the handling of large or heavy containers easier.(NIOSH, 2007) Figure 9: Grip opening for a cardboard box. (NIOSH, 2007) Figure 10: The tilters is used to elevate the content and thereby avoiding bending injuries. (NIOSH, 2007) Figure 11: An air ball table makes it easier to slide containers, thereby reducing workers efforts.(NIOSH, 2007) Figure 12: Scissor lifts is helpful when dealing with heavy objects and to avoid bending movements. (NIOSH, 2007) It is also important that the content in the container is placed in a way so that the stability of the container is not affected when lifted manually or lifting equipment. For example if all the content is placed to one side in the container and not evenly distributed the container will tip over when lifted.(NIOSH, 2007) Space clearance is also important to have reachability for manual material handling for example when picking up a part from a container to avoid bending, reaching and twisting which includes both in the container and also in the storage space. For semi-automated manual package handling space is also important to reach the packages with the forklift in the storage space or other lifting equipment. (NIOSH, 2007) There is different ways for a human hand to pick up a part from a container, there is generally two common methods either grabbing or pinching. Where grabbing is also called power grip shown in figure 13 which is also the strongest grip. Pinching is used when precise movement is required and when the weight load is low, the most common is Tip Pinching, Lateral Pinching and Chuck Pinching. Examples when tip pinching is used when holding a small object, Lateral Pinch when turning a key and Chuck when holding a pencil shown in the images below. It is more stressful biomechanically to pinch than grab. Generally speaking is that pinching generates only 15-25% of the force exerted by the power grip. Task which are done frequently and require 2 lbs or more force should not involve pinch grips. The drawback with the power grip is the difficulty to have good control because the fingers move as one entity and only in one direction. (NIOSH, 2011)

Figure 13: Power Grip Figure 14 : Tip Pinch Figure 14: Lateral Pinch Figure 16: Chuck Pinch (NIOSH, 2011) Standard tool equipment and storage standard effect the package handle ability where the design of the package most be adapted to this standards or the package handle ability cost will increase because of specialized transport equipment, tool, storages, etc. (Lambert, 1998)

2.7 Number of parts in container 2.7.1 Economic order Quantity The number of parts in a container has a direct effect on inventory and order costs. There is a formula called Wilson Formula even called EOQ ( Economic Order Quantity) which minimizes this two costs introduced by Ford W. Harris in 1913 in the article "How Many Parts to Make at Once" . The formula consists of Q which is the order quantity and is the value of importance to minimize inventory and order costs. The D stand for annual demand quantity and S is the ordering costs per purchase which consists of transport, handling and setup costs. And H stands for annual holding costs per unit, also called inventory costs.

The formula is illustrated in the figure 17.

Figure 17: Economic Order Quantity Graph where the total cost is at the lowest point.( http://www.eazystock.com) Some drawbacks with the formula is that it assumes followings: the order lead time which is the time from placing the order to delivery is constant, purchasing cost don’t change dependent on the order quantity, the customers demand of parts and the reordering is quantity is the same. (Sabri, 2007)

2.7.2 Distance to supplier The distance to the supplier also effect the number of parts to be ordered where the following three subjects is mentioned in the book Logistik I Försörjningskedjor by Stig-Arne Mattson: The space dimension, the time dimension and cultural dimension. The space dimension refers to the distance to supplier where shorter distance generates lower transport costs and can give more frequent delivery with lower quantity’s at each delivery which is part of the just-in-time philosophy and Kanban system. A closer distance also leads to easier access to meetings and thereby establishment of a better partnership with the supplier. When time dimension is mentioned it refers to different time zones when distances between the parties are large. This affect communication opportunities because of different working hours, even holidays differ between countries which lead to no communication at all or worse that products don’t get delivered. To prevent for a stock-out of supplies a safety-stock must be established which causes higher inventory costs. The last dimension is cultural where the language, behaviour

15 and approach have great impact on the communication and misunderstandings can occur and affect all things in the supply chain. In some situation it is more beneficial to buy components from a distant supplier because of cheaper purchase price. It is useful when buying standard components which don’t needed to be changed over long time periods, for example screws, nuts and bolts. But if it is parts which need to developed and improved continuously like engine parts, electric components, etc. Then it is important to have close relationship both geographically and communication vice. 2.8 Part considerations: 2.8.1 Volume-to-Weight ratio The Volume to Weight ratio of a component affect transport, storage, handle ability, and packaging. When the Volume to Weight ratio is low it affects all this logistic subjects mentioned in a positive manner, examples could be sheet metal and books. In other hand when the parts volume are larger than the weight for example feathers, foam and food items it takes a lot of space which is not preferable from a logistic perspective. In most cases when the volume to weight is low, the logistic costs is also low except in cases when parts is transported by air, weight is more important than volume.(Sadjady, 2011)

2.8.2 Value-to-Weight Ratio When the value of the component is high compared to the weight it tends to absorb the distribution costs because the distribution cost is a relative low in proportion to the products overall cost. Where low value-to-weight ratios like concrete, sand, and ore incur relative high transport unit costs compared to with high value-to-weight ratios for example computers, diamonds, cameras equipment, etc. Also the high value-to-weight ratios products ties up more capital for the inventory costs because of the high value. (Sadjady, 2011) 2.9.0 logistic costs 2.9.1 Inventory costs An inventory is any stored resource used to satisfy a current or future need where resources could be raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods are examples of inventory. Excessive inventory levels are costly and insufficient levels leads to stock outs. Therefore a balance between the two has to made continuously. Inventory costs represent as much as 50% of the invested capital for many companies. The main uses of inventory is to act as an decupling function, storing resources, handle irregular supply and demand, quantity discount, avoiding stock outs and shortages.

The decupling function is to decouple the manufacturing processes, for example one manufacturing activity has to be completed before a second activity can be started the inventory can act as an buffer between working station to not cause interruption in the manufacturing process. Storage of resources and storage space cost is two major cost for the inventory. Storage of resources is obvious if the price of a part is high the cost to store it will also be high. Sometimes security measures has to be taken to protect the part from inaccessible people to have access. The storage space cost is calculated by multiplying cost per cubic meter of the space occupied with the amount of time the inventory is stored. The bigger the storage is the more will it cost to build the facility and inventory service costs and insurance and taxes is

16 affected (Vogt, 2002). So the major inventory costs are: items, ordering, carrying or holding inventory, stock outs and safety stock. The advantage with inventory is also to handle an irregular supply and demand which is crucial to not have production stops and their by not have delivery interruptions which can affect the relationship with the customer. Sometimes the inventory can take advantage of quantity discount which means it in some circumstances it is more profitable to order more parts. Safety stocks are crucial when the part demands fluctuates up to satisfy the customer needs, if the company is out of stock repeatedly and not available to deliver it will affect the trust between customer and supplier. (Balakrishnan, 2012). Two fundamental questions to ask in consideration to inventory costs is: . How much to order ? . When to order? To forecast the demand of a product or service can be categorised broadly into three techniques: Qualitative Techniques, Time Series Analysis and Casual Methods. Qualitative forecasting is not based on mathematical calculation. It’s based on subjective judgment forecasting where the experience of the business and sales determines the accuracy of the forecast. So this method is more related to knowledge and experience than actual calculations. This method is useful when data are not available or we wish to gain general insights through the opinions of experts. Time series analysis in other hand uses mathematical data to forecast the product or service demand. It uses historical data to predict the future events. Time series analysis can be categorised into two series: Multi-period pattern projection and single-period pattern less projection. Multi-period pattern projection produce forecasts from period of weeks, months, quarters, etc. For example the sales of a specific parts in the last year set the trend or demand for the next year. If part has increased in sales with 10% each year the logistic manager knows that the demand should increase probably with 10% next year. However also if the demand has been constant each month for example it should be the same for the next upcoming month. Single-period pattern less projection uses shorter history data to predict the demand with the most recent data. It is not as accurate as the multi-period forecasting method. Causal methods aims to figure out the cause and effect in the demand. To understand why demand patterns change tools like regression analysis, multiple regression and econometric models are used. After the analysis is a more accurate and complex prediction of the future demands can be achieved. (Nieuwenhuizen, 2007)

2.9.2 Transportation methods and costs The five most common transport modes of packages are by: Road, Rail, Water, Air and Pipeline.

The transportation on the road is the most popular mode of transportation. It is also the most accessible to most places and it is also quite a fast method to transport. The disadvantage is that petroleum and diesel prices keeps rising which affect the transport cost on the road. Road transportation is also limited to the land and cannot transport across the sea. The rail transportation is useful when transporting heavy objects and traveling long distances. It is convenient to transport bulk items like raw materials like coal and iron ore. Cost of transport on rail is generally less than on the road or air. Problem with rail is that the rail is already fixed and cannot change direction which makes it very inflexible compared to roads which there are plenty of directions to choose from. The other disadvantages is that it only provides terminal to terminal services for example Stockholm to Gothenburg instead of direct to the customers address which in the case of the road option it is possible. Air transport is suitable for handling expensive items like computers, jewellery etc. So transporting low value items by air is not cost-efficient because of the high transport cost. If fast transportation is prioritized air is the method of choice. Pipelines is constrained to liquids or gases and not actual physical objects. Advantage is that it is fast to transport and cheapest when used but not so cheap to build. The advantage with transportation on water is that large objects and big amount of quantities can transported compared to the other methods. However the transportation routes are often fixed which limits the flexibility. There is also a restriction on the a minimum weight limit to transport parts. The transport is also restricted to the ports which means that continued transportation must happen to transport the freight inland to the customer. (Kulkarni, 2008) The most expensive freight cost is by air and the least by water. The shipment size and weight is the least on air usually a few kilograms and on water the minimum weight is around 20–40 ton. When ordering the choice of transport method will also have an impact on the lot size restrictions which in turn influence the inventory levels. If the delivery time wants to be minimum air is the preferred choice and the longest by water. Losses and damages of products is highest for rail and lowest for water. (Shah, 2009) To decide which transport method to use with consideration to the customer the following considerations can made (Voortman, 2004):  Dependability: Which stands for the consistency of the transportation delivery timings. For example if the parts arrive two days late every time (not consistent).

