AUGMENTED REALITY SOM KVALITETSSÄKRINGSVERKTYG FÖR BYGGELEMENT INOM INDUSTRIELL TRÄHUSPRODUKTION

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The timber-framed house production industry is still at large depending on manual craftsmanship, in contrary to other sections within the industry, which has evolved further in the use of automation and machine labour. This also extends to quality controls, where the Swedish industry is far behind regarding the implementation of Total Quality Management, LEAN production, Just-In-Time and other high-tech tools. Augmented Reality technology is one of the innovations in the transition to “Industry 4.0” that is expected to have potential to be used as a quality inspection tool for prefabricated modules. The goal of the study was hence to investigate the application of Augmented Reality (AR) as a quality inspection tool for prefabricated modules within the timber-framed house production industry. This is investigated from a quality assurance perspective as well as a goal to discover and correct more faults in the process from production until the final inspection of the modules. Method: Design science research (DSR) was the method of choice to be able to investigate the applicability of AR- technology for quality inspections within the timber-framed house production industry. Through investigating the latest research within the subject and the case company production environment through preparatory interviews, the quasi- experiment could be developed with the associated evaluation in the form of interviews. Findings: The study showed that AR- technology has the potential to be used for quality work within the timber-framed house production industry, as a complement to the production line self-inspection. This is shown by the result of the quasi- experiment which demonstrates that AR- technology could contribute to the discovery of deviations and that the number of faults probably would decrease over time. Implications: The outcome of the study demonstrates that AR- technology can be used within quality assurance work for prefabricated modules through the discovery of deviations. Furthermore, the AR- technology is well used to visualize the module in 3D, which is easier to interpret than an ordinary paper drawing. The factory environment where the AR- technology is meant to be used has high safety requirements, consequently it is recommended to use complementary safety equipment for the Microsoft Hololens 2, as well as having a charging station available by short proximity. Limitations: The study was meant to address whether AR- technology could be used for quality inspections within the production of prefabricated timber-framed modules. Hence, no regard was taken to quality assurance work within the design stage, at the construction site nor other stages within the factory production. Furthermore, factors such as time, economy, efficiency and sustainability were also disregarded. There was only one DSR cycle completed in the study, additional cycles could have been completed to get a more accurate result.