On development of production methods for transfer to SMEs

Sammanfattning: The main problem in this thesis is: How should research and development results regarding production methods be represented for better adoption by SMEs?Manufacturing SMEs in Sweden have in general low profit margins and risk to go bankrupt. Different production methods could facilitate the needed performance improvement. Networking provides an arena where research and development needs could be determined and effective transfer activities could be carried through.How new production methods could be characterized and represented are presented. Several case studies, surveys and literature studies have been carried through. The results from these studies have been analyzed and compared to literature on the production method diffusion process – Dissemination-Clustering-Transfer. This analysis has resulted in a specification of requirements on how new production methods should be presented for better adoption by SMEs.One suggestion to the specification of requirements, the DFMTsme process, is described. The process is based on a repeated development procedure and follows a six-step development process in five phases. It is concluded that the DFMTsme process works. The research project is finally reviewed due to verification, validation and the contribution to knowledge. Implications for actors in the production method diffusion process as well as for policy makers are discussed.