Insurance companies and banks are of great importance to the economy, which is why their stability must be ensured. In order to prevent bankruptcies in the financial sector, these companies are subject to strict regulations, which set standards for risk management and the amount of reserve capital required. Such capital reserves act as safety buffers to protect the customers from extraordinary events. In the insurance industry, the reserve capital is referred to as the solvency margin. Solvency II is new set of insurance regulations that aims to set a common standard regarding solvency capital and risk management for insurance companies within the European Union. The potential costs and benefits of the regulations are of importance not only to insurance companies but also to those firms that offer services and products to the insurance industry in the field of risk management. Solvency II is often compared to the Basel II accord for banks, which had a strong business case in the way that banks could significantly lower their reserve capital and use it for other purposes. The question is, however, whether insurance companies can expect similar benefits from Solvency II. The purpose of this study is therefore to explain how the Solvency II regulations will affect risk management in the Swedish non-life insurance industry, and whether these changes can result in opportunities for insurance companies. This is achieved by studying the new regulations and conducting a number of interviews with insurance company representatives as well as industry experts. Four potential effects of Solvency II have been investigated: capital levels, insurance pricing, credit ratings and reinsurance. The findings of the study indicate that no obvious benefits related to the potential effects above can be realised by complying with Solvency II. The future capital requirements will come close to those already enforced by supervisors today, resulting in a minor change that can go both ways. Neither credit ratings nor reinsurance covers seem to become notably affected by Solvency II. As for insurance pricing, an increasingly sophisticated risk-based allocation of the cost of solvency capital provides the most notable opportunity of Solvency II, but at present, no conclusions can be drawn regarding the effects of such changes. On the other hand, Solvency II will put pressure on improving systems to ensure the quality and traceability of data. Thus, the actual changes in risk management practices are not expected to be substantial among Swedish non-life insurance companies, and it therefore seems unlikely that insurance companies would be willing to invest as heavily in reaching Solvency II compliance as banks have done in Basel II.

<p>This thesis has been made in cooperation with Forsheda Stålverktyg AB which develops and manufactures injection moulds and diecasting tools. The main concern has been their Trading-system which provides them with considerable amount of quality lost function.</p><p>Focus has to however be put on the analysis of the Trading-system due to the fact that this has previously meant various quality issues for the company.</p><p>This thesis treats quality assurance of the Trading-system, identification of the problems in the process and improvements of these problems.</p><p>Quality assurance is carried out when a company detects that their quality based costs become too high. Quality based cost are” the costs that would disappear if a company's products and its different operational processes were absolute” (Sörqvist, 2001 p.30, free translation from Swedish). High quality based costs often result in increased quality problems, which can lead to substantial economic loss for the company.</p><p>This work has resulted in a thorough review of the Trading-system whereupon problems have been identified. In order to assure the quality process and lower the quality based costs, we have developed a control system. This, in order to avoid earlier made mistakes and assure that further problems with the system don’t occur.</p><p>The developed system will result in more responsibilities for the customers, especially when reviewing the tool drawing and prototype. Thereby the errors and the quality based costs will decrease.</p>

<p>This study will chart the changeover work, with a standpoint in the SMED-theory, at the company Peter Ernst AB in Värnamo. They are suppliers in plastic moulding industry and delivers to amongst other Saab in Trollhättan and Scania. The company are in a very competitive market, and they have to make manufacturing more efficient and rationalise their costs to be able to compete. A big problem, which the company has identified, is their long changeovers. It brings higher costs, a more stressful work climate and holds back the company from becoming more efficient.</p><p>Field studies will be conducted on the changeover, which will be observed and filmed. The filming provides the possibility to go back and look at the changeovers again. The objective of the study is to map the changeover work, and also make clear suggestions for improvements.</p><p>To give the suggestions of improvements more depth they will be discussed with the changeover workers. All the machines in the study are plastic moulding machines and are CNC-guided.</p><p>Our study will result in a mapping of the changeover work, and some suggestions for improvements of the tool carrier and new work routine.</p>

