This report is a result of a degree thesis at Luleå University of Technology together with Stram AB in Växjö. The project aimed to develop a size reducible bed, that gets small when folded and has a new slim design. The development of the new folding bed had the purpose to give Stram AB new ideas of how guest beds can look like and be used in the future. Information about Stram´s products and also information of other similar products on the market was gathered. A visit at a store, internet and interviews gave grater insight of the market, and of customer needs.

This Master Thesis has been carried out as a new product development project in collaborationwith G-Man Tools AB located in Edsbyn. The purpose of the project was to construct a newpruning saw there the blade is integrateble in the handle, thus a foldable pruning saw.The work has been performed on the occasion of G-Man Tools AB wanted to improve theirproduct range by creating a saw that complement their range of quality saws. They have a similarproduct today, but they do not manufacture this product by them selves and it is not directlytargeted against garden use, which is a disadvantage when it is one of their major markets.Even though almost the entire chain from the requirements of the users to drawings has beentaken into consideration, emphasizes has been put on generating ideas. However the first thingthat was carried out was to establish a productspecifikation from interviews with users and thecompany?s experience.

ABSTRACT The potato has had an important role in the Swedish dietary customs for quite some time. However, during the last forty years, consumption has decreased from 87 kg/year and person to 46 kg/year and person. Other products such as pasta, rice and bulgur are competing with the potato. Many of the competitors have been developed and refined while the potato has not changed much. The potato is still a bulk product while competing products have been differentiated. Stakeholders within the potato market has realized that something has to be done and today there are a number of organizations and networks that all actively work to preserve the Swedish agriculture and specifically the potato as a product. The purpose with this essay is to examine how store managers in the Swedish grocery stores view the handling of the potato in the store, the quality and packaging, marketing and future consumption.

Seen in many trends and studies, consumers of today feel a growing desire to experience the uniqueness in products and services. This is forcing companies be more innovative and creative in their marketing, in order to distinguish and differentiate themselves and their products/services. We believe that creating a top-to-bottom experience strategy is one way that a company can succeed in this.The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and clarify how a business can reinforce their product experience through a complete experience strategy. In order to demonstrate this we have made a case-study research for the New Wave Group, advising them on how they can place blown glass art at the heart of the town of Kosta.The authors have used qualitative methods and an abductive approach. Four interviews have been completed with executives from the New Wave Group, including the project manager, hotel manager, head of the Kosta Boda smeltery and head of guides and visitors at Kosta museum.

AbstractThe market?s demand to purchase more cost effective products is continuously increasing. The producers are forced to become more efficient and flexible with resources to produce high quality products at a low cost in order to maintain or increase market shares. With this in mind Isaberg Rapid AB is requesting a project to increase efficiency in the assembly cell of hammertackers. The company has found in Kaizen-events that there is a potential of efficiency improvements in the assembly group that has not been achieved.The objective with this paper is to identify the major factors that influence the efficiency in the assembly cell for hammertackers.

In a world where digital media is becoming a greater part of people?s everyday and working lives it is plausible to assume that the upcoming generation of pupils expect the teaching media to adapt thereafter. It is this assumption of an increased demand that Natur & Kultur is hoping to be able to meet. This thesis has been a stage in the process of producing digital material in the subject of mathematics for high school students. Specifically the aims of this thesis have been to make a rough description of the largest competitive companies? products within the same market, explore and put together a brief theoretical foundation of contemporary research and produce concrete examples of ideas for digital applications.

Abstract In the contemporary world of information technology you find a multitude of applications and systems covering a broad spectrum of areas of need in different companies. One effect of this multitude of programs is the difficulty to make them exchange information with each other or to collaborate, since they are developed by different programming languages for different platforms, with different standards and different data formats. Our aim with this work is to describe how it is possible to tie these programs together to make them actually communicate with each other in order to exchange information, share their native methods and also to become a part of the overall business processes. In this integration task you will, among other things, find different levels of application integration such as data level, method level, application interface level and user interface level integration. Application integration also involves hardware components, called middleware, that facilitate the physical connection between applications. There is a range of different middleware products offered today on the market.

