Purpose

This research aims to identify and organise the conditions of organisational readiness for digital transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study comprises three case studies within manufacturing companies from different sizes and industries located in Sweden. Plant visits and in-depth interviews bring to light companies' experiences with initial steps towards digital transformation. A set of conditions for digital organisational readiness was translated into a questionnaire and tested with one of the studied companies.

Findings

This paper organises and tests digital organisational readiness conditions to support companies' initial steps on digital transformation. The results are put in perspective of established change management theory and previous studies about digital transformation. The findings will conclude in a questionnaire to support dialogue and digital organisational readiness assessments.

Research limitations/implications

Additional conditions for the initial phase of digital transformation could possibly be found if more cases had been included in the study.

Practical implications

The article identifies a set of conditions translated into a questionnaire that should be used as a dialogue tool to create strategic alignment and support companies in their initial discussions. If this process can be faster and more efficient, the company can achieve a competitive advantage against competitors.

Originality/value

This research's relevance relies on the fact that companies are advancing in adopting digital technologies without being ready from an organisational perspective. This gap creates barriers for companies' digital maturing processes, stopping them from having full access to digital technologies' benefits.

The analytical STRATEGO-tool has been used in total 48 project groups in master courses at Chalmers University of Technology from spring term of 2015. The project trains the students in applying theoretical tools at real organizations with a specific interest in analyzing their use of operations strategy. This paper presents the outcome from these courses and specifically discusses its usability as a pedagogic tool in different contexts, even though the intention with the tool initially was to constitute a tool for SMEs who wanted to develop their manufacturing strategies. 

In densely forested countries, forest and wood based products are generally an important contributing factor to the country’s economy. Especially wood product industries, such as furniture or joinery industries, add a lot of economic value. A large portion of employment positions are linked directly or indirectly to forest and wood product industries. In Europe´s highly industrialized countries, labor costs influence wood product companies rather negatively and put high pressure on them to stay competitive. Some of those companies have chosen outsourcing of their operations and production as means to survive. Another way, already successfully proven in other industries, is the automation of production processes by among others introduction of industrial robots. Effective implementation of automation equipment depends on several factors, e.g. production volume, applied material, chosen application or cycle times. It is not fully clear which factors are mostly affecting the successful change to a more automated production.

The purpose of this paper is to distinguish which automation enabling factors are dependent or independent on the specific conditions of the wood product industry. [SL1] 

By applying a comparative case study approach, automation standards and practices for wood product industries in three highly industrialized European countries are compared and analyzed. As key contribution of this paper crucial factors for the implementation of industrial robots are identified. The contributing factors are set into context to the country’s specific preconditions for wood products, e.g. market penetration, sales volume, availability and supply of resources.

As results of this study, differences and similarities are found for revealing independent or depending factors. Dependent factors are influencing only wood product industries while independent factors are connected to the nation´s specific economic and industrial situation.

The automotive industry was one of the earliest to internationalise, with overseas production by US companies already happening in the early 1900s. However, the arrangement for overseas automotive production at that time was quite different from the idea of international production networks in the contemporary sense. There were few linkages between international locations and overseas operations were designed either as largely self-sufficient, vertically integrated, replications of their domestic factories or as CKD/SKD assembly plants with little local technical content. By comparison, our current understanding of international production networks is that they are dispersed, collaborative, high value adding and centrally coordinated. This paper uses global company case analysis to identify the drivers and enablers that shape the international production networks of two automotive companies, BMW and Volvo Cars. The methodology contrasts with previous network studies of the automotive industry that have concentrated their analysis at the country and regional level.      

In this study the opportunities for automation in the poorly automated wood product industry are highlighted. This is accomplished by conducting a qualitative interview study of suppliers and system integrators for industrial robots active in this particular industry sector. Five case companies are chosen in order to explore the unique dimensions responsible for successful automation implantation in wood product companies. Results show that a low understanding of automation opportunities, unclear requirements specifications and small production volumes are the main problems for suitable automation solutions. Although wood is a fragile and changeable material, existing technology allows its manipulation with industrial robots. 

Performance measurement systems (PMS) are used within most manufacturing

companies in Sweden today. However, little focus has been on reviewing the efficiency

of the PMS. This article reviews the PMS in a production unit in a systematic analysis

with a scientific approach. The analysis is based on interview data from the identified

stakeholders of the PMS at the production unit. The studied production unit has a quite

efficient PMS, but there are also some improvement areas the can help them become more

efficient. The systematic analysis method used in the studied case can be used in other

contexts as well.

This article investigates sustainability in the performance measurement systems of Swedish manufacturing companies. It builds on a previous study that documents relatively few direct environmental indicators at shop floor level, which raises questions about possible indirect links between existing indicators and the environment that could be used to improve the environmental aspect of company´s sustainability ambitions. 

A method for identifying and categorizing indirect links to sustainability issues was defined and used. The results suggest that at shop floor level 90% of the indicators have at least an indirect relation to one or more of the sustainability dimensions economy, environment and social, of which 26% are at least indirectly related to the environmental dimension. Despite the many indirect connections, participating companies perceive a need to improve sustainability indicators and some ideas are suggested.

Product modularization has changed gradually from mainly being a way to bring strategic flexibility into product design, to becoming a means to reach new suppliers in a globalized world. Use of external suppliers is facilitated by the ‘embedded coordination’ brought by standardized module interfaces which reduce the interdependence between modules manufactured by different suppliers. However, the distance between design and manufacturing is increased by heavy reliance on suppliers, and requires coordination between design and manufacturing. Hence, this paper aims to identify appropriate mechanisms to enable coordination of external manufacturing of product modules.

The investigation is based on two case studies in one manufacturing company that has for long relied heavily on external suppliers. The case studies identify different means, coordination mechanisms, of handling the increased distance between design and manufacturing. In addition to organizational solutions, various intermediaries including especially the supply chain function act as bridges between design and manufacturing. 

The appropriate mechanism to use is decided by the character of the product and the degree of upgrading. We recommend openness to adaptation to situation dynamics rather than investment in optimizing the level of integration with a particular supplier.

Swedish industrial timber house building faces a constantly increasing housing demand. In order to respond to the demand, companies in this sector, have to improve their businesses in terms of productivity. At the same time, they need to meet customer requirements, i.e., offering flexible building solutions, thus creating a balance between productivity and flexibility. Off-site assembly of exterior walls is an essential part of the house production, and cutting down lead times at this phase hence, increases the competitiveness. If introduced in a right way, automation can contribute to a higher productivity. Thus, right levels of both physical and cognitive automation are necessary. The objective of this study is to measure the current levels of automation (LoA) within the off-site exterior wall assembly. Research design consisted of a literature study and a case study that was conducted at a Swedish company that is an engineer-to-order producer of single-family timber houses. A case study design was made according to the DYNAMO ++ framework. The framework was used in the assessment of LoA and designing flexible task allocation in many manufacturing industries, but there is a lack of knowledge on how to use this method in the industrial timber house building. The average physical and cognitive LoA of 124 identified tasks are 3 and 1 respectively. Increased physical and cognitive LoA for critical tasks would enable flexible task allocation between human operators and technology. It is believed that this type of flexibility can result in less production disturbances and higher productivity when a high variety of exterior walls is assembled.

The paper investigates the effect of the changeover in levels of automation (LoA) on the material utilization and the production flexibility in processing line systems, in the wood product industry. Further, the paper examines the applicability of the DYNAMO methodology in the chosen context. A case study was conducted where two processing line systems were analysed and compared in terms of LoA and performance. The results imply that consistency in quality and the ability to handle product complexity are affected by the changeover in LoA.