A large part of the time losses in production in modern manufacturing industry are a cause of unplanned interruptions in production. In this essay we have studied the effects of an unplanned interruption in production. The study was performed during one month on a press production line at Volvo Cars Body Components (VCBC) in Olofström. The effects of the interruptions have been studied on the basis of two perspectives of the environment of the production. The study started at the level of automation and was mainly done as a survey of the unplanned interruptions in production. After the survey we realised that it was important for our study to take a closer look at how the operators were affected by the unplanned interruptions. We called this perspective the social individual level.

As a basis for our survey over the interruptions we have used collected information from VCBS’s internal information system. To better understand the effects of the interruptions on the social level we performed interviews with operators and the production manager of the examined production line. The effects on the working situation for the operators were our main focus when we examined on the social individual level.

The collected material from the above-mentioned levels has been revised and analyzed to become the basis of our conclusion.

We came to the conclusion that the interruptions in production were a part of the operator’s every-day life and that it was a challenge for the operator to master those situations.