**4.1 The collaborative projects: Co-creation**

Co-creation in manufacturing systems is a common theme in manufacturing research [28, 29]. In this chapter, we understand co-creation "as enactment of interactional creation across interactive system-environments (afforded by interactive platforms), entailing agencing engagements and structuring organizations" [30]. The co-creation at FabLab Halmstad, in which university researchers and companies interacted, using digitalized platforms to create value, falls within the framework of this definition.

## **4.2 The action research approach**

We took an action research approach in the two case studies. This approach addresses problems using cross-functional teams in recurring cycles of action and reflection [31]. Investigation and problem-solving are conducted simultaneously in this approach. We collected primary and secondary data from observations, workshops, seminars, meetings, and reports. We collected additional primary data in tests, analyses, and evaluations of solutions proposed. Data were collected from October 2017 to July 2019. **Table 1** presents a tabulation of the hours the co-creation team spent on the Alpha and Beta projects.

*Meetings*. The scheduled meetings, including workshops, were where goals, plans, deliverables, and results were addressed, and go-no-go decisions were taken.

*Research, communications, and observations*. Pre-development activities were related to information collection on relevant state-of-the-art techniques, materials, and methods. These activities included investigations of experiments and tests that could meet the projects' requirements. The investigations were documented and submitted in reports. The development activities related to product developing, experimenting, and testing that resulted from feedback from the interviews, meetings, and workshops.

*Testing and experimentation.* The activities conducted followed the plans formulated in the research, communication, and observation category. Hours engaged in these activities were spent experimenting with new materials, processing and testing the digital methodologies, and producing fully functional prototypes. These mechanical and chemical activities were conducted at FabLab Halmstad.

*From Traditional Manufacturing to Digital Manufacturing: Two Swedish Case Studies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111862*


**Table 1.**

*Data collection in the Alpha and Beta projects (in hours).*