 Time in transit: Is how long time will it take to transport from location A to location B

 Flexibility: The transport method affect the flexibility, as an example to transport on the road is more flexible than on rail because there is more roads accessible to different locations then rails.

 Loss and damage of products: Some transportation is more unreliable then other, as mentioned transport on the rail has the highest damage rate of the transported modes.

2.10 E-learning So what is an E-Learning? “An E-learning can be defined as the use of computer and Internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions to enable learning and improve performance” (FAO, 2011) The E-learning reaches a wider target of audience, It is useful when: the localization differences are large, different time zones or if the learner is busy in a specific date/time it is no problem because the course is not fixt like a classroom session. The skills learned from an E-learning is more knowledge and comprehension based like follow instructions and applying knowledge to new situations which is also referred as cognitive skills. Some other skills is not to suitable with an E-learning for example interpersonal skills like communication with other people, presentation etc. It wouldn’t also be appropriate to use an E-learning for psychomotor skills like how to drive a car or play an musical instrument. The advantage with E-learning is also that it is made one time and can be used over and over without any teacher present which is cost efficient in the long term. A E-learning can either be self-paced or instruction led, where instruction led is scheduled and led by an instructor and the participants can communicate live with each other either with audio, video and regular discussion forums. Self-paced is the opposite and there is no time limit when to do the course. And most importantly the participant can perform at their own pace which is crucial in the learning process. Things to consider in the development of an e-course is: The E-learning should be relevant for the participants needs, the instructions and delivery techniques should be made creatively to engage and motivate the participants, frequent interaction is essential with learner to sustain attention and promote learning, It is also important to follow up each person’s track data (test results) to see if there is a pattern for misunderstandings in the course content compared with the questions which is asked. (FAO, 2011) 2.10.1 Delivery strategies According to Walter Dick and Lou Carey (1990) the instruction strategies has to consist of: Pre-Instructional activities which will motivate, gaining the learners attention and inform the learners to recall prerequisite knowledge. Information presentation which consist of the instructional sequence, size of information and examples. Learners participation where practice and feedback play a major role. Testing where pre/post-tests, final test or imbedded tests is used. Follow-through to get enrichment and use the knowledge learnt to apply for new situations. The order which the subjects mentioned above are put together and designed depends of the different learnings events. Some examples mentioned in The Online Learning Handbook( Jolliffe,2001): Structured learning event where the material is in hierarchy of topics where the other follow the next topic as a textbook. Advantage is that it is straight forward to construct it, the disadvantage is the linear instruction method which is not the ideal method all the time. Unstructured learning event is the opposite mentioned earlier, which allows the learner to explore what is relevant for them instead go throw everything for example a specific topic. Advantage is it easier to find information for a specific problem, disadvantage learner can be disoriented in all information.

Presentation learning event is structured to just provide information. It is suitable when something complex wants to be explained step by step or to introduce a new topic. Disadvantage with this is that it is not to interactive with the learners. Choice of explanation learning event which consist of a list of topics and chose one and get the explanation and move to the next topic or return to the topic list an view another explanation. It is best used if the audience has different knowledge levels or different topics which are relevant for the job. Advantages is that the education can be individualized for a particular learner, disadvantage is the unstructured way. Adaptive learning event is like choice of explanation but the learners have no idea there other explanations available. So the participant can be given a quiz and the learning event set accordingly to the answers. The advantage with this method is that it personalize the education for the persons weakness and this is a good alternative when you don’t know where all the lack of knowledge is. Disadvantage is there is no choice of what topic to study. How to learning event is used when guide or procedure is needed for a specific task where the learners is instructed step by step. Advantage it can be used with a lot of animations and video utilities, disadvantage is that it can be difficult to develop. Supervised learning event where the learners undertake various tasks with help of a tutor, the tutor can send the learners to certain page or monitor their actions and the learner can also monitor the tutor to learn by example. The learners can also have a communication session with tutor to discuss different subjects on video and audio. Advantage is that the if there is any questions or unclearness a tutor is available to answer, disadvantage the learners can be too reliant of the tutor help. Knowledge-driven learning event where the learners are asked at completion of one topic and correct answer will bring them to the next topic. The advantage is that learners most know what is said before the questions which drives the learners to learn the topic. Disadvantage is if the questions are poor it will affect the learners ability. Simulation learning event is used to interact the learner with the simulation so by clicking for example on a link it affects the movement of an animation. Advantage is that they can build a mental model because every action results in a reaction in the simulation. Disadvantage is that it is difficult to design. Reference guide is a list of terms which has links to other learning materials. Advantage it is simple to design and develop, disadvantage learners can get lost in all information.

2.10.2 Course Content The course content can be delivered with simple learning resources such as documents, videos, audio files, PowerPoint presentation, etc. These types of content are non-interactive in the sense that learners only read and watch but if the resources are combined with interactive questions and feedback the learning experience don’t get predictable and boring. Too even make the content more interactive simulation could be used to real-world situations where the participant learns by testing different options. One other option is to make an Job-aids content

20 based course where it is more appropriate for direct answers for a specific problem or helping guide such as a check list. First of all the course content should be adapted for the participants how is most likely to go the course. So it crucial to know the background and needs of the participants to develop the course accordingly. Some variety of factors that will influence the course content and design is the learners previous skills and knowledge which will diminish basic knowledge content and save a lot of work. Computer skills of the learners affect how detailed the instructions has to be for example an education of a software. Also the technical requirement has to take in to consideration in the course development for example multimedia capabilities for the computer can it read different files, speed of the computer processor, etc. The course content analysis can be generalised into two categories task analysis and topic analysis. Task analysis is suitable for courses where the goal is to develop a specific job skill or interpersonal skill also called performing course. Topic analysis is basically an inform course about some general topic. So dependent of analysis type chosen the content change accordingly general information or specialized information. An topic example could be an course in “environmental pollution effect on earth”, an task example could be “how to do a good maintenance job on passenger planes” first off all to do the course some requirement has to be satisfied such as maintenance education because this course is to develop the already known skills further. For the topic example there is no previous education requirements because it is very general information. The learning content can be categorized into six major types: Facts, Procedures, Concepts, Principles, Inter Personal Skills and Attitudes. Facts: information which can answer for example where, how, why, when, etc. An example could be who is the first president of united states? Answer: George Washington Procedures: A procedure is a series of steps taken to achieve a desired result, where it answers the question how to? For example how to cook a specific food by following a recipe. Concepts: Is the idea of how something should work or look based on an term or a word, which is generalization from experience or results from different existing ideas. An example could be “what is happiness?” Principles: Is a set of rules, for example the buoyancy is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces from the Archimedes Principle. Some other principles could be guidelines what to do in an emergency fire situation. Interpersonal skills: Which is the skill to communicate with other people, negotiation or solving a group conflict, listening to other people’s opinion, etc. Attitudes: Is an expression of favour or disfavour to towards a person, thing, place or event. Example could be to change the attitude of a person in specific topic. It is also important in the content devolvement to keep the sentences as short as possible to not confuse the learner and make them get the main point. Learning examples in the course has an advantage if there are relatable for the learners which will simplify the learning process. If the course is shown to a multicultural audience, specific cultural slangs should be avoided. Gender inclusive should be avoided and a gender neutral language be used for

21 example instead of using he/she it may be referred to as people. The information is best presented if different methods is used sound, pictures, text, video, interactive learning, etc. People learn easier with different methods some prefer video and some text and pictures for example. So it is important to use as many of the tools available to cover all different learnings experiences. (FAO, 2011)

3. Methodology This chapter consist of the different methods relevant for this research and why the methods was selected.

