Work Environment and Production Development in Swedish Manufacturing Industry

Swedish manufacturing industry has previous held a leading position regarding the development of attractive industrial work environments, but increasing market competition has changed the possibilities to maintain the position. The purpose of this literature study is therefore to describe and analyze how Swedish manufacturing industry manages work environment and production development in the new millennium. The description and analysis is based on recently reported Swedish research and development. The gathered picture of how production systems generally are developed in Sweden strongly contrasts against the idealized theoretical and legal view of how production systems should be developed. Even if some of the researchers’ and authorities’ ambitions and demands may seem unrealistically high today, there still is a very large potential for improving the processes and tools for designing production systems and work environment.