VISP - Value and flexibility Impact analysis for Sustainable Production

Research Project, 2018 – 2023

VISP has the objective to develop a model-based decision support that allow manufacturers to offer a greater flexibility without comprising production efficiency. At present, no modeling and simulation support exist to support system architects and platform development teams in these trade-offs. Too much resource is consumed to manage increasing diversification that follow from the introduction of radically new technologies resulting in unwanted adjustments and changes in production.
The VISP methodology captured in a tool is designed to support the effective design of flexible and modular product and production architectures. The impact of such modelling based tool is improved precision in decisions when introducing and integrating new technologies. The methodology represents expectations and needs, and connect these to product and production platform characteristic allowing multiple options to be configured and compared. Successfully introduced, the result will reduce late changes and adaptions as products enter production, and will be important as a tool to reduce the risk of introducing novel technologies.
Volvo Car Group and Volvo AB represent the OEM’s providing access to cases used to both set requirements for the VISP methodology, and serve as a means to continuously validate the emerging generic modeling capabilities, to TRL level 5. Chalmers build on their platform based development research and recent Value Driven Design methodology.
A public and web-based version of the tool based on the VISP methodology is dveloped, that will be used in seminars with other automotive companies and for student projects. Scientifically, results will be published in high quality peer reviewed scientific fora.