AbstractLean production has become one common concept within industries to make the work more effective and to meet today?s hard competition. A challenge for Chinese production is the threat from new low cost countries. It will become very difficult to succeed to produce to a lower cost than these countries; this led to that Chinese companies must develop new strategies, according to Lee and Zhou (2000). This will put China in front of new challenges and new strategies can be needed to retain their strong competitive advantages.

The purpose of our essay is to examine if variation exists in the way that auditors try their independence, this so called analysis-model. We will suggest some factors that influence the way auditors practise the analysis-model. The institutional theory predicts no differencies since the normative pressure could be expected to be severe. But we found that among other things people?s qualifications, personalities and audit firm?s size and age influence the way auditors try their independence.

Målet med examensarbetet var att ta fram ett arbetssätt som ska användas för att förbättra omställningsarbete hos Sandvik Coromant. Arbetssättet ska vara utformat för att användas av produktionsledare och introduceras som en utbildning. En av anledningarna till att arbeta med omställningar är den varierande partistorleken som är mellan 2 och 500 bitar. Detta gör att korta omställningstider är av största vikt, då små partier oftast kräver mer frekvent omställningsarbete. Förbättringsarbetet av omställningsarbetet ska i första hand skötas av produktionsledare och operatörer.

Kongsberg Automotive (KA) är ett företag som verkar i den hårt konkurrensutsatta fordonsbranschen. Vid en av företagets anläggningar som är placerad i Mullsjö sker montering av växelföringssystem. KA ser ett behov av att öka kapaciteten i avsnittet genom att öka produktiviteten. En stor förbättringspotential har identifierats vid omställning mellan olika produktvarianter i monteringsavsnittet. Genom ställtidsreducering förväntas kapaciteten att öka i monteringsavsnittet, vilket även bidrar till ökad flexibiliteten för att på ett konkurrenskraftigt sätt kunna möta kundernas varierade behov.

In this thesis I based on Fowler?s method of syntax analysis construct a flow scheme which I then use to make a syntax analysis of former State Secretary Lars Danielsson?s statements, in his autobiography, regarding his responsibility in the Swedish government?s management of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. The focus of the flow scheme is how grammatical constructions can be used in the interest of rhetoric?s to on the syntax (non-explicit) level of the text indicate and place responsibility with or outside of involved individuals. The main conclusion of the syntax analysis performed is that Danielsson in his autobiography in fact does not use very many of the constructions described in the flow scheme, whereby it can be concluded that the syntax analysis in this case wasn?t so ?revealing?.

This essay contains a comparative analysis of Erik Olin Wrights Marxist class analysis and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negris post-Marxist class analysis as presented in their books ?Empire? and ?Multitude: War and democracy in the age of Empire?. I discuss the shift in analytical focus from state level to global level that Hardt and Negri's analysis represent and the ensuing relevance of this for contemporary class analysis. The essay also address the challenge and implications posed to class analysis by the ever increasing economic globalization, from a material production to an ever growing immaterial service economy and the decrease in state power in controlling capital and labor movement. I propose that analytical understanding of class conflict help us to a better understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics that generate social and economical inequalities and that an updated Marxist class analysis still have much to contribute to our understanding to how these issues not only shape our society but also our capacity to counteract them..

I en hårt konkurrensutsatt internationell marknad som kretskortstillverkning gäller det att vara effektiv. Därför tog ledningen för Ericsson Katrineholm under år 2005 beslut att Lean Production skulle införas i verksamheten. Den ökade fokuseringen på produktivitet ledde till att flera problem kopplat till ytmonteringslinorna på avdelningen Module Production & Engineering identifierades. Avdelningen fann att ställarbetet mellan olika produkttyper genererade onödigt långa produktionsstopp som i sin tur begränsade avdelningens möjlighet att minska batchstorlekarna. Syftet med examensarbetet har därför varit att reducera ställtiden mellan olika produkttyper vid ytmonteringslinan för volymproduktion. Detta ska i sin tur nås genom att framställa och implementera ett antal förbättringsförslag. Arbetet har i huvudsak varit av kvalitativ art, med kvantitativa inslag som underlag för ABC-klassificeringen samt uppföljning och tolkning av den genomsnittliga ställtidens utveckling under år 2006. Analysen har genomförts i enighet med SMED-metodik där internt och externt ställarbete vid ytmonteringen först kartlagts innan ett antal förslag lagt fram för att förbättra de olika aspekterna av ställarbete.

