Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, OTEC, is a sustainable energy conversion technology that is not yet commercialized. OTEC is a technology that utilizes the temperature difference in oceans between the warm surface water and the cold water at 1 000 m depth to run a Rankine Cycle. This technology can produce electricity and provide synergies like fresh water, air conditioning and aquaculture. A simulation program for three alternative OTEC systems has been created in order to decide which OTEC system is most profitable; closed, open or hybrid system. In this simulation a production cost analysis is performed in order to investigate and decide which one of the three systems that has the lowest production cost. The production cost analysis also analyzes if the profitability is affected by the size of the facility. After these analyzes, the most profitable of the three different OTEC-systems is expanded by an installation of solar collectors in order to see if the thermal efficiency is improved. The result shows that the most profitable system varies with the size of the facility.

The cost of transportation has strongly increased in the recent years, transportations which are a major part for the construction companies. Skanska Asphalt which is a part of Skanska Sverige AB has noticed that there are significant cost savings to be made with the purchasing of transports. The transports in this case is about asphalt, where the costs are about 10% of the outsourcing business turnover. The purpose of this thesis is to study the working practice that Skanska Asphalt are using today in controlling and time-writing, for the asphalt transportations. Resulting in recommendations on how to improve the working practice at Skanska Asphalt.This study was conducted with the help of a number of interviews with Skanska?s employees and with suppliers of transportation to describe the practices which are being used in during the asphalt transportation.

During the last few years the harwarder has developed from a prototype into a market product. Holmen Skog owns two harwarders and uses two more owned by entrepreneurs. In previous studies it has been shown that the harwarder was a slow and expensive forwarder. In this study the unloading at road-site was studied. The goal was to describe the differences in time consumption between unloading two-sided or single-sided (only from side of the road) and also the difference between unloading with three and four assortments in the carrier.

Brands are the instruments corporates use to create and communicate brands reputation. Within the different industries for consumer products intangible assets such as brands are known to have great importance for corporate prosperities. When consumers experiences a specific brand symbolizes best possible value for money, the corporate behind it has managed to create a unique competitive advantage that should be to its full potential. Strong brands can pose the difference between winning or loosing on the market. Due to this brands should be considered as cost-effective instruments since they help create financial advantages such as consumer loyalty.

In a time of economic turmoil and financial crisis profitability matters rise higher and higher on company agendas. Many companies are pressured to find profitability to avoid layoffs or even bankruptcy. Profitability essentially depends on the margin on the product or service sold and the costs associated with selling these products or services and hence these areas are of vital importance if companies are to improve profitability. Previous research has focused, for the most part, on product profitability while customer profitability has received less attention. This study is based on a case study of a Swedish publishing house and aims to investigate how the company?s Cost-to-Serve varies between its distribution channels.

The basis of road investments is to minimize the transportation cost. The forest industry wants roundwood to be available during the whole year. One way of determine which road to invest in is to do a cost/benefit calculation. SCA Forest lacks a uniform approach to determine the utility of a road investment. The goal of this report is to describe how the organization works today and find areas of improvement. The data collection was done through interviews.

AbstractThe assignment were assigned by Camatec Industriteknik AB. Camatec is a Karlstadlocated consulting company, they make everything from pilot studies to complete projects in mechanical design and calculation. They even have their own patented product, Camcoil. It is a winder for steel strips and is used for example with hardening of the steel strip. The assignment has been to solve the problems encountered by some customers within this product.

This essay deals with the topic options costs and whether such costs would arise for smaller companies now when they have the opportunity to choose not to have an auditor. Small companies are defined as companies that fulfill at least two of the following three criteria?s: less than 1,5 million SEK in balance sheet, less than three employees and turnover less than 3 million SEK. The decision regarding internal revision does not only affect the company itself but also other parties such as the taxation authority, banks and others that can be influenced by the decision. This essays main focus is on the influenced parties, especially the taxation authority and the banks as these have been highlighted in debates in media and because the small companies themselves may have difficulties to foresee the consequences of the new changes. The opinions from accounting companies will be considered in the essay as they can be considered as experts regarding the different aspect within this area.