3.0 Methodology 3.1 Surveys Survey research involves the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions (Check, 2012). Surveys intent is to get information from the population such as opinion, thoughts and feelings. The survey can be specific and limited for example a company or more general for a population in a country (Creswell, 2013). The survey research method is an efficient way and the only way sometimes to build an representative picture of a situation in a large population. The advantage with surveys is that a lot of data can be collected with a relative small cost and small effort, depended of how complex the survey design is. It is also vital in a survey analyse that the questions is interpreted exactly the same between different people depended on cultural, language, experience differences. So it as important how to formulate the question as what question to ask. A good is approach to ask a simple as possible and not use difficult word etc. (Check, 2012) 3.2 Experiments An experimental study answers the question what if ? the researcher manipulates the different independent variables to measure changes for the dependent variables, from which conclusions can be made which independent variables effects more or less. Experiments is defined as prescribed set of conditions which permit measurement of the effects of a particular treatment. Sometimes experiments is the only optional research method to measure cause and affect among variables. To create an valid research experiment there are two major categories to consider in the research which is internal and external validity. Internal validity is to make measurements on dependent variables which only is influenced by the actual experiment and no other influences. The researcher most control the external variables has no effect on the research, if not controlled there is no validity. External validity is about how confidently can the researcher generalize the experiment findings to the world. If the sample size is small for an experiment it is hard to generalize. How the experiment is conducted affects the generalizing, for example if the researcher influences the participants in some way or affect some other parameters without the knowledge. (Yount, 2006) 3.3 Case Study A case study research could be a one case or many cases. Also the researcher has no influence of observed events. The study is a more in-depth rather than a broader perspective analysis. Case study is appropriate when quality is emphasized and data are collected from a small number of individuals, observations, or an organization. The case study approach seeks to understand the specific problem and ask questions which are specific for the case studied and the conclusions may not always be generalizable for other cases. Lee (1989) identifies four corresponding problems with case study lack of controllability, repeatability and generalizability. Yin (2009) suggests that case studies are appropriate when studying contemporary events and where it is not necessary to control behavioral events or variables. Yin further suggest that single case studies is an appropriate method if the objective of the research is to explore a new un-researched case, whereas other methods is more appropriate if building a theory or theory testing.

Exploratory questions could be what is happening and to see the problem from a different perspective. This study is appropriate when understanding and exploring is crucial where questions like how? and why? are relevant. This method is appropriate when the cause of the problem is important to study. (Saunders, 2012) Descriptive questions focuses more deeper compared to exploratory questions to present a clear picture of the situation where questions like what? and who? is more suitable. A descriptive is more detailed and wants to know more than the cause of the problem but what caused the problem and who is responsible for example. (Saunders, 2012) 3.4 Interview methods The interview can basically go in three different ways either structured, unstructured and semi structured. Where structured interview is more appropriate when searching for certain information. Structured interviews is also appropriate when doing surveys. Structured interviews is appropriate when there is a lot of people to interview and the interviewer wants to investigate if there is a trend in the answers. The disadvantage with structured interviews is that information can be missed out if not relevant questions is not asked. (Dawson, 2013) Unstructured interviews is more appropriate when the researcher is in more unknown territory. Where the questions adapts to the participants answers as the interview progresses. An example would be to ask a participant a big question like: tell me about yourself ? or tell me about some funny experience in your life ? The main goal with unstructured interviews is to learn about a situation before asking the relevant questions. The disadvantage is that the researcher can spend a lot of time with irrelevant information and opinions. Semi structured interviews is a balance between structured an unstructured where the researcher has list of topics to cover but is open to discuss with the participant. So relevant questions could be asked, but there is a freedom to jump into other subjects and new questions as the interview progresses. How the interview is conducted can be done in different ways: face to face interview, panel interview, group interview, telephone interview, mail interview, video conference interview, etc. Face to face interview is a traditional method between two persons, panel interview is used when there is many interviewers how ask a panel of participants, group interview means the interviewer ask a group of participants questions. (Merriam, 1994) 3.4.1 The relationship between the interviewer and the participant Accordingly to Dexter 1970 there is three major subject which affects the relationship: 1. The interviewers personality and skills 2. The participants attitudes and focus 3. How the parties define the situation The researcher has to consider the following to better the relationship with the participant: The location where the interview is going to happen is easy to access for the both it is warm, comfortable and free from disturbances and distractions. The interviewer should also dress and behave well. Researcher should not rush through the interview, only if the participant wants to. Maintaining eye contact and showing interest with the participant. Before the

25 interview starts it is important that the researcher introduce him/her self and present the purpose with the research and what will happen with the result and this will make the participant more comfortable. The researcher should also say how long time the interview will take and stick to the time schedule and of course show respect. (Dawson, 2013) The researchers body language is major part in communication and is the most important aspect in a communication between individuals. Body language tells much about the confidence of a person for instance, if the researcher come as shy or nervous by the body language the participant will likely interpret the researcher as unprofessional and not take the interview as serious otherwise. There space has also be considered not to sit to close or too far away and avoid to sit directly opposite, its better from slightly angle (Dawson, 2002) 3.5 Observation Method Observation means the researcher uses the eyes instead of the voice and ears in a strict sense. (Kumar, 2008) “Observational research involves recording ongoing behaviour without attempting to influence it” (McBurney, 2009) Observation involves three major processes: sensation, attention and perception. Sensation is how the body react stimulus to from outside for example how well the observer can see. Attention which is affected for example by the interest-rate , if the participant don't keeps it excited the attention will diminish. The perception which is the interpretation of the senses, for instances if two individuals observers the same thing they may interpret different. The interpretation may differ because experience, attention and focuses diversities. To direct the observer in the right focus-direction it is vital to define specific point which is important. (Kumar, 2008) The research approach can take two general forms: Naturalistic Observation and Participant Observation. Naturalistic Observation is conducted in a way that the subjects is affected as little possible in their natural habitat, an example is birdwatching. Advantage with this method is that true behaviours and natural result can be observed, where observer has no influences or little impact as possible. So the observation is not manipulated or created by the observer. The participant observation in other involves the observer in the process. Benefits with this method is that observers expertise and knowledge can have an impact of the observation. Disadvantage is that the observer can have too big of influence on the observation for instance that is has no validity. In both observation methods the researcher can notify to the participants that they are a researcher or disguise it. (McBurney, 2009) 3.6 The ADDIE-Model The ADDIE-model is an instructional design model for developing an instruction material. The ADDIE stand for Analysis, Design, Development, Implement and Evaluate as seen in figure 18. Where instruction design is the systematic process by which instructional materials are designed, developed, and delivered. The term can be used in other contexts as instructional technology or educational technology also.

Figure 18: The ADDIE-Model (http://www.aeshal.com/design) Step 1: The Analyse phase is the first step in the process. In this phase it is determined if an instruction system is needed through an investigation. What the audiences needs are? and who are the audience ? is important question the researcher most ask. To create a clear instruction as possible it is important that the audience gender, age, background, preferred-learning style are researched about. The goals for the instruction is also decided in this phase, if the goals is not clear it will be difficult to decide the content of the instruction. Step 2: The Design phase uses the previous phase content, goals and audience information to assemble an instruction. In this phase the order sequence, selecting content, selecting media content, delivery strategies are all involved. Which delivery strategies should be used for each content is also crucial to know. Step 3: In the development phase the actual content is produced. When talking about produce it can be for example programming for an educational game, using technical expertise to implement, creating multimedia, creating the actual instruction. Step 4: Implementing phase means that the instruction system is delivered to the audience. The delivery can be made like an e-course, traditional in class education or some other. Step 5: Evaluation is an important process, where it can be formative evaluation which is evaluation under the development process and summative evaluation which is after the completion. This is a critical phase in the development process because it is important that the audience is satisfied with the instruction system. The feedback part is important because the instruction on system is adapted for the audience needs. (Ellington, 2000) 3.7 Research methods used and why? In this project the ADDIE-model was used through the whole project. The reason ADDIE- model was used is because most instructional design models are based on the ADDIE-model. 3.7.1 Analysis phase So first an analysis of the packing engineers jobs was observed through a participant observation. The participant method was selected to ask questions directly of the working processes and be involved in the job. In the first interviews there was no structured interviews because of the lack of knowledge of there working process. Introduction of myself and explanation of the interest to meet them was presented and the goal with my thesis. Majority

27 of the interviews was conducted at their working location to make them feel more comfortable under the interview. Interest was shown when they were talking and it was not only job conversations to have a more relaxed relationship. After the first interviews semi structured interviews were conducted the majority was conducted face to face, some by mail and little by video-conference. The preferred method is by face to face because it was less misunderstandings that way. Semi structured was chosen because it had both interviewing methods structured and unstructured. Semi structured was used because sometimes relevant questions wanted to be asked and at the same time have the opportunity to ask new questions for an unknown topic. Structured questions which was asked for the packing engineers in the analysis phase was:  Tell me in a short sentence what you are doing at Scania ?  What is the process that you go through in the job ?  Which software’s are you using on your daily job ?  Which departments in Scania have you closer relationship to ?  What do you consider of great importance to have in the E-course ?  Which is your preferred learning style ? From the analysis phase information is gathered from the interviews and the goals are set for the E-course. The interviews was conducted with 6 packing engineers at Scania, where majority of them had very limited experience of the software Pack-Assistant and they all had at least 5 years of experience in the packaging field. From the interviews it was clear that the education was going to be divided into two subjects:

Part 1: Which different parameters to consider in the making of packing instructions.

