the lightweight challenge (future by semcon # 2 2012)

1 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FUTURE SMART GRIDS

1 ROLLS-ROYCE SAVES TIME WITH YELLOW CARDS

1 MERVENTO’S HUGE WIND TURBINE IN MINI FORMAT

A MAGAZINE ABOUTENGINEERING SERVICES & PRODUCT INFORMATION # 2 2012

future by semcon

#2 2012

THE EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH. THE CHALLENGES ARE MANY. IS THE FUTURE LIGHT?

LIGHT WEIGHT

AFTER WORKname Nils Bjerkås and Anders Dahlsjöwhat we do at work Civil engineer in automation and machine construction engineer.off ice Semcon Göteborgwhat we do after work Match racing with the Berntsson Sailing Team as a trimmer and foredecker.current challenge To improve on last year’s bronze at the World Championships.

NILS BJERKÅS AND ANDERS DAHLSJÖ:

“It’s all worth it when we’re standing on the winners’ podium”About usnils: “I’m ambitious, competitive and like tough challenges, which is reflected in everything I do. I’m 33 and live with my wife Kristina in Göteborg.”anders: “I think first and act later, and am probably considered as a bit quiet, but I never quit. I’ve been professional a few times and have competed in the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race. I’m 39 and live with my wife and two daughters in Onsala just outside Göteborg.” About our jobnils: “I’m responsible for a group of 18 people that helps customers with product development. I’m

also a sales manager and meet a lot of customers.”anders: “I’m working on mo-tor development for Volvo Penta, customizing their industrial motors to meet future emissions require-ments.”

About match racing“We’ve both sailed since we were children but only met one an-other as competitors at various sailing events prior to working at Semcon. We started sailing to-gether in 2011 when taking part in the World Match Racing Tour with the Berntsson Sailing Team. We won bronze together with the rest of the crew and were nominated yachtsmen of the

year in Sweden, which was a fan-tastic feeling, especially consider-ing that most of our competitors were professionals. We have two crews to juggle work, family and sailing. The best thing about match racing is the teamwork, the head-to-head races, the tacti-cal game, that we can combine sailing with our technical inter-ests and that we can share our successes with one another.”

What we’ve learned from match racing“Everyone in the world of sailing is driven and have set clear goals for themselves. We’re also completely dependent on one another. Every-one puts in 150 per cent in trying

to outdo themselves. It’s worth all the hard work when we’re standing on the winners’ stand. Having the ambition, team spirit and the feeling you get on the winners’ stand at work would be great.”

FACTS: MATCH RACINGMatch racing is a form of sail racing where two yachts compete against one another on a course. The yachts com-plete two distances with the wind and two against the wind. The most well known match racing competition is the America’s Cup.

+search for “semcon” in

app s

tore

Extramaterial on iPad

THEME

2 FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2012

CONTENTS #2.2012ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON

FUTURE BY SEMCON

ON YOUR IPAD Search for “Semcon”

in the App Store.

6 Grids of the future will be smartMake use of electrical energy from the wind, sun and electric vehicles. These are some of the benefits of smart electricity networks. Professor Lina Bertling Tjernberg tells us what the future holds.

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2012 3

42 MEET SEMCON’S SHARPEST MINDSIn Semcon Brains you will meet the Hybrid Design Studios team who visualize custom-ers’ futures, Miriam Stribeck who knows all there is about steering systems and Jens Olow who teaches his customers everything he knows about project management.

16 ON THE HUNT FOR A LIGHTER CARCreating a normal car that’s as much as 40 per cent lighter. That’s the task that the SåNätt project took on. Semcon and other players decided to go 100 years back in time.

Website: semcon.com Letters: Future by Semcon, Semcon AB, 417 80 Göteborg, Sweden. Change of address: [email protected] Publisher: Anders Atterling. Tel: + 46 (0)70-447 28 19, email: [email protected] Semcon project manager: Madeleine Andersson. Tel: +46 (0)76-569 83 31, email: [email protected] Editorial production: Spoon. Manager/Editor: Katarina Misic. Designer: Mathias Lövström. Website: spoon.com Repro: Spoon. Printing: Trydells Tryckeri, Laholm. Translation: Cannon Språkkonsult, Kungsbacka. ISSN: 1650-9072.

EDITORIAL

The art of making the world lighter

I t’s not enough today to just come up with a smart, innovative product. It also has to be cheap to make, simple to use, easy to main-tain, safe, eco-friendly and recyclable.

The list goes on. The demands on today’s products are on the rise and more complex. We help our customers to not only meet these demands but also to predict tomorrow’s demands by being at the forefront of technical development. We make our customers the best in their class.

One requirement in recent years that has kept lots of our customers busy has been the need to make things light. Lighter products are almost al-ways better products. If it’s a vehicle then it uses less fuel and gives off fewer CO2 emissions. If it’s a wind farm then it can be made even bigger and more efficient by using lightweight materials. In this issue of Future by Semcon, we’ll not only take a closer look at how lightweight materials have revolutionized product development but

also what challenges the future holds.I never cease to be amazed by the extent of the

assignments we carry out with our customers. From Olympic cycling shoes and wind turbine prototypes to lighter vehicles, after market information for milking equipment and more efficient production at Rolls Royce. You can read about all this and lots more in this issue of Future by Semcon. 1

24 DELAVAL MAKES MILKING SIMPLE Advanced technology makes life simpler for dairy farmers around the world. Semcon is helping DeLaval with its complex aftermarket information – with resources in Sweden, Hungary and the UK.

MARKUS GRANLUND, CEO, SEMCON

36 LIGHTER WHEEL LOADER IS STILL STRONGBy using the right weight in the right places Volvo CE succeeded in signifi-cantly reducing the weight of its wheel loader. Semcon helped in making a lighter, more efficient wheel loader.


PEOPLE #2.2012PEOPLE IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON

gustav larsson, professional cyclist, monacoHow will lightweight materials affect cycling in the future? “I’m curious to see how graphene will be used in the future. It’s a re-ally interesting material. A bicycle contains electronics for gearing, measuring speeds, power and GPS. Graphene is extremely ef-fective at conducting electricity. It might be able to be used for integrating the necessary electric-ity required in the frame instead of lots of wires everywhere.”

Making products lighter is a challenge for many industries today. Meet some people in Future by Semcon speaking on the subject of making things lightweight.

anders holmkvist, project manager for sånätt, trollhättanWhat are the biggest challenges in making vehicles lighter today? “Cost-efficiency. I’m mainly referring to how we create effective produc-tion technology. It’s very probable that we’re dealing with a lot of com-posite materials. Making this work in major volumes will, in my view, be the biggest challenge.”

lina bertling tjernberg, professor of durable electrical energy systems at chalmers university of technology, göteborg Are lightweight materials important for developing smart grids? “Yes. Especially for wind power, not only because reducing the weight of the construc-tion is a challenge, but also at power stations, where the switchgear and transformers are, to reduce the size and weight of the components.”

16PAGE

34PAGE

30PAGE


patrik holm, ceo and founder of mervento, vasa What future do lightweight materials have in the wind power industry? “The choice of materials when constructing a wind turbine is obviously very important because everything needs to be durable. But even if the actual body of the turbine is made of steel I still believe that there is a future for various light-weight materials for the insides of the turbines.”

miriam stribeck, design engineer, semcon göteborg

How important is lightweight material in your field of work?

“It’s massively important. The weight of a car affects the servo steering, which is

what I’m currently working on. Small dif-ferences in the choice of material

can have a huge impact.”

lars serander, head of the swedish project office, volvo construction equipment, eskilstuna How important is it to make your plant machinery lighter? “Not at all actually. For us the opposite is important, weight. Weight is what makes these machines work effectively. To get an energy-efficient wheel-mounted loader we instead need to optimize its weight distribution, while retaining or increasing lift capacity. Optimizing construction while always considering weight is an ongoing task.”

50PAGE

36PAGE

44PAGE


Tennis rackets, cars or wind turbines – whatever you make must be made lighter. Companies are hoping to save both the environment and future business by introducing new smarter materials. The possibilities are seemingly endless, but there are plenty of challenges. Join Future by Semcon into a lighter world.TEXT PETER HAMMARBÄCK

A LIGHT CHALLENGE

During Björn Borg’s glory days, like here follow-ing his fifth Wimbledon title in 1980, nobody questioned his choice of wooden racket, the Don-nay Borg Pro. Donnay went bankrupt in 1988,

overtaken by its competitors. Monte Carlo, 1991. A slim 34 year-old Swede

steps out onto the tennis court. Around his head is his trademark sweatband to keep his blond mane in place. It’s the long-awaited comeback of one of the biggest names in tennis history. Björn Borg, “Mr five Wimbledon titles in a row”, is back in his first professional match in almost eight years. He’s about to play Spaniard Jordi Arrese, ranked at a modest Nr. 52 in the world.

The enthusiastic crowd at the Monte Carlo Open are clearly pleased to see Björn Borg playing tennis again. In his hand he has his trusty wooden Donnay Borg Pro racket, which weighs 415 grams, the one he won five Wimbledon titles with. Arrese will be playing with an ultra modern, light graphite racket, which weighs around 350 grams. This might not sound like a big difference, but the head of the graphite racket can be made bigger allowing the player to hit the ball 25-30 per cent harder. Björn Borg was beaten 2-6, 3-6 in the hotly awaited comeback that was not to be long-lived. The next time Borg made a comeback, on the veteran tour, he made sure he was playing with a graphite racket.

LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS HAVE brought about a revolution in the world of sport. The relatively simple construction of hockey sticks and badminton rackets were first, and were made from aluminium and composite materials. Bi-cycles, F1 cars, skis, golf clubs and yachts soon followed – and the list is as long as there are sports where saving weight really matters.

Development in competitive cycling is proof of that. The winners of the Tour de France in the 80s averaged speeds of 37 km/h, while today’s competitors are averag-ing around 40 km/h. This speed is mainly at-tributable to the equipment becoming lighter and better. Over the past 30 years old steel frames have made way for carbon-fibre and the weight of each bicycle has dropped by around 2.5kg, a significantly less amount of weight to haul across the French Alps.

THE WORLD OF SPORT is however not the only one to have realized the possibilities of light-weight materials. Even the more advanced manufacturing industry wants to lose weight, whether it’s a question of vehicles, aircraft, trains or boats. The question of weight is clearly a crucial issue for many.

“It’s due to environmental requirements. They need to cut back on the use of energy and reduce CO2 emissions. The automotive industry has, for example, talked about saving weight for the past fifteen years, but it’s only recently that they’ve done anything about it. It’s become more of a serious issue,” says Jan Skogsmo, lightweight expert at the Swerea IVF industrial research institute.

It’s hard to find anyone these days who

doesn’t care about lightweight solutions. “The only people who don’t want to lose

weight are the companies that make counter-weights for cranes, diggers and bridge build-ers. Otherwise nearly everyone wants to make their products lighter. It might not be impor-tant for the product itself, but it makes more financial sense to transport lighter goods, and it makes the product more manageable. You also use less material, saving costs and the environment. A washing machine that weighs 50kg can be lifted up stairs by the installer on his own, while one that weighs 75kg might need two men to lift,” says Jan.

THE DESIRE TO MAKE THINGS LIGHTER is intense, but nothing new. As far back as the first half of the 20th century, industry experimented with various materials for use in making lighter aircraft and cars. Aircraft manufactur-ers soon saw the advantages of aluminium. German professor Hugo Junkers presented his Junkers J4 aircraft in 1917, the first aircraft entirely made of metal. A crucial role in the construction was the aluminium alloy, dura-lumin. Both world wars helped Junkers’ air-craft develop and go into mass production for the German Luftwaffe, something that proves the close link that has existed between light-

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT

During Björn Borg’s glory days, like here following his fifth Wimbledon title in 1980, nobody ques-tioned his choice of wooden racket, the Donnay Borg Pro. Donnay went bankrupt in 1988, overtaken by its competitors. (Photo: Rob Taggart/Getty)


weight material, the military and the aviation industry for many years.

Developments have also been driven peri-odically by the aerospace industry and then the automotive industry. Aluminium got its commercial breakthrough in the aviation in-dustry in the 1920s, and the material’s proper-ties still make it popular in cars. New com-posite materials first appeared in the 1950s, first in the form of fibreglass for boats and cars. Boeing’s 707 passenger aircraft contained 2 per cent fibreglass as far back as the 1950s. Graphite appeared in the 1960s and was also used in the aviation industry and by the mid-60s carbon-fibre was introduced to the world.

The automotive industry soon realized the advantages of the new materials being used for some components, but sports equip-ment manufacturers also realized the huge potential of making fishing rods and bicycles lighter. The USSR launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957. It was mainly made from an alloy (AMG6T) of aluminium, titanium and magnesium. In the search for the perfect alloy, engineers learned how to give metals certain properties, shapes and weight. Designers making vehicles, air-craft, military equipment and spacecraft today probably spend a lot of their waking hours

thinking about what things weigh – and how much of this weight can be reduced.