<p>The report addresses four main tasks, situation analysis of the company's total costs and transportation volume, cost analysis associated with the adjustment of the filling ratio, transport costs for the expansion and new expenses on a combination of expansion with new adjusted filling ratio.  Increasing transport costs for the company was the main reason for the request of the current situation analysis. A survey of the total cost with the actual volumes and transport provider pricing is the basis of the analysis that extends from May 2006 to October 2008. The results show an increase in costs, both overall expense and per cubic meter of transported goods. Volume spreads, trends, and seasonal variations are according to our and the company’s expectations. An alternative to respond to the Swedish Work Environment Authority future requirements was to lower the filling of the company's outbound shipments. By reducing the maximum cargo volume to 90 percent better working conditions can be achieved. This could be achieved through heavy items more lightly could be positioned ergonomic. The goal is to find the cost implications of the filling ratio. The approach was to identify the transport history and calculate the cargo that in theory would be affected by a degree of filling adjustment. The amounts of freight shipments filled more than 90 percent were assumed to be "left behind". The sum of cargo multiplied by its specific freight price was the company's costs to be. The consequence of this was that two scenarios were developed: more shipments or larger shipments. It was concluded that a large quantity of shipments were affected, but only a small amount from each shipment, totally 2.4 percent of the goods. The company is planning an expansion of 50 new stores in different regions around the Nordic countries in a few numbers of years. An increased transport need is a natural result and the aim is to identify the new transportation costs. The approach was to study existing stores freight rates against the transport provider. The regions a current expansion cost was based on the average of transported cargo volume and price. The result shows the probable increase in the company's generating costs of an expansion. Major differences among the company's stores in the Nordic countries appear in stores in the north of natural causes, will also become the most expensive to ship goods to. The company may be using the results as an idea of what price they should accept from the transport provider. A combination of expansion with new adjusted filling degree was processed in the report. The result was a new total cost for the company's shipments, which can be seen as an indication of future cost position.</p>

No description available.

