This degree project is on 15 university points which correspond to 10 weeks full time studies. The work has been carried out during autumn term 2007 and spring term 2008. This degree project has been carried out with the cooperation of Etac Supply Center AB who is located in Anderstorp.It?s been Etac interest to develop a solution which helps the user of the wheelchair over obstacles. My task has been to develop a concept that solves the problem according to the requirement specification.In the rapport the reader can follow the development from an idea to a finished concept.

Lundbergs Plåt AB is a small company situated in Jönköping. Their main task is to process different kinds of steel such as stainless steel. Lately, they have shown an interest in Lean production.On the basis of the situation mentioned above, we developed the purpose to find and decrease the non value-added wastes in the production at Lundbergs Plåt AB. Out of this, we also developed and answered two questions: Which wastes can be found with help from a value stream mapping (VSM)? In what way can these wastes be reduced and how can these reductions contribute to an improved production? VSM is the method used to find the non value-added wastes.

The Transport division is responsible for the internal transports on Sandvik MaterialTechnology AB. At the moment there is no clear picture of how the straddle carriers aremoving at the division Primary Products and if it is working in a satisfying way. It isimportant to see the whole picture of the transportation flow so improvements can be made.The purpose of this essay is to survey and analyse the truck flow in a Lean Productionperspective. The essay is delimited to only include straddle carriers transportation ways in thePrimary Products division. To survey the truck flow we have used a method called Walkthrough.This means that we have walked thorough the whole production flow andinterviewed some of the employed on the way to get the necessary information.

A large part of the Namibian low income population lack access to grid distributed electricity. This mean they are effectively shut out from basic functions such as lighting, information technologies and hygienic food handling. Hence, finding ways of providing affordable off-grid electricity is an important, not to say critical, task.This master thesis is an innovation and concept development project that has been carried out in cooperation with organisations in Sweden and Namibia. The purpose of the project has been to (1) develop a concept for off-grid electricity supply in Namibia and (2) to gain a deeper knowledge within the area of innovation and product development for the Base of the Pyramid population, i.e. the poorest, but largest, socio-economic part of the global population.Essential in this project has been to acquire user understanding and to identify user needs to create a foundation for developing the concept.

Höga byggkostnader, kvalitetsproblem, dyra kostnader för omprojektering och låg lönsamhet för entreprenörer är exempel på problem inom byggbranschen. Statistik pekar på att byggkostnaderna för att producera byggnader har stigit kraftigt under de senaste åren. Byggnadsentreprenörer har börjat utveckla alternativa metoder för att genomföra kostnadseffektiva projekt. Denna studie kan delas upp i två delar, en teoretisk och en empirisk del. Den teoretiska delen utgörs av litteraturstudier för att få djupare kunskap och förståelse om Lean konceptet. Den andra delen avser en empirisk studie.

Syftet med undersökningen är att öka kunskapen om leankonceptet och undersöka upplevelser av ett genomfört leanarbete inom hälso- och sjukvård. Frågeställningarna som undersöks är: Varför används leankonceptet på Skånes Universitetssjukhus och hur tillämpas leankonceptet vid universitetssjukhuset? Hur beskriver medarbetarna på en vårdavdelning att de upplever resultatet med att arbeta enligt leankonceptet?Undersökningen har en kvalitativ ansats. Undersökningsgruppen består av sjuksköterskor,undersköterskor och personer med dels ledningsansvar, dels arbetar med support i frågor som rör lean. Med hjälp av sju semistrukturerade intervjuer erhålls en förståelse för de olikayrkesgruppernas tankar och uppfattningar när det gäller hur deras arbete påverkas av attarbetet vid vårdavdelningen organiseras efter värderingar, principer och verktyg knutna tilldet modifierade leankonceptet Lean Health Care.

PURPOSE: To investigate to what extent product brand positioning models can be used to analyzecorporate brand positioning;METHODOLOGY: The phenomenon is observed from a positivist epistemological position within a primarilyinductive research design. The research strategy is defined as qualitative, while the method of ethnographiccontent analysis is implemented to analyze primary data;THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE: Product and brand positioning literature; Product brand positioning rhombus;EMPIRICAL DATA: Ethnographic content analysis of brand commercials;CONCLUSION: As shown by the extensive literature review product brands (PB) and corporate brands (CB) coexistin corporate environments. One of key insights of this study shows that product brand positioning(PBP) and corporate brand positioning (CBP) processes can also co-exist in the same corporate environment.Moreover, PBs can be built based on the CB, making the investment in CB a long term return on investment.The study also observes that PBP messages include the ?against whom? attribute, highlighting differentiationin the competitive environment; when on the corporate level, this evolves, and in some cases becomes quitethe contrary, when the concept of ?from whom? or ?by whom? is stressed more than the differentiation amongother CBs in the competitive environment. This stresses the importance of including brand identity elementsin CBP..