ONE OF THEM IS Dan Jönsson who was recruited by truck manufacturer Scania in Södertälje about a year ago to work with compos-ite materials.

“We develop lighter trucks because we have to, because of the competi-tion. The en-tire automotive industry today is working on making vehi-cles lighter, at least in the premium seg-ment. Scania’s aim is to cut CO2 emissions from its trucks by 50 per cent by 2020, from the levels of 2000. To succeed with this we need to think outside the box,” says Dan.

It’s mainly climate demands that are

the catalyst, but lighter vehicles also mean improved economy for companies operating trucks and busses – lighter vehicles can take more passengers or more load, cutting costs per transported ton. In addition, the develop-

ment of electric and hybrid vehicles, with heavy batteries has put

more pressure on reducing the weight of the rest of

the vehicles’ con-struction.

THAT’S WHY we now have people in white coats and protective eyewear, in laboratories throughout the world, working

out how they can use lighter mate-

rials in products. The German Fraun-

hofer research institute in Munich is considered

to be world-leading in the field of weight research. From its

HQ in Munich, and a further 60 or so

“ Lightweight construction is among the most important technologies for the future in aircraft manufacture, car making and mechanical engineering.”

Professor Holger Hanselka, Fraunhofer Lighweight Construction Alliance

Audi A3In the next Audi A3 2.0 TDI 150PS, the German engineers have shaved off 80kg compared with previous A3s. This

has been achieved by using more aluminium and high-tensile steel than in previous versions.


Lars Carlsson is responsible for re-search in Semcon’s Automotive R&D business area. Lightweight is an

important area, not just for the automo-tive industry.

“There is still a lot to do in the automo-tive industry in the field of lightweight,”

he says. “But we’re also seeing major potential for the aviation industry and future energy production such as wind power. The marine industry is also work-ing with lightweight materials. It’s not just that less weight cuts down on fuel consumption and emissions, but also

finding new materials and combina-tions of materials that also manage to maintain and improve function, safety and durability.”

Semcon already has both wide-rang-ing and the cutting edge expertise to solve the complex issues and challenges

Lars Carlsson is aiming for a lighter futureThe development potential for lightweight materials is vast, not just in the transport sector. Lars Carlsson makes sure that Semcon is at the cutting edge of all it does in R&D projects.TEXT FLORENCE OPPENHEIM PHOTO LARS ARDARVE

THE EXPERT

Lars CarlssonTitle: Technical Director, Automotive R&DOffice: Semcon, Göteborg

that this kind of research and develop-ment faces. As the research manager it’s Lars’ job to also look to the future and take advice from the organization to propose strategic recruitments and in-vestments in order to always stay at the forefront in the field of lightweight.

“I monitor trends from a global per-spective and not just in the automotive industry. We are now a global engineer-ing partner, and for me a lot of my work deals with considering future demands that will be placed on us and what chal-lenges we as a company might face in the next 20 years,” he says.

The lightweight trend is clear. Organis-ing internal and external events is one way for Semcon to take part and strengthen its technical development and expertise in the area.

“We historically have, and still have, a solid base and knowledge of lightweight, both in terms of metallic and non-metallic materials. We focus strongly on reviewing customers’ future needs and commit ourselves in international networks and forums, where we’re seen as a knowledge provider and attractive partner for R&D,” he says.

Lars Carlsson is an important contact for customers in terms of finding the right expertise in the field of lightweight, not just for material issues, but also for complementary resources in areas such as design and production methods for various projects. It is also important to show customers other uses for light-weight materials.

“We have a complete lightweight portfolio. My job as technical director is to support and provide contacts, both internally in Semcon and externally to customers and business partners.” 1


other institutions around Germany and the world, we are now getting new products and solutions in the lightweight field. For these researchers there is no doubt about where the future lies.

“Lightweight construction is among the most important technologies for the future in aircraft manufacture, car making and me-chanical engineering,” says Professor Holger Hanselka at the Fraunhofer Lightweight Con-struction Alliance to Fraunhofer Magazine.

Fraunhofer not only looks at the materials’ properties, but also how to cut production costs and how to join different materials to one another – two key issues for the future of lightweight materials.

JOINING IS THE SUBJECT of Magnus Burman’s research. He’s part of a research group at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm that’s focussing solely on compos-ite materials. These materials can consist of almost anything, mud and straw for exam-ple, but when talking about composites and lightweight we often talk about carbon fibre and glass fibre-reinforced plastics. One of the crucial problems is implementing the com-posite material, i.e. how to join the composite components with steel so it’s durable and cost effective, because welding is not an option.

“We try to find sensible ways of imple-menting composites in major load-bearing structures like buses, trucks and cars. New students here at KTH usually ask why we can’t make entire vehicles from composite materials instead of making smaller parts. It would undoubtedly be simpler, but for large production companies it would be difficult with such a drastic re-tooling. They are stuck in production systems that the new materials need inroads into. Re-tooling the entire au-

tomotive industry to deal with carbon fibre – it’s not going to happen. I rather believe that a vast range of various lightweight materials will be combined in tomorrow’s vehicles,” says Magnus Burman.

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, is a mix of different lightweight materials. It’s made of fibreglass and carbon fibre composites, quartz fibre and the unique material GLARE (Glass-reinforced fibre metal laminate), alumin-ium alloys etc. Despite all the work to make the A380 as light as possible it weighs around 276 tons without cargo, around 100 tons more than the Boeing 747, which was previously the world’s largest passenger air-craft. Around 50 Airbus A380s have been sold, but prob-lems with small cracks that appeared in 2011 have put the project under huge pressure, from a business perspec-tive. The cracks are not really dangerous but must still be repaired, which will cost manufacturer EADS hundreds of millions of Euros. A critical article in Der Spiegel asked whether it’s wise to use the new “high-tech” material in aircraft. Airbus’ Executive Vice President Programmes, Tom Williams warns against erring too much on the side of caution

because of just this one disaster. “If we had never dared to embark on new paths, aircraft would still be made of wood and canvas,” he says to Der Spiegel.

JOINING COMPOSITE MATERIALS to metal is a huge challenge. The streamlined and effec-tive production systems in many industries is another, equally major challenge. Making a car door from composite materials for ex-

ample can not be compared to making the same door out of steel or

aluminium. When making a door from composites it’s

made from a hardened mix of fibres and

plastic, which would require an enor-mous re-tooling of the world’s automotive fac-tories.

Dan Jönsson at Scania is well

aware of the prob-lem:

“It’s a challenge. We need to think

composite all the way, and to succeed with that

we need to improve exper-tise internally, which is a process

we’re in right now.”“But it’s slow. Scania currently uses alu-

minium and high-tensile steel, but has yet to produce a truck or bus using composite components,” he says.

“As long as we just use aluminium and high-tensile steel there’s a clear limit for how much weight we can save. That’s why I have high hopes for composite materials over the

“ New students here at KTH usually ask why we can’t make entire vehicles from composite materials instead of making smaller parts.”

Magnus Burman, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT

Giant TCR AdvancedFor many years the magic figure for manufacturers of racing bikes was 1,000 grams. With the TCR Advanced,

Giant succeeded in getting down to 830 grams with the help of specially developed carbon

fibre and resins that were mixed with the composite.



long-term. That will allow us to make real weight savings. We’re letting car manufactur-ers go first and get all the teething troubles,” he says with a glint of irony.

A MANUFACTURER that has taken an early lead and clearly expressed its belief in compos-ites is BMW. In June 2011 they said that they were investing EUR 100 million in building a purpose-built carbon fibre factory. They are the first car manufacturer to make such a bold move towards composites, a material that’s significantly more expensive to mass-pro-duce than steel, but also significantly lighter. Chris Reiter, Berlin-based motor journalist at Bloomberg BusinessWeek, explains why BMW is investing in carbon fibre. “A lot of the profit from German car sales comes from large cars like the Mercedes S class and BMW 7 series. As environmental regulations are made stricter, car manufacturers need to succeed

in making their models more fuel-efficient.”

Although more efficient engines might be part of the solution, cars also have to be lighter, and carbon fibre currently has the biggest weight-saving potential. The German car manufacturers also have the biggest margins in the industry, meaning they can absorb the extra cost for more expensive carbon fibre better than many of their competitors.

Mercedes Benz and Audi are also trying to secure their access to carbon fibre by becom-ing part-owners in carbon fibre companies (Mercedes) and by merging with companies that develop tools for mass-producing carbon fibre parts (Audi).

“But we’ve not yet seen any proof that

mass-production of carbon fibre parts

for the automotive industry works, so

manufacturers are also working with other materi-

als in parallel. Aluminium is often standard in the premium car

segment these days, and high-tensile steel and magnesium are also being used,” says Chris Reiter.

Next year BMW will present its long-awaited i3, which will be completely electric with a carbon fibre body. The car is an excit-ing rethink of car construction, but it re-mains to see whether customers will pay the relatively high price (probably around EUR 27,000) for a small electric car with limited luggage space.

ANOTHER INDUSTRY that’s fighting to intro-

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT

1 CARBON FIBREA reinforcement material consisting

of thin layers of carbon thread. Together with epoxy, poly and vinyl resins it pro-duces a material with many areas of use. Also used as a sandwich material with carbon fibre in the outer layers and a light, but stiff honeycomb structure, balsawood or foam centre.used in: Cars, boats, bicycles, aircraft, golf clubs, helmets, skis, weapons etc. pluses: Extremely light and stiff. Doesn’t corrode.minuses: Expensive, less impact-resistant and risk of cracks appearing between the layers.

2 NATURAL FIBRESNatural fibres like linen, hemp and

jute can replace fibreglass in composite components.used in: The car industry, which has taken the lead, though mainly in seat coverings and non-structural components. pluses: Cheap, better stiffness per unit of weight compared with fibreglass and a renewable resource. minuses: Less crash strength than fibre-glass, variable quality of the raw material, moisture-sensitive, less fire-resistant.

3 PLASTICSConsist mainly of one or more

polymers mixed with additives to produce various properties. Can for example be rein-forced with fibreglass to be made stronger and more durable.used in: Everything from prostheses, packaging and construction material to interiors and engine parts in vehicles, boats, trains and aircraft.pluses: Pliable, insulating, light, durable, lasts a long time and easy to manufacture.minuses: Requires crude oil (although renewable alternatives exist), manufactur-ing causes high levels of emissions, not easy to recycle.

4 CERAMIC METALTechnical ceramic metals such as

aluminium oxide and silicon nitride are produced by heat-treating at temperatures in excess of 600°C.used in: Hip replacements, dental implants, knife blades, electronics, heat shields for space shuttles, cutting tools and the aviation and automotive industries.pluses: Light in relation to properties such as heat-resistant, high melting point, durable, non-conductive, non-corrosive, not affected by bacteria, non-magnetic and requires no lubrication. minuses: Very tension-sensitive and easily weakened by cracks.

8 MATERIALS THAT MAKE PRODUCTION LIGHTER

Boeing 787 DreamlinerAirbus 380 might be biggest, but it’s actually the Boeing

787 Dreamliner that’s the world’s first commercial aircraft to be built of 50 per cent carbon fibre composite (compared with 12 per cent in the

20-year old Boeing 777). The weight loss is said to save 20 per cent

of fuel.

duce lightweight material is the shipping industry. There are many advantages for large transport vessels and small ferries to introduce lightweight construction. Lighter vessels need less ballast, meaning more space for cargo that they can get paid for. With the rising price of oil and stricter environmen-tal regulations, any way of saving fuel is hard currency in shipping. Composite materials also require a lot less maintenance because they don’t rust. But there is a huge obstacle to overcome.

“The greatest challenge is proving that ves-sels can be made from lightweight materials without compromising fire safety,” says Tom-my Herzberg, researcher at the SP research institute and project manager of the Swedish LÄSS project.

Combustible composites challenge tradi-tional construction methods in shipping, but since 2002 regulations allow the replacement

of steel with other materials as long as safety can be guaranteed. And Composite materials’ properties have developed to such an extent that this now seems possible.

Sweden is the world-leader in the con-struction of composite vessels, mainly at the Kockum yard in Karlskrona, which for exam-ple built the pioneering Visby corvette out of PVC, carbon fibre and laminated vinyl for the Swedish Navy and launched its first civil carbon fibre-based CarboCat in 2010.

According to Tommy Herzberg the question is not if, but when we’ll start seeing a greater number of lightweight vessels being built.

THE FIGHT FOR LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS is not only a question of cost, durability and re-tooling production systems, but also one of what materials represent the future, and who is willing to invest in taking the lead. Dr. Stephen Rudzewski, Head of Technics and

Innovation, works at Semcon in Ingolstadt, Germany. The future for him is not just car-bon fibre and aluminium. He has his sights set on MnE21. The material is a magnesium manganese light metal, which is soft, available everywhere in the world and well-suited for making many automotive parts.

