ABB and Prevas have initiated a collaboration to sell a system to optimize steel industry furnaces, called FOCS. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate possibilities for integrating Prevas FOCS and ABB 800xA.The result of the investigation is used for an implementation of a prototype of the integrated system. The study shows a general method that can be used when implementing two software systems. The prototype of the integrated systems is made with usability principles in mind. This is a very important aspect in order to create a good working environment for the operators of a steel plant.

To purchase a house or an apartment is often one of the major personal financial commitments for a person. In 2005, 84% of the homeowners sold their homes using a estate agency. During 2006 several new opportunities appeared on the market, giving the homeowners more of a choice in what way to sell their homes. Media describes the alternatives in general ?as the agents on the Internet?.

This thesis examines the tendering process from the point of view of Swedish building contractors. The purpose with the study is to chart the decision process for the contractors during the tendering process. The study is designed as a survey study. This made it possible to reach a wide base of respondents, not letting such factors as geography being an issue. The survey itself was characterised by a very high response rate compared to other similar studies. The result from this study shows that former experience from similar projects, current workload and the clients economic condition are very important factors for both whether or not the contractor will bid for a project as well as the cost estimation and tendering price. Former experience from similar projects is also an important factor for the determination of the indirect costs.

Purpose Based on the new comprehensive income due to changes in IAS 1, the authors aim to describe how a listed corporate accounting is affected by IAS 1 and the new income statement.Methodology This study uses an inductive approach with a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, using financial rapports from the investment company Latour. This case study is based on Latour?s all published financial statements under the period 2008 to 2012.Result The study resulted in different observations of Latour's operational and financial performance, share price trends as well as ratios. The study's authors can see that Latour's net income and comprehensive income differ due to changes in IAS 1. They can also observe the effect of clean surplus in Latour?s income statement.

This master thesis was performed as a mission from Holmen Skog with the purpose to investigate to which extent their own machine teams and engaged contractors were exposed to theft and vandalism, and most common preventive measures used. With the help of collected data the study should lead to proposals of preventive measures that can help the machine teams in their struggle to minimise theft and vandalism. Theft and vandalism are a big problem for Swedish forest contractors. In a scarce economic situation thefts and vandalism rapidly decrease the profit for the contractors. However, the last years have resulted in a positive awareness of thefts, and more and better preventive measures have been developed. With the initiative of this master thesis, Holmen Skog show that they are aware of the situation and that they wish to take control of the problem. A total amount of 108 questionnaires was sent out to Holmen?s own machine teams and engaged contractors.

The society is developing fast and the development is constantly on-going, new technology results in new opportunities and new problems for both companies and consumers. The use of Internet has heavily increased around the world; this means that the companies can use Internet as a channel of communication to reach the consumers. The most recent type of marketing is web marketing. The fact that web marketing is constantly changing raise the question of how effective different types of web marketing are.The purpose of this study is to investigate four selected types of web marketing. This is achieved by comparing the response from the consumers and the cost for the different types of web marketing.

In this project a simulator has been developed (in C++) with the purpose of illustrating how changes in environmental regulations, tax levels and other policy measures affect the composition of an energy system. The aim of the project was to investigate how energy companies? investment strategies are affected when changes in economic and environmental conditions occur. A standard scenario has been created based on current Swedish conditions, but the user can create new scenarios and set parameters freely. The user is tasked with building power plants to supply the city/region with district heating and electricity during a pre-set number of years. When the simulation is finished the result is graded in the following categories: economy, environment and quality. To evaluate the simulator three scenarios were created (?early 20th century?, ?reduced environmental control? and ?future?) in addition to the standard scenario and these were compared with each other by examining how a select group of power plants perform under the given conditions.

This dissertation aims to explore how an investment appraisal differs depending on if it is conducted by a municipal or a private real estate company. Municipal and private real estate companies are not performing on totally equal terms in the property market. A municipal company in Sweden has a public service mission. The consequence due to that mission is that they have limited yield potential but on the other hand the right to certain subsidies. They are also limited by the law of public purchasing (in Swedish: Lag om offentlig upphandling) in the investment process.