Effektiviseringsarbete är inget nytt fenomen utan har länge varit viktigt för företag. Ett av de mest kända effektiviseringssystemen utvecklades på Toyota och utifrån det systemet utformades senare begreppet Lean som i korthet handlar om ständiga förbättringar och eliminering av slöseri. Lean är uppbyggt utifrån varuproduktion men har under senare tid även kommit att användas inom tjänstesektorn. Det kan dock diskuteras i hur stor utsträckning Lean går att använda inom tjänsteföretag. Både positiv och negativ kritik vad gäller Lean i tjänsteföretag skapar ett intresse att vidare undersöka hur Lean i tjänstesektorn fungerar i praktiken.Det övergripande syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur konceptet Lean kan användas inom tjänstesektorn.

The PhonePages of Sweden is a company that develops software for mobile units, especially cell phones. This thesis treats the development of, and contingencies for, a mobile phone directory, using the limited resources found in a mobile unit. The project was implemented and executed at The PhonePages with the intention of creating a product to sell to a third party.By studying different solutions, their benefits and drawbacks, an abstract picture of the product was constructed. Problems covered include compatibility problems caused by todays platform diversity as well as problems with saving, organizing and presenting data.The main goal was to create a phone directory which does not make external information retrievals. The service should contain both company and personal information, with name and phonenumber.

In today?s consumption society, the image and core values of a company have become more important in order to secure the attention on the market. All entrepreneurs have to distinguish themselves in the extremely tight competition.This thesis examines how product photos can reach out to the consumers successfully. Both students have previous experiences from model shoots ? but now want to study the possibilities to sell a product without a human model.The purpose of the thesis is to examine how to convey core values by commercial product photos - how to best capture the attention of a customer.

Volvo Penta has been producing boat engines since 1907 and are world leading in this seg­ment. They have today an extended range and also sell industrial power stations. Quality, safe­ty and environmental care are three core values for Volvo and together they strive to give their customers the right product with the right quality.Volvo has developed a production system named Volvo Production System, VPS, and one of the pillars is continuous improvements. Within this pillar you can find value stream map­ping, which is used to analyze the value stream through the process. This tool gives a wide perspective and helps to keep focus on the entire process instead of just parts of it.Volvo Penta in Vara has earlier done value stream mapping but without good results since they didn?t take set-up times and imbalances in account.

In Sweden there are 560 000 disabled people over the age of 16, half of those are in use of some kind of mobility device.Living with a disability means that due to injury or illness you are having trouble functioning without devices or assistance in your daily life and has a big impact on the independence of the disabled user.The everyday life for disabled parents with young children are different depending on the type of disability and mobility device.Today there is no alternative to the stroller for the disabled user who use mobility advises. This causes problems when the disabled person on there own have/want to move the child.The following statement have been the cornerstone for this project: How to make it possible for a wheelchair user to move a child, in the 0-2 year, for longer distances with a focus on independence and safety for both adult children?Due the process, of industrial design, this question and problem have been solved during 10 weeks. The process have contained parts as meeting with users, analyzing, concept development, evaluations, mock-up making, testing, shape & color development etc. This in the end have resulted in a full scale model of the appearance of a proposed product.The result is a stroller witch can be connected to the users specific wheelchair due two one time adjustments.

Ocean Modules Sweden AB is a small business active in the field of underwater technology. Thecompany was contacted by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) in order todevelop a new system that would conform to their specific requirements. Two students at theRoyal Institute of Technology (KTH) were consulted in conjunction of this project in order to aidthe development and conceptual design of the system.The primary users of the system are the divers of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal division (EOD)- a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. The purpose of the product was to incorporate allnecessary functions required by the EOD divers into one single system. The main functions arecommunication between the surface operator and diver, video recording, still imaging, positioning,navigation and ocean floor mapping with sonar.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur Lean passar i vården genom att studera framgångsfaktorer och kartlägga eventuella utmaningar samt att ge en ökad förståelse för vårdens Leanarbete.Metod: För att uppnå syftet med studien lämpar sig en kvalitativ metodinriktning bäst. För att öka förståelsen för hur Lean passar i vården har en fallstudie genomförts, där tio verksamheter inom Landstinget i Värmland har studerats. Ett sätt att samla in data för denna studie har varit att genomföra semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter inom varje verksamhet och detta ligger till grund för empirin. Referensramen har arbetats fram med hjälp av vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker.Slutsats: Studien visar, att Lean som ursprungligen konstruerades för den japanska bilindustrin, mycket väl kan användas i vården, men måste anpassas till vårdens behov. Gammal ledningsstruktur, invanda roller och oförutsägbarhet är hinder som måste överbryggas för att Leanarbetet ska fungera optimalt.

Det är uppenbart för alla inom sjukvården i Gävle att de ligger på gränsen till vad de kan hantera. Landstingen bestämmer inte bara vad sjukvården skall producera, utan även vad det får kosta. Det går ibland inte ihop, vilket föder frustration och vanmakt hos berörda avdelningar och personal. Behovet av sjukvård kommer troligen att öka ytterligare i framtiden, och vi verkar ha kommit till vägens ände vad gäller nuvarande arbetssätt. Syfte och mål med detta examensarbete är att genomföra en förstudie till att implementera och arbeta med lean på Gävle sjukhus och ortopedavdelningen.