“Magnesium was completely forgotten about after World War II, when the alumin-ium lobby invested a lot of money in getting everyone to use aluminium. Since MnE21 - a representative for aluminum-free magnesium alloys - has now been rediscovered we’re hop-ing that automotive manufacturers and others will be willing to start using it again,” says Rudzewski.

MnE21 should be processed at elevated temperatures (150-350 ° C), since it is then easy to work with and easy to shape. Despite this, European automotive manufacturers are hesitant. Semcon has noticed much wider

“ We could lose between 80 and 100 kg from an ordinary car by using MnE21 parts without affecting crashworthiness.”

Dr Stephen Rudzewski, Semcon


5 ALUMINIUMThe “grand old lady” of lightweight

material is the most common metal on earth. Conducts electricity well.used in: Cars, aircraft, cans, aluminium foil etc.pluses: Lighter than steel, quite malleable and doesn’t corrode as easily as steel.minuses: Relatively advanced process (heat treatment) to achieve the material’s maximum strength. Never as strong as steel, not easy to weld and can scratch.

6 HIGH-TENSILE STEELSteel with higher tensile yield limit

achieved through alloying or heat treat-ment, can be made thinner and lighter than traditional steel.used in: Cars, cranes, freight containers, loading machines etc.pluses: Manageability and access. One of few light materials that can be welded and that industries can start using without re-tooling entire production lines.minuses: High CO2 emissions during pro-duction. Still relatively heavy.

7 MAGNESIUMThe eighth most common mineral on

Earth. Important nutrient for humans and important for photosynthesis in plants.used in: Various alloys in aircraft, mobile phones, bicycles, missiles etc.pluses: Very light with half the density of aluminium. Found globally, even in seawater.minuses: Cannot compete with high-tensile steel in constructions requiring high safety. Corrodes easily if not surface-treat-ed correctly and burns easily if cut thinly. These weaknesses do not apply to MnE21 (magnesium manganese).

8 TITANIUMThe expensive luxury metal Titanium

is mostly used in “price is not an issue industries”.used in: Medical constructions for implanting into the human body. In avia-tion and aerospace industries. Jewellery because it is a non-allergen.pluses: Hard! 50 per cent lighter than steel, but despite this is just as hard in some alloys. Works well with the human body. Corrosion-resistant. minuses: Expensive. Difficult to machine (bend, weld) because it’s so hard.

interest in the East.

“Chinese au-tomotive manu-facturers are much more interested in MnE21. They are not afraid of building new factories when designing new products. In Germany we have to adapt products according to fac-tories’ layout and equipment levels today.”

Stolfig, the German company that Semcon cooperates with on MnE21, replaced twenty or so parts in the popular Chinese car La Vida with MnE21 last year and saved 36 kg imme-diately, a significant reduction.

“We could lose between 80 and 100 kg from an ordinary car by using MnE21 parts without noticeably affecting crashworthiness,” he says.

A RELATIVELY new industry to lobby for com-posite materials is wind power manufactur-ers. To make expensive wind turbines profita-ble means they need to be really big. But with size also comes weight, leading to huge forces when the vast blades are out at sea spinning around in stormy weather. Weight reduces ef-ficiency and increases the risk of breakdown. Danish firm Vestas currently manufactures wind turbines with blades that are 80 metres long and despite using composite materi-als they weigh 35 tons. GE Energy, another company in this sector, will use 3,000 tons of carbon fibre in 2012 for making rotor blades for wind turbines. The company’s chief engi-neer, Nirav Patel, told the 2011 Carbon Fibre Conference in Washington DC how difficult it is even for big companies like GE to get their hands on really high quality carbon fibre of such quantity and at a reasonable price.

“GE currently pays 20–30 dollars for 1 kg of carbon fibre. If access doesn’t increase and the

price falls consider-ably then it could be a “show-stopper” for

GE Energy’s plans for using more carbon fibre

in its wind turbines,” said Nirav at the confer-

ence in Washington.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE for manufac-turers is how to balance lighter products

with more advanced ones. The trend in modern product development is to add more functions. This has, for example, led to our vehicles, despite all efforts with lightweight materials, becoming heavier than ever. The explanation is comfort, safety and function-ality, which have been more important is-sues for consumers and producers than less weight. Jan Skogsmo at Swerea IVF believes that change is imminent:

“Nearly all mid-range cars are built for the few times you go on holiday with the family in the summer, which might only be once a year. We have AC, electric windows, ad-vanced stereos, video cameras etc. We should ask ourselves whether we need cars that can go 230 km/h and have really comfortable back seats. If we relaxed the performance a little then we could reduce weight enor-mously. A holistic approach could achieve

weight loss of around 40 per cent for family cars,” he says.

Magnus Burman at KTH believes that the “right material in the right place” will be the motto of future products:

“High-tensile steel, aluminium and com-posites will work together and be used where they are best suited. The biggest challenge now is that we need to see a few good exam-ples, companies willing to take the lead and show that it’s possible to produce really light products rationally.”

He also likes to point out the positive weight spiral that comes with working with lightweight. If the bodywork is lighter then you only need light springs, and if a truck platform is light enough then you might get away without needing a bogie.

“I believe that composites and sandwich materials will have a place in smaller, lighter vehicles of the future. But there’s also a trend towards natural fibres like hemp and sisal. Wooden fibres can also be used to make composites, so why not car body panels made from natural wooden fibres.”

WE ARE IN a state of positional warfare in terms of what materials, technologies and methods are best. But everyone concerned is agreed about one thing: we’re facing a lighter future. 1

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT

“ We should ask ourselves whether we need cars that can go 230 km/h.”

Jan Skogsmo, Swerea IVF

search for “semcon” in

app s

tore


Lenovo Think Pad X1 CarbonLenovo’s future Think Pad X1 Carbon case is made from

carbon fibre composite and just 18 mm at the thickest point. Weighing just 1.36 kg it will,

according to its manufacturer, be the lightest laptop with a 14-inch

screen.

Siemens SWT-6.0-120 Wind turbineSiemens offshore SWT-6.0-120 has a 6 megawatt turbine, 120 metre rotor diameter and weighs less than 350 tons thanks to blades made from fibreglass reinforced epoxy. The weight per megawatt is comparable with 2-3 megawatt turbines.


Steel and cast iron have almost completely given way, in the automotive industry, to lighter

materials like aluminium, magne-sium, plastics, carbon fibre and new

hybrid materials. The pressure on the auto manufacturer to make bodywork lighter is increasing, not just because of the EU’s aim of cutting family cars’ emissions to 120 g/km by 2015.

“Modern cars contain an increasing amount of functions to meet customers’ demands for safety and comfort, requir-ing electronic components that make the cars heavier,” says Günter Pfeifer.

Hans-Günter Pfeifer develops concepts for lighter carsLow fuel consumption and reduced emissions combined with the highest possible safety and comfort. The demands on modern cars are high and Hans-Günter Pfeifer knows that the weight of the bodywork plays an increasingly important role for meeting them. TEXT LINDA KARLSSON-ELDH PHOTO KARSTEN THORMAELEN

THE EXPERT

Hans-Günter PfeiferTitle: Head of Department, Bodywork StructuresOffice: Semcon, Bad Friedrichshall

Semcon is considered a pioneer in this area in Germany. As far back as the late 80s Semcon was involved in the first lightweight concepts.

“In those days aluminium was the most important lightweight material. We were involved in the concept phase right up to final production of the Audi A8, which was the first aluminium car to be mass produced,” he says.

“By using aluminium instead of steel we were able to reduce the weight of the car by up to 40 per cent. Today’s light-weight materials include carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP), which is the most modern material around. CFRP has not yet entered mass production in the automotive industry, which makes iden-tifying damage, repair and recyclability of the material relatively complicated.”

“CFRP makes the bodywork around ten per cent lighter than aluminium, but because it’s expensive and complicated in production I believe that it will be lim-ited for a while yet to special models and parts,” he says.

The trend is instead strongly heading towards mixed constructions, where vari-ous materials are used in different places.

“This is possible thanks to a number of new jointing technologies custom-ized to the new materials. Spot-welding, which was standard on steel bodywork, has been complemented with riveting, clinching and gluing.”

That modern lightweight construc-tions are more complex than traditional steel concepts is obviously also due to the materials’ properties. While isotropic materials, e.g. materials with the same properties in all directions, like steel and aluminium can in principle only vary by thickness or alloy composition, compos-ite materials like CFRP have more physi-cal or chemical properties. We are there-fore working with two constructions in parallel – the bodywork’s geometry and the structure of the material’s fibres.

Günter Pfeifer believes that the future lies in combining new materials and drive systems with a different view as to the function of the car.

“We’ll see more car parts made from plastics, but I also believe that drivers in urban environments specifically will be more prepared to forego the element of comfort, opening doors for whole new concepts in the area of lightweight con-structions.” 1



BACK TOTEXT MATS TIBORN

This could be the deciding factor for the automotive industry. To meet the Sweden has taken the bull by the horns with the SåNätt project.


THE FUTUREPHOTO ANDERS DEROS

increasingly stricter emission levels cars need to become lighter.To succeed we have gone 100 years back in time.


hat would mod-ern cars look like if Henry Ford had a crystal ball and was able to use the technology we have today? Since the first

Model T rolled out of the factory the automo-tive industry has developed through change and improvement, but with the cars of the age as a starting point. If crash safety wasn’t suf-ficient, carmakers improved it by strengthen-ing the bodywork and adding various safety systems. If comfort was improved it also meant weight was added. Modern cars are quite simply too heavy. If cars of the future are to meet the lower CO2 emissions levels they need to lose weight.

According to the EU’s emission require-ments, family cars will only be allowed to emit 95 g of CO2 per kilometre by 2020, which few of today’s cars can manage.

“Weight loss is vital for car manufactur-ers. If nothing is done then they won’t be able to meet the new legislative requirements of 2020 at all,” says Anders Holmkvist, project manager for SåNätt.

“It’s a matter of win or lose for many OEMs (original equipment manufacturers)” adds Lars-Göran Dandebo, Semcon’s project man-ager for SåNätt.

BUT IT IS NOT only because of reduced CO2 emis-sions from the manufactured car that light-weight solutions are important, but also because they will be more sustainable than today’s cars. Lighter cars using lighter materials and fewer parts will mean fewer, lighter deliveries to facto-ries, meaning less burden on the environment.

“Even if electric cars become the prevailing driveline of the future, lightweight solutions are still necessary,” says Lars-Göran. “The lighter the car the further it will travel with a battery under the bonnet.” Both Anders Holmkvist and Lars-Göran Dandebo have had key roles in the project since it started in February 2010. It was when Saab Automotive gained independence from GM and it wanted to find a new way of work-ing with its subcontractors that the idea of lightweight cooperation was hatched. The “Leverantörsstruktur för lättare fordon” (sup-plier structure for lighter vehicles) research project took shape. To make things simple it was called SåNätt, which alludes to light-weight and the old Saab model, Sonett.

HALF OF THE FINANCE for the project comes from FFI, which is a collaboration between the Swed-ish state, the Swedish auto manufacturers and FKG, which is the subcontractors’ industry or-ganization for the automotive industry in Scan-dinavia. The idea was for Saab to work more closely with its suppliers and let them be more involved in the entire development process. When Saab Automotive then went bankrupt Volvo Cars took over as OEM for the project.

“Lightweight is an absolute must for Volvo Cars,” says Elisabeth Horbury, Volvo’s project manager for SåNätt. “The demands on energy consumption will be tough in the future, with overall resource consumption playing a signif-icant role. Innovation that focuses on weight generates opportunities in both these areas.”

Elisabeth also thinks that the project’s set-up is interesting.

“The Swedish companies possess a great deal of expertise, creating lots of interesting proposals, because suppliers don’t usually work with complete vehicles.”

There are a total of 41 players involved, in-cluding Volvo Cars, a number of universities, colleges, suppliers and Semcon.

SOMETHING THAT THE PROJECT works towards is to come up with really innovative solutions in order to build a car that weighs less than 1,000 kg, but in terms of quality, size and comfort is the same as a Volvo V60, which today weighs around 1,700 kg.

SåNätt is split into seven groups who work on different parts of the car: suspension, cockpit, roof, seats, chassis, superstructure and a complete car team.

W

The SåNätt projectA collaboration between 41 players from the automotive industry, academia and the state to boost the Swedish automotive industry. The objective is to make it possible to reduce the weight of cars by 20 to 40 per cent by 2020. The budget for the project is SEK 60 million, where half is from the state-run FFI programme and half from other players.

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT


To find the right starting point for saving weight the complete car group stepped back in time and started with cars made at the be-ginning of the 20th century. They wanted to see where in time, with modern technology, it would have been possible for developments to take a different route.