Part 2: How to use the software Pack-Assistant and what in the software is of great importance for the packing engineer at Scania. The reason case study method is used for this research was because: it was focused not all packing engineers but the packing engineers at Scania. The may point was to create an E- course for the packing engineers at Scania. What makes this an case study also is that this specific research has never been done on Scania before. Because this is a case study and quality of the data is emphasized and not quantity, it was not appropriate to use surveys. If surveys would have been used it would be too much information to handle. If everyone had an opinion of how what the course should look like and what content should be it would take forever to finish the project and that is why survey is not used. 3.7.2 Design phase After the analysis and a clear view of the course content was decided it was time for the design phase were the content and the basic structure of the course was made with PowerPoint slides. The total of number slides made for the course was around 80 slides and 8 instruction videos which was made by screen recording Pack-Assistant where the software Snagit was used. To make the instruction texts to the videos Microsoft Movie maker was used. After investigation in literature, scientific articles, experiments from observations of packed parts and from the interviews with the packing engineers the content of course was decided. So the result of the thesis question: “which parameters as to be taking to consideration for the

28 most efficient packaging ?” decides the content of the E-course (more in detail under the headline Result). Under the design phase interaction with the student was prioritized on the E- course to not make the students bored and at the same time make them learn more efficient. The E-course was also self-paced because that’s more optimal way to learn a software and it is also more resource efficient for Scania instead of instruction led. Diversity was also major subject in the design process and that it was fun to go through the education content. The layout of the content of the course have a great impact on the students learning ability and the layout depends on what the E-course is about. In the case of this course there are somethings which has to be takin account for, which is the crucial steps for a packing engineers and in some cases the order of the procedures is not as important. The whole E-course structure has the pre-instructional activities, information presentations, learners participation, testing and following-through. In the course a structured and unstructured learning event was used were structured was used when explaining standard sequenced working procedures and unstructured was used to make it easier to find information. There are two parts to the E-course and a test between each part and there is no restriction to go direct to part 2. There was no restriction because if the student has gone through the course and had a question in part 2 they can directly go to the specific page without start over all again. Then how to learning event was used with instruction videos for packing examples problems where different criteria’s was chosen for each example. The reason how to learning event was used was to make the student have deeper understanding of how to solve different problems by using Pack-Assistant. After this phase the design of structure and the content was complete. 3.7.3 Development In this phase the content was developed to make the best education delivery as possible. In this phase help from technical experts was used to make the development of the E-course. Technical help with synthetic voice for the text content in the course. Make the presentation more flashy were the student can click on Icons to get pictures and animations with explanation from the pictures, videos and text content sent to them. The development process was carried out with continuous face to face meetings. In each meeting information was transferred of how the E-course should be presented and after a time period the changes was evaluated together and discussed. This meeting process was repeated until me and the technical individual was satisfied with course. To work like this contributed to less misunderstandings.

3.7.4 Implementation and Evaluation Finally the E-course is presented for the packing engineers and the other field experts on subject packaging and logistics. The presentation was done by going through the whole E- course and explained why it looks the way it those. The presentation was done with one person at the time. The reason presentation was done individually is because the individuals should not be shy to express their opinions on the course. Questions which was asked under the presentation of the E-course was:

 Has the course pointed out the important process steps for a packing engineer ?  Do the course have relevant course content ?  Is the course informative and fun to use ?  Is the course interactive ?

 Do you have any use of this course in your job ?  Is the test questions relevant for the course ? The evaluation interviews was conducted in a discussion type of way where ideas were exchanged between each other. From the answers and suggestions the E-course was develop and then a first draft was made and evaluated again by the packing engineers and finally it was finished.

4. Analysis This chapter consist of analysis of how the software Pack-Assistant works, packing process at Scania, observation of packages and simulations.

4.0 Analysis 4.1 Pack-Assistant

Figure 19: View of the software Pack-Assistant The creators behind the Pack-Assistant software is the Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI which conducts research in computer simulations for product and process development. The institute have a lot cooperate partners in the industrial and science sectors. They also design and optimize other industrial applications for the production industry. The main focus subjects for the institute is simulation engineering, numerical software’s, bioinformatics and optimizations. The software Pack-Assistant which is shown in the figure 19 uses mathematical algorithm to solve the packaging problems. First of all there is a need for the CAD-file available of the part which wants to be packed, the following can be read by the program VRLM 1.0, VRLM 2.0, STL ascii, STL binary, STEP and JT. After uploading the part to the software, weight and stable positions must be defined either by generating automatic stable positions or define own stable positions manually. The generation of automatic stable position is generated by clicking on automatic generation in Pack-Assistant where 3 or 6 minimum boxes can be selected and an infinite number of bed- surfaces can be selected (figure 20-23)

Figure 20: Settings for which effect the automatic generation of stable positions.

Figure 21 : The automatic generation of stable positions, three minimum boxes and one max bed surface. If Minimum Box is selected a cuboid with the minimum volume will be calculated around the object. 3 or 6 stable positions can be selected. If the part has a complex geometry 6 is better than 3. The highest number is 6 because there is only 6-sides to a cuboid. If Max Bed-surface is selected a convex hull is formed around the object where empty space is included as shown. There is no limit how many bed-surfaces that can be chosen.

Figure 22: Minimum Box Figure 23: Max Bed-Surface

Also manually defined stable position can be chosen by rotating the part in the graphic window and chose preferred position (figure 24).

Figure 24: Manually defined stable positions

After the stable positions is set manually, automatic or both the software simulates the packing arrangements from the created stable position. Then there is alternatives to choose the container to pack in either standard containers used in the company or grid containers with different base plates and heights. Also a function of determinable size is available which means manually writing down the measurements of the container and the last one is automatic selection where the computer select the most appropriate container for packing the part. To decide the packing arrangements of the parts in Pack-Assistant the options available are: compartment, planar intermediate layer with overlapping, flexible intermediate layer with upside-down function, stacking and bulking. To optimize the results additionally there is a tab called optimization where the number of rotation could be selected when packaging into the container or have it fixed at a preferred position. Maximum weight limit of the container can also be put manually or in the standard container list. Instead of weight limit set a volume filling rate can also be set. Distances from the containers walls to the part can be inserted to adjust the placement of the part in the container, maybe for example it is important that package is balanced correct with the weight distribution. Also the thickness of the intermediate layers can be chosen and the distance between parts vertically or horizontal. After all parameters has been chosen there is only one step left which is to simulate and get results. When different results come up the most appropriate is selected and if there is no satisfaction a different packing structure can be chosen or different optimizing parameter and simulate again until the optimal result is achieved. When right result is selected there is only left to print out the packing instruction.

An example a packing instruction generated is shown in figure 25.

Figure 25: Packing Instruction in Pack-Assistant 4.2 Packing structures for the software Pack-Assistant 4.2.1 Compartment packing In Pack-Assistant there is packing structure called compartment packing where the part can be packed in three different ways: rectangular, trapezoidal and hexagonal. What the program actually does is a shape of a rectangular, trapezoidal or hexagonal around the objects outer edges as seen in the figures 26 to 28 . The software Packs the objects according to the compartment geometry. Hexagonal packing is most efficient with cylindrical formed objects and trapezoidal is more suitable for irregular objects. Trapezoidal is most useful when a high packing density wants to be achieved and if it is an irregular part. Rectangular packing is most suitable for rectangular parts.

Figure 26 : Rectangular Packing Figure 27: Trapezoidal Packing Figure 28: Hexagonal Packing

Figure 29: Example of Rectangular Packing for sensitive sensors. 4.2.2 Planar intermediate packing with overlapping Planar Intermediate layers do not use partitions. The parts can be arranged in different ways to get the optimal result versus compartment which select either rectangular, hexagonal or trapezoidal and not combined. If planar intermediate layer is used there is no considerations for geometry around the object only the geometry of the actual object. When overlapping is selected they overlap like shown in the figure 31. No overlapping means that you can move the components in z-direction out of the container without rotating the component. The software also ensure that the arrangement of the parts is regular as possible to allow easy loading and unloading as possible.

Figure 30: Planar Intermediate Layer Figure 31: Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlap. 4.2.3 Stacking Stacking packs components in tiers on each other creating a vertical or slanted stack. Where if the vertical is selected there is no slanting. Packing structure “Stacking” can only use one stable orientation in a solution. Stacking is very efficient if a regular pattern is important, and not using any intermediate layers (Figure 32-33).

Figure 32: Vertical Stacking Figure 33: Slanted Stacking 4.2.4 Flexible Intermediate layer Flexible Intermediate Layer is self-explanatory which means that components of the upper layer can extend into the lower layer. In comparison to stacking the flexible spacing allows greater possible arrangements since every position can have a different arrangement when more than one stabile position is selected. This packing structure has also an upside down function which allows for the parts to interlace with each other as shown in figure 35.

Figure 34: Side view for flexible intermediate layer Figure 35: Upside down function

Figure 36: First flexible intermediate layer Figure 37: Second flexible intermediate layer 4.2.5 Bulking When Bulk Cargo is selected the parts are dumped into the container in a unstructured way until the volume is full. The bulk can be controlled how the parts fall into the container where two options is available fixed or free rotation as seen in figures 38 and 39.

