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Virtual Reality (VR) within manufacturing industry has continued to be of large interest, especially when seeking to reduce time-to-market for development of new products. To reduce time-to-market (TTM), VR technology must be implemented and used in the development process in a way that enables increased performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify key decisions and implementation activities that impact VR adoption in NPD processes. This paper explores the VR adoption and usage to shed light on key decisions and implementation activities. A retrospective multiple case study has been conducted. One case has successfully implemented and used VR while two other cases have not. The results describe the decisions and implementation activities performed. Based on the results a framework for VR adoption is proposed. The framework identifies attributes which are key to VR adoption and describes them among three adoption stages.

This thesis investigates how Virtual Reality can be adopted into the New Product Development process in manufacturing companies. While Virtual Reality is recognized as promising technology for design reviews, virtual prototyping and cross-functional collaboration, many manufacturing companies struggle to move beyond pilots and isolated use. Prior research often treats people, process and technology separately and offers limited insight into how adoption unfolds in practice over time.

The purpose of this thesis is to facilitate the adoption of Virtual Reality technology into the New Product Development process by identifying challenges and corresponding mitigation factors. The research is based on two retrospective multiple case studies in two large manufacturing companies in the automotive and heavy vehicle industries. Empirical data was collected through a survey, semi-structured interviews, internal documents, observations and informal discussions. Three appended papers examine Virtual Reality adoption at multiple levels, and the thesis performs a joint analysis across these studies.

The findings show that challenges related to Virtual Reality adoption are systemic and primarily concern misalignments between people, process and technology across strategic, tactical and operational levels. Identified challenges include a lack of clear ownership and roles, dependence on a few key users, limited time and standardized ways of working, late and ad-hoc use in projects, immature tool chains and demanding preparation and data handling. To address these challenges, the thesis identifies seven mitigation factors, including establishing dedicated facilitators and key user roles, securing management commitment, establishing ownership of VR work, strengthening vertical alignment, reducing data complexity and planning Virtual Reality adoption as a staged, long-term maturity process.

Overall, the thesis contributes a multi-level, process-oriented understanding of Virtual Reality adoption in New Product Development processes and provides empirically driven guidance on how to design and steer VR initiatives towards sustained, value-adding use in manufacturing.

Digital transformation is complicated in International Manufacturing Networks (IMNs), where factories are spread globally, and actions are interdependent. Adapting organizational structures is one way to handle the demands and expectations posed by digital transformation. However, research covering the adaptations to the IT organization is limited, and this paper's purpose is to explore adaptations of IT organizations within IMNs during digital transformation. A multiple case study was performed, studying two manufacturing companies’ adaptations of the IT organization. The result reveals three phases of adaptations of the IT organization: the foundation phase, the mapping phase, and the coordinating phase. The phases are accompanied by the setup of a new operational IT function that works with digital transformation in the IMNs. Also, the interfaces and collaboration between the operational IT function and the factories in the IMNs are identified. Lastly, it highlights remaining challenges with the adaptations of the IT organization that need further research. 

PurposeCoordination of digital transformation within globally dispersed factories belonging to international manufacturing networks (IMNs) is essential for competitiveness. This paper explores how digital transformation necessitates changes in the coordination of IMNs.Design/methodology/approachA case study is conducted with three Swedish manufacturing companies, thus adding to the limited empirical research covering the examined research field. Data analysis uses the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework.FindingsThe results highlight 15 digital transformation attributes linked by intermediate themes to 13 changes in the coordination of IMNs and provide concrete industry examples. Four major themes emerged as significant in the coordination of IMNs: increased speed of technology development and rollout, amplified emphasis on a global mindset, increased need to adapt the organizational structures to enable collaboration and a higher degree of uncertainty.Originality/valueAlthough coordination of IMNs is acknowledged as directly related to competitive advantage, the ways digital transformation necessitates changes in the coordination of IMNs have been missing in contemporary research. This research decreases this omission.

Digital transformation of production systems is a challenging task that demands radical responses from existing organizations. During the digital transformation of productions systems tensions occur that need to be managed and the purpose of this paper is to identify paradoxes in the digital transformation of production systems. Paradox theory has been applied as an analytical framework when identifying digital transformation paradoxes and tensions. A case study has been conducted and two manufacturing companies’ digitalization projects have been studied and analyzed in combination with data from workshops around digital transformation. The results were mapped into four types of paradoxes: organizing, performing, belonging, and learning. We conclude that the identified tensions are intertwined, and a major tension is the degree of standardization of technologies (standardization vs customization) and a more agile way of working (learning by doing vs learning before) doing is a trend within the digital transformation of production system. Our findings are relevant to operations managers and others interested in tensions during the digital transformation of production systems.

Implementation of VR into NPD processes requires a coordinated effort from within the manufacturing organization. However, the knowledge to carry this out successfully is still quite limited within research as well as within manufacturing organizations, leading to failed pilot projects and a waste of resources. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify barriers that inhibit VR implementation. A multiple case study has been carried out focusing on two VR implementation attempts within a single manufacturing site. The results identify four specific roles and their responsibilities within the VR implementation teams: Key driver, gatekeeper, key user, and general user. The results further identify the barriers experienced within the VR implementation attempts.

Factories within International Manufacturing Networks (IMNs) need coordination to harness globalization’s potential. Simultaneously, adding additional complexity, they seek to coordinate digital transformation across the IMNs, requiring a holistic view encompassing the organizational structure. The purpose of this paper is to identify how manufacturing companies adapt the organizational structures of their IMNs to coordinate digital transformation. Through a multiple case study of four manufacturing companies, the results show new or adapted functional units, roles and interfaces. The findings describe and exemplify global and local functional units, boundary spanner roles, and formal and informal interfaces created for coordinating digital transformation in IMNs.

In order to support manufacturing companies in their digital transformation, challenges and views of the term digital transformation need to be identified since digital transformation is considered a source of competitive advantages. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the challenges and differing views of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. A case study was conducted in collaboration with four Swedish manufacturing companies. The results were then mapped into categories of three dimensions (people, process and technology), indicating that digital transformation can have different meanings within a company. We conclude that the term digitalisation is more frequently used in the manufacturing industry than digital transformation and identified challenges relate to lack of best practice for digital transformation, degree of standardisation and therefore affects the workload and limits the possibilities of transferring technical solutions between factories. Our findings are relevant to operations managers and other interested in digital transformation. 

Extended Reality (XR) technologies, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), show promising usages and impacts in manufacturing, however integration of XR technologies in the product realization process is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current approaches to integrating XR technologies into the product realization process as well as the accompanying challenges. A multiple case study has been conducted in the manufacturing industry, contributing with current approaches and associated challenges when integrating XR into the product realization process. Identifies 10 challenges and contributes to the importance of ownership and dedicated VR roles per manufacturing site.