Effektivisering av en tjänsteleverantörs processer : Genomfört som en fallstudie på köksprojekt

Produktionskostnaderna i byggbranschen ökar ständigt och i en rapport utgiven av Sveriges byggindustrier kartläggs att uppemot 30-35 % av den totala produktionskostnaden i ett byggprojekt kan betraktas som slöseri. Slöseri kan beskrivas som de förbrukade resurser som inte skapar något värde för kunden, såsom förflyttning av material, väntan, avbrott, lagerhållning och överproduktion. Studien är genomförd på köksprojekt där Peab byggservice agerar tjänsteleverantör och bistår Ikea med monteringstjänster. Studien baseras på ett rikstäckande avtal som rör all typ av montering av Ikeas sortiment, dock har i denna studie endast monteringen av kök studerats. De förbättringsområden som har identifierats i rapporten har sedan analyserats och diskuterats med hjälp av verktyg från Lean. I rapporten benämns Peab byggservice som tjänsteleverantör och Ikea som leverantör. Syfte: Syftet med arbetet är att effektivisera en byggtjänsteleverantörs processer för att uppnå en ökad lönsamhet. Metod: För att uppnå målet och besvara frågeställningarna har arbetet utförts som en fallstudie av köksprojekt. Kvalitativa intervjuer och dokumentinsamling har använts som metoder och har varit en del av fallstudien. För att inhämta stöd i teorin och metoder som lämpar sig i det aktuella fallet har en litteraturstudie gjorts. För att identifiera slöseri i den befintliga processen har en värdeflödesanalys uppförts, det är ett verktyg från Lean med syfte att synliggöra köer, och andra icke värdeskapande aktiviteter. Resultat: I rapporten har: ● Processen gällande ett köksprojekt kartlagts. ● Olika former av slöseri identifierats. ● Verktyg från Lean analyserats för att minimera slöseri. Detta har lett till förslag på: ● Reducerade ledtider genom kombinerade aktiviteter. ● Kortare processtider genom effektivisering. ● Metoder för långsiktiga lösningar för att på sikt uppnå en effektivare process. Konsekvenser: Utifrån rapportens resultat konstateras möjlighet till förbättring. Slöseri har identifierats och förbättringsåtgärder med hjälp av framtagna teorier bedöms vara möjligt. Begränsningar: Resultatet är kopplat till generella problem och ger förslag på förbättringsarbete i de fall där en entreprenör agerar tjänsteleverantör åt en leverantör. Nyckelord: Processeffektivisering, Lean Production, Slöseri, Värdeflödesanalys.

Förbättring av tillgänglighet i tillgänglighetsanpassade naturreservat

More than half a million people in Sweden are affected by some sort of disability. During recreational activities in nature areas, these people might encounter difficulties such as inadequate accessibility. The Swedish society requires that all citizens should have the same possibilities. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the accessibility for people with disabilities. The aim is to examine occurring flaws in accessible nature reserves and suggest possible improvements.The questions that will be answered are as follows:• What flaws do accessible nature reserves have, and how do they affect the visitors?• What improvements can be made in nature reserves to increase accessibility?To answer the questions, a case study was done, where five different nature areas were visited. During the case study, various flaws in the accessibility were observed and analysed. Prior to the case study, requirements and scientific research regarding accessibility was studied. Using this, suggestions for improving the accessibility were made. . Most of the improvements that could be made in the studied nature reserves were presumed to be applicable in other nature reserves in Sweden.With the case study in mind, the accessibility was considered in need of various improvements. The accessibility was studied from three out of four of the Swedish disability association’s categories; physical, communicative, and informative accessibility. The flaws that were encountered in the studied areas were due to incorrect design, or insufficient maintenance. Most of the flaws could be corrected in simple ways, but the flaws that were due to incorrect design or planning would require more work. After the case study it was discovered that supposedly “accessible” trails, according to different websites, had varying levels of accessibility. An accessible recreational area will benefit all types of visitors, not only people with disabilities. It will be more convenient and enables visits with strollers. An area cannot be made accessible for all types of visitors, but can be made accessible for as many visitors as possible.