Figure 38: Free rotation of falling parts. Figure 39: Fixed Rotation of falling parts. 4.3 Containers and intermediate layers at Scania Some examples of containers used in Scania is shown is in the table 2:

Minibox Smallbox Box 1 Height(mm): 200 200 147 Length(mm): 384 584 297 Width(mm): 284 384 198 Weight(gram): 1465 2468 598

Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Height(mm): 147 147 215 Length(mm): 396 594 600 Width(mm): 297 396 400 Weight(gram): 1090 1806 2418

Table 2: Standard containers used at Scania

Standard Intermediate layers used at Scania:

Figure 40:Foam spacer(H-Foam), Figure 41:Regular Spacer, Figure 42: Foam (SB)Spacer, Figure 43:Plastic Spacer, Figure 44: Wood Spacer 4.4 The packing process at Scania A more detail view of all of the steps of the packaging process can be viewed in appendix 2. As mentioned earlier this research focuses only on the packaging from the supplier. So the steps which are going to be explained is how a new introduced part gets a packing instruction at Scania and which is sent to the supplier. First the packing engineer search in a list also called the IC-list where every new introducing parts is available and the deadlines for production starts for each part. After a part has been selected information about the part is gathered which is: yearly consumption of the part, weight and taking contact with the supplier for other consideration of the part. Then the engineer search for the blueprint of the part or the CAD-file of the part to decide how to pack the part. So either can the engineer use virtual software to try different packing techniques or use the blueprint and a yardstick to pack the part. The third option is that the supplier sends some parts earlier than production start-up of the part and then test pack with the physical part to then get the right packing structure. After the packing structure is decided and the packing engineer is satisfied with the package, instruction it is sent to the supplier for how to pack the part.

4.4.1 Scania selection sheet The Scania selection sheet is used as guideline for the packing engineers at Scania to decide the number of part in each packaging, to diminish the inventory costs and transport costs. It consist of the guideline for quantity in package (figure 45) and box decision diagram (figure 46). By calculating the consumption/shift of a part and the price of the part the matrix gives the right amount of parts to pack. The consumption/shift is calculated by taking the yearly consumption of a part and divide it with 225 (working days in a year) and then divide with the number of shift usually 2 or 4. From the consumption/shift and the price of the part the matrix gives for example SC, SCx2, SCx1/4, etc. If the consumption/shift number for example is 12 and the part price is 14 the matrix gives 12x2 = 24 (SCx2)

Figure 45: Guide for quantity in package

Figure 46: Box decision diagram The box decision diagram shown in figure 46 helps the packing engineer to decide which container is most appropriate for a part. When the engineer knows the size and weight of a part from a Cad-file or blueprint, price of the part from the purchase department and consumption of the part from production the engineer can start to use the box decision diagram. The diagram works like by answering the questions from the top to the bottom with “Yes” or “No”. If the answer to the question is “No” it takes the reader to the suggestions A to D. After the direction the question is asked again to get an “Yes” and then continue to the next question. What this diagram is saying is that the first priority is to fill up the container (box) volume as much as possible at least 80%. If it is not possible to fill up with more than 80% of

40 the volume the second priority is to fill up to 10 kg. Where 10 Kg is the lifting limit for a worker in Scania. 4.5 How to integrate the packaging with production, supplier and construction? What has been observed from the interviews is that the communication with the production is essential because if the packages is inefficient it can affect the production rate, it can cause work related injuries, also if the package don’t have enough parts to sustain the production it will cause stop. The packages most also be adapted for the space on the production line, sometimes the packing engineer decides that a certain box to be used but there is enough space on the line so a smaller box has to be chosen with option of more transport to the production line. To integrate this process it is crucial that before the production line is built that the production engineers get suggestions from the packing engineers. What also has been observed is that the packing engineer do also not have any influence of the construction of part because it is already set. So if an part is constructed in a way which affect the packaging it is not obvious until the packing process is started which is too late. The optimal way is that product development process is integrated with the packaging process. As mentioned before the product development process and the packaging process is two separate processes. To integrate them its more suitable that the packing engineers and the designers meet up when the designers are in the concept development phase in their product development process. To integrate the supplier and packing engineer more the answer is communication to get suggestion how to pack, what to consider for the part properties etc. It is also crucial that the supplier gives feedback on the packing instruction which is sent to them. To update some older packing instructions is also vital, because there is no idea to have good packing instruction for an new part when the older ones are bad, all instructions must be good. 4.6 Real observation of packing These observations has been made in the chassis department in Södertälje, because the diversity of items is highest there. To have an representative picture as possible of how they pack in chassis three sample groups was strategically chosen. Total of different parts that was studied was observed 17 parts were group1 has 5 different parts, group 2: 6 and group 3: 6 The research focused on three important groups which is:  The first group consist of parts from the same supplier, where the supplier was picked randomly from the chassis department to have a good baseline.

 The second group consist of only 10 items in each box because 10 items in boxes is the most common for different parts which is shown in figure 65.

 At last the third group consisted of the high consumption parts in chassis department where the consumption is from 4 boxes up to 18 boxes a day.

4.6.1 Group 1 Parts form the same supplier This supplier was picked randomly from all suppliers in the chassis department. The boxes observed could all be filled with more parts with consideration to the weight limit of 10 Kg for handle boxes. All the boxes is B2 boxes, geometrically after tested it would fit with more into each container. The containers observed had either 10 or 20 parts in each box without the first box which had 13 parts. The box 1 and box 2 had no structure when packed, and box 3, 4 and 5 had structure . The first two boxes was best packed in the group but will still fit more parts both with consideration to 10kg limit and geometrically fit more parts. Box 3, 4, and 5 was the worst in the group but just filled about 50% of the volume.

Figure 47: Box 1 (13 Parts) Figure 48: Box 2 (20 Parts) Figure 49: Box 3 (10 Parts)

Figure 50: Box 4 (20 Parts) Figure 51: Box 5 (20 Parts)

4.6.2 Group 2 Observation: Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers For this observation there is only 10 objects in each box the first three boxes is B1 the third is a B2 box and the last two are mini-boxes. As seen in the pictures there is a lot of empty space and this is an incorrect way to pack according to Scania standards. According to Scania if weight limit of 10 kg is not reached and it is physical possible to fill with more parts then the filling should be at least 80% of the box. This boxes did not weigh very much where the lightest is 1,36 Kg. Surprisingly box 1 is structured which don’t make sense. Box 2, 3 and 5 are not structured. Where box 1,2,3,5 are the worst packed boxes. Box 4 and 6 are structured and also the best packed in the group. Box 4 could put in 2 extra when tested in reality. Box 6 could not fit in any more parts. Scania is going to remove all the mini-boxes and the small-boxes in the future because of its heavy weight which is 1,465 kg for the mini-box and 2,468 kg for the small-box which way too much. The other reason is also the conical shape which make it harder to pack larger parts because the width differ from the bottom and top. An example when box 6 is replaced and packed in a B1 is shown in box 7 this time it is more space efficient. For example the content in box 5 weighed at total of 1 kg and the container weighs 1,465 kg which is totally wrong. Which means that Scania is paying for the transport of the container then the actual parts.

Figure 52: Box 1 (10 Parts) Figure 53: Box 2 (10 Parts) Figure 54: Box 3 (10 Parts)

Figure 55: Box 4 (10 Parts) Figure 56: Box 5 (10 Parts) Figure 57: Box 6 (10 Parts)

Figure 58: Box 7 (10 Parts) 4.6.3 Group 3 Observation: Parts with highest consumption rate from different suppliers This group had the best filling rate of the different groups. Where everyone was an B1 boxes without the last box which is an B2 box. Box 1 and 2 is perfect filled and they have been bulked into the container. Box 3, 4, 6 is also perfectly filled with packing structure and they cannot physically fill more parts. The only box which can fill extra number of parts is box 5 maybe 1 or 2 extra.

Figure 59: Box 1 (50 Parts) Figure 60: Box 2 (150 Parts) Figure 61: Box 3 (5 Parts)

Figure 62: Box 4 (12 Parts) Figure 63: Box 5 (10 Parts) Figure 64: Box 6 (6 Parts)

4.7 Psychologic factor when packing From the packing sample groups and other parts an interesting observation has been made, the number of parts in each container is usually numbers like 10, 20, 30, 50, 100 etc. The figure 65 represent this pattern as mentioned where 14,000 different parts has been studied. The Y- axes in the graph represent how many number of different parts. The X-axes represent how many parts there is in each container. As seen in the graph there are very few parts with the quantity of 11 only 25 different parts to be exact, and 1550 different parts with the quantity of 10.

The reason the sample group 2 (Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers) is selected is because 10 is the most used quantity of all the 14,000 parts studied (Figure 65). For example the number ten have deep meaning to people because of the 10 fingers and the 10 toes. 10 is highest score in a boxing round, the 10 commandments from religion, there are only 10 (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) numbers to use in mathematics etc. So then comes the question why do people prefer to choose even numbers over odd numbers? It begins at an early age for example in math kids learn only to divide even numbers like 10/2, 4/2, 6/2, etc. Also in the western culture the word “odd” is associated when describing something strange, weird, and rare, and the word even has a more positive sound to it. The word “even” is used to describe how flat or smooth something is, consistent, or say for example that you are even with someone. Numbers should be viewed objectively but humans have tendency to put meaning to numbers. So an emotional attachment to certain numbers can influence decision process. For example the torture room 101 in the novel Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell sounds more creepy than if was to be called room 100. The number 100 is more easy to deal with mathematically and even numbers is more general in our daily life odd numbers it harder to digest and therefore more remember able (Bellos, 2014).