“We travelled through time until we arrived where we are today. We didn’t want to end up at the same place, and we didn’t,” says Lars-Göran Dandebo.

THE TURNING POINT came when Citroen in Europe started making cars completely from steel and then making cars with self-sup-porting bodywork, leaving the older frame construction behind. The work group went in the opposite direction and came up with a chassis that’s both complex and simple, where the various components assist one another’s function and work together completely differ-ently than they do today.

A total of 21 Semcon employees are contrib-uting with both expert knowledge and a ho-listic approach. Two of these are Stefan Banér and Daniel Nordin. Stefan works with compos-

ites in the bodywork group and Daniel works as an illustrator, mainly in the seat group.

“My job is also to provoke,” says Daniel. “When we get too close to today’s design I start to ask questions. And if we get a seat that already exists then it’s not research.”

The seat group has made the biggest ad-

vancement. It is close to producing a light-weight seat that is viable for producing in large volumes. Daniel doesn’t want to reveal too much yet about how discussions are progressing, but ideas that have been on the agenda have included a living room feel in the car with a corner sofa and rotating seats.

“If we don’t do anything about the issue of light-weight we won’t meet the legislative demands of 2020.”

Anders Holmkvist, project manager, SåNätt

Anders HolmkvistTitle: Project manager, SåNätt, Development Manager EELCEE ABOffice: Trollhättan

Lars- Göran DandeboTitle: Program director, SemconOffice: Trollhättan/ Göteborg


IT’S IMPORTANT to create synergy effects in or-der to cut weight by 20-40 per cent. The work groups are trying to find ways of providing the car’s parts with more than just one property each. If they succeed in giving a section more than one area of use then they might be able to remove another section and maybe even re-move other parts that become obsolete when the section is removed.

“Side windows are another aspect that could be given more areas of use in the future. We can wind windows down today. In the fu-ture they may be made from another material and fixed. That would allow them to possibly be load-bearing,” says Daniel.

LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS are extremely impor-tant to SåNätt. Stefan Banér from Semcon’s composite group is working with the team who are trying to trim weight from the bodywork. Their toughest challenge is not building a body using lightweight materials. Materials like carbon fibre, sandwich constructions and other composites are already available and can considerably reduce weight. The problem is to make it viable in large volumes while retaining quality and safety. It’s expensive today to mass-produce lightweight materials. SåNätt partici-pants are now hoping that the project will be able to solve this problem and many others.

“SåNätt’s strength lies in the cross-ferti-lization of its participants. Subcontractors are also included in the process and can add their opinions about things that they haven’t had chance to before,” says Daniel Nordin. “This allows technology to be shared between companies.”

The entire SåNätt project is set up to strengthen the Swedish automotive industry and improve the expertise of all participants. Companies learn from one another and new companies can form, resulting from collabo-ration.

Anders Holmkvist and Lars-Göran Dande-bo agree that SåNätt’s strength lies in unique collaboration. Instead of auto manufacturers deciding what a part should look like and then ordering from a subcontractor, the subcon-tractor is part of the process from the start

and collaborates with other subcontractors. This is a unique way of collaborating.

Researchers are also involved in the project. Social Psychologist Anni Tysk from Skövde University is working with group dynamics with all groups. She documents workflow and can intervene when conflicts arise, explaining why it has arisen.

ACADEMIC PARTICIPATION is an important part of SåNätt. Apart from Skövde University there are six other universities involved in the project.

Stefan BanérTitle: Design engineer

Office: Semcon, Göteborg

Designers from Semcon are used to illustrate a number of realistic proposals to start the creative process in the various work groups, in order to show that it’s not a traditional car that’s being designed. Lots of ideas are fused together. Some are discarded along the way and the ideas that remain will be used to create good lightweight combinations. No ideas have been fully decided on yet and the ones that the groups have come furthest with are closely guarded secrets, but here are some of the ideas that have been used during the creative process.Illustrations: Daniel Nordin and Annika Larsson

4 visions of the future

A car seat currently weighs around 60 kg. This is how a lightweight seat might look. The image is an example of a length/height adjustment solution.

1

FOCUS:LIGHTWEIGHT

“SåNätt’s strength lies in the cross-fertilization of its participants. Subcontractors are also included in the process and can add their opinions.”

Daniel Nordin, designer, Semcon


Their task is to implement research re-sults in two areas: the facility group works on creating commercially viable lightweight concepts and the technical group works on implementing technical research results to strengthen the lightweight concept.

Academic partners are involved to spread their research results, but also to identify fu-ture areas of research.

“Many of the suppliers have very little ex-perience of working with academic partners. The project provides an excellent platform

from which to work,” says Anders Holmkvist.Semcon is involved as one of the project’s

consultancy firms.“It’s unique to have a company with com-

plete car knowledge and that isn’t an OEM,” says Anders. “Many companies know a lot about components and systems, but few can integrate the various parts like Semcon.”

“We’re constantly noticing a rise in our levels of expertise,” says Stefan Banér. “We’re working with lightweight solutions in many areas, on lots of different projects. When help-

ing a customer on a new project we’re starting from a high level. We’ve done this kind of thing before and are keenly aware of the problems that can arise and how to deal with them.”

SÅNÄTT WILL terminate in mid-2013 and it’s hoped that a number of creative lightweight solutions will have emerged from the col-laboration and can begin being manufac-tured, possibly through new companies being formed when the various suppliers’ expertise have been mixed together. 1

Daniel NordinTitle: Designer/ Concept engineerOffice: Semcon, Göteborg

Here the team is looking at creating a teardrop-shaped body to cut down on wind-resistance. To keep it as a 5-seater the idea is to place one seat in the centre of the car.

The work group call this image Sofa vision – a vision of the direction developments might lead. The aim of the image is also to get the group participants to think freely and feel as though anything is possible.

Here the designer borrowed a table from an aircraft seat and created a tunnel for skis in the middle. It’s also conceivable to remove/swap the middle seat in the back or to use the same seats in the front as in the back.

2 3 4

THE SOLUTIONHOW SEMCON SOLVED THE CUSTOMER’S PROBLEM

THE ASSIGNMENT: Entrepreneur Gunnar Drougge at Ergoption wanted it done once and for all. Create the perfect ergonomic computer mouse. One that didn’t cause mouse elbow, pain or other stress injuries. He took his ideas to Semcon in Stockholm.

THE SOLUTION: Semcon used a lump of clay and shaped it to the human hand. It would be turned into the world’s first high-tech, adjustable, computer mouse, which could be gripped both vertically and horizontally. The inspiration came from an unexpected source: a deckchair’s simple cog mechanism.

THE RESULT: The Oyster Mouse was launched after an autumn of intensive product development and was a completely new type of vertical mouse with five different settings. The same year – December 2011 – Oyster Mouse won an award for best product at the major ergonomics trade fair in Las Vegas. TEXT STEFAN SJÖDIN PHOTO ERGOPTION

Adjustable mouse gives better grip


GOOD-LOOKING – BUT FUNCTION FIRST

Oyster Mouse is an ergonomic pioneer, the mouse of the future – and it shows. But design was not the priority. The user should intuitively understand how it should be gripped and works.

QUICK COMMANDS FOR THE MOST COMMON FUNCTIONS

Apart from the scroll wheel the mouse has six buttons with the most common quick commands, like copy, cut and paste, right and left click. The buttons on each side of the mouse are in function or out of function, depending whether it is used right-handed or left-handed.

OPENS LIKE AN OYSTER

Ergonomists and occupational therapists have been looking for solutions to mouse elbow, pain and stiff-ness affecting office workers for years. Oyster Mouse got part of its inspiration from the cog mechanism found in deckchairs. It tilts from its resting posi-tion to another four positions (in the fifth, the top position, it folds back down again). This means that everyone can find their optimal wrist angle. The user can also vary the angle during the day. The solution gave Oyster Mouse the award for the best product at the ergonomics trade fair in Las Vegas.

AMBIDEXTROUS

The original idea was for a mouse for right-handed people, but Semcon’s developers found a way of making the Oyster Mouse symmetrical, so it would suit both right-handed and left-handed people. The mouse is gripped using the thumb and little finger, while the other fingers rest above it.

HAND IN GLOVE

Scaling down this type of cog mechanism, found in deckchairs and headrests in some cars, to a format that fits a mouse is obvi-ously a challenge. During development, the rack and hinge either ended up too near the inner part of the casing, or too near the tech-nology inside the mouse. Carefully shaping and changing angles was a constant part of the process.

MOBILITY

Computer mice that can be used at various angles have been around for a while, but they have been fixed. Oyster Mouse is the first mobile mouse with such adjustability in order to avoid stress injuries. The customer, Ergoption, is now working on the first cordless version of Oyster Mouse.



A happy cow is a productive cow. Something that DeLaval has become world-leader at.

But to understand and maintain the increasingly advanced machines requires clear, updated

aftermarket information. To do this DeLaval asked Semcon and its flexible network to help.

TEXT EVA WREDE PHOTO SAMIR SOUDAH & DELAVAL

SATIS-FACTION AT THE DAIRY


When Gustaf de Laval applied for a patent for his centrifuge separator in 1878 he probably couldn’t imagine that his in-

vention would lay the foundation for today’s global DeLaval Group. Nearly everything a modern dairy farmer needs is included in DeLaval’s product range, from simple dish brushes to high-tech milking machines, cool-ers and feed stations. The well-established Swedish company has grown to become a global player with operations in over 100 countries and a multitude of innovations over the years, including a system for voluntary milking, which revolutionized milking when it was introduced in 1998.

Old products were updated as new prod-ucts were launched. The company’s product

portfolio today includes around 550 products. Each needs documenting, in text and pic-tures. From that perspective it’s possibly not so strange that the Memo Group, DeLaval’s internal documentation group of ten or so writers and illustrators, sometimes needs ad-ditional help. Things heat up at least twice a year at DeLaval’s aftermarket information de-partment. Lots of material needs producing in ultra-quick time. Panic? Not at all. The heavy workload is effectively managed by Semcon’s flexible “back office” network, which supplies what’s needed, when it’s needed.

EFFECTIVE IS A WORD often used by Thomas Funck as he describes his collaboration with Semcon. Because that’s what it’s all about. “How best to use the resources available,” he says.

As manager of DeLaval BA Shared Support Services he’s providing end-customers and

service personnel with the information they need to use and maintain DeLaval’s products optimally. In concrete terms it’s about gath-ering and creating text and pictures that are then put together to create manuals and other documents.

When Thomas came to DeLaval almost five years ago, he had a background as a consult-ant and purchaser of consultancy services. He already knew therefore both sides’ needs and work methods and knew from the start how he wanted to set out the project.

“When I arrived DeLaval employed the services of consultants from lots of differ-ent companies, which were coordinated by DeLaval. I instead chose to work more closely with one partner, both for strategic and cost reasons,” he says, and continues:

“It’s easier to organize working with one consultant than with lots of consultants, and

Thomas FunckTitle: Manager of DeLaval BA Shared Support Services Office: DeLaval’s head office in Tumba


you can more easily negotiate costs when out-sourcing to just one consultancy partner.”

He didn’t need to search too far among possible candidates to make his choice:

“DeLaval is active throughout the world and we need a partner that’s bigger than most Swedish consultancy companies. Semcon being a globally-established company was a

crucial factor when we were deciding who to choose.”

The heaviest workload at the aftermar-ket information department comes when lots of new products need launching at the same time, which happens twice a year. One of these occasions occurred in August 2011, which unfortunately coincided with the holi-day period. We also had a part-delivery of a major development project, DeLaval automat-ic milking rotary AMR.

“We were dealing with huge volumes that needed producing and we had such a lot to do. Without Semcon I would have never managed to get hold of the resources that were required in such a short amount of time,” he says.

ROGER CAREW, Team Manager Graphics at Semcon remembers the episode very well. He had just returned from a short holiday when, in

his own words, “the s--t hit the fan.” Semcon’s illustrators produced 991 illustrations in one month.

“We had to quickly muster up all the re-sources we had, and succeeded in delivering on time. Semcon usually has 8 people working with DeLaval, but during periods of heavy workload we might need an extra two to four.”

A PREREQUISITE for flexibility and sometimes stretching resources is a working model with a “front office” and “back office”, FOBO. The model is built on most of Semcon’s direct customer contacts being supported by a few key people, “front office”. In this case the front office is made up of Roger Carew, who is the project manager and based in Göteborg, and Sofhia Josborg, coordinator at the Stockholm office.

To support them they have a “back office”,

DeLavalDeLaval makes lots of different products used by dairy farmers, everything from dish brushes to complex milking and feeding systems. The company was founded by Gustaf de Laval, whose inventions include the separator, the milking machine and the steam turbine. DeLaval today has its head office in Tumba and operates in around 100 markets throughout the world with a total of 4,500 employees.

