Production system lifecycle includes phases ranging from concept pre-study to ramp-up and operations. Manufacturing companies often face challenges to reach operational performance targets during ramp-up time and operation phase. The design phase is considered crucial as major decisions related to the future production system are taken during this phase. There is an opportunity to utilize the production system design phase to improve the operational performance during both the ramp-up and operation phase. This research aims to identify the critical factors of the design process that affect the performance in the ramp-up and operational phase. A case study was conducted in a pharmaceutical company where a completed project of launching a new production line for a new product was followed in retrospect. Data were collected by conducting interviews with different members involved in the project and the production team on the shop floor. By qualitative data analysis, critical factors affecting the project´s operational performance were identified; such as level of internal technical competency; involvement level of future line manager, operator and project sponsor within the project team; project team´s competency; pre-study of the business case; time pressure to complete the project; expertise of product and process; organization's continuous improvement culture; and relationship with the supplier.

Production equipment such as machines have crucial impact on the overall performance of production operations in manufacturing industries, since there is a strong correlation between the machines and working conditions and performance on the shop floor. Well designed production equipment has the potential to achieve economic gain by reducing the disturbances during the operational phase, to fulfill environmental commitment by reducing emissions and resources consumption and utility, and to increase employee satisfaction ensuring safety and good ergonomics. Therefore, when acquiring production equipment it is important to consider different sustainability aspects relevant to its usage during the operational phase. This study aims at exploring the critical features of production equipment to facilitate different practices in the context of sustainable production operational system, and how manufacturing companies are considering sustainability aspects when acquiring production equipment. The data has been collected based on a literature study, interviews conducted in different manufacturing companies located in Sweden, attending group discussion sessions, and reviewing machines’ technical regulation guidelines. Some of the critical features identified are error proofing, setup time, one-piece flow, automatic generation of required data, reduction of energy and resource consumption, together with worker’s health and safety, etc. The data indicates that companies specify different features of machines based on the requirements of operational performance and these features are aligned with different lean techniques, green practice, and safety issues. However, during acquisition process of production equipment the environmental issues are still not prioritized yet compared to lean and safety aspects. Budget constraint, insufficient information of the whole life cycle costing and lack of innovation from the equipment suppliersÂť side are exampled of major barriers for acquiring more environment-friendly production equipment.