Figure 65: Describes the function of different parts against number of parts in each container. 4.8 Simulations in Pack-Assistant Simulation in Pack-Assistant is conducted to calculate how many items would fit into a specific container. Three groups of parts as motivated earlier where simulated the: 1. Parts from the same supplier 2. Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers 3. Parts with highest consumption rate from different suppliers

To have the same base line for each experiment group standard setting for the Pack-Assistant was first used:  Standard setting for number of automated generated stable position is 3 minimum box stable positions and 1 bed surface.  The number of standard free rotations is set to the standard 2. Rotation controls how the part is rotated along the z-axis when packed.  The thickness of the intermediate is set to the standard number 3 mm. Thickness of compartment is set to the standard 3 mm.  Distance from compartment is set to the standard 0 mm. Lateral component distance standard is 0 mm. Vertical component distance is set to the standard 3 mm. In the experiments the actual weight of a specific part and the same containers used in reality for the specific part was inputted to the software. Then the five packing structures: compartment, planar intermediate layer with overlapping, flexible intermediate layer, stacking and bulking was tested for each part. In this case the dependent variables where the weight of the part and the container. How valid is the experiment ? Answer: The internal validity is 100% because the software is not influenced from the outside environment. For example if a part with a specific weight, container, packing structure and the same settings it gave always the same result. One exception is the bulk option because it is randomised. But also how external valid the experiment is hard to say because this is an such small scale experiment so it is hard to have generalized conclusion.

4.8.1 Group 1 Experiment: Parts from the same supplier Simulation result of group 1 gives number of parts packed with Pack-Assistant versus real observations (for more detail see Appendix 4): Compartment: 47% decrease Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 8% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 24% increase Stacking: 18% increase Bulk: 2.4% increase Then instead of standard setting for automatic generation of stable positions and free rotations. It is changed to 6 for minimum box and 5 max bed surfaces areas and 5 free rotations when packed. Gives: Compartment: 45% decrease Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 20% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 30% increase Stacking: 28% increase Bulk: Not affected, the same 2.4% increase

4.8.2 Group 2 Experiment: Parts with only 10 items in each box from different suppliers Simulation result of group 2 gives number of parts packed with Pack-Assistant versus real observations (for more detail see Appendix 4): Compartment: 72% increase Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 403% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 403% increase Stacking: 350% increase Bulk: 312% increase Then instead of standard setting for automatic generation of stable positions and free rotations. It is changed to 6 for minimum box and 5 max bed surfaces areas and 5 free rotations when packed. Gives: Compartment: 73% increase Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 427% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 437% increase Stacking: 357% increase Bulk: Not affected, the same 312% increase

4.8.3 Group 3 Experiment: Parts with highest consumption rate from different suppliers Simulation result of group 3 gives number of parts packed with Pack-Assistant versus real observations (for more detail see Appendix 4): Compartment: 10% decrease Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 13% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 17% increase Stacking: 3% decrease Bulk: 13% decrease Then instead of standard setting for automatic generation of stable positions and free rotations. It is changed to 6 for minimum box and 5 max bed surfaces areas and 5 free rotations when packed. Gives: Compartment: Not affected, the same 10% decrease Planar Intermediate Layer with Overlapping: 18% increase Flexible Intermediate Layer: 18% increase Stacking: 1.7% increase Bulk: Not affected, the same 13% decreased

4.8.4 Summation of simulation results From the appendix 3 it is clear that the highest quantity is achieved with packing structure Flexible Intermediate Layer, Two reasons is the upper layer can extend into the lower layer to pack more densely, and the packing structure Flexible Intermediate Layer has a upside down function which allows interlacing which also contribute to higher packing density. On second place for highest quantity gives the packing structure Planar Intermediate Layer. This packing structure has the function overlapping which big impact on the packing density. The third most effective packing structure is stacking the reason it is not as effective as planar and flexible is because stacking don't allow for different stable positions only one, so all parts are arranged in the same way. The fourth most effective were the packing structure bulk which had no structure at all and the parts did fall with five different rotations. The reason this packing structure has low quantities is because air pockets forms between the parts. The least quantity efficient is the packing structure compartment. In the compartment function there are three different packing structures rectangular, trapezoidal and hexagonal and the lowest quantities was hexagonal, then rectangular and the best was trapezoidal. The reason compartment don't pack as efficient as the other packing structures is because the simulation don't consider the objects geometry only the outer compartment-shell around the object. From the simulation results it is not clear if overlapping for Planar Intermediate Layer is the most efficient way to pack always. Sometimes there is more parts in a container without overlapping and sometimes with overlapping, it depends simply on the geometry of the part. In other hand when upside down is selected for Flexible Intermediate Layer there is always a better result. The reason why is very obvious because of the interlacing.

4.9 Comparison between simulations and real observations The simulations of group 1 had 4 out 5 packing structure an increase in the number of parts packed. The simulation of group 2 had an increase in all packing structures and it had also the most increase of the different groups. Simulation of group three had the lowest increase were 3 of 5 packing structures was increased. So the result for this different groups basically says that in the majority of times Pack-Assistant is more efficient to pack than manually. By calculating of freight cost, container costs and internal handling cost for each of the 17 parts studied at Scania cost saving could be calculated. How much Scania could save depended on the number of parts in the container so the cost was first calculated for the number of parts for a real observations then compared with the highest number parts for the same part in Pack-Assistant. So for example if there are 10 parts in a container in reality and Pack-Assistant highest number is 16 parts with packing structure planar intermediate layer the difference is 6 more parts which can lower the freight cost, container cost and internal handling cost because more part are shipped in a single run. Total cost savings in a year by using pack assistant instated of manual packaging: From group 1: 18 %

From group 2: 40 % From group 3: 7 % A total of 13 % saving cost for all 17 parts. What is essential to notice also is that because a container is packed in a certain arrangement it is not always the optimal way to pack for the supplier. For example some parts which has low ratio of part size to container size is more optimal to bulk if there are not damaged from a distance of height. Instead of arrange maybe 200 bolts in a certain way in a container, this would be very expensive in labor cost for the supplier and inefficient. What is important to also to notice is that the quantity is not the first priority but how volume efficient is the container so that the package transport less empty space as possible. If the arrangement that Pack-Assistant suggest for a part is to complex it affects the suppliers working process and thereby maybe the part price if the supplier thinks it to labor inefficient. An example of a complex is arrangement is figure 66 versus figure 67 in reality. It is not beneficial to pack like figure 68 because of the time duration to pack that complex for only 3 additional parts.

Figure 66: 15 parts in the container Figure 67: 12 parts in the container 4.10 Interview data summation From the interviews some main suggestions from the packing engineers was to have the a clear instruction of Pack-Assistant. They pointed also which processes was involved in packing planning. From the interviews it was very clear that a packing engineers affects many other areas in production construction, logistics, economics, etc. It was also clear that the three main factors that had biggest impact on the packing planning was package handle ability, number of parts in container and packing structure. This three subjects was always involved in some way or other. They pointed also out that it was not much communication between the construction department and the packing department. The contribution of this non communication results in that the packing engineer has no control of the design of the parts because they are not involved in the design phase. This contributed to inefficient packages for example in one case a part was so poorly designed that it was not well balanced in its most stable position, so the part always fell on each other on the transport trip which resulted in much damage costs for Scania. The solution was to make special containers for the part which resulted in more costs in package handle ability because of standard storage areas, standard tools, standard transportation, etc. The solution should been to redesign in this case a larger baseplate which the part stood on. From the interviews it was also clear that communication with logistics and production departments is also as crucial for the success of a good package.

Most importantly the communication with the supplier is crucial to get information about the parts properties and what to consider when packing the part to get an efficient package. The interviews was done to two types of packing engineers to those who uses Pack-Assistant and those who don’t. If the packing engineers don’t use Pack-Assistant it was more focused on how they would prefers to learn about a software and for the packing engineers that uses the focus was on what difficulties that they experienced with software. Most of the packing engineers did say that they didn’t know every function in software and maybe how that could help them to pack more efficient. From the interviews it was also observed that the packing engineers didn’t know that the number automatic stable positions could be increased which in turn had given them more packing alternatives. The packing engineers mentioned also that standard tools and standard storages areas affects the packing and that they want to have as little reloading of new arrived parts as possible to diminish unnecessary work. The green boxes is also going to be replaced because of their high weigh and bulky inside shape.

5. Result This chapter consist of the main content for the E-Course

5.0 Result From this whole research the relevant content of the E-course could be decided for the packing engineers at Scania, and relevant delivery method. The content had two parts: which different parameters to consider in the making of packing instruction and how to use the software Pack-Assistant and what in the software is of great importance for the packing engineer at Scania. When deciding which content to use there was a balance of what literature and article studies said and what the packing engineers at Scania informed about. After research three important factors was always involved and affected by the packing process: package handle ability, number of parts in the container and packing structure. This three was also the main subjects in the E-course. When the E-course starts there is an introduction what the course is about and what the goals for the course is. The main purpose with the course is to broader the packing planners view on packaging, so they can see the bigger picture of the affect packaging has. They will also learn how to use the software Pack-Assistant to pack efficient without the physical product. Goal with course is how to make packing-Instructions. How to use the software Pack-Assistant. Which parameters to consider when Packing-Planning. The First part of the course begins with general information of what to consider as a packing engineer which is protection, quantity, etc. Where for example this was pointed out:  If CAD-files are available of a specific part simulation and visualization of packaging, storage, handle ability, and logistics planning can be made before production starts up.  Communication with the supplier of the products is essential to pack as protective as possible or what to consider when packing the parts.  The interaction between the construction department and packaging planners is also important to adapt the product development process to the packaging criteria's.  Standards in warehouse and transport affect the packaging diversity so a balance between the two has to be made all the time. At the first part of the course the student comes to a page were they can chose between three categories package handle ability, number of parts in the container and packing structure. When the student has gone through all categories they come to a page which describes the working steps that are involved in the packing process to make a packing instruction. Then Pack-Assistant usage is focused on part 2 of the course (Figure 68).