Roger CarewTitle: Team Manager GraphicsOffice: Semcon Göteborg

“We were dealing with huge volumes that needed producing and we had such a lot to do. Without Semcon I would have never managed to get hold of the resources that were required in such a short amount of time.”

Thomas Funck, Manager of DeLaval BA Shared Support Services.


which is a network of various experts spread throughout Semcon’s offices in Sweden, the UK and Hungary.

“It’s the perfect solution. It gives customers the option of outsourcing certain tasks, which can in principle be carried out anywhere, while concentrating themselves on what needs doing on site and what needs follow up from day-to-day,” Roger Carew explains, and Thomas Funck agrees:

“It makes things simpler for me. Work volumes can fluctuate over time without me needing to juggle around with manning, that’s Semcon’s responsibility.”

ROGER CAREW SPENDS three days a week at DeLaval’s head office in Tumba and the other two in Göteborg. An estimated 85 per cent of all the work Semcon does for DeLaval is done off-site. This off-site work is possible thanks to the consultants, via VPN connection, work-ing in the same workflow system and collect-

ing the same data from the same PDM system, as the personnel in DeLaval’s Memo Group.

“We received invaluable help from Roger in specifying the requirements of our new content management system, CMS, when we needed to change our publication tool. Mainly in terms of illustration handling,” says Thomas.

At the end of last year, when the new pub-lication tool was to be implemented, Semcon was also responsible for the Memo Group receiving the XML training required.

DeLaval and Semcon have together created a joint digital platform to work from.

PART OF DELAVAL’S after market information consists of instruction manuals to end cus-tomers. But the majority are service docu-ments used by DeLaval’s retailers and service technicians.

The most visible result of Semcon’s and the Memo Group’s collaboration is the content of Memo+, a digital info bank that all DeLaval’s

retailers and service technicians can use to print documents.

“We don’t produce printed material centrally, but produce everything we need locally in PDFs. The benefit of course is that you automatically get the latest updates,” Thomas explains.

As with all communication, the most dif-ficult thing is knowing whether the informa-tion will be understood by the people using it. Reference group meetings are held regularly to listen to and learn from the market compa-nies about how the material can be improved.

“The common reaction is that there is too much information rather than too little. But the more complex products become, the greater the demand for more in-depth infor-mation,” he says.

IN THE HUNT to become more efficient the Memo Group also works with compiling the basic material required to write the documen-tation.

1DeLaval provides data about the

company’s product to Semcon’s project manager who is on site in Tumba (front office).

2Work duties are assigned to

colleagues in Göteborg, Budapest and Kineton (back office). The material is edited, added to and compiled.

3Semcon delivers a complete manual

to DeLaval.

4The document is proofread and

approved by personnel at DeLaval.

5The manual is published on the

Memo+ application and is thereby available to retailers and service technicians.

How a complete manual is produced

DeLaval’s automatic milking rotary AMR, is one of the biggest projects Semcon has been involved in documenting.


app s

tore


KINETON

GÖTEBORG

TUMBA

BUDAPEST


The data supplied by the subcontractors and DeLaval’s own employees today, includ-ing specifications, photos and illustrations, is often inadequate. Semcon has helped with defining the requirements and created a tem-plate for what this data must include.

“I would like to go even further and for example demand that all technical drawings are submitted in 3D-CAD, but we’re not quite there yet,” says Roger.

THE POINT of getting better, more uniformly structured material from the start is that it makes it easier for technical writers and il-lustrators to do a good job further along the production process.

“Our vision is to have really detailed, fully functioning “templates”, so that technical writers and illustrators working with the ma-terial off-site can do their jobs without having direct contact with the people submitting the data,” Roger explains.

Thomas and Roger visited Semcon’s office in Budapest for two days last spring.

“As a customer it’s important to personally form an opinion about the expertise of differ-ent employees and if they are providing the right prerequisites for doing a good job. It’s also good to meet sometimes the individu-als that we have almost daily contact with on various matters,” says Thomas, who was favourably impressed:

“There is a high level of expertise and as I see it there’s no reason why more work can’t be outsourced to the office in Hungary.”

Anders Johnson, department manager at the Informatic business area, joined them in Hungary. He was happy, but hardly surprised by Thomas’ positive opinion:

“The cost-effective aspects are often high-lighted when talking about “back office”, but it’s also important to show that we are proud of the expertise throughout the company, such as in Budapest,” says Anders, and adds:

“All of Semcon’s different business areas collaborate well together and always concen-trate on providing the best solution for our respective customers.”

EUROPE is currently DeLaval’s biggest market, but it’s in the BRIC countries, Brazil, Rus-sia, India and China that they are seeing the greatest expansion for the company.

Semcon having an office in China is a major benefit according to Thomas as he looks to the future. Discussing future solutions and jointly developing various tools, thereby tying in Semcon closer to the organization is not something he would back away from.

“I can’t see any drawbacks. What’s inter-esting for us is creating an effective work process and it’s important then to develop it together with those who will be working with it. It’s a win-win situation, which in the end reflects in results, but also the final invoice.” 1


Q&A LINA BERTLING TJERNBERGSMART GRIDS EXPERT

A lot of solar and wind power and growing fleets of electric vehicles places completely new demands on electricity grids. By making them both smart and flexible, Lina Bertling Tjernberg wants to pave the way for a sustainable energy system.

e take electricity for granted in the developed world. We expect our lights to come on when we flick the switch and our mobile phones to charge when we plug them in the socket. Electricity is available when we need it.

But for a sustainable future the energy system needs to change. The huge coal and nu-clear power stations need to be phased out for new renewable

energy sources, and we need to manage and use our energy more efficiently. Without consumers being negatively affected. These are the targets in Lina Bertling Tjernberg’s sights. She became a professor of sustainable electricity systems at the age of 35 and is now also on the board of the IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Using smart electrical grids she wants to provide consumers with reliable electricity supplies from renewable energy sources and help them achieve good energy housekeeping.

What does a smart grid actually mean?“A smart grid provides and receives electric-

ity. If you have a surplus of electricity from solar panels you can sell it back to the electricity grid. Small producers can be linked up to the grid, but only in a limited scope. Historically, large volumes like nuclear power and hydro-electric power have been profitable and effective, and our present grids are customized to large-scale elec-tricity production. A smart grid has clever details and is controllable in order to handle lots of small electricity producers.”

Why do we need smart grids?“It’s part of a sustainable energy system. We

need more electricity from wind power, solar energy and hydro-electric sources. But these energy sources are intermittent – the electricity we get varies enormously over short periods of time. This places new demands on the electricity grid. Electric vehicles need charging, but can also store energy in their batteries and can give it back to the grid when necessary. This also places new demands on the grid. Another reason is that we

TEXT INGELA ROOS

PHOTO ANDERS DEROS

W

Q&A LINA BERTLING TJERNBERGEXPERT PÅ SMARTA ELNÄT

want to start using more direct current, DC.”How long has the idea of smart electricity

been around?“I first heard about it back in 2008. The fol-

lowing year Obama spoke of a “smart grid” in a speech and the IEEE produced a new scien-tific magazine called Transactions on Smart Grid Technologies. It’s been established since then. Many people call the new refinements

in distribution and at customers “smart net-works”. But I would prefer to lift the concept to system level, with sights clearly on sus-tainable energy. There is a risk otherwise that we develop something that’s fun, but doesn’t lead where we want to be.”

How can smart grids help us better utilize renewable energy sources?

“Electricity cannot be put on hold or saved other than in batteries. The generation and use of electricity must therefore always be balanced. Lots of wind power means it’s dif-ficult to hold a balance because production varies so much. This is a challenge that we need to handle cleverly.”

“A new law was introduced in Sweden a few years ago for new electricity meters for all consumers. We now know hour-by-hour how much is produced and used. In Göteborg the

meters installed were more advanced than the law required. We’ve just initiated a research project to investigate how to use them most efficiently. One function is to simplify prior-ity to electricity customers. Top of the list come societal functions like hospitals, but we possibly don’t need 50 Hz at home when we are at work. Letting users help with this bal-ance over the electricity network is an impor-tant solution for the energy system.”

What significance will smart electricity have for society, regionally and globally?

“It’s important for the transition to a sustainable society. Smart grids are being de-veloped globally. It differs of course depend-ing on where a country is in terms of societal development and what resources are available.

How can smart grids help consumers use electricity in a smarter way?


Lina Bertling TjernbergTitle: Professor of sustainable electrical energy systems at Chalmers University of Technology.Qualifications: Civil engineering degree in craft technology, university lecturer and doctor’s degree in electrical energy systems.Lives in: In Göteborg and StockholmHobbies: Travelling, photography, writing and reading (often linked to work).Favourite gadget: Apple TV – it’s excellent for looking at photos on, has a beauti-ful slideshow function that you can add music to.Last book read: Prefer biographies. Re-cently about Steve Jobs, Percy Barnevik, the Obama family and Ernest Hemingway.


“Using smart electricity meters gives us more understanding of what we consume. But I don’t believe that individual consum-ers in general want to follow electricity price developments and plan their electricity use in detail. We need automatic controls to govern how we use electricity.”

“I believe that energy issues for compa-nies are a follow-on from environmental issues. I believe that energy issues will be an increasingly strategic issue, just like when companies started appointing environmental managers in management groups. This is also something that needs a system perspec-tive to maximize the use of available energy resources. Many industries generate waste heat – use it! I also believe that it will be-come more common to have solar panels on buildings.”

Is reducing electricity use an important part of the future energy puzzle, or is it just a matter of controlling energy use?

“The central issue is to cut energy use. This could lead to a total increase in the amount of electricity available. As electric-ity has proven, in part, it is one of the most energy-efficient ways of transporting en-ergy and could be a way of reducing the use of fossil fuels. We should however continue working to cut losses when converting and transmitting energy and making the system more efficient. The most suitable form of energy should always be used. Heat pumps and solar panels are excellent solutions for heating and electricity can complement these.”

What’s the biggest challenge for develop-ing smart grids?

“At the highest level it’s political incen-tive. We need joint incentives between countries and more coordination in Europe for example. It should be long-term with clear goals, otherwise industries won’t risk developing new products.”

“From a technical perspective IT security will be a more key issue as we now have more detailed information concerning electricity consumption. It will be a matter of customer integrity. How should we store this vast amount of information?”

“Another challenge is to find cost-effective solutions, and even energy-efficient solu-tions in terms of production. Wind power is well developed, but there is still technologi-cal development needed for solar and wave power. For solar power it’s mainly a question

of material development and for wave power it’s a question of stable technologies in order to turn the mechanical energy from the waves into electricity.”

What’s the timeframe – when will we have smart grids?

“We’re already partly there, most of the technology already exists. Demonstration projects are important for creating under-standing about the technology. The final stages of a demonstration project in the US will be completed this year. We have invested

in a bigger demonstration project here in Sweden, one in Stockholm and one in

Malmö. Many smart grid solutions can appear over just a few years. If customers tell us what they want and put demands on us then we’ll deliver!”

“Electrical transmission infra-structures are being strengthened in Sweden. DC in Southern Swe-den is being connected to the AC network using new technology for high-voltage DC. The introduction of DC for both high-voltage and low-voltage levels means that we need to review our standards.”

“From a more visionary perspec-tive I believe that we’ll be using solar power to a greater extent and I also believe that within ten years we’ll be seeing many new solar energy solu-tions like the shift we saw with the introduction of wind power.”

What’s keeping you interested in this sector?

“That I have the best job in the world. It’s important and mor-ally right. The solutions are in the people. We need to combine know-how and find the ultimate system solutions required to cut energy use of fossil fuels.” 1

“I want to lift the concept to system level, with sights clearly on sustainable energy.”

Lina Bertling Tjernberg, smart grids expert

1 HANDLE VARIATIONS Smart grids will be able to handle rapid variations – known as intermittence – in electricity produc-

tion without electrical quality being affected. Weather dramatically affects the amount of energy produced from solar and wind power, which is currently causing problems.

2 FLEXIBLE ACCESSFuture grids will be flexible, both in terms of load and storage. Electric vehicles will be able to plug

in everywhere, both to charge their batteries and to discharge stored electricity. This is something completely new that will require a huge amount of information and communication technology.

3 COMBINE CURRENTSThere are advantages of using more DC than we do today. One example is less loss during electri-

cal transfer. It has been difficult in the past to make new connections to DC lines, but we now have the technology to do it. Tomorrow’s grids will use both AC and DC.

things smart grids can do in the future3


The right shoes can mean the difference between gold and fourth place for cyclist Gustav Larsson. Together with Semcon he has developed a shoe that makes him considerably faster.TEXT MARCUS OLSSON PHOTO REBECCA MARSHALL

cutting times

Time trials in cycling are over 50km with a con-stant fight for hundredths of a second. Practitioners of the sport are constantly looking at ways of impro-ving their equipment.

