International safety standards state that risk assessment is the first step in understanding and eliminating hazardous work environment. The traditional method of risk assessment using Job Safety Analysis, where sequential tasks of the operator are analysed for potential risks, needs to be adapted to applications where humans and robots collaborate to complete assembly tasks. This article proposes a novel approach by placing equal emphasis on various participants working within their workspaces. An industrial case study wil be used to showcase the merits of the process when used at an early stage in the development of a collaborative assembly cell

Remanufacturing is one of the main practices toward a circular economy and industrial sustainability. Remanufacturing is highly dependent on how circular products are designed and developed. Remanufacturing can also benefit from automation for efficiency, accuracy and flexibility. This paper, via a multiple case study, connects the three areas of remanufacturing, product design and automation and investigates how circular product design can facilitate automation remanufacturing processes. First, circular product design guidelines are discussed with regard to remanufacturing. Second, potential areas for automation at three remanufacturers of electric and electronic equipment are pinpointed. Finally, design guidelines are connected to the identified potential automation areas in each remanufacturing process and discussed together. According to our results, the main incentives for automating remanufacturing processes are mainly related to the work environment, efficiency and quality. In addition, several design guidelines can facilitate automated remanufacturing processes; for instance, the standardization of components, fasteners and remanufacturing tools across different models and brands can also facilitate automated remanufacturing, where products can easily and nondestructively be disassembled by a robot or a machine.

Weight reduction and material substitution are increasing trends in the automotive industry. In this project, the task of substituting the steel body side in the monocoque of a large SUV towards an aluminum body side was investigated through a design engineering approach adopting a breadth-first analysis method. One conclusion based on the analysis is that the choice of joining technology would become arbitrary due to the breadth-first approach. In this paper, the authors present their findings from the aforementioned case, including the challenges with switching between materials with fundamentally different properties when performing material substitution projects. The possibility of having taken a depth-first analysis approach, and the possible effects on the project result, is discussed

Much has been written about the conceptual nature of mass customization, and the success of several best business practitioners in the area have been well documented. Most companies, however, are not textbook examples of best practice, but rather are making incremental progress towards mass customization based on a mass-production heritage. This paper presents the findings of a case study that investigated a mass customization initiative at a leading mobile telephone manufacturer in Sweden. The primary objective of the study was to determine the implications of a radically new manufacturing initiative for the company – the production of a customized, entry-level mobile telephone. The differences between the traditional scenario of the mass production of standardized products at the company and that of the new customized production were also sought. The findings of the study, which are presented using the product, process and system perspectives, are aided by a number of customization-related frameworks from the literature. The discussion includes the impact of moving the customization order point downstream in the value chain in terms of increased efficiency and reduced lead times, the reduced requirement for manufacturing flexibility with shifting production system boundaries, and the company's status as a mass customizer.