Konceptutveckling av en caterpillar med inriktning på kvalitet : En utvecklingsprocess

Sammanfattning: When transporting a sea cable, what is commonly called a caterpillar is used, but the most common said is a cable tensioner. These machines can be found in a flurry of different variants, where there are a multitude of competitors, which applies demands to having an extremely distinctive machine. Therefore  from  a  market  analysis  it  have  been  identified  that  a  lack  of  quality  regarding  the machines are a factor. A poor quality shortage that usually occurs in hard weather conditions, but this is something that should not happen as it may lead to machine breakdown. Semcon AB in Karlskrona constructs and then collaborates with Ronneby Svets & Smide, who manufacture cable carousels, armrests and other equipment for the cable industry but not the cable tensioner that are ordered separately by external companies. This is the background to why the project is created because Semcon sees a need to eliminate this bottleneck and also expand their product portfolio for customer recovery. The aim it therefore, together with Semcon, develop a new concept for a completely  new cable tensioner with given preferences, rough drawing and selection of qualitative features for the machine in order to be competitive with its future overall solution for the cable industry.    To find a solution to the described problem, a product development process has been followed to establish  structure.  The  process  include  a  planning,  concept  development,  design  and  detailed development phase. From the first phase, a wide understanding of how the complex machine works and where its deficiencies may be. Even hidden customer needs in form of interviews with cable manufacturers in Karlskrona and with industries that handle sea cable were conducted to get a broader spectrum. The needs are transformed into specifications to generate concepts based on the rankings of the measurably formulated specifications. Followed up by an evaluation where the best concepts were taken to the design phase and detailed development. All design calculations have been made, either by hand or with computer-based programs.   The work has resulted in an innovative concept of a whole cable tensioner with all key components, rough drawing, together with a new thinking solution regarding the contact face between the cable and the machine, developed through experiments and theory studies. As this project is very broad, the overall project has been divided into two master thesis works and all electronics are handles by  an  electrical/automation  company.  Therefore,  for  a  broader  understanding  and  information about functionality, reference is made to the second project “Konceptutveckling kring funktionerna hos en kabeldragare” authored by Anton Hansson.   It is extremely important to mention that the outcome of this project is intended to be a concept for a new innovative cable tensioner. This means that with future work on the concept, which includes  continued  depth  of  calculation  and  further  contact  with  suppliers,  can  provide  an opportunity  to  manufacture  the  generated  concept.  Another  development  area  Semcon  must proceed with is to review the safety routines of the machine. The authors of this report believe that a highly competitive solution has been presented, and that work contributes to a strong foundation for  the  development  of  transporting  sea  cable  technology  in  the  future  with  the  help  of  this innovative concept.