Involving individuals in the manufacturing strategy formation : Strategic consensus among workers and managers

Decisions made and actions taken by individuals in the operations function impact the formation of a company’s manufacturing strategy (MS). Therefore, it is important that the MS is understood and agreed on by all employees, that is, strategic consensus among the individuals in the operations function is essential. This research contributes to the current body of knowledge by including a workers’ perspective on MS formation. It is the workers on the shop floor who bring the MS to life in the actual operations through their daily decisions and actions. The MS falls short if the priorities outlined do not materialise in practice as intended. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the individuals in the operations function perceive the MS in order to understand how these individuals are involved in the MS formation. The research is based on five studies, differing by evidence, as follows: one theoretical, three qualitative in the setting of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and one quantitative at a large company. Based on the findings presented in the six appended papers, the results show that empirically and conceptually, workers have been overlooked or given a passive role in the MS formation. Empirically, it is seen that workers and managers do not have a shared understanding of the underlying reasons for strategic priorities; hence, the level of strategic consensus is low. Furthermore, the level of strategic consensus varies among the different MS dimensions depending on their organisational level. Moreover, the empirical findings reveal that internal contextual factors influence the individuals’ perceptions of the MS and the possibilities for strategic consensus. Regarding the external context, the results show that major customers’ strategies influence the subcontractor SMEs’ MS formation. The usage of means of communication in the operations function has also shown to be of importance for how the MS is perceived. Conceptually, the findings indicate that the MS literature tends to treat individuals in the operations function in a deterministic manner; individuals on the shop floor are regarded as manufacturing resources. To ensure a successful MS formation process, where the patterns of the decisions made by the individuals in the operations function forms the MS, the view on human nature within the MS requires a more voluntaristic approach. This research suggests to view the MS formation as an iterative “patterning process” which builds on a reciprocal relationship between workers and managers. The introduction of the patterning process contributes to the research on MS formation by explaining the perception range within the hierarchical levels, by re-defining the hierarchical levels included in the MS formation and by detailing the activities in the MS formation.

Utredning av förfrågningsunderlag gällande byggandet av trästomme med fokus på offentlig upphandling

In the mid 1990s a previous prohibitions against multi-story buildings higher than two floors with a wooden frame was changed. Today multi-storey buildings are being built in Skellefteå, Sundsvall, Växjö, and Stockholm with others. Despite this only one of five houses being built today has a wooden frame. Since the municipality is a key force to get projects with wooden frames, this papers purpose is to improve tender document for the opportunity to submit bids and building with wooden frames. To help us forward with our work three questions were formulated. 1) What is the basis from a wooden constructions company perspective, of which they determines if they can place a bid or not? 2) What is the difference between tender documents made by a municipality compared to a private buyer? 3) How can tender documents be improved to create an opportunity to place a bid containing an alternative frame system? To answer these questions a literature study was carried out. The literature study is the basis of this paper. To obtain empirical data a document analysis of tender documents was carried out. The result of the study shows that wood frames are hard to adapt to an already finished technical specification, or to a tender document containing an extensive technical specification. To obtain alternative solutions, the buyer should focus on object design, form and function, or a general technical specification. Instead the technical specifications should be drawn up by the supplier, or in collaboration with them. The tender evaluation should be made by the most economically advantageous rather then the lowest price. Then the buyer can evaluate the offers against each other, rather then choosing the lowest price. This also gives the possibility for suppliers to make a bid containing an alternative solution. As a continuation of this paper, we recommend a study on which impact a general technical specification has on the project final cost.  Furthermore a study exploring which possibilities partner procurement can have alternative solutions in the Swedish procurement act. This report deal exclusively with how tender documents should be formulated. Life cycle analysis, carbon dioxide emissions and strength calculations will not be executed. 

Prestanda av användargränssnitt i cross-platform-appar

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka fördröjningsskillnader inom användargränssnitt mellan native­utvecklade appar (utveckling till varje plattform) och appar av typen generated apps. Eftersom arbetet syftar till att bidra med information om prestanda ansågs en experimentell metod vara det bästa valet. Mätning av laddningstider gjordes med hjälp av en videokamera som filmade utförandet av experimenten vilket gjorde metoden simpel och liknar det som en användare kommer att uppleva. Avgränsning till plattformarna Android och iOS gjordes där Xamarin valdes som ramverk inom tekniker som skapar generated apps. Mätdata från experiment som undersökte laddningstider, experiment med användare som hanterade listors respons samt undersökning av CPU­ och minnesanvändning tyder på ett återkommande mönster. Xamarin Forms med XAML är den teknik som presterat sämst under experimenten som sedan följs av Xamarin Forms. Xamarin Android/iOS hade inte lika stora prestandaförluster jämfört med native­utvecklade delar. Generellt hanterar Xamarin Forms telefonens resurser sämre än vad Xamarin Android/iOS och native gör. Resultat från studien kan användas som beslutsstöd vid val av teknik. Studien bidrar även med data som kan användas vid vidare forskning inom området.