Playsam in Kalmar AB are world famous for their design of the toys they sell. Together with their CEO Carl Zedig the goal was to find a new product for the company.  The process has far from been linear, I started off in one direction, got rejected, turned another way and we finally decided to create a rocking horse in a De Stijl style. At the same time taking consideration of the demands from Playsam and myself.Playsam?s products are archetypes of ordinary objects around us such as the car or the aeroplane. The company mainly produces its toys in wood and the stylized shape together with the blank painted surface has become a hallmark for them.De Stijl, the Dutch art movement containing artists, designers and architects such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Gerrit Rietveld.

This project is implemented as a thesis at the Royal Institute of Technology in the master?s degree program Integrated Product Design and Industrial Design Engineering. The project has involved development and efficiency of a free starter package for expectant parents with useful content consisting of useful products for both before and after childbirth. Areas that have been investigated include packaging development, service design and appropriate content for the package.During the work, theory about packaging design, materials, manufacturing techniques and logistics have been processed to base the further work on. The project process has involved competitor analysis and interviews with store owners and customer surveys, that have been conducted to identify areas for improvement of the current solution.

Purpose:Only 60 percent of the newly started companies survive their three first years. The purpose of this report is to obtain a deeper understanding regarding how newly started companies work with their positioning and if there are some kind of a relationship between positioning and the survival rate of newly started companies.Research questions:Do newly started companies know what position is? Do they incorporate positioning in their day to day marketing?Approach:We have used a hypothetical-deductive way of reasoning and a qualitative study to gather the information needed. We have through interviews asked our questions to six newly started companies in three different cities.Findings:In our essay, we reached the conclusion that newly started companies do not spend sufficient time or energy on positioning their products. The companies interviewed only market their product as a good product.

The purpose of this thesis is to assist the Swedish energy company NIBE Energy Systems in their studies of adaptive regulation applicable to electrical water heaters. Due to coming energy classifications of these appliances in the European Union, NIBE Energy Systems needs to use adaptive regulation, called Smart Control, to keep their products in the best possible energy class and remain competitive to the market. By using this Smart Control regulation a 2-3 % improve-ment of efficiency can be credited the system. This is a small number, but heavily needed, since the energy classes are based on the idea that the European Union is provided with electricity from coal condensate power resulting in a 40 % maximum efficiency. Furthermore, doing noth-ing will result in some water heaters not being approved to use on the market from 2015 due to low efficiency.

The ways designers work with craftsmen in other countries can vary alot,but still there are many similarities. In this study we make comparisonsbetween a number of projects involving three different designers and artisansin other countries and parallel that to our own work in South Africa.What we have seen is that there is some common denominators betweenthe different projects that are being taken care of in different ways.Some things that commonly attract the designers seem to be the skills ofthe craftsmen, as well as their colouring, patterns and materials. A furthercommon denominator in the projects is that people?s perception of qualityhas become an important issue. The products that are being developedare often sold in the country of the designer, and therefore a needto insure that the quality of the products is up to the standards expectedin that certain country has occurred.

Background: The consumers of today have the possibility to choose from a wide range of products and services. Consequently, the ability to differentiate the products is essential for the brand owners. If a brand owner does not manage to differentiate its product, it can be difficult to make the consumers realise the benefits of the product and convince them to buy it. One way to differentiate the product is to create a distinguished brand identity. However, it is not enough to create a strong brand identity, the brand owner must also be capable of communicating the brand identity successfully.

The ways designers work with craftsmen in other countries can vary alot,but still there are many similarities. In this study we make comparisonsbetween a number of projects involving three different designers and artisansin other countries and parallel that to our own work in South Africa.What we have seen is that there is some common denominators betweenthe different projects that are being taken care of in different ways.Some things that commonly attract the designers seem to be the skills ofthe craftsmen, as well as their colouring, patterns and materials. A furthercommon denominator in the projects is that people?s perception of qualityhas become an important issue. The products that are being developedare often sold in the country of the designer, and therefore a needto insure that the quality of the products is up to the standards expectedin that certain country has occurred.

The purpose of this essay was to find conceivable marketing- and business strategies that can be combined with a company?s lifestyle.This essay is dependent on a number of interviews with the owner of a maternity clothing trademark, PROUD. PROUD is a new company that has many different options concerning expansion, trademark and its existing and future products and also the knowledge regarding the client?s attitude towards PROUD.The authors of this essay believe that the trademark should represent a lifestyle. For a company to be able to deliver, it has to understand what the future clients want and need.