Digitala Stambanan Produktion – Status in work package 1

A year after Vinnova granted the Digitala Stambanan Produktion project, we are checking the status of the various value chains the project works with. First up is work package 1 (WP1), led by Maja Bärring, Arpita Chari and Dan Li from Chalmers.

Which parties are included in WP1?

WP 1 works with a value chain in the automotive industry where SSAB and Bufab are suppliers to Nitator. SSAB supplies sheet metal to Nitator, which processes it for end customers in the automotive industry. In addition to processing, Nitator also performs some assembly where C parts from Bufab are used, among other things. ChainTraced is a technology provider and provides a solution to digitalize product data. Nitator, Bufab, and ChainTraced were all involved in the previous phase of the Digitala Stambanan.

C parts, could you explain that?

It is typically screws, nuts, and fasteners. Inexpensive high, volume items have a significant impact if unavailable.

What characterizes the value chain?

The delivery service is essential, which places a significant focus on the flexibility of the logistics flow to quickly adapt to the various needs and requests of the end customer, who is often an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) in the Swedish automotive industry.

What do you see as the value chain’s challenges?

There is a lack of data and information shared both up- and downstream in the value chain. There are questions about how customers use existing data and what requirements for data exist in other parts of the value chain.

While we see these as challenges, we also see a great willingness from all parties to learn from each other, which is very positive for the project, says Maja.

Nitator is a smaller player between larger parties in a supply chain. As a small player, it can be challenging to demand things from a larger actor. Having a high degree of flexibility then becomes a competitive advantage. The flexibility puts requirements on their work processes and digitization solutions, which must fit with other parties’ various digitalization solutions.

A challenge for the project is to explore, define and design which data can contribute to such capabilities/development/flexibility within the framework of the project, says Dan.

A vision of the project is to also enhance resilience of the value chain. Data from the digitalization solutions can help the players increase transparency in the value chain, thus adopting a holistic approach in managing disruptions and risk, says Arpita.

So, what have you chosen as focus areas for WP1?

Based on the challenges that the value chain sees and where they see potential to increase the use of data and create value, we have identified four different sub-areas:

  • Product data – How data belonging to the product can be used more (for example, SSAB’s material data)
  • Delivery assurance – Share data needed to forecast and secure deliveries.
  • Customer knowledge – Understand customers’ requirements further down the supply chain.
  • Green conversion – Visualize the CO2 footprint in the value chain (traceability of materials and products). This is something that will affect all industries.
Maja Bärring
Maja Bärring

Project manager

Digitala Stambanan Production

Dan Li
Dan Li

Work package manager

Digitala Stambanan Production

Arpita Chari
Arpita Chari

Work package manager

Digitala Stambanan Production

What do you want to achieve in WP1?

First, we want to see how the companies in the value chain work today and what maturity level they are at using the maturity assessment Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index. Then we want to address the sub-areas with increased data sharing to see how cooperation can be improved in the value chain. We will do this in different ways, but we start by producing a demonstrator for how CO2 data can be collected and visualized for all parties in the value chain.

In addition, traceability, flexibility, transparency, information sharing and collaboration are some known factors that can impact the resilience of the companies in the value chain. We will then explore how we can utilize the potential of the value from data on the digital platforms to build resilience.

How do you think the work has progressed so far?

In the beginning, project-wide activities got the most attention. Now we can focus more on the value chain itself, where we have gathered support for the focus areas and formulated the questions for the project ahead, thus also setting expectations in more detail. We believe that the overall understanding of the project is beneficial for our future efforts.

The commitment from the participants and interest in the project is higher than our initial expectations. They are open and cooperative and share their experiences. The willingness to spend time learning together with others is vital for a positive project outcome.

Arpita Chari, a PhD candidate and colleague at Chalmers has now joined the project and will help in leading WP1 activities for the coming year. Her research focuses on building resilient and sustainable production systems by utilizing the potential of digital solutions from Industry 4.0.