Utveckling av programvara för läsning och skrivning till iButton

Dagens dataloggare har många funktioner vilket avspeglas i programvaran som används för att kommunicera med dem. De har fler funktioner än vad enskilda företag och privatpersoner behöver vilket gör programvaran onödigt komplicerad. Genom att minska antalet inställningsmöjligheter kan programvaran göras mindre, snabbare och lättare att lära sig. Arbetet utfördes hos Inventech Europe AB som tillhandahöll dataloggare för temperatur- och fuktighetsmätning. De ville undersöka möjligheterna att utveckla ett program som personer med begränsad datorvana snabbt kunde lära sig att använda. Därför var syftet med detta arbete att utreda hur ett sådant program kunde se ut. Arbetets fokus låg på designprocessen. Genom olika UML-diagram visualiserades de olika momenten i processen. Då projektet var relativt litet valdes en utvecklingsprocess som följer vattenfallsmodellen där de olika stegen (specifikation, design, implementation, test) utförs i följd. Det förutsätter att ett steg är färdigt innan nästa steg påbörjas. Modellen fungerar bäst när projektet är mindre och väldefinierat. Tyvärr ändrades företagets krav på hur programmet skulle fungera flera gånger under arbetets gång. Därmed borde en mer flexibel utvecklingsprocess ha valts för att ge utrymme för förändringar som kunde uppkomma under projektets gång. Slutresultatet blev en funktionsprototyp som var lätt att använda och inte hade fler inställningsmöjligheter än nödvändigt. Funktionsprototyp kan användas som bas för att lägga till egen skräddarsydd funktionalitet. För att visa detta inkluderades ytterligare två funktioner. En av funktionerna var möjligheten att kunna spara insamlad data till en extern databas som sedan kunde användas som källa till andra program vilka exempelvis skulle kunna visualisera data med hjälp av olika grafer. För att lätt kunna identifiera olika inkopplade dataloggare inkluderades även möjligheten att namnge de olika enheterna.

Skapandet av ett webbaserat ärendehanteringssystem för affärssystemet Pyramid med Scrum : Creation of a web based case management system for the business system Pyramid with Scrum

The business system known as Pyramid does today not provide its user with a reasonable system regarding case management for support issues. The current system in place requires the customer to contact its provider via telephone to register new cases. In addition to this, current system doesn’t include any way for the user to view any of their current cases without contacting the provider.A solution to this issue is to migrate the current case management system from a telephone contact to a web based platform, where customers could easier access their current cases, but also directly through the website create new cases. This new system would reduce the time required to manually manage each individual case, for both customer and provider, resulting in an overall reduction in cost for both parties.The result is a system divided into two different sections, the first one is an API created in Pyramid that acts as a web service, and the second one a website which customers can connect to. The website will allow users to overview their current cases, but also the option to create new cases directly through the site. All the information used to the website is obtained through the web service inside Pyramid. Analyzing the final design of the system, the developers where able to conclude both positive and negative aspects of the systems’ final design. If the platform chosen was the optimal choice or not, and also what can be include if the system is further developed, will be discussed.The development process and the method used during development will also be analyzed and discussed, what positive and negative aspects that where encountered. In addition to this the cause and effect of a development team smaller than the suggested size will also be analyzed. Lastly an analysis of actions that could’ve been made in order to prevent certain issues from occurring will.