The purpose of this report is to examine various roof structures that can operate in a warehouse with large spans. The building that is examined in the report is currently under construction, and the roof construction has already been selected. The selected roof system will therefore be compared with some other structures and materials that have been possible. The report will evaluate three different frame materials, two insulating barriers and two overlaying materials. Another important part in major construction projects is the roof safety.

Samhällets resurser är begränsade och en prioritering av olika verksamheter nödvändig. Cost-utility-analysen är en typ av ekonomisk utvärdering som syftar till att utgöra en del av beslutsunderlaget vid prioriteringsbeslut. Uppsatsen gör en cost-utitlity-analys av den ickefarmokologiska hypertonibehandling som genomförts vid Vindelns hälsocenter på individer där traditionell behandling inte haft önskvärd effekt på blodtrycket. Det sänkta blodtryck deltagarna på internatet erhöll minskar riskerna att drabbas av hjärtinfarkt eller stroke. Cost-utitlity-analysen inkluderar både till behandlingen relaterade kostnader och inbesparingar samt framtida till behandlingen orelaterade kostnader, som en följd av att individiden lever längre när riskerna minskar.

A bioslurry reactor was built for the bioremediation of TNT contaminated waste from the demilitarization industry. The field test was conducted at Vingåkersverken in Vingåker, Sweden, to see if results from laboratory studies could be repeated in a full scale reactor. The goal of the project was to optimize the reactor to such a degree that it could be used to handle the waste produced at Vingåkersverken and also that this technique could be applied for remediation of contaminated soils. Unfortunately the samples taken during the full scale field test were destroyed by the shipping company and no analysis was possible. A later attempt by the Biorex research group has also been unsuccessful to reduce the amount of TNT using the bioreactor.

This thesis is carried out at Portsystem 2000 AB who manufactures and markets industrial doors and docking systems. The background to this thesis is that the company?s management considers that their follow-up process of cost accounts is not fully functioning.The aim with this report is to investigate and describe the present procedure of the follow-up process concerning the time of operations and come up with suggestions for improvements. This thesis is performed within the range of the following areas: Information systems, quality, processes and cost calculation. The main method we used were semi structured interviews with a fairly opened framework.

The competitive nature of the automotive industry has always implied a necessity to improve product development concerning time-to-market, cost and product quality. As capacity of computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools has evolved, so has the strive for simulation-driven design. Virtual durability testing using full vehicle models is one of many challenges posed in front of vehicle manufacturers when computer simulations are given a key role in product development.This thesis has been initiated as a preliminary step towards implementing dynamic virtual durability testing in the development of buses and coaches at Scania. The objective has been to assess the predictability of a full vehicle coach model and to what level of precision structural loads can be predicted. Previously performed proving ground testing of a Scania Touring coach has been the basis for the modelling and simulations in this thesis.A virtual model of the Scania Touring coach has been created in multi-body simulation software package MSC.Adams.

Vi lever i en föränderlig värld där aktiemarknaden är en komplex miljö. Att fatta välgrundande beslut på aktiemarknaden är svårt för investerare, som  därmed samlar in all den information som finns tillgänglig. Den redovisning och information som företag lämnar ifrån sig är utformad genom en avvägning mellan kostnader och nytta, som kallas Cost Constraint. Ytterligare en avvägning som företag använder sig av gällande upprättandet av redovisning är att inte ge ut för mycket information och därmed ?skydda? sig från konkurrenter.Studiens huvudsakliga syfte är att kartlägga och jämföra hur investerare och banker tar beslut baserat på den redovisning som företag publicerar, som kan vara påverkad av Cost Constraint.

This thesis aims to find a more cost effective model for purchasing and logistics at asmall company. The studied company is a BMX (bicycle motocross) and MTB(mountain bike) retailer. The questions to be answered are: How large parties shouldbe ordered and what mode of transportation is to be used? A literature orientation ofthe field was followed by visits to the company, obtaining information from twodifferent logistics companies and interviews of four other companies in the sameindustry. The study shows that it´s difficult to develop an optimum order quantity fora small company since there often are other factors affecting how large amountshould be ordered.