The purpose of the thesis is to determine how ABB’s treasury department (GTO) should respond to an increasing awareness and interest in the carbon credit markets. Emission caps have been introduced on national levels and also for certain industries in Europe as a consequence of the Kyoto Protocol. This allows for trading of certain carbon credits as well as for the creation of new credits. ABB is a company which has many solutions for efficient energy use; solutions that aim to reduce electricity cost and in the prolongation also emissions. The awareness of the carbon market is growing within ABB, but no carbon credit generating projects have been completed and the initiatives are scattered. The thesis describes the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation within EU, the markets available for trading by companies as well as what instruments and derivatives exist. With the underlying regulations described an empirical study of ABB’s involvement is conducted. The study shows that ABB has few installations with emissions caps and that the potential for generating new credits as a way to increase profit is quite big. However, there have been no carbon generating projects registered up to this point and there are many barriers to overcome before ABB receives any carbon credits.To ensure a thorough analysis, a model of factors affecting ABB’s carbon credit involvement is formed. The model is based on the available literature on the subjects organizational performance, transfer pricing, project- and financial risk and risk management.GTO’s immediate response should be to set up a pool to which subsidiaries with compliance requirements are to send their carbon credits. The pool will then redistribute the credits so that each subsidiary’s needs are fulfilled and finally settle the net remainder on the open market. A unit independent of GTO, called Group Carbon Operations (GCO) in the thesis, should be formed in the near future with responsibility to actively follow the progress of CDM pilot projects and to facilitate their implementation. Depending on the outcome of these pilot-projects ABB can then either, in case of a negative outcome, quickly end the direct CDM involvement and reach closure or, in case of a positive outcome, further develop the GCO department to profit from ABBs involvement in the CDM market. In case of a positive outcome, the GTO should be further involved regarding risk handling and internal pricing.

No description available.

In modern heavy vehicles low fuel consumption as well as good ride comfort and driveability is desired. Assuming that the road altitude ahead of the vehicle is known the optimal control regarding fuel and time consumption can be calculated. However this results in a bang-singular-bang control which decreases the ride comfort by introducing high jerk levels and oscillations in acceleration as well as jerk originating from the dynamics in the driveline. In this thesis several methods to supress these behaviours are presented. A qualitative study of the methods impact on ride comfort as well as fuel and time consumption is carried out. A driveline model is implemented in Simulink and used for the evaluations. The aim is not to find a optimal strategy but rather to suggest methods and evaluate these as far as can be done in simulation to enable for future test runs.

Priset för anläggningstransporter har under de senaste åtta åren ökat kraftigt. Dessa transporter är en stor och betydelsefull del för byggföretagen, och Skanska Sverige AB köper anläggningstransporter för cirka 1 miljard kronor per år. På grund av den kraftiga prisökningen samt att Skanska har sett stor potential av effektiviseringar inom anläggningstransporter har de startat projektet ”Effektivare Anläggningstransporter”. Ett mål med projektet var att minska kostnaderna för anläggningstransporter genom effektiviseringar. Detta arbete har genererat en kraftig sänkning av antalet leverantörer samt att enhetliga avtal med dessa leverantörer har tecknats. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utveckla ett nationellt arbetssätt för att förbättra Skanskas samarbete med leverantörer av anläggningstransporter. I byggbranschen ser alla projekt olika ut. Varje byggprojekt fungerar som ett eget litet företag vilket medför att byggbranschen är en decentraliserad bransch. Inom varje projekt finns det en produktionschef samt produktionspersonal. Det är produktionschefen som ansvarar för allt från ekonomi och tidsplanering till beställning av transporter och övrigt material. Idag sker alla beställningar av transporter via telefon och oftast samma dag som transporterna behövs eller i bästa fall dagen innan. Anpassning till ny teknik i transportbranschen sker långsamt och än idag är det oftast handskrivna följesedlar. För att hitta effektiviseringar har Skanska påbörjat ett effektiviseringsarbete med sina ramavtalsleverantörer. Detta innebär att Skanska ska ha utvecklingsmöten med dessa leverantörer två gånger per år för att diskutera fram effektiviseringsåtgärder. Effektiviseringsarbetet har stannat av på grund av omorganisationer i Skanska samt den rådande lågkonjunkturen. Det är detta effektiviseringsarbete som ska utvärderas och förbättras i detta examensarbete. Denna studie genomfördes med hjälp av ett antal intervjuer där det framkom att största problemet var att det inte fanns någon ansvarig på lokal nivå för att driva effektiviseringsarbetet. Några andra problem som upptäcktes var att det inte fanns något uttalat mål med utvecklingsmötena samt att det inte fanns något mätbart uppföljningssystem som visade utvecklingen. För att lösa dessa problem studerades teori om organisationer och kultur, gruppdynamik, inköp, relationer samt prestationsmätning. Alla är eniga om att effektiviseringsarbetet är viktigt och bör fortsätta men det krävs dock vissa förändringar. Genom bättre planering och bättre intern kommunikation kan samarbetet med Skanskas leverantörer förbättras. För att hitta effektiviseringsåtgärder bör utvecklingsmötena ha tydliga mål. Det krävs även en person på lokal nivå som ansvarar för att mötena blir av och att effektiviseringsidéer förs vidare till inköpsavdelningen. Det allra viktigaste är att inköpsavdelningen ska kunna mäta och följa upp effektiviseringsarbetet. Detta kommer att kunna ske med hjälp av den modell som presenteras i slutet av denna rapport. Modellen kommer att lösa de problem som denna studie har uppmärksammat och är konstruerad på ett sätt så att modellen är enkel att använda.

