Background: The situation for Swedish agricultural production today is characterized by an increased competition, particularly after the country joined the European Union. Swedish agricultural production laws guarantee safe, high quality foodstuffs. However, due to these strict laws, Swedish farmers face higher production costs than their competitors. Meanwhile, cheaper imported goods compete freely on the Swedish market. Swedish agricultural production must find new ways to survive in the increasing competition.

The economic prerequisite to many farmers in Sweden after the EU membership and the new agriculture policy has generated large demands on the farm management. Until year 2004 you got a grant based on what you had produced and not on consumer demand. In 2005 a new economic aid (Mid Term Revue) was introduced and the conditions has changed again. Due to this I have chosen to do a cost-benefit analysis on a case, to investigate if the present production is sustainable in the future. My conclusion is that the profitability is acceptable even if the farm has a high debt. But to make the production more profitable the products produced should be refined as much as possible at the farm, to get maximum economic return.

In ambition to produce more and better harvests, artificial fertilizers are used to produce a better growth of crops in the agriculture landscape. This contributes to leakage of nutrients. Our forests also exhibit a leakage of nutrients. Air pollution contributes to more nutrients. High precipitation with high water flows as a consequence seems currently to occur more frequently in the county of Halland.

High heels ? a fashion that has not gone out of style after hundreds of years. Despite their esthetic advantages, high heels become uncomfortable and harmful after repetitive and long term use. With this as a starting point, Huyen Nguyen ? a student at the Innovation Engineering Program at the University of Halmstad ? decided to make a final thesis project. The project goal has been to combine the esthetic advantages of high heels and bring a comfortable solution to the equation.

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.

Drinking water from drilled wells has a high content of iron and other minerals in many places in Sweden. Questions about the association between the quality of drinking water and the health of dairy cows are regulary asked both by advisers and dairy farmers. There are so far not many studies published about the relevance for high iron content in water and dairy cow health and production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if there is a connection between the iron content in water and the health of dairy cows. Initially a literature study was made about iron and it´s function in ruminants.

This document presents calculations of adjusted GDP based on satellite household accounts for the year 2001 with the purpose to compare adjusted and official GDP for Sweden, Germany, Estonia and Finland. Household production in each country is estimated using time use survey data from Eurostat and a monetary value is estimated using average wage (after taxes) for each country. The results indicate that the value of household production using this methodology increases GDP with between 42% (Finland) and 55% (Germany) compared to official GDP statistics. A comparison of GDP/capita between the countries included in the study shows that the GDP/capita in Germany increases more that the other countries due to the relatively high proportion of time used for household production (mainly German women) combined with a high average wage. In fact, the results show that Germany has higher adjusted GDP/capita than both Finland and Sweden (but Germany has lower GDP per capita when official statistics is used for the comparison).

A totally mixed ration (TMR) is a mixture of all the necessary feed components for the cow. She will eat the exact same feed in every bite which will make the rumen pH more stable and always supply her with a constant proportion between roughage and concentrate. This will make it possible for the cow to eat more dry matter (DM) a day because the fibre requirements are fulfilled. If a part of the concentrate is given separated from the mixture it is called partly mixed rations (PMR) and is almost always used when using an automatic milking system (AMS). When using TMR and PMR it is important to have a high hygiene, be accurate when mixing the feed and to look after cows in a good and strict way. The aim of this study was to document different farms with PMR in an AMS to see which routines they have and how they are managing their production.

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.

This study is done together with Sydved AB in the summer of 2012. The purpose of the study is to analyse how different quantity of assortments influence the production for forwarders and harvesters with multiple tree handling aggregate in thinning, by different tree volumes. To make this analyse a time study was performed where three entrepreneurs work has been analysed. Beside the analyse, of different quantity of assortments, has also been analysed how the tree volume and a forest fuel assortment effect the production. The result of this study shows that the quantities of assortments have a significant meaning for the production. The biggest differences are most distinct between one and three assortments in the smaller tree volumes where production goes down if the quantity of assortments increase.

The soybean can be used in multiple ways, and its high oil content makes it suitable for extraction. Soy bean meal, a by-product of the oil extraction, is a good source of protein with a high feeding value, and is therefore used in a number of different animal feeds. Further, soy bean meal has a low production price, which is one of the reasons for the extensive export of the product. There is a great demand for vegetable-based proteins, especially in the organic production where synthetic amino acids are banned. However, the current production of soy beans is not environmentally sound and that combined with the long transport distances amplifies the need of finding a locally produced protein source.

During the last years commercial Wind Power Turbines (WPT) has become larger regardingto the generator sizes and hub heights. Available hub heights around 100 meters is nowcommon, which has led to profitability for WPT located in forests where there normally are tolow wind speeds. The current knowledgement regarding turbulence and the variation in thewind profile for the outcome of the power production for the WPT in forests is limited.In this Master of Science thesis an investigation concerning forest located wind power plantshas been made. The purpose has been to investigate if plants located in forest perform lesscompared to wind power turbines located at more common locations.The analyses are based on statically material for determining the availability,production/generator size, production/hub height, production/swept area and how thetopography affect the production results.The analyses show that the variation in production result for WPT located in forest comparedto turbines located at other locations is small. The availability is high and the productionresults are good..

 The sawmill industry is a relative fragmented industry that is in an economic upswing andwith a hard competition. The customers have high demands on their suppliers and the highcustomer demand make it necessary for the companies to make a streamlining in planningand production. For that reason it is very important that the planning- and productionprocesses aren?t to complex and with a simple structure.The purpose of this report is to study and map out a marked out part of a planning- andproduction process, from adjust works to final delivery, at a company in the sawmill industry.Different methods have been used for the report, among others interviews and subordinatedmaterial.We have mapped out a marked out part of the planning- and production process at theCompany. This part we have studied, and we have analysed the process it self and otherthings connected to the process.We see the planning- and production process in the Company as complex.

Lean is a production philosophy which is about increased resource use while meeting customer requirements. The foundation of lean comes from Toyota and their production philosophy The Toyota Way. Professor Jeffrey k. Liker has worked with Toyota's production philosophy and Lean for a long time and has created a 4 P model and 14 principles that characterize the Toyota production system (TPS), which many sources refer to.The aim of my work is to study the working procedure of asphalt projects from sales to the laid asphalt with a focus on planning and production management. The goal is to examine how the lean philosophy can be applied in planning and production to simplify the flow of asphalt projects based on Likers model and principles.

A growing population together with a change in food habits to a more diverse diet containing more animal products such as meat and milk makes the possibility to produce and sell products of cattle a growing market. And at the same time there is an ongoing debate about global warming, where raising cattle is questioned due to their High production of enteric methane. To be able to raise animals in a more environmental friendly way and at the same time improve productivity in a developing country such as Vietnam would be favorable. The use of feed additives with high electron affinity could decrease the methane production and at the same time improve the gross energy digested. Nitrate and Sulfur are both good electron acceptors, but due to its toxic effects the use of nitrate in feed has been neglected.