Erik is to contribute towards developing Swedish industry

Developments in industry are putting increasingly greater demands on more efficient production processes when producing new technologies that will lead to increased production and competitiveness. Erik Flores-García’s research will contribute towards facilitating decision-making in industry as well as equipping future and present engineers with the right tools.

— I have produced a model for making use of simulation as a part of the decision-making process when designing production systems for which both engineers and managers can have a use. By using simulation, the companies can define at an early stage what consequences this change will have, and how they are to work to counteract these. This is something that will lead to a sound basis for decision-making, says Erik Flores-García, Ph.D. in Innovation and Production.

Erik has for example produced various simulation models to help Volvo Construction Equipment to develop their production of heavy vehicles.

New courses in simulation

To ensure that students are well equipped for the challenges facing industry, two new courses, Industrial Excellence and Simulation of Production Systems, have been designed at MDH. These courses are a direct result of the needs of industry and of Erik Flores-García’s research, which include real-life projects with MDH’s collaboration partners.

— The students will be working with the challenges that exist for example at Volvo CE, GTO, ABB, AstraZeneca and Scania, says Erik.

These two new courses form part of the B.Sc. Engineering programme in Innovation and Product Design, the B.Sc. Engineering programme in Innovation, Production and Logistics and the M.Sc. Engineering programme in Production and Product Design.

Courses for professionals

Apart from contributing their skills in the Bachelor’s programmes, this research has also contributed towards a course in Premium, which is a customised further education programme directed towards professionals in industry.

— We don’t just want to equip future engineers but the present ones as well. Among the course participants are representatives from AstraZeneca, Bombardier, Volvo and Scania, as well as others, says Erik.

From Mexico to Eskilstuna

Erik Flores-García has been working in the vehicle and automation industry in Mexico for several years, and he has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics, but wished to increase his skills within the area.

— I became aware of MDH through the University’s close collaboration with industry and therefore took the decision to do my Master’s in Production and Logistics at MDH. Afterwards I chose to go on to do a Ph.D. in the subject as a part of the Innofacture research school, says Erik.

Innofacture cooperates with eight of the country’s largest manufacturing companies with the aim of boosting Swedish competitiveness on the global market by developing production processes in the companies.