Gustav Larsson had already won medals at the Olympics and World Championships. But he wanted to be quicker. After winning silver at the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 he wanted to do something about it.

Semcon and Larsson have now de-veloped shoes that make him around 30 seconds faster.

“I had seen the stats that showed where the aerodynamic problem areas were on the bicycle and in movement. The old shoes weren’t optimal. This was an area that I knew I could im-prove upon,” he says.

SEMCON WAS CONTACTED in the spring of 2009.

“Time trial teams have worked hard at finding solutions on improving equipment. But it’s mainly been about how to improve the bicycle, what can be

removed and what can be swapped. It’s become increasingly important in time trials because there’s so much time that can be gained by using smart aerodyna-mic solutions. And the right improve-ments could win races thanks to them. I know that I’m always in with a chance of achieving good results in time trials. I try to do everything possible to win.”

GUSTAV LARSSON HAS always loved speed. When he was young and wasn’t cycling around his hometown of Växjö he liked watching rallies on the TV. Some of the inspiration for the shoes actually came from motor sport.

“In motorsport they always work a great deal with technology and aero-dynamics. It’s logical. And it should be equally logical in cycling.”

Larsson and Semcon started the project in a joint workshop and then as close, active communication from both parties.

THERE HAVE BEEN many challenges. The International Cyclists’ Union forbids any kind of purely aerody-namic improvements. Any changes


to equipment must be mechanical, for safety or functional reasons.

“That could then include aerodynamic improvements. The mechanical change in this case is the fasteners being moved to the back of the foot, similar to ski boots. And the positive effect was that the shoe became more aerodynamic,” says Andreas Daniels-son, who works with technical equipment for Sweden’s Olympic Committee.

THE FIRST VERSION was ready in autumn 2010 and has since gone through lots of tough tests. The present version was handed over last summer. The result is a pair of light, stiff shoes that are mainly made of carbon fibre. The shoes are made from plaster casts of Gustav’s feet. This provides a perfect fit and pressure on the feet when cycling. The shoes have been made narrower and longer than before. The length has also meant an improved aerodynamic end to the shoes. Indents have been made in the sole of the shoes for the pedal.

Using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program and wind tunnel test we are able to see what aerodynamic improvements have been achieved. Gustav is now quicker.

“The result achieved is shoes that are flat

on top and aerodynamic, both at the rear and on the sole. It’s light and stiff and the transfer of energy achieved from the shoes is better,” says Sam Fredriksson, aerodyna-micist and project manager at Semcon.

“It’s been a really fun project. We were gi-ven a distinctly clear picture and an interes-ting problem. We also got to work with lots of different departments throughout Semcon. We’ve worked with construction, calculations and prototypes to complete this project.”

Gustav Larsson says:“It was really fun to be included so clo-

sely throughout the process. I was able to provide my own input and affected deci-sions throughout. It was fun to be given the opportunity of conveying my own ideas.”

ACCORDING TO ANDREAS DANIELSSON working on Gustav Larsson’s equipment could change how the Swedish Olympic Com-mittee works in future.

“I would really like to praise Semcon for their hard work on the shoe project. We’re now working closely with a company that can in theory and practice help us from concept to finished product. Semcon has provided our Olympians with better opportunities to be competitive at future Olympic Games. 1

Gustav LarssonTitle: Professional cyclistMerits: Olympic silver and World Championship silver in time trials. A number of stage wins and podium places in world cup competitions.

Andreas DanielssonTitle: Technical developer for Sweden’s Olympic Committee and editor of cycling magazine Kadens.

Sam FredrikssonTitle: Aerodynamicist and project managerOffice: Semcon Göteborg

Perfect fitGustav Larsson’s shoes were custom-fitted to his feet, providing the perfect fit and pressure on his feet when sitting in the saddle. The shoes have been made narrower and longer with the fasteners at the back of the foot. This, along with the length, has also provided a better aerodynamic end to the shoes. Indents have been made in the sole of the shoes for the pedal.


app s

tore



LIGHT LIFTING

TEXT LOTTA RINGDAHL PHOTO RICKARD KILSTRÖM


olvo’s flags fly in a row in the wind outside Volvo Construction

Equipment in Eskilstuna. People are working feverishly behind the scenes,

both at their desks and on the factory floor, to find new, constructive solu-

tions for tomorrow’s wheel loaders. One of the areas continually worked on was

in optimizing their wheel loaders to make them more cost-effective, fuel-efficient

and eco-friendly. That was also the case with the G se-

ries of wheel loaders, the L110G and L120G, launched in August 2011. These are power-ful, multi-purpose machines with a service weight of 18 – 21.6 tons, designed for heavy infrastructure, rock management and recy-cling. The cranes are 11 and 12 tons respec-tively, but despite the enormous power the engines meet the latest US and EU legislation in terms of emissions.

Volvo CE has lots of its own expert engi-neers, but on some development projects, or parts of projects, it also brings in cutting edge expertise from outside the company, such as

consultants form Semcon. Semcon’s Annika Frössling has been on site as technical project manager for the past two years. She started with an existing, on-going project, but then became Project Manager Engineering, PME, for the L110G and L120G project, which was at the time in the Final Development phase. As project manager she has been involved with all the various phases of the project.

“Work here is very structured, and Volvo CE also has a good project model and amazing resources. I like it here a lot,” she says as she shows us around the office.

When it’s time to describe the improve-

Weight is a central factor for Volvo CE’s construction equipment. But it’s not just about making machinery lighter. It is also about redistributing the weight to optimize efficiency. Volvo CE had Semcon’s help to develop the new G series of wheel loaders.

VVolvo CEVolvo Construction Equipment, VCE, is the lead supplier of plant machinery around the world. The product range consists of wheel loaders, compact loaders, excavator loaders and dump-ers. VCE has 15,000 employees globally, of which around 2,000 are at VCE in Eskilstuna.


ments done to the new G series Annika Frössling and Volvo CE’s project manager Lars Serander show us the workshop. Before enter-ing the workshop we’re given safety shoes and neon yellow vests.

THE MIGHTY WHEEL loaders are parked side-by-side in the machinery hall. The L350F, the big loader, weighs 52 tons and the wheels are so big that not even Lars, who is 187 cm tall, can see over them. Close by is the new L220G, a wheel loader that received the Red Dot Prod-uct Design Award in Essen, Germany, in the spring of 2011.

“It’s great to receive a design award for something that’s going to end up in gi-ant gravel pits,” he adds, while he guides us around these giant machines.

Annika Frössling invites us up into the cab of one of the smaller machines, where the wheels are “only” 170 cm in diameter. It’s real-ly comfortable. Good all-round visibility, the controls are easily accessible and it’s so quiet. The roomy cab – with improved ergonomics, more windows for good visibility and parts

made from plastic, that were once made from metal – was launched in the F series and the concept has followed into the latest machines. The entire G series, including the L110G and L120G, has also been redesigned with softer lines than the F series’ more angular design.

The engine cover and some of the cowl-ings of the G series are now also made from

plastic rather than metal. In addition, the counterweight has been redesigned, which has resulted in cutting overall weight by 40kg on the L110G and by 200kg on the L120G. The counterweight cannot be made too light because the rear weight is a prerequisite for being able to fill the bucket with heavy loads.

“It’s a matter of not having unnecessary

Annika FrösslingTitle: Senior project manager (PME/CPM)Office: Semcon EskilstunaLars Serander

Title: Head of the Swedish project officeOffice: Volvo Construction Equipment, Eskilstuna

”It’s great to receive a design award for something that’s going to end up in giant gravel pits.”

Lars Serander, project manager, Volvo CE


COUNTERWEIGHT. The counter-weight has been redesigned, making the L110G 40kg lighter and the L120G 200kg lighter.

MUDGUARDS. Some of the mudguards of the G series are now made from plastic instead of steel. But because there are so many different kinds of tyres mudguards come in plastic and steel.

DESIGN. The bright yellow machines have a Volvo grey line running all the way from the front to the back of the machine. The machines also have softer lines compared with the previous series’ more angular design.

NEW ENGINE. Volvo’s turbocharged step 4i engines meet the latest US and EU emissions legislation. The engine (Deutz D8), transmission, axles, hydraulics and steering have been developed as a single unit for optimum performance and maximum reliability. The hydraulics have changed with increased pressure, which in turn provides more power.

CAB. The cab is really comfortable and since the launch of the F series has been given improved ergonomics and more windows for improved visibility.

ENGINE COVER. The engine cover has been redesigned, in plastic. It’s electrically operated and opens to the rear for quick and easy access for easy maintenance and cleaning.

AXLE. A really sturdy axle supports the weight for optimum torque, meaning less stress and longer life.


app s

tore


most important points

7 This is how Volvo CE and Semcon have worked to get the new wheel loaders, L110G and L120G, to be more cost-effective, fuel-efficient and eco-friendly.


weight in the wrong places,” says Lars. “If, for example, you optimize the lifting frame, which is the frame that lifts the bucket, you can save hundreds of kilos.

“It’s all about achieving the best possi-ble performance. And developments have been dramatic since the very first machines. The machines of the past were dramatically oversized, because the calculation programs at the time were crude. This is something that’s gradually improved since the end of the 1980s, in line with improved computer capac-ity, enabling calculation programs to improve.”

ANNIKA FRÖSSLING EXPLAINS how, in order to achieve optimum solutions in development, we first look at the actual construction. We then find a solution and carry out rigorous calculations to check that the construction is correctly dimensioned for its task.

“We calculate loads, where the critical points are etc. It’s a matter of redesigning until we meet the demands and then it’s time for testing. There are lots of different parameters to take into account and a lot of hard work,” she says.

For a wheel loader to be able to lift really heavy loads requires, as previously men-tioned, a huge counterweight at the rear of the machine so it doesn’t tip over. The big-gest wheel loader, the L350F, can lift 35 tons (including the bucket, which itself weighs 5 tons). This is a lifting force equivalent to around 25 Volvo cars or 40 football teams, where each player weighs around 80 kg.

It’s all just basic mechanics. The greater the load at the front the more counterweight

is needed at the back. When optimizing you can choose a somewhat lighter counterweight, but then it needs to be placed further back. And the lower the machine’s centre of gravity the better and more stable it is. Changing the parts in the cab from steel to plastic for exam-ple improves the machine’s stability – mar-ginally. However, the driver’s safety should never be compromised. All Volvo wheel load-ers therefore have an approved safety cab to protect the driver if the machine should tip over. The cab is also fitted with a safety roof to protect against falling objects, when work-ing in tunnels for example.

Safety and quality characterize Volvo, just as much as caring for the environment. Fuel consumption has been drastically reduced on both wheel loaders using Volvo’s turbo-charged step 4i engines: an 8 litre, 6 cylinder turbocharged Volvo Advanced Combustion Technology, V-ACT, with cooled exhaust gas recirculation and particle filters with ac-tive regeneration. The active diesel particle filter, temporarily retains particles for later combustion, further reducing emissions. This is all achieved without compromising the ma-chine’s performance or use.

“The entire G series is fitted with engines that meet step 4i legislation, including a re-treatment system to reduce emissions. When introduced this was new technology, which always involves various technical challenges,” says Annika.

Semcon and Volvo CE have worked together for many years and Lars Serander is very pleased with Annika’s input.

“Semcon has consultants with an exten-sive range of experience of the automotive industry and we have both enjoyed a long, rewarding working relationship. Annika has, with her expertise, contributed towards the successful end result very well,” he says.

WE FOLLOW THEM OUT through the blue doors to outside the machine hall. Here we also see loaders lined up, all part of various test projects. On a small hill further away are more and in the distance there are test tracks and even piles of gravel and other material to test the machines, over and over again.

“We also have a huge 2,200 m2 tent close to the track where the machines can be tested in winter, and a demonstration centre, which we call the Customer Centre, where the machines are shown to both external and internal cus-tomers,” he explains, and enjoys taking them for test drives if he has any spare time.

“It’s cool driving into a big pile of rock waste, giving it some gas and then feeling how the machine bites into it with the bucket,” he says with a smile, despite the cloudy day.

Unlike Lars, Annika has passed a special driving course for wheel loaders at VCE and she sometimes sits behind the controls and tackles both test pits and the test track.

“You get really happy driving a wheel loader,” she says and adds that test-driving from time to time is also a precondition for being able to properly carry out development work at a desk.

“It’s important that we learn as much about these machines as possible,” she says, just before we leave. 1

“It’s a matter of not having unnecessary weight in the wrong places. If you optimize the lifting frame that lifts the bucket, you can save hundreds of kilos.”