Figure 68: Example slide of how part 2 of the course can look.

5.1 Package handle ability For the package handle ability the following figures 69 and 70 are used. By clicking on the blue dots information present by text and a synthetic voice speak about the subject and if information wants to be read instead of listening to the speaker that option is available.

Figure 69: Package handle ability 1 Figure 70: Package handle ability 2 In the package handle ability the following is mentioned:

 Size of the package affects production standards already establish in production, for example transport equipment and storage area.  Which weight a specific part have or a box if it is handled by operators affects the human ergonomic. When the lifting weight limit are reached at 10Kg for an article lifting equipment are used.  Standard lifting equipment also affect how to place the products in the container. The placement in the container and arrangement with other articles in the container affects the lifting tools reach and lifting capabilities.  Reloading of arrived part should be avoided to reduce the handling costs.  Increased package information; increases packing filing time and thereby labour costs.  The packing structure and how packaging is wrapped inside affects the person who is going to unpack the details.  For products that are slippery and have sharp corners must be arranged in a way so that the operator have a good grip when unpacked.  A good communication with the operators is crucial to get feedback of how they want it to be packed, so there job can be done as efficient as possible. Also communication with the supplier is crucial on how they recommend how to pack the product most efficient or make there packaging their job easier.  Transportation is also effected by how adaptable the final package is for transport standards with train, airplane, truck, etc.  Increased standards in warehouse decreases material handling equipment costs.

5.2 Number of parts in the container For the category: number of part the following is mentioned the same principle as before were they click on the blue dots to get more information:

Figure 71: Number of parts in the container.  Quantity: When deciding of number of parts in the package don't just use comfortable numbers like 10, 30, 50, 100. Be not afraid to use numbers like 11, 34, 76, 99.  The number of details in the package affect transportation cost, for example if the number of products in a single truck is increasing the transportation cost decreases since more items are shipped in a single run.  Inventory is also affected by the number of parts in the package because of storage costs. The higher the cost of the product, the higher are the cost for storage so the number of details has to be reduced.  Consumption of the parts is important to have just-in-time delivery and low buffers as possible. The storage of parts has to be adaptable for the production-rate without disturbances.  A minimum of 80% of the package volume should be full or chose another package for the part. If the weight limit is not reached fill up to 100% of the container.  The package weight and volume has a direct effect on inventory, handle ability, and transport costs. For example the weight affect transport costs on air and volume affect inventory utilization.  There is also examples of how to use the Scania selection sheet for a specific year consumption of a part. Were the figure 72 represent a animation of the calculation of the number of parts in a container.

Figure 72: Shows the calculation steps for using Scania selection sheet.

5.3 Packing structure The packing structure is based on the packing structures in Pack-Assistant. Were the packing structures mentioned are: Compartment, Planar Intermediate Layer, Flexible Intermediate Layer, Stacking and Bulk. A summation of when to use each packing structure is concluded from the simulation analysis:  Compartment: Is the least efficient when it comes to high packing density, It is most suitable for products which needs protection from bumping into each other.  Planar Intermediate Layer: Is efficient when the upper objects is not allowed to going into the lower objects.  Flexible Intermediate Layer: Is useful when a high packing density wants to be achieved and don’t separate the different levels.  Stacking: Is useful when the order is important and that the products are placed in the same way.  Bulk: Is most appropriate when the ratio of the container volume to the object size is high and the object don’t get damaged if fallen from a distance of height. In the course more detail information about each packing structure is also mentioned where it is presented with pictures examples of the different packings structures were text and synthetic voice explain the different the structures.

5.4 The working process for packing the packing engineers In this part there a description of which crucial steps are involved in the making of a packing instruction (Figure 73).

Figure 73: Working process at Scania. In this part there is a description of the LCA-navigator which is used in Scania to download CAD-files of a part. The IC-List is a list of every new introduced part to Scania where deadlines for the parts are mentioned, by also using the software Aros the packing engineer can get the information of the price and weight of the part which are set by the construction department. When the year consumption of a part is known and the weight and the CAD-file is available the part can be packed in Pack-Assistant and then get out a packing instruction from the software. This content has been made in an interactive way where all crucial steps is shown by clicking in the picture which is taken from software so when the student clicks it actually feels like he/she uses the software. 5.5 Test 1 From this three categories the part 1 is finished with a test where the six most relevant questions is asked. The questions is check box questions where three alternatives showed up and one is the correct answer. The reason check box questions was used is because of the simplicity and there a direct feedback if incorrect answer has been chosen. The other reason is because if complex would be asked the student most have access to the software’s: Pack- Assistant, LCA-navigator, Aros, IC-List, etc. A minimum of 80% correct answers was set to pass the test. 5.6 Pack-Assistant description Pack-Assistant is described in the part 2 of the E-course. The functions of the software Pack- Assistant is described in an interactive manner where it actually feels like the participant uses the software. Every important function in the software are described step by step. The subjects which was pointed out was how to download part, information about the software temple, how to define stable positions manually and automatic, how to choose between the different container alternatives, how to choose packing structures, explanation of the optimization parameters where target weight can be chosen or target volume density, rotation of the part when packed and many more. Also how to read the result of simulation is explained step by step. Different setting options for the automatic stable positions is also explained in an interactive way. There are no synthetic voice in the software interaction phases because to not overload the participant with information and to let the participant go through the instruction in their own pace. From all the information about Pack-Assistant the student is given four packing examples where they are given a part with different criteria’s and information about the part. For example:

Part: x Weight: 0,18 Kg Yearly Consumption: 9000 Price: 135Kr Working Shifts: 4 Produced Units/Shift: 25 The parts criteria: Protection: Important Packing structure: Unknown Preferred stable position by operator: Bolt heads upside Question: Quantity of parts in the package ? and which container should be chosen? After the student has read the question they can either choose to pack the part by them self or watch the solution on the next slide. The solutions are made by screen capturing the usage of Scania packing selection sheet (if the container is not predetermined) and the second video is the usage of Pack-Assistant. In the videos there are text also to explain every step in the process to get to the final solution. All the videos has no synthetic voice because to not overload with information, if in other hand the videos don’t had any instruction text a synthetic voice could be used it is inappropriate two have both at the same time specially when the students must be alert of the process. 5.7 Test 2 After the packing examples there are box check questions as in test 1, there are six questions asked here also and three alternatives to choose from. Example of questions which is asked are: The project tree consist of five important titles Component, Container, Structure and Results Which is missing ? X Target X Rotation X Optimization parameters 5.8 Evaluation of the course In the evaluation of the course all engineers did think it was a very good course and informative they did also thought that all necessary working steps was included. It was also appreciated that it was not predictable and fun to use. They did also say that the course will come in handy on their daily job because of the difficulties they face for example with Pack- Assistant. The course will also save a lot of time for the engineers when learning up new upcoming packing engineers.

6. Discussion This chapter discusses the relevance of the Result for Scania.

6.0 Discussion 6.1 Theory relevance to the result The theory covers relevant information about how packing affects logistics, for example transportation, package handle ability, number of parts, packing structures, etc. And there is theory about how Pack-Assistant works. From the analysis some conclusions was made about how the number of parts affected by psychologic factors, how the settings in Pack-Assistant can affect the number of parts packed and how the different packing structures affects the number of parts packed. Interviews with the packing engineers did also give relevant information in what to consider in the packing process. All this information was the base of the E-course and to deliver the course in the most optimal way theory about E-course development was implemented. The packing engineers also contributed how the E-course should be shaped from interviews. So from relevant information collected and selecting right delivery method of the course the final E-course could be developed. The reason why an interactive way of education was selected is because people learn more by doing instead of observing specially if it is a job task with software usage. In our case the E-course was made in an task educational way and a topic way where part 1 is constructed in a topic fashion because it is more general information about what to consider when packaging and part 2 of the course is more task inspired education of how to solve the different job related problems. The E-course is also decided to be self-paced instead instruction led because it is more resource cost efficient to use self-paced. Participants can also work in their own pace and not adapt to different time schedules of the instructor. The course was made as relevant as possible for the packing challenges at Scania. The delivery methods is also different and engaging to motivate the participants. Delivery methods used is: how to videos, animations, illustrative pictures both from production, storage, and Pack-Assistant, synthetic voice is used to make people who learn more efficient with listing more comfortable. The course content has three type learning contents: facts, procedures and principles. Fact statement is for example: the lifting weight limit by hand is 10 Kg, procedures are specially used much in part 2 of the course where step by step instructions shows how to pack a part for example. Principles are used for example when using Scania selection sheet because the content is based on mathematical rules. When developing the content the text information has keep as short and informative as possible to not confuse the participant, there is also gender and cultural neutral content. 6.2 The result relevance So how relevant is the result for Scania ? First of all this E-course will simplify the global education of the packing engineers because of the online accessibility and will set standard for the working process. If there are standards in the working process the understanding of what to consider when packing is the same which then contribute to less misunderstandings between different packing engineers. In the analyse part of this research there was calculation of the cost to pack parts like Scania do know and compared with packing with Pack-Assistant and savings of 13 % could be made. What has been observed is that every packing suggestion from Pack-Assistant can be packed in reality but how complex the arrangement is a different question. It is maybe good packing arrangement but how optimal is it to pack for the supplier.