<p>Krav på lägre produktionskostnader, kortare byggtider, felfria produkter och längre garantitider är ständigt aktuella i byggbranschen. Blickarna har de senaste åren vänts mot den traditionella industrin och möjligheterna att dra lärdomar från denna. Begreppet industrialiserat byggande har fötts och definieras i denna undersökning som förtillverkning av byggelement och komponenter i fabrik för vidare montering på byggarbetsplatsen. Det ses att detta sätt att bygga skulle kunna vara ett sätt att svara till de krav som ställs och i detta examensarbete undersöks hur logistik kan vara ett medel i att svara till dessa krav; hur logistik kan möjliggöra industrialiserat byggande. En fallstudie görs av ett företag som i denna undersökning benämns ”Trähus”, ett företag vars verksamhet består av industrialiserat byggande i trä och syftet med denna undersökning är att utreda hur, ur ett logistiskt perspektiv, ”Trähus” byggprocess kan effektiviseras.</p><p>En del i problematiken kring industrialiserat byggande är att nå en balans mellan standardisering och flexibilitet. Standardisering för att uppnå en effektiv process och flexibilitet för att kunna svara till kunds krav. Med standardisering avses ett repetitivt utförande av något som fungerar bra vilket kan innefatta såväl standardiserade produkter som en standardisering på processnivå. Med en utgångspunkt i koordinationsteorier undersöks hur koordination, att hantera beroenden mellan aktiviteter, av material- och informationsflödet kan vara ett sätt att nå en mer standardiserad byggprocess och därigenom nå en sänkt totalkostnad. Ett grundkrav för att kunna koordinera är information; för att strategiskt styra en process måste det vara känt hur processen ser ut, vilka problem som finns, vad konsekvenserna av olika val blir etcetera. Här identifieras i denna undersökning ett problem i att det i stor utsträckning saknas just information vilket ger dåliga förutsättningar för att på ett bra sätt koordinera. Vidare är det just information som i stor utsträckning är problemet även i själva koordinationsarbetet.</p><p>Bristande koordination ger slöserier i processen, med slöseri avses något som inte tillför något värde. Det kan exempelvis vara väntan eller felaktiga produkter. Genom att identifiera slöserier i processen kan bristande koordination kartläggas och slöserierna uppstår i många fall längre bak i processen och inte där de återfinns. Det konstateras i denna undersökning att bristande koordination i sig ökar kraven på ytterligare koordination då extra arbete som blir nödvändigt vid problem måste koordineras vilket kräver resurser och genererar kostnader.</p><p>Denna undersökning resulterar i att ett flertal slöserier identifierats och vidare härleds till bristande koordination någonstans i byggprocessen. Förslag på hur koordinationen bör se ut för att reducera eller eliminera dessa slöserier presenteras för ett urval om tre beroenden. De första aktiviteterna i byggprocessen, försäljning, inköp och projektering, är av stor vikt för hur den fortsatta processen ser ut. Detta då alla andra aktiviteter direkt eller indirekt är beroende av försäljning, inköp och projektering. Utifrån detta väljs beroenden kopplade till dessa aktiviteter för vidare analys. Analysen visar att informationsutbytet mellan försäljning, inköp och projektering måste koordineras bättre genom viss standardisering av informationen samt av formerna för utbytet. Att det i dessa inledande aktiviteter i processen råder stor osäkerhet ger att det finns ett behov av möten och att det krävs rutiner kring dessa för att de ska fylla sitt syfte.</p><p>Analysen visar också på behovet av en förbättrad koordination vad gäller lagermaterial. Här finns möjligeter att i större utsträckning koordinera försörjningen av lagermaterial genom olika regler och rutiner med ett elektroniskt stöd istället för genom personlig kommunikation.</p><p>En generell slutsats i fallet ”Trähus” är att det är av högsta vikt att få en bättre kontroll på byggprocessen i form av en medvetenhet om vilka konsekvenser olika val får, vilka slöserier som finns, dess omfattning och vad de beror av. Denna typ av information är nödvändig för att nå en bra koordination och för att kontinuerligt kunna förbättra. En högre grad av standardisering av information och informationsutbyte, tydligare regler och rutiner kring möten och lagerstyrning är exempel på åtgärdsförslag som denna undersökning resulterar i och de bidrar till en högre grad av standardisering i byggprocessen då de syftar till att nå ett repetitivt utförande av något som fungerar bra. Ett första steg är alltså att exempelvis ta fram regler och rutiner för lagerstyrningen men sen är ett nödvändigt och kan tyckas självklart steg att följa dessa för att nå standardisering.</p><p>Kvalitativ och kvantitativ data indikerar att slöserierna kan vara omfattande och ger vidare en ledning i att en förbättrad koordination kan ge ”Trähus” en högre grad av standardisering i byggprocessen och vidare en sänkning av totalkostnaden.</p><p>En slutsats utifrån detta är att ”Trähus” byggprocess kan effektiviseras genom att applicera de koordinationsverktyg som presenteras i denna undersökning. ”Trähus” är ett byggföretag som ägnar sig åt industrialiserat byggande och genom att visa på hur man ur ett logistiskt perspektiv kan effektivisera ”Trähus” byggprocess har också frågan om hur logistik kan möjliggöra industrialiserat byggande besvarats.</p> / <p>There is always a demand for lower constructions costs, shorter lead-times, less products with errors and more generous guarantees within the area of construction. During the last few years the attention has turned towards the more traditional industry to see if there is something to learn from there. The concept of industrial construction is born and is in this study defined as prefabrication of construction components and units in a factory to be assembled at the construction site. It is seen that this building technique could be a way of responding to the existing demands. This master thesis investigates whether logistics could be of help in responding to the demands; how logistics can enable industrial construction. A case study of a company, in this thesis named ”Trähus”, is carried out. ”Trähus” is a company in the industrial construction business producing wooden houses. The purpose with this master thesis it to study how, from a logistics perspective, the construction process at ”Trähus” can be made more effective.</p><p>One major issue when it comes to industrial construction is to find a balance between standardization and flexibility. Standardization is needed to reach an effective process and flexibility is needed to satisfy the customer. Standardization is defined as regularity and repetition of successful practice, do something in a good way and make it a standard. With a starting-point in the theories of coordination it is examined how coordination of the flow of material and information can be a way of reaching a more standardized construction process and thereby a lower total cost. One fundamental requirement to enable coordination is information. To strategically manage a process it has to be known what the process looks like, what problems there are and what the consequences of choices made are. Lack of information is identified as a problem in this study; this defines the potential of reaching a good coordination. Information is also identified as a common problem in the practice of coordination.</p><p>Deficient coordination generates waste in the process; waste is defined as something that does not create value. It could be time spent waiting or products containing errors. This study shows that deficient coordination increases the need for coordination since all extra work that needs to be done to solve upcoming problems also demands coordination, which requires resources and generates costs. This study identifies several wastes that are deduced to lacking coordination somewhere in the process.</p><p>The initial activities in the construction process are of great importance for the continuing process. The performance of sales, procurement and design determine how the following activities in the process can be performed. This since all other activities is directly or indirectly dependent on sales, procurement and design. The consequence of this is that it is of high importance that these initial activities are well performed so that it enables the activities that follow to be well performed.</p><p>The analysis shows that the exchange of information between sales, procurement and design needs to be more effective and efficient. This could be reached through standardization of the information exchanged and of the form in which it is exchanged. Another action proposed shows how the coordination of material in stock can be improved. It shows the need of more rules, routines and that there is a need of computerizing the coordination.</p><p>One general conclusion in the case of ”Trähus” is that it should be of high priority to reach a better control of the processes meaning that there needs to be an awareness of the consequences of certain choices, existing waste, the extent of the waste and what it is due to. This kind of information is necessary to enable a good coordination and a continuous work with improvements. A higher degree of standardization of information and information exchange, rules and routines stock management are examples of actions proposed in this study. These actions lead to a higher degree of standardization in the construction process since they aim to reach a repetition of successful practice. A first step is therefore to develop rules and routines for stock control but then a second and obvious step is to follow them to reach standardization.</p><p>Quantitative and qualitative data indicate that the wastes in the construction process are extensive and this gives that an improved coordination could give the processes of ”Trähus” a higher degree of standardization in the construction process and thereby a reduction of the total cost.</p><p>A conclusion is that the construction process of ”Trähus” can be made more effective through the implementation of coordination mechanisms presented in this study. ”Trähus” is a construction company within industrial construction and through showing how, from a logistics perspective, the construction process at ”Trähus” can be made more effective it is also shown how logistics can enable industrialised construction.</p>

