Introducing New Materials in the Automotive Industry : Managing the Complexity of Introducing New Materials in Existing Production Systems

Sammanfattning: Passenger vehicles are central to Western society, and contribute to a significant part of our greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce emissions, the automotive industry as a whole is working to reduce mass in passenger vehicles in order to reduce energy consumption. One way to reduce mass is to introduce lightweight materials in the body of the vehicle. This research aims to explore the relationship between product and production system when introducing new materials.Besides a theoretical review and an industry-centered technological mapping, four case studies have been conducted during the course of this licentiate thesis. Two case studies were conducted with engineering design students working as development teams, one case study with the author as the developer and finally one case study in an industrial environment at a product owning company with in-house production. The goal of the case studies has been to increase the collective knowledge of how product development decisions affect production development decisions, and vice versa, when developing passenger vehicles in new materials.In the following analysis of case study outcomes, a number of factors important for introducing new materials are discussed. The relationship between product and production is investigated, both in terms of how the production system affects the product and how the product affects the production system. The outcome from this analysis is a mapping of important factors for automotive industry companies to understand and identify when looking at introducing new materials in existing production systems. Finally, a suggestion for future research efforts is presented.