This essay discusses the import of cod (Gadus morhua) in Sweden during the Middle Ages through isotope analysis of cod vertebrae. The isotope analysis is used to trace the cods origin to either the Baltic Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. The bones were subjected to d13C, d15N and d34S analysis; 64 of  the analyzed bones met the quality criteria. The isotop data showed that import of Atlantic cod was significant in medeval Sweden. The analysis suggests that there is no specific time or event that the sites start to import cod but this varies from site to site. .

The aim of this thesis is to examine how personnel working with asylum cases at the Swedish Migration Board handle their role as administrators of asylum. For the study 7 asylum administrators were interviewed and the analysis was made with influence from the method critical discourse analysis. To understand the themes in the analysis I have used Michael Lipskys theory about street-level bureaucrats. Main results from the analysis of the interviews were that the street-level bureaucrats had certain strategies for managing the difficult aspects of the job. The interviews also showed that the participating informants had difficulties with different identity positions..

Levnads- och arbetsförhållanden har i mindre svenska småorter under det senaste seklet genomgått stora förändringar. Fjelie, den lilla byn i sydvästra Skåne var i början på seklet ett aktivt jordbrukssamhälle med egen järnvägsstation, lanthandel, smed, post och skola. Idag finns få spår av detta bevarat och Fjelie ger ett stillsamt intryck för den besökande. Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka Fjelies identitet och fysiska karaktär. Vidare undersöker vi möjligheter för att öka attraktiviteten och utvecklingen av byn.

The Uppsala based company Q-linea develops procedures, instruments and systems for protein and nucleic acid analysis. The components in such an instrument are controlled by microcontrollers. Microcontrollers are computers in one singular chip that can be used in a wide range of applications such as cars, toys or in this case an analysis instrument. When developing a new instrument for biochemical analysis, Q-linea needed new software for controlling and communicating between the components in the instrument. The process of developing this software is the subject of this thesis.The project included research of microcontrollers and the components in the instrument.

Rapporten som följer är en analys av en metod som genererar regler från neurala nätverk. Metoden heter VI-Analysis (Validity Interval Analysis) och är framtagen av Sebastian B. Thrun [Thrun]. VI-Analysis arbetar på det sättet att det neurala nätverket ses som en svart låda där endast de inputvärden och outputvärden som finns i nätverket används som underlag när regler ska genereras. Dessa inputvärden och outputvärden kommer sedan att få tillåtna intervall av VI-Analysis.

The aim of this report is to analyse the use of the capacity at the CNC (computer numerical control) cutters and show how the level of set up time for these cutters at Stålöv AB. This assignment is concrete whereas there are no subjective questions to this matter and there are only cold figures presented.Production economy is getting more important as the competition hardens and there are several different ways to increase productivity and efficiency in a company. In order to increase productivity and efficiency work studies are used to, through an analysis, find developments in methods that result in improved work methods and to establish the time that are used. Increased production of different parts and customer driven production in combination with increased demands on rationalisation of capital have led to an enlarged interest for shorter set up times in the production.To point out the use of capacity and the set up time of the cutters at Stålöv AB we used frequency studies. Frequency studies are work measure methods based on random observations on predetermined events to calculate the relative occurrence of these events.

The regulations for energy consumption are consistently getting more and morestrict. This leads to a higher customer demand for energy analysis early in the buildingdesign process. Many building planners and architects use powerful modeling softwareto visualize their projects. These digital models contain sufficient information aboutthe building?s physical characteristics for reliable energy analysis.

The essay circulates around the technological analysis of flint material from four localities around the Baltic Sea basin. The analysis was created to investigate the question of where the first Gotlandic settlers originated from and to give clues about the colonization process. The investigated material was collected during the fall of 2011 and a correspondence analysis is used to analyze the collected material. The purpose of using a correspondence analysis is to test the method as a tool for investigating Mesolithic flint technologies. The essay also discusses marine hunter-gatherers, their economy and how their archeological remains differ from terrestrial hunter-gatherers..