Background: Mass customization has been identified as a competitive business strategy by both companies and academics because of its ability to incorporate the voice of the customer into companies? products and services. Although mass customization may sound appealing, the strategic concept is still developing and firms adopting this business strategy face several challenges. Production concerns are of high relevance since mass customization implies a high level of customer involvement in the product design. Since the areas are closely linked it is reasonable to ask how a mass customization strategy affects production concerns.

BakgrundSvensk sjukvård har idag bland de bästa behandlingsresultaten i Europa, men trots det förs diskussionen om sjukvården ofta i negativa ordalag. I ett försök att förbättra synen på verksamheten och bli mer effektiva har sjukvården i Sverige ofta använt sig av kommersiellamodeller, modellerna har dock behövt anpassas för att fungera i sjukvårdens miljö. En av de senaste kommersiella modellerna som nu införs i den svenska sjukvården är Lean Healthcare,som är sjukvårdens version av Toyotas produktionsfilosofi Lean Production. En stor del avtidigare forskning på området har behandlat Lean Production men lite finns att tillgå som handlar om Lean Healthcare. Den här studien är ett bidrag till att utöka kunskapen om Lean Healthcare i Sverige.SyfteSyftet med den här studien är att beskriva hur Lean-filosofin fungerar i den svenska sjukvården samt att göra en jämförelse mellan Lean Production och andra kommersiella modeller som tidigare har införts i den svenska sjukvården.GenomförandeMed hjälp av intervjuer på tre svenska sjukvårdsenheter har en fallstudie med fokus på Lean Production och Lean Healthcare genomförts.ResultatResultatet av studien visar att Lean Healthcare, i likhet med tidigare modeller, har krävt anpassningar för att fungera i sjukvårdens kontext.

This report is about the issue with decreasing production rate mainly caused by failuresrelated to the multiswitch. The multiswitch is a machine at Gefleortens Mejeriföreningwhich has the function of distributing milk cartons from one incoming track into fiveoutgoing tracks. Milk cartons who gets stuck and there by causes the production to stop,is the mainly problem with this constructionThe purpose with this report is to understand the causing factors and make suggestions which can help solving these factors. By analyzing the machine during production, having contact with different suppliers, searching internet for information, 3d-cad drawings and the complementary with personal experiences, this machine has  been evaluated and as a result of this new problem has come to be known.The discovered problems was analyzed and resulted in new suggestions for alternative options. Later the most functional results was chosen and put as a suggestion for the new model.A new machine built with the suggestions from this report assures to be well adapted to the environment at Gefleortens Mejeriföreing and the problems it causes..

This thesis aims to examine the viability of various techniques for increased electricity generation in CHP plants and the effect of electricity price fluctuations on the profitability.The techniques examined are fuel dryer, pellet production, methane production, combined methane- and pellet production, seasonal heating storages in caverns and pit heat storages and condensing tail. Using Excel and Matlab, the prerequisites for investment costs, revenues and expenses were calculated.What affects the price of electricity is a combination of economic and technological development, energy prices, economic structure, population changes and weather. Different scenarios for the electricity price were therefore examined. In the base case, the electricity price was given by the Nord Pool electricity price statistics of area three in 2011. Thereafter, WiMo was used to design the electricity scenarios for 2030, which was then applied to the data to obtain the viability of various scenarios. The techniques examined were found to give greater profits to the CHP plant by increasing and optimizing the production of electricity.

The competitiveness and profitability of swedish farm enterprises is frequently discussed in agricultural media. Increased exposure to the surrounding world with greater competitive pressure and considerable price fluctuations in the agricultural markets demand new ways of acting to secure the agricultural sector?s long-term survival and profitability. Structural change and/or diversification leads to increased numbers of stake-holders around the farm enterprise and thereby also the expectations of the farmers ability to lead and coordinate resources. Lean is the name of a management model developed by Toyota, influenced by the lack of resources in Japan during the post WWII period.

An organization that uses all of its improvement opportunities has a great advantage compared to its competitors. It is an important task when it comes to continuous improvements of every process. Up until September 2007, Husqvarna AB had a suggestion committee who evaluated every suggestion separately and the proposer received a payment if the suggestion was approved by the committee. However, this system did not work satisfying enough to fulfill Husqvarna?s needs and they are now looking for a system that can handle the ideas from the employees in a more effective way.

Water is an essential factor for both people and animals, and access to water is therefore of great importance. The water access also largely determines the availability of food for people and feed for animals. The aim of this study was to survey the affect of water access on milk production from dairy animals. The study included nineteen farm visits that were made in the Nyando district in Kenya between February and Mars 2011. Farm visits included interviews with questions about for example number of dairy animals, milk production, water access, feed and water routines.

Konkurrensen i tillverkningsfo?retag o?kar sta?ndigt och detta medfo?r att det sta?lls ha?rda krav pa? produktkvalitet och fo?rma?gan att leverera produkter i tid. Fo?r att fo?retag ska kunna na? upp till dessa ma?l kra?vs utveckling och sta?ndiga fo?rba?ttringar i takt med den va?xande marknaden. Detta uppna?s pa? olika sa?tt men ett vanligt sa?tt a?r att arbeta med fo?rba?ttringsmetodiker.