Educated to Learn : How to enhance the education of computer science and informatics

The very nature of computer science with its constant changes forces those who wish to follow to adapt and react quickly. Large companies invest in being up to date in order to generate revenue and stay active on the market. Universities, on the other hand, need to imply same practices of staying up to date with industry needs in order to produce industry ready engineers. By interviewing former students, now engineers in the industry, and current university staff this thesis aims to learn if there is space for enhancing the education through different lecturing approaches and/or curriculum adaptation and development. In order to address these concerns a qualitative research has been conducted, focusing on data collection obtained through semi-structured live world interviews. The method used follows the seven stages of research interviewing introduced by Kvale and focuses on collecting and preparing relevant data for analysis. The collected data is transcribed, refined, and further on analyzed in the “Findings and analysis” chapter. The focus of analyzing was answering the three research questions; learning how higher education impacts a Computer Science and Informatics Engineers’ job, how to better undergo the transition from studies to working in the industry and how to develop a curriculum that helps support the previous two. Unaltered quoted extracts are presented and individually analyzed. To paint a better picture a theme-wise analysis is presented summing valuable themes that were repeated throughout the interviewing phase. The findings obtained imply that there are several factors directly influencing the quality of education. From the student side, it mostly concerns expectation and dedication involving studies, and from the university side it is commitment to the curriculum development process. Due to the time and resource limitations this research provides findings conducted on a narrowed scope, although it can serve as a great foundation for further development; possibly as a PhD research.

Den ständiga kampen mellan serif och sans serif : Typografins digitala utveckling

Detta examensarbete är en del av utbildningen Kandidatpåbyggnad med inriktning Informatik som är ett påbyggnadsår för Grafisk design och webbutveckling på Jönköping University: School of Engineering. Vid en snabb granskning av hemsidor idag går det enkelt att se att det är dominerande att använda sans serif-typsnitt både till rubriker och i brödtext. I grafiska utbildningar lärs det ut att för bäst läsbarhet bör serifer användas i brödtext. Syftet med examensarbetet var att undersöka vad som påverkar läsbarheten på en digital skärm och varför det inte är vanligare att använda serifer på en webben, med tanke på hur långt tekniken kommit idag med nya högupplösta skärmar som inte borde påverka användningen av serifer. Syftet var även att undersöka om val av typografi idag alltid baseras på typografiska regler. Resultatet visade att ett serif-typsnitt upplevs som mer lättläst än ett sans serif-typsnitt oberoende på om de läses på en digital skärm eller på ett tryckt papper. Resultatet visade även att dominationen av sans serif-typsnitt på webben beror på en vana som hänger kvar sen förr, men att detta troligen kommer att förändras i framtiden. Det finns geografiska begränsningar i arbetet, då examensarbetet endast undersöker södra Sverige. För att öka validiteten kunde representanter från hela Sverige ha deltagit. Det hade kunnat påverka och förändra resultatet. Undersökningen hade kunnat förbättras generellt genom att utveckla den och använda fler typsnitt, för att få ett tydligare svar på frågeställningen den undersökte. Även detta hade kunnat påverka resultatet till något annat.

Globala försörjningsbeslut i en industriell kontext

Purpose – The purpose with this study is to investigate which factors that needs to be considered for sourcing decisions to ensure an optimal long-term decision, and which of these factors that can be quantified in a product costing model. To fulfill this purpose two research questions have been proposed: Which factors needs to be considered for a sourcing decision? Which of these factors that needs to be considered can be quantified in a product costing model? Method – A case study was conducted to fulfill the purpose of this study. The case study produced empirical data through interviews and document studies. The empirical data was interpreted and analyzed on the basis of the theoretical framework, created through literature studies. This process produced the result of this study. Findings – Factors to be considered for a sourcing decision have been identified and categorized in four over-arching categories: unit cost, logistical factors, capability factors and risk factors. These factors have been quantified in a product costing model. A preparatory decision model was created to further integrate some risk factors that could not be quantified. Implications – Both the make or buy decision and the manufacturing location decision have been considered in the product costing model presented in this study. The product costing model visualize and take into account hidden costs, rarely considered in sourcing decisions. This further enables optimal long-term sourcing decisions. Limitations – Risk factors remain difficult to quantify. This makes it difficult to determine the cost of risk factors, and as a result of that, to include them in a product costing model. Companies with similar conditions suites the model since the case study was conducted at only one company. Whether the product costing model is true for business in other contexts remain uncertain.