Lars Serander, project manager Volvo CE


TEXT KATARINA MISIC, MARCUS OLSSON & STEFAN SJÖDIN

PHOTOS CHRISTER EHRLING+SEMCON DESIGN, LARS ARDARVE & RICKARD KILSTRÖM

SEMCON BRAINS


fernando ocañaTitle: Creative DirectorHybrid quality: Multi-cultural, speaks five languages

yasmin mortazaviTitle: HMI developer/Interaction designerHybrid quality: Photo journalist

joel hernestålTitle: CGI artistHybrid quality: Disc jockey

peder bengtssonTitle: Group Manager, Hybrid Design StudiosHybrid quality: Former aviation engineer

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2010 43FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2012 43

Hybrid Design Studios

CURIOUS about what your products will look like in the future? Semcon’s recently formed Hybrid Design Studios help customers generate, develop and visualize their strategic alignments so that the basic concept remains intact throughout the entire process all the way to marketing and end use.

“Clear visualization at an early stage allows everyone to head in the same direction, which reduces the need for interpretation. We provide customers with the expertise re-quired to meet this challenge,” says Peder Bengtsson, Group Manager,

Hybrid Design Studios. The studio is made up of differ-

ent experts: designers, construction engineers, modellers, CGI artists – all with different interests like music, ar-chitecture, photography or film, and all contribute to the creative process. The result of the group’s work can include everything from a simple im-age or a complex animation to a digi-tal or physical model. Joel Hernestål is a CGI artist and is currently work-ing on visualizing contributions sent in to Electrolux Design Labs.

“I love bringing things, ideas and

visions to life. CGI provides us with an untold number of possibilities but you shouldn’t take things too far or you risk losing the observer.”

Elizabeth Pinder is a hybrid designer who, via London and Hong Kong, re-cently arrived at Hybrid Design Studios.

“My job is to create solutions that nobody else has thought of. What I like about Hybrid Design Studios is that we are allowed to experiment and really think outside the box first, before the more experienced people tone it down to something that can be sold within three to five years.”

semcon göteborg

BEHIND THE SCENES AT SEMCON BRAINSCurious about what goes on at Hybrid Design Studios? Meet Peder, Joel and Elizabeth who will tell you what they do, what challenges they face and why they chose to work for Semcon.

elizabeth pinderTitle: Hybrid designerHybrid quality: Photo graphs stars

andreas friedrichTitle: Group Manager, Auto-motive Product Design and Senior Designer MFAHybrid quality: Danish, architect and former elite yachtsman

marie rolof koskiTitle: Geometry engineerHybrid quality: Designs jewellery and cards


SEMCON BRAINS

The steering expert

THE STEERING EXPERIENCE is one of the first things a driver notices in a car.

Miriam’s job is to implement the software for steering Volvo’s cars.

“It’s always the small details that make the difference,” she says.

Miriam works with electronics and software in the steering servo system on the Volvo S60, V60, V70, S80, XC60, XC70 and the new hybrid car.

Her job is to gather input to optimize the servo steering so it uses less fuel

and gives the driver the best possible steering feeling. That’s a tough chal-lenge.

“The steering experience is the first thing you notice when you sit in a car, apart from the exterior and interior in-fluences. That makes it very important. The steering needs to be responsive. The automotive industry is constantly working on making cars fun to drive – but without making them too sporty or boring.”

The hydraulic pump that controls the flow of oil uses a lot of electricity. The use of electricity is cut by limiting the work intervall of the pump, thereby reducing fuel consumption. This also cuts back on CO2 emissions.

“One of the most important factors of having a hybrid car is fuel consump-tion. It’s always a matter of the little de-tails having the greatest effect. And we are always making fine adjustments.”

During implementation Miriam

must take into account how heavy the car is, what engine it has, if it’s front or rear-wheel drive and what kind of chas-sis setting it has.

“The tuning is carried out by an en-tire team that only works on the steer-ing. They provide me with the variables to work with and I then implement the changes. In simple terms it’s numbers that affect the pump’s revs. And very small adjustments can make a huge difference,” she says.

miriam stribeck, design engineer, semcon göteborg

WHEN JENS OLOW was studying he worked extra at the gasworks in Hjorthagen outside Stockholm. The job, repairing old valves, was to be completed in eleven weeks accord-ing to his employer. Jens completed it in four.

“I’ve always liked to explore how things can be done more ef-ficiently,” he says.

It has become his passion and profession. Whether he goes to

Ericsson’s offices in India or South Africa or, as now, to Eskilstuna En-ergi och Miljö, the goal is the same: to streamline customers’ projects.

“The project is about doing something new, venture out into an uncertain landscape to evolve and improve. You then always get onto leadership issues and how the organization works, I think it’s fantastic.”

Jens and his colleagues have

developed Semcon’s established methodology for project activities, XLPM. With this as a platform, he trains and develops customers in all kinds of ways from method instruction during scheduled train-ing to supporting the project and customized activities.

Most large organizations experi-ence resource wastage from time to time and lack control. They’re all looking for greater predict-

ability in their projects: what can be achieved? When will it be com-pleted? What will it cost? What will we earn?

“The problems are often due to starting projects without having done sufficient solid groundwork. It means that orders become un-clear. But with proven methodol-ogy and hard work it’s possible to correct the problems. That’s where I come in.

jens olow, senior advisor project management, semcon stockholm

The project management expert


“The project is about developing to improve.”

Jens Olow, Senior Advisor Project Management,

Semcon Stockholm


Giving problems the yellow card

When Rolls Royce wanted to optimize the time it takes to assemble a water jet unit they contacted Semcon. By establishing the assembly time and visualizing the process the company has

succeeded in saving valuable time. The process to get there went via yellow cards and whiteboards.

TEXT OLLE HERNEGREN PHOTO ØYVIND LUND


F ew brands are as prestigious as Rolls-Royce. The magnificent cars are no longer part of the Group, instead the brand includes marine and air transport. One of the central vessel

systems comes from Värmland.Michael Olsson is head of production tech-

nology at Rolls Royce in Kristinehamn, and he tells us what they do:

“We develop and manufacture what’s known as main propulsion for propeller driven and water driven vessels. That means we provide the propulsion systems situated behind the engines, which mainly means propeller shafts, bulkhead ducts, bearings and adjustable propellers. The same principle applies to water driven boats, but there the driveline ends with a water jet unit. We also develop and manufacture control systems that monitor propulsion systems.”

SOME OF THE SYSTEMS provided are spectacularly big, with propellers between 2.5 and 10 meters in diameter. The two aircraft carriers just built for the Royal Navy, for example, will be driven using propellers made in Kristinehamn.

Rolls-Royce manufactures around ten component families, in everything from the simplest twin-axle turning to complex five-axle machining in massive machines. Other components are bought in, and everything is assembled into complete systems.

“We saw a need for optimizing assembly of the water jet unit,” says Michael Olsson. “Manufacturing is completed at a single as-sembly station with the unit remaining at the same place throughout assembly, with the tools and components needed being brought to the assembly station. We wanted to inves-tigate the possibility of creating an assembly

line to improve flow and a better overview. That’s when we contacted Semcon.”

PATRIK BÖRJESSON entered the picture with his experience of production development and he started by studying the assembly process.

“We started with a study to map out time spent and find time that didn’t create added value,” he explains. “We soon discovered that there was a lot of time being wasted.”

A lot of time was being spent without any added value to the product. A lot of the time wasted was for reprocessing. Components were arriving for assembly without being ready for fitting. They either didn’t fit or were painted incorrectly.

The fault could have happened during

“We soon discovered that there was a lot of time being wasted.”

Patrik Börjesson, production developer, Semcon

3C3C stands for Concern-Cause-Countermeasure and is a method for showing and following up on concerns. 3C visualizes the type of concern, it’s cause, what countermeasures can be put in place and the status of the case.

Each working day now begins with representatives from production technology, purchasing and construction meeting by the three 3C boards. The group discuss the content of the boards and attempt to find quick solu-tions to the problems highlighted.


in-house manufacturing or with the subcon-tractor, but faults were also discovered in the basic drawing data.

“We became champion fire fighters,” he says. “We were solving everything, but we never got to the root cause in order to fix them and avoid going on any more call outs.”

“The risk with recurring faults that need fixing is that after a while you consider it to be normal. It becomes part of the routine to clean the hinges before the bolt is put in, and workers stop reacting to it,” he says. “One rea-son the concerns were rarely raised for fixing was because the error system used was com-plicated and it was easy to “forget” a report.”

ROLLS-ROYCE NOW works according to the new routines that Patrik introduced for handling errors, and which on outward appearance consist of three whiteboards, in this context known as 3C boards.

Patrik explains how they work. “When a problem arises the operator goes

to the board, gets a yellow card and fills it out with the information about the fault and what component it refers to. The card is then put in a box and the issue is logged onto the whiteboard to make it immediately visible. All cards are collected at the end of the day and registered.”

Every work day starts with a fixed rou-

tine: a group of representatives from produc-tion technology, purchasing and construc-tion meet at the 3C boards, located by the assembly, grinding and heavy machining departments. The group reviews what’s on the whiteboards and if the problem cannot be solved immediately then there must be a solution the next day.

FOLLOW UP MEETINGS are then held on a monthly basis, where the three most impor-tant problems are prioritized and are then thoroughly analysed from an inter-functional perspective.

“The best thing is that we’ve improved awareness of the importance of solving prob-lems. Visualization is the reason for this, be-cause it’s not much fun having unsolved tasks on the board,” he says.

Reporting errors is the ultimate goal of this system, but it’s not been easy to get it to work. It took a while before employees over-came their scepticism. “Why do we need to write it on a board, we know about it already?”

“This is also a change of culture,” he says. “Changing this fire fighting mentality takes time. Everything works a lot better now, but we still have lots of individuals who have some way to go before they have fully grasped this reporting routine.”

“This mind set comes from ideas like lean production that Patrik brought with him and that’s been adapted to our operations. The dream is that problems will be so few that whiteboards and meetings are unnecessary.” 1

“The dream is that whiteboards and meetings will be unnecessary.”

Michael Olsson, Head of production technology, Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce in KristinehamnRolls-Royce in Kristinehamn is part of the group’s marine division, making control systems, deck machinery, steering systems, engines and propulsion systems for all kinds of vessels. It’s the manufacturing of propulsion systems that’s based in Kristinehamn. Rolls-Royce in Kristinehamn employs around 400 people.Patrik Börjesson

Titlel:Production developer Office: Semcon Karlstad

Michael OlssonTitle: Head of production technologyOffice: Rolls-Royce, Kristinehamn


CECILIA NORBERGDIVISIONAL MANAGER PEAQ, PROJECT, ENGINEERING AND QUALITY, SEMCON STOCKHOLM

HOBBIES Devoted cyclist and out-door person

WIRELESS SOUNDAPPLE AIRPORT EXPRESS

“I plug in my Airport Express at home and stream music and sound to the stereo speakers. It might be Spotify via the mobile or if we’re watching a film on the iPad. Simple to link up to differ-ent gadgets at home, love it.”

ULTRA-LIGHT BICYCLE WHEELSLIGHTWEIGHT

“These hand-made, carbon fibre German bicycle wheels are fantastic to cycle on. I love the feel and sound they achieve. The carbon fibre wheels are one of the details that make the bicycle so ultra-light, which is something I’m looking for. They run so smoothly too, which is mag-nificent downhill. The tubular tyres can be pumped up really hard and are also very resistant to punctures.”

“I love the feeling and the sound they achieve”

ELECTRONIC HEARTPACEMAKER

“I work a lot with customers in the bio-tech industry who in turn work with extremely exciting products. I’m still im-pressed by what a fantastic invention the pacemaker is and that Sweden was the first in the world to implant a person with a pacemaker as far back as 1958.”

MULTIFUNCTIONAL BUGGY CHARIOT CX1

“This is a buggy that you can cycle, run or even ski with by simply swapping some parts. Perfect when you want to do some exercise with the children. We have covered many miles with our buggy and our 2 year-old son loves it. I like the fact that it’s so well thought out, that all the parts work together and that they have thought about details like hanging a bag on the back and that there is a superb sun visor for the child.”

HANDY BICYCLE LAMPKNOG

“When cycling to and from work I want handy lamps that are small and simple to take along, while being easy to fix to the bike. Knog’s bicy-cle lamps are so small that you can keep them in your pocket and that you attach them to the handlebars with an elastic band. They are also well designed and available in a range of colours, which is a bit cool.”

GADGETS I LIKE


Lorems ipsumdol sit amet mars

När Rolls Royce ville optimera tiden det tar att montera vattenjetaggregat kontaktade man Semcon. Genom att kartlägga

montagetiden och visualisera processen har man lyckats spara värdefull tid. Vägen dit gick via gula lappar och whiteboards.

TEXT XXXXXXXXXXXXXX FOTO ØYVIND LUND

Patrik HolmTitle: Vd, Mervento.Office: Vasa, Finland


In 2008, Mervento started with an idea and a vision in an empty office in Vasa, Finland, to prove to Finland and Scandinavia what wind power was all about. Patrik Holm, his

partner and colleagues thought that Finland and Sweden had fallen behind countries like Denmark and Germany, despite the fact that wind is one of the most obvious, natural en-ergy resources we will need in the future.

