Managing successful implementation of flexible automation in SMEs

Sammanfattning: Today the global market is changing to increased competition, short product life cycles and mass customisation. Therefore, the pressure on manufacturing companies to become more flexible in their production has increased. As a response to this increased pressure, many companies have implemented automation solutions to achieve the required flexibility and stay competitive. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly under pressure, because they are usually subcontractors to large companies which trigger and promote high-mix and low-volume production. The literature shows that there are couple of reasons, for example poor management skills, impacting SMEs' behaviour and the way they run businesses. Moreover, the academia uncovers the misassumption that the conceptual frameworks, organisational theories, and processes developed through researching large companies are directly applicable and relevant to SMEs. The truth is SMEs run the business and adopt models and theories differently from larger counterparts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about managing successful implementation of flexible automation projects in companies with a high mix, low volume production. The methodological approach of this work was theoretical and empirical driven. The theory part includes a literature review, and the empirical section includes a single case study and experts involvement. Thereby five key words for flexible automation could be identified which built the basis for the research. The outcome of the study is 21 general recommendations regarding implementing flexible automations at SMEs with high mix, low volume production. These recommendations have been developed to help SMEs in their journey with automation as they can be used as a road map to cover the implementation process, before, during and after.