Integrated Product Development in Truck Industry - A Case Study on Product Development Processes

This paper presents the result from a case study at Scania on product development processes. The objective with the case study was to gather information on Scania’s product development process (PDP) including the use of CAD and simulation tools, and project work. The objective was also to find any deviations or different interpretations among the employees on the PDP. To gather the information, semi-structured tape-recorded interviews have been used to ensure that individual interpretations from the interviewees could be gathered. Scania uses a defined and structured PDP which facilitates concurrent and cross-functional work. The PDP is implemented and followed to various degrees. The newly employed personnel may have difficulties with communication, both to find and to give information. Although, newly graduated personnel may find it easier to adapt to changes, and also to use a structured process which they have studied at universities. It was also known during the case study that the PDP is a major support for the newly employed personnel, which in turn decreases the time to get into the same working process as the more experienced personnel. Employees with decades of experience know the right sources from which to both give and gather information. Also, the terminology and definitions in the product development process may not be used as intended. This makes it difficult for other project members or teams who need to interpret the information received. At the same time, the routines among the more experienced personnel, which have been set-up throughout the years, make them more inflexible in adapting changes. The findings in the case study as well as challenges with implementing the PDP are known to Scania and are a part of the continuing work with improvement.

The effects of taxing truck distance on CO2 emissions from transports in retailing

To finance transportation infrastructure and to address social and environmental negative externalities of road transports, several countries have recently introduced or consider a distance based tax on trucks. In the competitive retail market such tax can be expected to lower the demand and thereby reduce CO2 emissions of road transports. However, as we show in this paper, such tax might also slow down the transition towards e-tailing. Considering that previous research indicates that a consumer switching from brick-and-mortar shopping to e-tailing reduces her CO2 emissions substantially, the direction and magnitude of the environmental net effect of the tax is unclear. In this paper, we assess the net effect in a Swedish regional retail market where the tax not yet is in place. We predict the net effect on CO2 emissions to be positive, but off-set by about 50% because of a slower transition to e-tailing.

Image processing technique to count the number of logs in a timber truck

This paper summarises the results of using image processing technique to get information about the load of timber trucks before their arrival using digital images or geo tagged images. Once the images are captured and sent to sawmill by drivers from forest, we can predict their arrival time using geo tagged coordinates, count the number of (timber) logs piled up in a truck, identify their type and calculate their diameter. With this information we can schedule and prioritise the inflow and unloading of trucks in the light of production schedules and raw material stocks available at the sawmill yard. It is important to keep all the actors in a supply chain integrated coordinated, so that optimal working routines can be reached in the sawmill yard.   

The effect on CO2 emissions of taxing truck distance in retail transports

To finance transportation infrastructure and to address social and environmental negative externalities of road transports, several countries have recently introduced or consider a distance based tax on trucks. In competitive retail and transportation markets, such tax can be expected to lower the demand and thereby reduce CO2 emissions of road transports. However, as we show in this paper, such tax might also slow down the transition towards e-tailing. Considering that previous research indicates that a consumer switching from brick-and-mortar shopping to e-tailing reduces her CO2 emissions substantially, the direction and magnitude of the environmental net effect of the tax is unclear. In this paper, we assess the net effect in a Swedish regional retail market where the tax not yet is in place. We predict the net effect on CO2 emissions to be positive, but off-set by about 50% because of a slower transition to e-tailing.

Solving the Vehicle Routing Problem with Genetic ALgorithm and Simulated Annealing

This Thesis Work will concentrate on a very interesting problem, the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In this problem, customers or cities have to be visited and packages have to be transported to each of them, starting from a basis point on the map. The goal is to solve the transportation problem, to be able to deliver the packages-on time for the customers,-enough package for each Customer,-using the available resources- and – of course - to be so effective as it is possible.Although this problem seems to be very easy to solve with a small number of cities or customers, it is not. In this problem the algorithm have to face with several constraints, for example opening hours, package delivery times, truck capacities, etc. This makes this problem a so called Multi Constraint Optimization Problem (MCOP). What’s more, this problem is intractable with current amount of computational power which is available for most of us. As the number of customers grow, the calculations to be done grows exponential fast, because all constraints have to be solved for each customers and it should not be forgotten that the goal is to find a solution, what is best enough, before the time for the calculation is up. This problem is introduced in the first chapter: form its basics, the Traveling Salesman Problem, using some theoretical and mathematical background it is shown, why is it so hard to optimize this problem, and although it is so hard, and there is no best algorithm known for huge number of customers, why is it a worth to deal with it. Just think about a huge transportation company with ten thousands of trucks, millions of customers: how much money could be saved if we would know the optimal path for all our packages.Although there is no best algorithm is known for this kind of optimization problems, we are trying to give an acceptable solution for it in the second and third chapter, where two algorithms are described: the Genetic Algorithm and the Simulated Annealing. Both of them are based on obtaining the processes of nature and material science. These algorithms will hardly ever be able to find the best solution for the problem, but they are able to give a very good solution in special cases within acceptable calculation time.In these chapters (2nd and 3rd) the Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing is described in details, from their basis in the “real world” through their terminology and finally the basic implementation of them. The work will put a stress on the limits of these algorithms, their advantages and disadvantages, and also the comparison of them to each other.Finally, after all of these theories are shown, a simulation will be executed on an artificial environment of the VRP, with both Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithm. They will both solve the same problem in the same environment and are going to be compared to each other. The environment and the implementation are also described here, so as the test results obtained.Finally the possible improvements of these algorithms are discussed, and the work will try to answer the “big” question, “Which algorithm is better?”, if this question even exists.