What lessons have you learned so far?

We have observed that companies often have a lot of data, but it must become more accessible to be used more and create value. Companies often know they have a lot of data but don’t know how to make it available.

How do you see the future? What is your scouting ahead?

We are in a period of time where delivery assurance and logistics have become even more complicated. We have a value chain that chooses to take on these challenges together and help each other instead of trying to solve them alone. It feels promising and is something we believe in. From our perspective at Chalmers, being part of that journey with a value chain that faces these challenges is exciting.

We also see that we are addressing an area that will become increasingly important in the future, such as the CO2 footprint across value networks. It may become a further requirement to collect and show one’s CO2 footprint. How should it then be done and visualized? The interesting part will also be in the following step, how should the companies bring this to their customers and what values can be created moving forward. What is it worth to their customers? So far, it is the price of the product that governs in many cases.

Thank you, Maja and Dan! It will be interesting to follow the further work. Good luck!

Digitala Stambanan strengthens the Swedish industry through digitalization of value chains. The project is a collaborative project financed by Vinnova and participating companies. The work is now underway in two tracks through the strategic innovation programs PiiA (Processindustriell IT & Automation), which drives the Digitala Stambanan IndTech project, and Produktion2030, which runs the Digitala Stambanan Produktion project.

Looking back on the past year with Maja Bärring

We had a chat with Maja Bärring, project manager for Digitala Stambanan Produktion, almost a year after the project started. How are you?

I am good. I have started up my work as project manager again after a summer holiday in Sweden, mainly spent in our sailboat on the west coast.

That sounds lovely! Digitala Stambanan Produktion is a continuation of the previous project Digitala Stambanan that started a few years ago. Can you tell us a little about the background of the new project?

The project name Digitala Stambanan is, with Stambanan, a reference to the railway system in Sweden built during the industrial revolution, which changed how products and goods could be transported in Sweden and how business was done. The new infrastructure provided new opportunities. Today, the digital infrastructure with platforms and digital solutions can offer new opportunities. Using digital platforms and other digital solutions can change how the Swedish manufacturing industry exchanges data and information and, thus also, how we do business with each other.

When we finished the previous project, there was a continued interest from both involved parties and the financier Vinnova to continue working on the same theme. It allowed us to put together an application with the vision of increasing the use of digital platforms in value chains in the Swedish manufacturing industry and recruiting stakeholders to be part of the project consortium. Our partners represent several areas that are interested in the subject; academia, manufacturing companies that form value chains and have a supplier/customer relationship with each other, technology and system suppliers, and network organizations that represent even more companies within the manufacturing industry in Sweden.

The project was granted in July 2021 by Vinnova, but the project started in practice in September 2021. The application process began many months before that. What are your experiences working with the application for such a large and complex project with many parties?

During the application, it has been essential to set the project’s overall goal and expected effects and break them down into actual activities without making it too narrow, thus reducing the scope for those involved to influence. We run the project to reach the common overall goals while at the same time balancing it against what each project partner can benefit from and learn from our collaboration in the project.

The result of the application was a project organized into five work packages. Can you tell us about these?

The first three work packages are organized around three value chains. In these, we can work with manufacturing companies to identify the current situation and the challenges we would like to address with the help of digital solutions. Our technical project partners are also essential in working on how we can solve the challenges with their technologies and system solutions.

Work package 4 involves the Stena Industry Innovation Lab (SII-Lab), a testbed at Chalmers. In the testbed, we can test new solutions that address challenges we identify in the value chains. Here we will be able to work with demonstrators and show in practice what values can be created using digital platforms and digital solutions. In the work package, we also develop the methodology that we call Reseguiden (the Travel guide for industrial digitization), which we will use when mapping digitalization maturity in the value chain companies. The methodology is based on results from previous projects and uses the German model Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index for measuring digitalization maturity.