“When we compare with countries further south we are quite far behind in terms of wind power developments. We’ve started to catch up but we still have some way to go before we’ve completely caught up,” says Patrik, Mervento’s CEO and founder.

Just four years after starting, they have now designed, built and installed what is currently

Finland’s biggest wind turbine, the Mervento 3-6-118. It has a horizontal axle and direct-drive wind turbine providing a nominal power output of 3.6 MW and an impressive 118-me-ter rotor diameter. Its patented solutions have

enabled it to create a wind turbine suited for colder climates, requiring less maintenance, thereby more profitable and efficient.

But getting into the wind power industry is not just about coming up with a unique prod-uct. Solving the financing and actually keep-ing to deadlines have been, and still are two of the biggest challenges according to Patrik.

“We’re actually about six months behind our original deadline. It’s a little tough but our suppliers don’t think it’s a problem, because we now understand that our competitors are around 1.5 years behind their deadlines.”

PART OF MERVENTO’S STRATEGY for success has been never to cut corners. By always aim-ing to be the best of the best you gain time,

SCALE 1:100Mervento has succeeded in constructing Finland’s biggest wind turbine over a short period of time. But Semcon helped them develop probably Finland’s smallest wind turbine – a scaled down advanced model that helped Mervento impress at Europe’s leading wind turbine trade fair.TEXT ERIK SALMONSON PHOTO SAMI PULKKINEN

MerventoWind turbine manufacturer Mervento, based in Vasa, Finland, started in 2008 and has constructed Finland’s biggest wind turbine, Mervento 3-6-118, which contains 20 brand new technical solutions. The company has customers in Finland, Sweden, Norway, the UK, Ireland and France.


money and energy over the long-term. This applies to everything in the company,

even the model wind turbines that were de-veloped with Semcon’s help. Mervento was set to take part in Europe’s most important wind power event, the EWEA trade fair in Copenhagen in April 2012. In order to prove themselves among the bigger manufacturers they needed to demonstrate their products as true to life as possible. The solution was advanced 1:100 scale models.

“Mervento approached us with a request to come up with six exact models of their wind turbine. They also wanted two scale models of the wind turbines and a 1:30 cross- section of the actual head of the wind turbine,” says Torkel Kristensson, project manager at Semcon who was responsible for working on the models.

MERVENTO TURNING to Semcon was no coin-cidence. Semcon has extensive experience of careful and often unique work in terms of models and prototypes, which it calls situation-technical specialist assignments.

Simply put, these are small series of advanced products, often one-off examples.

According to Semcon’s site manager, Mårten Jansson, the biggest strength is not the com-pany’s impressive machinery equipment, but the expertise of the individuals working in the model and prototype workshop. Mårten repeat-edly highlights that the individuals carrying out these assignments are the key to everything.

“This is craftsmanship and there aren’t many that can take on the assignments that we do. The cross-section of expertise in the company is our greatest asset. We work ex-tremely well together, are flexible and solve the unique assignments we receive meaning we achieve the best possible outcome.”

ANOTHER MAJOR ADVANTAGE is that everything is in-house, construction, prototyping and modelling. The customer only needs to turn to one partner to solve everything. This sim-plifies communication and cooperation.

“Having everything is crucial. We have peo-ple who are expert at milling, powder-coating, constructing etc., all sorts of skills. We natu-

rally have to sometimes utilize the services of other experts to come up with specific parts, but the customer only needs to turn to us, and we fix the rest,” says Mårten Jansson.

After coming up with a project plan where everything from choice of material to time-frame was included, the work could start. A 3D puzzle was made where all the different parts were numbered and marked and then made as SLS prototypes.

“When you get in a number of parts which are all roughly 3 mm long you need to know which piece goes where,” says Torkel Kris-tensson and smiles.

It was soon discovered that scaled versions couldn’t work outright on their own. Scaling down Mervento’s wind turbine to 1:100 would have made the blade tip 0.13 mm thick at the thinnest part. To get as close to reality as pos-sible the wings were made from carbon fibre to create a blade tip of 0.5 mm thick.

“Problems always arise and often do, but because we have everything in-house means that we can quickly and simply provide a so-lution. This is a big advantage and minimizes

Mervento received a lot of attention at the EWEA trade fair in Copenhagen thanks to its scaled-down models.


“Using models we were able to show our technical solutions and present the entire company and what we represent.”

Patrik Holm, CEO Mervento

risks,” says Torkel.Mervento’s CEO Patrik Holm was in

Jönköping following the progress of the pro-ject. He was there to approve colour schemes on everything from the turbines to the little staircase with 0.6 mm steps that were sol-dered together using tweezers and a magni-fying glass. Just like in every other activity Patrik Holm was very particular that every-thing should be top of the range.

“It was great working with Semcon, both in terms of service and production. Everything went quickly and smoothly, both in bringing them on-board on this project and deciding on what we wanted and what it would look like. We worked extremely well together and we are very pleased with the result,” he says.

The result was an advanced model with car-bon fibre blades and reinforced SLS fibreglass bodywork consisting of 70 different parts that were painted up to seven times with different layers of base paint, paint and a clear-coat and where even details like the steel wire were exactly dimensioned. The 1.25

metre body is also equipped with bearings and a rotor that rotates even with a slight breeze.

Despite Mervento having a slightly smaller stand at the EWEA trade fair than many of its rivals, the company still received a lot of attention. Visitors praised both the company and the models.

“Oh, are you from Mervento? And you’re the CEO? I must say that it’s an honour to meet you. Mervento is the company that everyone’s talking about here,” said an excited American to Patrik Holm.

MERVENTO COULD HAVE made the models cheap-er in Asia for example, but Patrik doubts that the result would have been the same.

“Spending a little more money once is often cheaper than spending a little less money lots of times. Or the worst case scenario a little money

once and then a lot more money to get the re-sult you wanted from the beginning. Using the models we could simply show how our technical solutions work and present the entire company and what we repre-

sent. Quite simply a perfect solution.” 1

Torkel Kristensson (right)Title: Senior project managerOffice: Semcon JönköpingMårten Jansson Title: Site managerOffice: Semcon Jönköping


app s

tore



SEMCON UPDATEWHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEMCON’S WORLD

A GOOD COOKING OIL is a key component when making crisps that appeal to consu-mers’ tastes. Automation engineer Tobias Månsson from Semcon in Göteborg took on the challenge of composing different oils for snack manufacturer Estrella.

“One of the biggest challenges with the project was creating the logic behind what to do to maximize possibilities for the produc-tion lines,” he says.

Estrella’s facility in Göteborg has seven tanks containing tens of thousands of litres of coo-king oil. Before the project started the tanks contained two different types of oil, but once the lines between the tanks were restructured they were able to contain three different types of oil, which has improved Estrella’s possibili-ties for producing new snacks.

Apart from setting up the actual system for which lines needed to fill which tanks there

was also an underlying need for safety for ensuring a successful result.

“We also had to make sure that there would never be a risk of positive or negative pressure in the lines, that the motors never run dry, or that oil is pumped when valves are closed,” says Tobias Månsson.

Estrella has been making snacks in Sweden since 1957. Sunflower oil is used for frying the crisps.

Estrella got help in choosing the right oil


New course for agile project managersSEMCON’S RANGE of project manage-ment and quality courses will expand in the autumn with the introduction of a new three-day course aimed at certifying participants in the field of agile project management. The certification, known as PMI-ACP, or PMI-Agile Certified Prac-titioner, has been developed by the US Project Management Institute, PMI, and is the only one of its kind. Semcon will be the first in Sweden to provide training for certification to be awarded.

“We’ll be running three days of inten-sive training. To complete the test and become certified on your own you need to read and fully understand eleven books on the subject. Our educationalists have compressed the material, which makes it a lot easier for the participants. This is a significantly tougher course than the ones that have existed so far on the subject,” says Kerstin Järvell-Rhodiner,

Training Office Manager at Semcon.For project managers to work agilely,

with convertible plans and lots of repriori-tization during projects, has become very popular in recent years. Kerstin believes that with training for certification now available that it will be much sought after.

“It was possible to be a certified Scrum Master in the past by doing a course, leading to a diploma. PMI’s new certifica-tion requires extensive experience and completing a comprehensive test after the training. PMI-ACP certification is far more desirable. Scrum Master is on its way out.”

Semcon’s project courses have been held in more than 60 countries in recent years. 190 courses were held last year and they were very successful according to the course evaluations. The course par-ticipants’ average grade is 5.3 on a scale of 1 – 6, with 6 as the highest, which has exceeded customers’ expectations.

“This is probably due to our teachers sandwiching assignments with training,” she believes. “In this way they don’t lose grip of the practical side of project work. 1

New network for design managersA Swedish industrial network for everyone working as design managers and surface designers was launched in the spring.

Semcon is represented on the network’s board by Christian Hellgren, along with companies like Scania, Elec-trolux and Volvo Cars.

“By being part of the network Sem-con is able to get its message across and show people what it can do, while being updated with what’s happening in the industry.”

Read more at: www.swesurf.se

Semcon took part at BAJA SAE BrazilSemcon Brazil sponsored and took part in this year’s Project BAJA SEA, a global university competition where participants design and construct a vehicle to manage tough off-road conditions. 71 teams took part in Brazil and Semcon was represented by two teams, which finished 24th and 33rd respectively in the competition.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t com-plete one of the tests, but the car received good marks in a number of the categories, including road-holding and suspension,” said one of the parti-cipants from Semcon, Adriano Silva.

New network for design managersSemcon is now creating an embedded international network of 450 spe-cialists who are available for projects irrespective of where they might be in the world.

“A constant increased demand to be connected, for energy-efficient and flexible products, requires more rapid, complex development. We are now creating this network to give our customers access to our collective expertise,” says Johan Kristensson, Em-bedded Network manager at Semcon.

VOLVO IS NOW launching a new owner’s manual for the new Volvo V60 following the success of the app for the Volvo S60 owner’s manual. What’s new about the V60 app is, apart from being iPhone compatible, it will also be iPad and Android compatible..

“When we launched the S60 app, the most common question was when was it going to be available for Android phones. It’s great to be able to now provide this service,” says Fredrik Lars-son at Semcon, who helped develop the app.

Volvo app for more platforms

1 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FUTURE SMART GRIDS

1 ROLLS-ROYCE SAVES TIME WITH YELLOW CARDS

1 MERVENTO’S HUGE WIND TURBINE IN MINI FORMAT

A MAGAZINE ABOUTENGINEERING SERVICES & PRODUCT INFORMATION # 2 2012

future by semcon

#2 2012

THE EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH. THE CHALLENGES ARE MANY. IS THE FUTURE LIGHT?

LIGHT WEIGHT

AFTER WORKname Nils Bjerkås and Anders Dahlsjöwhat we do at work Civil engineer in automation and machine construction engineer.off ice Semcon Göteborgwhat we do after work Match racing with the Berntsson Sailing Team as a trimmer and foredecker.current challenge To improve on last year’s bronze at the World Championships.

NILS BJERKÅS AND ANDERS DAHLSJÖ:

“It’s all worth it when we’re standing on the winners’ podium”About usnils: “I’m ambitious, competitive and like tough challenges, which is reflected in everything I do. I’m 33 and live with my wife Kristina in Göteborg.”anders: “I think first and act later, and am probably considered as a bit quiet, but I never quit. I’ve been professional a few times and have competed in the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race. I’m 39 and live with my wife and two daughters in Onsala just outside Göteborg.” About our jobnils: “I’m responsible for a group of 18 people that helps customers with product development. I’m

also a sales manager and meet a lot of customers.”anders: “I’m working on mo-tor development for Volvo Penta, customizing their industrial motors to meet future emissions require-ments.”

About match racing“We’ve both sailed since we were children but only met one an-other as competitors at various sailing events prior to working at Semcon. We started sailing to-gether in 2011 when taking part in the World Match Racing Tour with the Berntsson Sailing Team. We won bronze together with the rest of the crew and were nominated yachtsmen of the

year in Sweden, which was a fan-tastic feeling, especially consider-ing that most of our competitors were professionals. We have two crews to juggle work, family and sailing. The best thing about match racing is the teamwork, the head-to-head races, the tacti-cal game, that we can combine sailing with our technical inter-ests and that we can share our successes with one another.”

What we’ve learned from match racing“Everyone in the world of sailing is driven and have set clear goals for themselves. We’re also completely dependent on one another. Every-one puts in 150 per cent in trying

to outdo themselves. It’s worth all the hard work when we’re standing on the winners’ stand. Having the ambition, team spirit and the feeling you get on the winners’ stand at work would be great.”

FACTS: MATCH RACINGMatch racing is a form of sail racing where two yachts compete against one another on a course. The yachts com-plete two distances with the wind and two against the wind. The most well known match racing competition is the America’s Cup.

+


app s

tore


THEME