No description available.

Software design decisions were considered in this study, as the possibly principal factor for unplanned adjustments related to the embedded software handling, at production- and service processes. The study reveals an increase of requirement changes during the last phases in then software development projects execution, which forces late design decisions in order to fulfil the changed requirements. Consequently, the likelihood of risks for unexpected impacts on the subsequent processes will increase. A research approach based on interviews and data from previous projects at Volvo CE was performed. The process methodology used at Volvo CE for software development was investigated from the project planning and control view and the project team member’s perspective. A high amount of software-design decisions were encountered at the end of the software development process at Volvo CE, as a result of numerous requirement changes at the final phases of the projects execution. A gap was identified between how the process methodology specified the progression of activities for software development and the actual progression of the project activities in Volvo CE. This study discusses problem areas in the software development process at Volvo CE from an embedded design decisions perspective. As future work, the study recommends three steps to find improvements to the process methodology: 1) Update the process based on standardized procedures for management of requirements changes, risk handling, and communication. 2) Further analysis and possible adaptations of the process model 3) Develop methods and/or tools for process quality assurance. The management of the embedded software decisions appears to be a very complicated area, the conventional statements on the importance of the decisions in the earlier phases, at least, should be further discussed and investigated. / PREPARE

No description available.

The Scandria Corridor is the shortest way between the Adriatic Sea and the Baltic Sea and stretches from the harbors in the Adriatic Sea to Scandinavia, with branches to Stockholm and Oslo. By offering the shortest route it should be an area in focus for transporting goods. But a large share of European freight traffic goes through the western parts and most main development routes are in east-west connections. Indications have however been made that higher amounts of goods will enter the European market through the harbors in the Mediterranean Sea. As Western Europe is already crowded and congestion is a problem the Scandria Corridor offers new routes with free capacity and shorter south-north connections. An immediate problem of European freight traffic is the large use of trucks as means of transportation. As trucks causing large negative environment affects such as high emission levels, congestion on roads and deterioration of the infrastructure the European Union promotes use of other transport concepts. But the alternatives, railway and inland waterway transports, faces different kinds of barriers making them less competitive which obstructs their implementation. The information above leads to the thesis purpose “to suggest a sustainable and innovative concept for transporting goods applicable in the Scandria Corridor.” To be sustainable the concept should be future considerate (consider changes in transport conditions), feasible (achieve competitive customer service at reasonable costs) and environmentally friendly (less negative environmental affects than the alternatives). Innovative translates as being open-minded when it comes to combining and implementing ideas, concepts and methods. Through a mapping of the infrastructure in the corridor, conditions for the transport methods and customer values the conclusion can be drawn that railway transportation is the best option for transportation in the Scandria Corridor. There are however some barriers that obstruct the set-up of the concept and what route that should be used. A large barrier is the complexity of cross-border transport in Europe because of several different railway electrification systems. Another large barrier is different train control systems that calls for large investments in trains compatible with all systems crossed and staff educated in each system. Another barrier is the low standard of railway tracks in Eastern Europe. A mapping of customer values informs that the price is the most important aspect followed by the delivery dependability, given that the lead time is similar to the alternatives. Flexibility is important to some but for most the aspects above are more important. Low environmental affects is important to all parties but no one wants to pay to achieve it. Through analysis of the mapping with support of the theories train needs to offer a lower price than truck alternatives offer to be competitive due to trucks flexibility and ability to reach all destinations. Furthermore train has better possibilities in profitable the longer the distance is. Goods flows are studied for the northern Adriatic ports which give that Trieste, Venice and Koper handles the largest volumes. But the amounts of goods between the ports and northern parts of the corridor are probably too low to use one port as the south end point of the concept. Instead a strategic location like Villach (Austria) or Verona (Italy) is better suited as they can work as funnels for larger areas. The solution with a funnel seems to be the best solution for Scandinavia where Trelleborg can be the north end point as a rail ferry from Rostock, suitable for the transport from Germany to Sweden, enters the port of Trelleborg. From Trelleborg goods can be spread to other parts of Scandinavia mainly through branches to Oslo and Stockholm. To be sustainable a train concept needs a high fill rate in both directions. To get a high fill rate loading points can be used between the end points. Through a mapping of goods flow between Sweden and regions in the corridor suitable loading points tend to be Berlin (Germany), Munich (Germany) and Vienna (Austria). It is the demand of transport that decides how many loading points that should be used but the fewer the better since they increases the costs and lead time. The suggested concept is a train line with green trucks as back-up to irregular demands and problems on railway tracks. Three different concept routes are presented in the thesis. The concepts could be arranged in order of implementation. Concept 1 probably has the best chance of getting a high fill rate but the competition is hard on the route. If concept 2 is ready for implementation depends on the demand of transport on this route. When the goods flows are large enough it would probably be a better option because of the few electrification systems and train control systems crossed. Concept 3 is more of a concept for the future, due to many barriers. By using this route bottlenecks and congestion can be avoided.

