Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Produktutveckling på Volvo Car Corporation Tillval - konceptstudie av lasttillbehör

Gustavsson, Jeanna and Karlsson, Carolina (2007) MMK820
Innovation
Abstract
This thesis is a concept study performed at Caran AB by order of Volvo Car
Corporation, VCC. The background is a market research performed by VCC. From
the research, a need for a product that facilitates reaching the trunk level in Volvo’s SUV, XC90, was recognized. It was also found, that dogs seem to find it difficult to get up in the trunk, why dogs have been accounted for during the development process. Thus, the aim of this project has been to find one or more concept/s that meet these needs.

The method used in the project is mainly based on Ulrich, Karl T. – Eppinger, Steven D. (2003), Product Design and Development 3rd Edition, chapters 4-8. Because of the nature of the project, some digressions from the method have been... (More)
This thesis is a concept study performed at Caran AB by order of Volvo Car
Corporation, VCC. The background is a market research performed by VCC. From
the research, a need for a product that facilitates reaching the trunk level in Volvo’s SUV, XC90, was recognized. It was also found, that dogs seem to find it difficult to get up in the trunk, why dogs have been accounted for during the development process. Thus, the aim of this project has been to find one or more concept/s that meet these needs.

The method used in the project is mainly based on Ulrich, Karl T. – Eppinger, Steven D. (2003), Product Design and Development 3rd Edition, chapters 4-8. Because of the nature of the project, some digressions from the method have been necessary. These are well motivated in the report. The method consists of several steps, of which most are performed in an iterative manner to assure that the best solution is found. The main part of the development process was initialized with the generation of a
large number of principles for solving the problem, followed by an evaluation against
already established customer needs. The best ones were then further developed and
re-evaluated, after which the two most promising concepts remained. These concepts,
a ramp combined with stairs and a telescopic ramp, were then developed on a deeper
level to find good technical solutions. The result of this was a number of concepts,
which were discussed, investigated and combined. One feature discussed was wheels
along the sides of the ramp, on which for example a box can roll. Including such a
feature would probably raise the cost considerably, but since VCC found the feature
very interesting it was kept as an option. The concept that was considered possessing
the best properties to result in a successful product was a foldable ramp, attached and
stored on the lower tailgate.
An influential problem regarding the attachment on the tailgate was the conflict with
the so called filler flap. Finding a satisfactory solution to this turned out to be more
complex than expected. Due to this, the decision was made to present several
different attachment and storage solutions including pros and cons for each solution.
Four different concepts were brought out.
A rough cost estimation was performed to indicate the economical influence of the
different concepts. Furthermore, the estimation gave support to some decisions made
during the evaluation and selection phase and not the least, the choice of the
recommended concept. The estimation showed that all concepts without wheels in the
profiles were within the target cost of ± 10%, whereas the concepts including wheels
in the profiles exceeded the target cost by about 50 %.
The recommended concept is a ramp with foldable parts and does not include the
wheel feature. During use, it is attached to the lock, placed in the middle of the lower
tailgate. The Ramp can be easily folded and removed by pushing a release lever on its
side. The ramp is stored standing on one of its long sides just inside the lower tailgate
and is secured through a fastener and a couple of straps. The result of this thesis will
underlie future feasibility studies at VCC. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Gustavsson, Jeanna and Karlsson, Carolina
supervisor
organization
course
MMK820
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
Swedish
id
1502589
date added to LUP
2009-11-09 10:37:43
date last changed
2010-02-01 14:40:04
@misc{1502589,
  abstract     = {{This thesis is a concept study performed at Caran AB by order of Volvo Car
Corporation, VCC. The background is a market research performed by VCC. From
the research, a need for a product that facilitates reaching the trunk level in Volvo’s SUV, XC90, was recognized. It was also found, that dogs seem to find it difficult to get up in the trunk, why dogs have been accounted for during the development process. Thus, the aim of this project has been to find one or more concept/s that meet these needs.

The method used in the project is mainly based on Ulrich, Karl T. – Eppinger, Steven D. (2003), Product Design and Development 3rd Edition, chapters 4-8. Because of the nature of the project, some digressions from the method have been necessary. These are well motivated in the report. The method consists of several steps, of which most are performed in an iterative manner to assure that the best solution is found. The main part of the development process was initialized with the generation of a
large number of principles for solving the problem, followed by an evaluation against
already established customer needs. The best ones were then further developed and
re-evaluated, after which the two most promising concepts remained. These concepts,
a ramp combined with stairs and a telescopic ramp, were then developed on a deeper
level to find good technical solutions. The result of this was a number of concepts,
which were discussed, investigated and combined. One feature discussed was wheels
along the sides of the ramp, on which for example a box can roll. Including such a
feature would probably raise the cost considerably, but since VCC found the feature
very interesting it was kept as an option. The concept that was considered possessing
the best properties to result in a successful product was a foldable ramp, attached and
stored on the lower tailgate.
An influential problem regarding the attachment on the tailgate was the conflict with
the so called filler flap. Finding a satisfactory solution to this turned out to be more
complex than expected. Due to this, the decision was made to present several
different attachment and storage solutions including pros and cons for each solution.
Four different concepts were brought out.
A rough cost estimation was performed to indicate the economical influence of the
different concepts. Furthermore, the estimation gave support to some decisions made
during the evaluation and selection phase and not the least, the choice of the
recommended concept. The estimation showed that all concepts without wheels in the
profiles were within the target cost of ± 10%, whereas the concepts including wheels
in the profiles exceeded the target cost by about 50 %.
The recommended concept is a ramp with foldable parts and does not include the
wheel feature. During use, it is attached to the lock, placed in the middle of the lower
tailgate. The Ramp can be easily folded and removed by pushing a release lever on its
side. The ramp is stored standing on one of its long sides just inside the lower tailgate
and is secured through a fastener and a couple of straps. The result of this thesis will
underlie future feasibility studies at VCC.}},
  author       = {{Gustavsson, Jeanna and Karlsson, Carolina}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Produktutveckling på Volvo Car Corporation Tillval - konceptstudie av lasttillbehör}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}