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Purpose: The study’s purpose is to increase the understanding of how  a sustainable production can be achieved by a manufacturing company, through production system design.

Research questions: 1. What success factors and obstacles exist within production system design in order to create a sustainable production for a manufacturing company? 2. What can a work method for a manufacturing company in Sweden look like, in order to create a sustainable production through production system design?

Method: The study has adopted an abductive approach and is a qualitative study. The empirical data collection has taken place by interviewing 8 respondents. Searching for articles in different databases with specific keywords is what has been done, to be able to write the theoretical framework. A thematic analysis has been adopted for this study. Quality, validity, reliability and ethics has been taken into consideration when conducting the study.

Conclusions: The following success factors have been identified, have a structured working method, use sustainable design methods and tools, make the design elements of the production system sustainable and take the different sustainability dimensions into consideration in the design phase of a production system. Time, the system’s life cycle, finance, attitude as well as behavior and lack of competence are obstacles in the design phase. A work method that manufacturing companies in Sweden can use in production system design, for achieving a sustainable production is presented in table B.1.