When models are used to describe physical phenomenon during development or modification of a technical system, it is often possible to reduce both the time needed and the overall development cost. With the use of models it is also possible to investigate the potential of the selected solution, without the need for any expensive details and testrigs. In many cases it is also not possible to test all the aspects regarding the functionality that are desired from the system, without using the complete and final product.In this case a model based approach has been used to optimize the different parameters in the new snubbing mechanism for the Nose Landing Gear Retract Actuator on the JAS39 Gripen.During the simulations, upper and lower boundaries were calculated for the length of the spring and the diameter for the restrictor. The governing constraints were given by the requirements for the retraction time during cold conditions and that the amplitude of the alternating loads in the uplock mechanism were brought to an acceptable level.The most promising results from the simulations were then used in a limited number of trials in the hydraulic rig to verify that the configurations comply with the requirements.The final parameters for the snubbing mechanism were chosen to 35±1mm for the spring and 0.4-0.5 mm diameter for the restrictor..

The background for this degree thesis is a need to replace the existing seal used to protect equipment containing secret or sensitive equipment used by Swedish Defence. The target design should satisfy both the need for tamper evidence and reduce Life Cycle Cost. In developing a new design for a seal, additional benefits such as improved logistics support and indication of attack methods such as heat and solvents have been considered.The lack of guiding principles for end users of seals became evident during the interviews. Major concerns for the future are education of users, information about actions if a seal is broken and user liability.The design work was divided into several phases. A feasibility study was performed including investigation of theory of labels, materials and possible technologies.

Inköpsorganisationen har varit och är föremål för förändring. Vid sidan av denna förändring har Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) utvecklats. TCO sträcker sig bortom inköpspriset och innefattar enligt Degraeve et al. (2005a) alla kostnader relaterade till anskaffningen och kostnaderna användningen av en vara eller tjänst medför genom ett företags hela värdekedja. Utifrån en tillhandahållen förståelse för kostnaderna ett företag ådrar sig utifrån etablerade leverantörsrelationer kan TCO fördelaktigt användas vid valet av leverantörer och till att utvärdera prestandan av leverantörer.

Tappningsstrategin för Vänern ändrades i ett beslut från Länsstyrelsen i Västra Götalands län och Vattenfall AB, på uppdrag av regeringen år 2008. Detta gjordes för att minska risken för översvämningar i Vänern.  Åtgärden var föreslagen av Klimat- och sårbarhetsutredningen, som försökt utreda konsekvenser av klimatförändringar för Vänern i ett framtida förändrat klimat. I utredningen används en metod för att mäta kostnader. Metoden är en kostnads-nytto-analys (Cost-Benefit-Analysis; CBA) som användes för att utvärdera bland annat Vänern med omnejd. Enligt denna uppsats saknas det värdering för naturmiljö och sociala faktorer i denna utredning.

Construction companies are frequently criticized for high prices and long construction time. At the same time, statistics shows that construction workers are on the sick-list for occupational injuries or casualties more than other groups at the labour market.Skanska built a block of flats with tenant-ownerships in Gävle. The construction consists of concrete walls with in-fill walls in the front. The purpose with this degree project is to perform a risk analysis in work environment with focus on repetitive strain injuries and control the time report for in-fill walls manufactured in a field factory. The result of this project will help to make more realistic cost predictions in the future.This degree project has been performed in cooperation with the construction company Skanska.

In hydropower plants it is necessary to always have local power supply. Therefore, the plants are equipped with batteries as stationary back up power. Vattenfall Vattenkraft is using lead acid batteries but has been investigating alternatives to replace them. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of using Li-ion technology as back up power.The study showed that Li-ion batteries have many qualities. The Li-ion technology will decrease the space and maintenance demand.

Swedish school children exhibit deteriorating knowledge results in terms of reading comprehension. Previous research shows that a method to increase the level of knowledge is the use of evidence-based learning techniques. Test based learning generates what is commonly referred to as a test effect, which proved to strengthen the relationship between learning and memory, as well as being applicable to various test formats. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether test based learning, in terms of learning english words leads to increased performance in a reading comprehension test, more specifically a cloze test. The study was based on a within-group design and was conducted three times over four weeks.