Work package 5 acts for collaboration, networking, and dissemination. We have activities with the parallel project Digitala Stambanan IndTech, Combient’s member companies, our project partners’ network that extends beyond the project, etc., to get both external dissemination and feedback on the project’s results and work. The training program Ingenjör4.0 with short course modules in Industry 4.0 and smart industry is also a resource and asset in the project to be able to work with skill enhancement and training efforts.

How do you think the work has progressed on an overall level in the project so far?

The work has started in the respective work packages with the value chains, where we have identified the focus and have begun identifying the current state of working in the manufacturing companies. New project partners have also entered the project during the year to complete value chains.

Overall for the project, we have had regular project meetings where the themes of the meetings have touched on areas that are important for the project to be able to achieve the set goals and expected effects; for example, on the topic of demonstrators and the use of the SII-Lab testbed, the training opportunities with Ingenjör 4.0 and how we should use it in the project, as well as the status and progress of each work package.

For communication and information sharing, we have regular status meetings for the entire project on the last Wednesday of the month to share what is happening in each work package and information relevant for everyone involved in the project.

In your role as project manager for Digitala Stambanan Produktion, what are your reflections from the first year?

There is great interest and commitment to the project from all project partners, and there have been many parallel activities during the year to contribute to the overall goal. During the year, we have arranged project meetings to meet each other physically on site in SII-Lab, and then we have been able to have longer sessions together. But we have also had many digital meetings that helped us get a pulse on the project. Without the digital possibilities, it would have been more difficult with such a geographically dispersed group of project members.

Now the work on the project is picking up speed again after the summer holidays. How do you see the continued work on the project?

In all the value chains, we are at a stage where we are planning how to map the current state using the Industry 4.0 Maturity Index method and The “travel guide” (results from the Digitala Stambanan project) which we employ in the project to develop further. This work will pick up now that we are back to project activities. Work with demonstrators is also on the agenda for each value chain.

We will also, during the autumn, continue to work with our partners to disseminate the project’s results and exchange them with other projects and stakeholders.

You will soon take on exciting new challenges in becoming a mother. What happens organizationally in the project when you take parental leave for a while?

We have some changes taking place in the project management where Johan Stahre from Chalmers, with support from Martin Friis, will be my replacement as project manager for Digitala Stambanan Produktion for the time I am on parental leave, and our doctoral colleague Arpita Chari will be leading work package 1.

Thanks, Maja, for this chat, and we wish you GOOD LUCK!

How much could the Swedish industry earn from a better exchange of information in the life cycle?

The industry has great values to realize through better information management in value chains and product life cycles. Why then, are not more companies actively working with this?

The non-profit organization SEIIA (Swedish Industrial Interoperability Association) works with issues closely related to what we focus on in Digitala Stambanan. These are, for example, standards for information exchange between IT systems. Their newsletter (2022-02-28) explains the concept of interoperability, which is the ability of different systems, often in computer contexts, to work together and communicate with each other. Examples of values that better information exchange can bring are highlighted, and thoughts are presented about what prevents the industry from realizing these opportunities.

The association SEIIA was formed as a result of the LCDM project, funded through the strategic innovation program PiiA. The project focused on establishing a standardized data exchange between different support systems in a plant’s life cycle.

Read more (in Swedish)

Webinar 29 March – The New Industrial Revolution

Digital security, sustainable solutions and challenges with the supply chain

An industrial revolution with digitalization, sustainability and global supply chain as driving forces is challenging the Swedish manufacturing industry. This webinar, hosted by Microsoft, aims to present the latest trends within the manufacturing industry with focus on digital assets, digital security, sustainability and the lack of access to components.

During 60 minutes decision makers from the industry give you their opinion of the situation and stand ready to discuss solutions to the challenges we are all facing and how we develop and streamline the construction process and increase competitiveness.

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Digital Stambanan can be used for a lot. Here are some examples of things identified in the project.

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Läs mer om projektets beskrivning av Plattformar och Ekosystem som Mikael bidragit till.