Simulation of Sawmill Yard Operations Using Software Agents

Bergkvist insjön AB is a sawmill yard which is capable of producing 350,000 cubic meter of timber every year this requires lot of internal resources. Sawmill operations can be classified as unloading, sorting, storage and production of timber. In the company we have trucks arriving at random they have to be unloaded and sent back at the earliest to avoid queuing up of trucks creating a problem for truck owners. The sawmill yard has to operate with two log stackers that does several tasks including transporting the logs from trucks to measurement station where the logs will be sorted into classes and dropped into pockets from pockets to the sorted timber yard where they are stored and finally from there to sawmill for final processing. The main issue that needs to be answered here is the lining up trucks that are waiting to be unload, creating a problem for both sawmill as well as the truck owners and given huge production volume, it is certain that handling of resources is top priority. A key challenge in handling of resources would be unloading of trucks and finding a way to optimize internal resources.To address this problem i have experimented on different ways of using internal resources, i have designed different cases, in case 1 we have both the log stackers working on sawmill and measurement station. The main objective of having this case is to make sawmill and measurement station to work all the time. Then in case 2, i have divided the work between both the log stackers, one log stacker will be working on sawmill and pocket_control and second log stacker will be working on measurement station and truck. Then in case 3 we have only one log stacker working on all the agents, this case was designed to reduce cost of production, as the experiment cannot be done in real-time due to operational cost, for this purpose simulation is used, preliminary investigation into simulation results suggested that case 2 is the best option has it reduced waiting time of trucks considerably when compared with other cases and it showed 50% increase in optimizing internal resources.

Nytt fordon för transport av bränsleflis : Slutrapport (STEM-projekt 22127-1)

Högskolan Dalarna har i samarbete med Naturbränsle i Mellansverige AB genomfört studier på ett nytt fordon för transport av skogsflis. Fordonet är försett med egen lastningsutrustning (kran och skopa), vilket innebär att flisskördaren kan tippa flisen direkt på marken eller på en i förväg utlagd duk (minskar risken för föroreningar i samband med lastning). Studier har också genomförts på transport av flis med lastväxlarfordon och container (traditionell metod) för att jämförelser skall kunna göras mellan de olika fordonstyperna. Studierna har finansie¬rats via anslag från Statens Energimyndighet och via ”naturabidrag” från deltagande företag.Studierna visar att det nya transportfordonet är ett bättre alternativ än de traditionella last¬växlarfordonen på större objekt med långa transportavstånd. Dessutom pekar studien på att det är sannolikt är bättre även på små objekt under förutsättning att flisningskostnaden kan hållas på en rimlig nivå. Studierna visar också att det bör finnas en viss utvecklingspotential på det nya fordonet (teknik- och metodutveckling), varför det bedöms kunna konkurrera med lastväxlarfordonen även på andra typer av objekt.Jämfört med de traditionella lastväxlarfordonen har det nya fordonet bl.a. följande fördelar:•Transportarbetet blir lättare att planera i och med att beroendeförhållandet mellan in¬blandade maskiner och fordon för flisproduktion och transport upphör.••Risken för störningar i transportflödet minskar.•Miljövinsterna blir större jämfört med lastväxlarfordon som måste ställa ut tomma con¬tainrar innan flisningen kan påbörjas.•Det finns inget behov av lastmaskiner på terminalerna.•Flis kan mellanlagras i skogen.Till nackdelarna med det nya fordonet hör bl.a. följande:•Framkomligheten är något sämre än för lastväxlarfordon på mycket smala och kurviga skogsbilvägar.•Det finns en viss risk för att föroreningar följer med vid lastning av fordonet. Studies were carried out on a new vehicle for transport of fuel chips from the forest. The vehicle was equipped with a crane and a bucket meaning that the chipper may tip the fuel chips right on the ground or on a mat (vira from wood processing industry) to prevent from dirt such as sand and stones when loading. Studies were also carried out on traditional main hauling with transport bins. Transport speed was the same for all vehicles except for the new self-loader on forest roads with lower quality.The studies show that the new system probably is a better alternative on large sites with long transport distances and on sites with only little parking place for transport bins. It is also likely that the new vehicle may be used on very small sites if they are close to each other and if moving cost for the chipper is low.The studies show that the new vehicle has the following advantages:•Transport and other work may be planned in a better way leading to that stress de¬creases.•Dependence between chipper operators and truck drivers decreases.•The risk for disturbances in transport flow decreases.•Environment benefits compared to traditional system with higher traffic intensity (less exhaust gases and lower stress on roads and bridges).•No need for loading machines on terminals.•Easier to store fuel chips on landing.