Ericsson AB in Katrineholm is a part of the Section Business Unit Network in the Ericsson Group. The plant's main task is to produce printed circuit boards in small volumes with a high product mix and focus on delivery and cost effectiveness. At the factory they produce printed circuit boards in the Module department. The Module department has for a long time had a high output of non-approved circuit boards in their production. This has led to a growing stock of non-approved circuit boards on the company’s repair department. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Ericsson in Katrineholm can increase the outflow of approved articles in their test process in the Module department. As a basis for drawing up proposals, a study of the production in the form of value flow maps was conducted. Information was collected from the various databases QSP, Testnet and C:M. Information was also gathered by informal interviews. The company's present situation has been studied using theories like flow time and utilization rates and from the collected information, proposals have been developed using the program Excel and C #. Analysis of the present situation revealed that the test strategy that they now are using is not working well enough, because printed circuit board that does not have any defects is sent to the repair department. The fact that the test stations are very unstable and that the test operators do not possess enough knowledge of each article is also factors causing non-defect products to be sent to the repair department. The report presents a new test strategy based on 5 different criteria on data gathered from the database SID 40 days back. Complementary information is also presented to the test operators to facilitate their work when it comes to making decisions if a card / unit will be tested again. By introducing the new test strategy a value of 1.6 for cards and 3.25 for units of million Swedish crowns would be sent directly to customer instead of being sent to the repair department. However, this would increase the utilization of the resources, by 9.2 % for cards and by 19.2 % for units, but the utilization is very low, which implies that it should not affect the system in largely. However, this requires that the test process is performing in the same way as it did the last 40 days. Finally the results are presented in a graphical interface to facilitate the operators in the Module department. The recommendations given to Ericsson regarding the new test strategy is that it should be used as a tool at first and if the latter is used it should be integrated into the regular test environment. / Ericsson AB i Katrineholm är en del av sektionen Business Unit Network i Ericsson koncernen. Fabrikens huvuduppgift är att producera kretskort i små volymer med en hög produktmix och med fokus på leveransprecision och kostnadseffektivitet. På fabriken tillverkas kretskort på avdelningen Modul. Avdelningen Modul har under en längre tid haft ett högt utfall av icke godkända kretskort i deras produktionssystem, vilket har lett till ett växande lager av felkort på företagets reparationsavdelning. