Magnus Lundgren

I teach and conduct research at the Department of Production Engineering within the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM). My research focuses on process planning, and more specifically on expert knowledge and epistemology in process planning.

Process planning plays a central role in manufacturing companies. Fundamentally, it involves determining, from a holistic perspective and based on the characteristics of a part, how it should be manufactured. This includes determining which manufacturing methods are appropriate and in what sequence different workholding setups and manufacturing operations should be carried out.

This decision-making process requires more than knowledge of manufacturing processes. The process planner must also understand how the design of the part, machines and fixtures, process selection, and operation sequencing mutually influence one another.

My research focuses on expert knowledge in process planning, with particular emphasis on how digital tools and methods can support and further develop this activity. Traditionally, process-planning knowledge has largely been synonymous with the individual process planner's experience and professional expertise. My research starts from the question of how this knowledge can be made more explicit and accessible through digital models.

More specifically, I investigate how models of parts, resources, and processes can be used to describe and communicate process-planning knowledge and best practices, and how such models can subsequently be used as model-based decision support in process planning.

I have been working at KTH Royal Institute of Technology since 2001. My career at KTH began at the School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Kista, where I taught, among other subjects, project methodology and production engineering. Since 2006, I have been affiliated with the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), where I have served as project leader for the following research projects:

• 2005–2008: ModArt, within the MERA programme. Sub-project: Part Process Planning Guide, focusing on the development of a web-based guide for process planning.

• 2008–2010: ModArt extension ModFix, a continuation project focusing on the work process for fixture development for machining.

• 2010–2013: FFI Feature-Based Operation Planning(FBOP), focusing on process structures and planning logic in feature-based process planning.

• 2014–2017: FFI Model-driven Process and Quality Planning(MPQP), focusing on a model-based approach to integrated process planning and quality assurance.

• 2021–2025: FFI Process Design Driven Part Quality(PRODEQ), focusing on a holistic approach to process planning and quality assurance in the design of robust manufacturing processes.

• In addition, during 2019 - 2022, I participated in the EU Erasmus+ project ICARUS, focusing on the development of digital educational tools to bridge the skills gap in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.

Alongside my research, I have been extensively involved in education in CAD/CAM and computer-aided manufacturing, where my research has contributed significantly to the development of several courses in the field of production engineering.

In addition to research and teaching, I am also involved in standardisation activities, participating in SIS TK280where I serve as Swedish representative and expert in ISO/TC 184/SC 4/WG 15, Digital Manufacturing.

My research and teaching are closely connected to my experience from manufacturing industry, where I worked for more than ten years in roles including machine operator, CNC programmer, CAM process planner, and fixture developer. The combination of practical production experience, teaching, and research has shaped my interest in how product, process, production, and digital models can be connected and integrated. This interest can be summarised in the following overarching research question:

How can the knowledge embedded in people's experience and professional expertise be described, structured, and digitally represented so that it can be communicated and used in process planning and in the teaching of process planning?