Mobile Demonstration and Production Unit for Stilfold´s Manufacturing Technology : Concept development of a mobile demonstration and production unit for industrial environments and trade fairs

Sammanfattning

The manufacturing industry faces increasing demands for sustainability, flexibility, and resource efficiency, while the need to demonstrate and implement new production technologies in real-world industrial environments is growing. The company Stilfold has developed a bending technology with the potential to reduce material waste, energy consumption, and complexity in traditional manufacturing processes. To enable broader implementation and strengthen the company’s market position, a need was therefore identified for a mobile solution for demonstration and temporary production. The purpose of this thesis was to develop a concept for a portable demonstration and production unit that would enable Stilfold’s bending technology to be demonstrated and used in industrial settings, as well as at trade shows and during customer visits. The project was completed as a thesis in Technical Design at Luleå University of Technology in collaboration with Stilfold. The work was based on an iterative design process in which literature reviews, interviews, benchmarking, a current state analysis, and requirements specification were used to gain an understanding of the project’s context and conditions. Theoretical frameworks were taken from areas such as production design, modular systems, Design for Lease and Reuse, Design for Manufacturing, Assembly and Disassembly, and layout and flow optimization. Idea generation was carried out using methods such as brainstorming, customer journeys, sketching, and digital concept visualization. The developed concepts were evaluated using an evaluation matrix and workshops conducted together with Stilfold. The result of this thesis is a concept called StilVan, a mobile demonstration and production unit integrated into a transport vehicle. The concept enables safe transport, rapid installation, and effective demonstration of Stilfold’s technology in a variety of operating environments. The solution is designed for temporary production, visual communication at trade shows, and future leasing-based business models.