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur Ericsson i Katrineholm kan öka utflödet av godkända artiklar i sin testprocess på avdelningen Modul. Som underlag för att ta fram förslag har en kartläggning av produktionsprocessen gjorts i form av värdeflödeskartor, där informationen har samlats in från Ericssons olika databaser QSP, Testnet och C:M. Information har även samlats in vid informella intervjuer. Företagets nuläge har analyserats med hjälp av teorier som genomflödestider och utnyttjandegrad och utifrån dessa har förslag tagits fram med hjälp av programmen Excel och C#. I nulägesanalysen framkom att den teststrategi man nu använder inte fungerar tillräckligt bra, detta eftersom kretskort som det inte är fel på skickas till reparationsavdelningen. Detta beror även på att teststationerna som finns på avdelningen Modul är väldigt instabila och att testoperatörerna inte besitter tillräckligt mycket kunskap om varje artikel. I rapporten presenteras en ny teststrategi som baseras på 5 olika kriterier och som är baserad på data som inhämtats från databasen SID 40 dagar tillbaka. Till teststrategin tas även kompletterande information fram till testoperatörerna för att underlätta deras arbete då det handlar om att ta beslut om ett kort/enhet ska testas om. Vid införande av nya teststrategin skulle ett värde av 1,6 miljoner kronor för kort och 3,25 miljoner kronor för enheter skickas vidare i systemet till kund istället för att skickas till reparationsavdelningen. Detta skulle dock öka utnyttjandet i resurserna, för kort med 9,2 och för enheter med 19,2 procent, men utnyttjandet för både kort och enheter är väldigt lågt, vilket medför att det inte borde påverka systemet i för stor utsträckning. Detta förutsätter dock att testprocessen presterar på samma sätt som den gjort de 40 senaste dagarna. Till sist presenteras resultatet i ett grafiskt gränssnitt för att underlätta för operatörerna på avdelningen Modul. Rekommendationerna som ges till Ericsson angående den nya teststrategin är att den bör användas som ett hjälpmedel och om den senare ska användas bör den integreras i den vanliga testmiljön.

This examination work is performed at the institution of industrial economy and production at Jonkoping technical university, for JELD-WEN Door Solutions plant in Forserum. Today the focus in the company is on to reduce their inventories binding of capitals as well as inventory of products and that includes to get a good control of the supply and handling of material which is of great importance. JELD-WEN Door Solutions is one of the worlds leading producers of windows and doors and the head-office is located in Oregon, USA. A great number of wooden doors are manufactured by the company in varying of constructions, classifications and performance. The production of the plant in Forserum has a project- and customer focus manufacturing where only internal doors are produced. The overall market they are concentrated on is to different institution such as schools, hospitals etc. The purpose of this work is to investigate possibilities to improvement of material- and production control at JELD-WEN. The report will handle the master production schedule to and from the production divisions within manufacturing industry. Focus will be on the way for information- and material flows from arrival, transport within the company and further on to customers. Further a map of the flow was performed which gave a clearer picture of the connection between the flow of information- and material for the manufacturing process. On the basis of the mapping of the flow, the group discovered that the flow of material had some improvement potential. The group has also chosen to look on the final assembling process to investigate if it’s able to do improvements here also. The report is concluded with discussion and suggestions of improvement considering the flow of information- and material. The suggestions of improvement that is given are suggestions that how JELD-WEN can work with the handling and the structure of material to production.