This study was conducted at Glimek AB, a company that has chosen to decentralize its central storage unit in order to increase production efficiencies. The purpose of the study was to identify the problems in the production cycle that lead to the decision to decentralize the central storage unit, as well as identifying what the decentralization entails. The effects of the decentralization have not been analyzed in the study, and consequently neither financial nor production disadvantages have been considered.Appropriate questions were formulated based on the chosen underlying theories, and were asked to selected individuals with relevant knowledge. The study is based on the information that was gathered from interviews with management as well as staff within the company. In addition, supporting information such as flowcharts, drawings, orders and decision support documents were supplied by the company.

Due to increasing product availability and higher demands on fast deliveries, the competition between companies is growing. To be able to satisfy the customers? requests an efficient logistics system with short throughput time is required. By using tools associated with Lean production companies are able to make great improvements in their manufacturing systems and reduce lead times to satisfy customer demands.There are two classifications associated with manufacturing, high variety and low volume (HVLV) and low volume and high variety (LVHV). The general belief is that the concept of Lean production is difficult to implement in a production environment with high variety and low volume due to the concept being adapted to mass production.

Generally in Macedonia keeping farm records and farm business planning is not often practiced like an ordinary activity in farming. Therefore one of the crucial things to do it is to comprise and continuously practice record keeping of farm data. The efficient and justified farm business planning should be based on farm records about the previous work of the farm, which will bring a structured approach for planning all the activities, as well as provide a good basis for attracting investors and creditors for the additional expansion of the business.Given that sheep breeding holds an important part of the livestock production in Macedonia, there is a need for adding analytical sheep enterprise budgets to support the farm business planning process at sheep farms.The aim of this research was to develop sheep enterprise budgets created on the best production practice for Macedonian conditions of breeding and test their applicability into the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia. The sheep budgets were composed with a process of data collecting consisted of direct farm data (for the cases), expert's consultation and relevant desk research, as well as a literature study. The aim of doing it was to attain more accurate calculations of the enterprise budgets, which will result in a more precise outcome in the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia.

Sammanfattning  Datum:                               2011-01-14 Kurs:                                  Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi Lärosäte:                           Mälardalens högskola Akademi:                           Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutveckling Handledare:                      Lennart Bogg Examinator:                      Cecilia Lindh Författare:                         Wilhelm Moby och Pia Robson Nyckelord:                         Lean Production, implementering, effekter. Titel:                                   Det lutar mot Lean ? en jämförelse av arbetet med- och effekterna av Lean Production på ASSA AB med teoretiska kunskaper inom ämnesområdet.                                           Problemfrågor:                 Hur har ASSA AB gått tillväga för att införa Lean Production och vilka faktorer har varit avgörande?Vilka effekter har införandet av Lean Production givit verksamheten? Syfte:                                 Den här studien ämnar undersöka och sedan jämföra arbetet med- och effekterna av Lean Production hos ASSA AB med teoretiska kunskaper inom ämnesområdet.   Metod:                               Metoden är av kvalitativ karaktär och med hjälp av djupare litteraturstudier och en semi-strukturerad intervju ska studiens syfte uppfyllas. Slutsatser:    Resultatet av den här studien kan sammanfattas med att det som framkommit i den empiriska undersökningen mycket väl överrensstämmer med det som sägs i den teoretiska referensramen. ASSA AB har först infört verktygen 5S och standardiserat arbetssätt, vilket möjliggjort införandet av andra verktyg såsom kanban. Inget av detta hade dock varit möjligt med ett lyckat resultat om inte personalen först blivit utbildade och en leankultur skapats.

There is a common belief that the arts contain knowledge of creativity that can enrich the business world. Similarly, the arts are in need of additional support from the private sector and know-how of business practices. In short, there is a need for mutual understanding. With my background as a dancer paired with my studies at the Stockholm School of Economics I have taken the challenge of bringing the two worlds closer together. By changing a social system, like an organization, it is possible to get a better understanding of it.

This paper aims to determine what is decisive for localisation of production units when a company engages in offshoring. By performing a case study on Electrolux and comparing the results with theoretical literature we discuss the implications for manufacturing companies in general. To facilitate a structured analysis we have developed a model dividing the localisation decision into five perspectives and four geographical levels. We have found that the determinants of localisation vary depending on the geographical level of the decision process. Since all geographical levels are interconnected, the analysis needed for a decision on all levels simultaneously is very comprehensive.

Detta examensarbete har genomförts på Aven Rabbalshede AB i syfte att kartlägga företagets dåvarande situation i dess interna logistikflöde, för att sedan lägga fram förbättringsförslag som kan implementeras för att förbättra detta flöde. Målet var att reducera trucktrafiken i fabriken med minst tio procent.Aven Rabbalshede AB är ett tillverkningsföretag av lastpallar, träemballage, transportstöd och lådor. Företaget är en del av Avenkoncernen som är en av Skandinaviens ledande tillverkare av lastpallar och träemballage. Aven Rabbalshede AB är den största enheten inom koncernen med cirka 55 anställda och en produktion på cirka 1,3 miljoner lastpallar per år. Företaget hade en bristande struktur och systematik över truckflödet och materialhanteringen vilket har inneburit stora och många mellanlager samt andra svårigheter.Examensarbetet innebar att först och främst kartlägga vad respektive truck gjorde under en arbetsdag för att kunna analysera hur dåvarande situation såg ut.