The bulk packages in reality are quite good packed but the result for simulation of the bulk problems is little bit misleading because it is not appropriate for the supplier to arrange 172 parts in a structured way as seen in Appendix 1 group 3, part 2 and Flexible Intermediate Layers. Yes there are more parts in the package but is it worth the effort for the supplier to pack 172 parts in a arranged way instead of bulk and get 150 parts as seen on box 2 for the high consumption parts. Both fill up the whole volume but the simulation example utilize the space even more but with the difference that it would take a second to pack with bulk. In over all the result is very relevant for the packing engineers at Scania because the course educate what science say and what the packing engineers says at Scania from their experience. To solve all of their day to day problems it’s important that knowledge are there both how to use the software and what to consider when packing which is why the E-course is crucial.

7. Conclusion This chapter concludes what has been achieved with this research and what can further research.

7.0 Conclusion The purpose and with the course is:  What parameters has to be taken in to consideration for the most efficient packing? (And what is efficient from different perspectives).  How do packaging influence logistic and vice versa ?  How to adapt the E-course in the most optimal way ?

What parameters has to be taken in to consideration for the most efficient packing? Answer: What has been observed is that packing influence many areas and are also affected by a lot of factor. The four main factors discovered that effects the packaging is:

 The Packaging Working Process  Number of Parts in the Package  Package Handle Ability  Packing Structure The packing working process affects the number of part, the handle ability and the packing structure and to consider all this things it is concluded that a good communication between supplier, construction and production department is vital. What can be concluded is that all this four subjects is very depended on each other. For instance if the number of part is increased it affects package handle ability because of the weight limit both ergonomically and equipment wise. The number of parts decided for example for a package is not possible to achieve for the packing structure that the operator wants to have. If the packing process is not integrated with the other departments for instance the production the packing engineers don’t know how much to order and when to order. For example if a certain packing structure is preferred it affects all the other parameters. Package handle ability is affected for instance of the packing structure. If the package is over packed as seen in figure 74 the operator can have a hard time to deal with all intermediate layers. But also if the package is under packed it can affects the protection. So a balance between the two has to be made all the time. So it is vital that the packing engineers have a good relationship with the operators in production to get feedback on the package.

Figure 74: Over packed

To Improve the current packing process at Scania the most important conclusion is communication with every department which deals with the packages or are affected by packages. What is so good with this whole investigation is that the packing engineers have given the opinion of what they think doesn’t work in the packing planning and majority of the things they had said was backed up by science articles and literature. What has been observed is that there is no suggestions of an integrated process between packaging and the other department in any logistic literature only in a few science articles. So what this says is that there is a structural system fail. How do packaging influence logistic and vice versa ? What has been observed from science articles, interviews and analysis is that there is no one answer but many. What was observed for example for the cost calculation saved and overall saving of 13 % instead of using manual packing. This did saved freight cost, container costs and internal handling cost which all is logistic costs. Another conclusion is that standards in logistic affects the packaging decisions and a standard packing process affects logistics. So it is important that both standards is integrated as much as possible. Without packaging there is no logistics because the package is the entity that goes through the logistic system. From the analyses phase some conclusion was made about the psychologic factor had on the decision of the number of parts in a package. If for example all parts which is packed with tens changed to eleven Scania would probably save a lot of money. How the Pack-Assistant settings could affect the packing was also a big surprise (Appendix 3). So if the software settings is not set accordingly it will affect the number of parts packed which will then affect the logistic costs.

How to adapt the E-course in the most optimal way for packing engineers? The course has been adapted because the packing engineers has informed of about the working process is like and what they think should be improved. An investigation was also conducted for the different delivery methods that could be used for the course the delivery was as different as possible and interactive as possible. The main point was to make the participant of the course to also feel like they were using the different software’s but in actuality it was just pictures of the software. This type of interaction makes it harder for the participant to forget how it works. Everything in the course is related to their job environment and the software’s they use. Different learning techniques was used from videos, text instructions, animations, synthetic voice, test questions, review of test results and interactivity. 7.1 Further work Because of the time limit in the project only 17 parts was studied and 85 simulations was made but if there was more time available the investigation would focused specially more on the parts that are packed with 10 part per package. The tens would be investigated because they contribute to the largest number of different parts. Largest cost savings was also observed for the tens. After the tens had been investigated more focus for the other even comfortable numbers like 20, 30, 40, 50,100 would be investigated. The software Pack- Assistant has also some flaws in the program which can be improved for example the bulk option can have a shake function, to pack the parts more densely. For example how the software works know is that if the part stands 1 mm from the edge on another part it stay

63 stable that way which is not possible in the reality so all bulk options is underestimated nut not by much. Other function which can be improved with Pack-Assistant is that it can handle softer materials like cables and rubber parts to account for the compression of the part due to the weight load. If twisting action was available in the software the packing engineer could also wrap around the cables in a certain way to pack them as efficient as possible. The software cannot either pack all different packing structures simultaneously so the user most pack each packing structure one at a time which is time consuming. Scania needs also to improve the integration between the pack instruction generated by Pack- Assistant and that which Scania uses.

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Appendix Appendix 1: Packing Instruction

Appendix 2

Appendix 3: Summation of simulation experiments The blue marked values are the highest number of parts fitted into a container. The yellow marked values is the highest summation of all different packing structure. Only when there is higher values for the same packing structure it is written under different settings.

Different Settings Part: Container Weight (Kg) Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Bulk Reality Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Part 1 B2 0,482 12 18 18 18 14-16 13 Part 2 B2 0,339 12 24 24 24 11-16 20 Part 3 B2 0,413 6 (trapezoidal) 10 (overlapping) 10 12 9 10 12 (overlapping) 12 Part 4 B2 0,27 8 (trapezoidal) 22 (overlapping) 32 24 21-26 20 24 26 Part 5 B2 0,287 6 (trapezoidal) 16 (overlapping) 19 20 17-18 20 8 (trapezoidal) 22 (overlapping) 22 26 Summation: 44 90 103 98 85 83 46 100 108 106

Different Settings Part: Container Weight (Kg) Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Bulk Reality Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Part 1 B1 0,12 24 (trapezoidal) 72 (overlapping) 72 48 33-36 10 76 76 Part 2 B1 0,3 18 (trapezoidal) 31 30 28 19-25 10 Part 3 B1 0,08 22 (trapezoidal) 61 (overlapping) 62 54 50-55 10 71 (overlapping) 72 Part 4 B2 0,18 3 10 (overlapping) 10 12 3-6 10 4 (trapezoidal) 16 16 Part 5 MB 0,1 28(trapezoid)B1 56B1 56B1 56B1 44-55B1 10 Part 6 MB 0,68 8B1 12B1 12B1 12B1 10B1 10 Summation: 103 242 242 210 187 60 104 256 262 214

Different Settings Part: Container Weight (Kg) Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Bulk Reality Compartment Planar Intermediate Layers Flexible Intermediate Layers Stacking Part 1 B1 0,038 50 61 67 48 56 50 68 68 56 Part 2 B1 0,01 138 172 (overlapping) 172 150 125 150 Part 3 B1 0,166 3 3 4 3 3 5 Part 4 B1 0,137 10 13 14 13 10 12 15 (overlapping) 15 Part 5 B1 0,155 6 10 (overlapping) 12 9 7 10 Part 6 B2 0,981 2 4 4 4 2 6 Summation: 209 263 273 227 203 233 209 275 274 237

Appendix 4: Result of simulations in Pack-Assistant Group 1: Part 1

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 12

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 18

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 18

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 18

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 14, Highest 16

Group 1: Part 2

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 12

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 24

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 24

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 24

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 11, Highest 16

Group 1: Part 3

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 6

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 12

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 12

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 12

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 9

Group 1: Part 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 8

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 24

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 32

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking , Quantity: 24

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 21, Highest 26

Group 1: Part 5

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 8

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 22

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 22

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 26

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 17, Highest 18

Group 2: Part 1

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 24

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 76

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 76

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 48

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 33, Highest 36

Group 2: Part 2

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 18

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 31

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 30

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 28

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 18, Highest 25

Group 2: Part 3

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 22

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 71

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 72

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 54

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 50, Highest 55

Group 2: Part 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 10

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 16

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 16

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 3, Highest 6

Group 2: Part 5

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where trapezoidal has the highest quantity, Quantity: 28

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 56

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 56

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 56

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: Lowest 44, Highest 55

Group 2: Part 6

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 8

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 12

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 12

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 12

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 10

Group 3: Part 1

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 50

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 68

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 68

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 48

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 56

Group 3: Part 2

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 138

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 172

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 172

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 150

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 125

Group 3: Part 3

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 3

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 3

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 4

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 3

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 3

Group 3: Part 4

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 10

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 15

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 14

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 15

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 10

Group 3: Part 5

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 6

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer with overlapping gives the highest quantity, Quantity: 10

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 12

Box: B1, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 9

Box: B1, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 7

Group 3: Part 6

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Compartment where rectangular has the highest quantity, Quantity: 2

Box: B, Packing Structure: Planar Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Flexible Intermediate Layer, Quantity: 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: Stacking, Quantity: 4

Box: B2, Packing Structure: 5 Bulk Simulations, Quantity: 2