Effektivisering av nystartad monteringsprocess En studie av batterimontering hos Epiroc Rock Drills AB

Sammanfattning: The mining industry of the future has a strong focus on sustainability, which for example is reflected in the Swedish mining industry association Swemin´s goal of a mining industry free of carbon dioxide in 2035. To make this possible, a broad investment is now being made in the electrification of mining machines, which is believed to have great potential for reducing emissions. Epiroc Rock Drills AB is a driving force in the transition to battery-driven vehicles and has had electric machines in its product catalog for several years. From 2022, they have started to assemble batteries in-house that were previously assembled by the supplier. This thesis investigates the streamlining opportunities for the assembly process for the batteries ST14, MT42, ST1030 and MLE regarding lead time. First, a description and analysis of the current situation were carried out where five areas were identified to have an impact on the assembly process. This resulted in several proposed general improvements: developing a system for handling proposed improvement, more distinct communication of the quality philosophy, better resource efficiency and improvement of kitting and 5S.  In addition, three new layout proposals were developed which were analyzed and weighted to select the most suitable proposal under the current conditions. The result was a layout where ST14 and MT42 models are assembled in two mixed model assembly lines and ST1030 and MLE are assembled by fixed position. Continued research includes making data collection when the processes are more mature and to apply the data on the study´s suggested improvements.