Multi-objective optimization of material model parameters of an adhesive layer by using SPEA2

The usage of multi material structures in industry, especially in the automotive industry are increasing. To overcome the difficulties in joining these structures, adhesives have several benefits over traditional joining methods. Therefore, accurate simulations of the entire process of fracture including the adhesive layer is crucial. In this paper, material parameters of a previously developed meso mechanical finite element (FE) model of a thin adhesive layer are optimized using the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA2). Objective functions are defined as the error between experimental data and simulation data. The experimental data is provided by previously performed experiments where an adhesive layer was loaded in monotonically increasing peel and shear. Two objective functions are dependent on 9 model parameters (decision variables) in total and are evaluated by running two FEsimulations, one is loading the adhesive layer in peel and the other in shear. The original study converted the two objective functions into one function that resulted in one optimal solution. In this study, however, a Pareto frontis obtained by employing the SPEA2 algorithm. Thus, more insight into the material model, objective functions, optimal solutions and decision space is acquired using the Pareto front. We compare the results and show good agreement with the experimental data.

Modelling and simulations of ductile iron solidification-induced variations in mechanical behaviour on component and microstructural level

The mechanical behaviour and performance of a ductile iron component is highly dependent on the local variations in solidification conditions during the casting process. Here we show a framework which combine a previously developed closed chain of simulations for cast components with a micro-scale Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation of the behaviour and performance of the microstructure. A casting process simulation, including modelling of solidification and mechanical material characterization, provides the basis for a macro-scale FEM analysis of the component. A critical region is identified to which the micro-scale FEM simulation of a representative microstructure, generated using X-ray tomography, is applied. The mechanical behaviour of the different microstructural phases are determined using a surrogate model based optimisation routine and experimental data. It is discussed that the approach enables a link between solidification- and microstructure-models and simulations of as well component as microstructural behaviour, and can contribute with new understanding regarding the behaviour and performance of different microstructural phases and morphologies in industrial ductile iron components in service.

Analys av NIR hårdvaruuppsättning samt metod för fotografering av individer i fordon

Abstract Purpose – To study the possibility of using a NIR hardware solution to photograph individuals in a private vehicle as well as an analysis of its images. Method – A study of existing theories around the NIR-method’s performance in selected conditions and individual tests were performed to examine if the literature statements were valid for this study. Two empirical tests have been carried out, the first was carried out at Kapsch test track and the other outside the test track in a single stationary test. An interview which formed the basis for the assessment on the quality of empirical data with a focus on computer-based detection of the number of individuals in the vehicle. Findings – The results have demonstrated the potential of the NIR method’s performance in a fully automated detection system for the number of individuals inside the vehicle. Empirical data indicates that the method can depict individuals inside vehicles of sufficiently high quality, but it is greatly affected by reflections, weather and light conditions. Implications – Result supports the assumption that the NIR method using an external light source can be used to image the interior through a varying number of weather and lightning conditions. The study originated until the results suggested that a NIR-based hardware setup can create images with high enough quality for the human eye to be able to detect the number of individuals inside the vehicle.If the overall performance into account, it suggests that the main problem with the use of the hardware set is to maintain the quality of the whole sample and that the crucial variables for the method’s performance is the influence of light and reflection conditions. Limitations – The major limitations have been that we limited ourselves to a subjective analysis of the selection and assessment on the image features for computer-based detection of the number of individuals in the vehicle. We were limited to two tests, one in tough conditions where only the driver was in the vehicle and the second stationary test, where the focus was on the number of people in vehicles and light sources impact on the result.

Early stage assessment of the inspectability of welded components : A case from the aerospace industry

This paper proposes a method to indicate potential problems when planning dye penetrant and x-ray inspection of welded components. Inspection has been found to be an important part of the manufacturability evaluation made in a large CAD-based parametric environment for making multidisciplinary design simulations in early stages of design at an aircraft component manufacturer. The paper explains how the proposed method is to be included in the design platform at the company. It predicts the expected probability of detection of cracks (POD) in situations where the geometry of the parts is unfavourable for inspection so that potential problems can be discovered and solved in early stages. It is based on automatically extracting information from CAD-models and making a rule-based evaluation. It also provides a scale for how favourable the geometry is for inspection. In the paper it is also shown that the manufacturability evaluation need to take into consideration the expected stresses in the structures, highlighting the importance of multi-disciplinary simulations.