No description available.

This thesis has been made in cooperation with Forsheda Stålverktyg AB which develops and manufactures injection moulds and diecasting tools. The main concern has been their Trading-system which provides them with considerable amount of quality lost function. Focus has to however be put on the analysis of the Trading-system due to the fact that this has previously meant various quality issues for the company. This thesis treats quality assurance of the Trading-system, identification of the problems in the process and improvements of these problems. Quality assurance is carried out when a company detects that their quality based costs become too high. Quality based cost are” the costs that would disappear if a company's products and its different operational processes were absolute” (Sörqvist, 2001 p.30, free translation from Swedish). High quality based costs often result in increased quality problems, which can lead to substantial economic loss for the company. This work has resulted in a thorough review of the Trading-system whereupon problems have been identified. In order to assure the quality process and lower the quality based costs, we have developed a control system. This, in order to avoid earlier made mistakes and assure that further problems with the system don’t occur. The developed system will result in more responsibilities for the customers, especially when reviewing the tool drawing and prototype. Thereby the errors and the quality based costs will decrease.

In industry, there is a constant demand for increased productivity in order to stay competitive. Still, Swedish industry has an average utilization of about 60% in its production systems. One important factor for increasing the equipment utilization is effective maintenance of production assets. Within process industry a strategic view on maintenance activities is common and most companies regard maintenance as a profit centre. Meanwhile, the discrete units manufacturing industry still in many cases view maintenance as a cost driver. However, with the spread of Toyota-inspired production concepts, the manufacturing industry is beginning to view maintenance as a strategic asset. Still, though, many companies have no formulated maintenance strategy. The main purpose of the research, presented in this thesis, has been to develop a work-process for formulation of effective maintenance strategies for enterprises in the manufacturing industry. Through one descriptive and two prescriptive case studies a work-process for formulation of maintenance strategies has been developed. The descriptive study revealed some of the differences between companies with and without maintenance strategies. It also showed how some companies view the strategic contributions of maintenance. The first prescriptive study showed how stakeholder involvement may contribute to the identification of relevant performance measures for the maintenance activities. Stakeholder involvement also contributes to the organizational acceptance of the maintenance strategy. Last, the second prescriptive case study led to the development of a work-process for formulation of maintenance strategies. The work-process was tested and verified in three companies, handling different challenges for their maintenance activities. All three companies intend to use the formulated maintenance strategy as a road map for the development of their production maintenance.

Ländryggen är det medicinska namnet på ryggens nedre del, ungefär från revbenen till höften. Ont i ländryggen kan oftast behandlas bra hos en osteopat eller eventuellt hos en kiropraktor eller naprapat. En vanlig behandling de gör då, är att de sträcker ut ländryggen på personen ifråga. Detta för att ländkotorna i ländryggen ska sträckas ut och få avlastning. Genom att dra ut ländryggen ökar cirkulationen och belastningen minskar. Dessvärre är det dyra besök det handlar om och man får ofta långa väntetider föratt få komma dit. Ett besök räcker heller inte, utan det handlar om återbesök ett antal gånger. Många människor drar sig därför för att gå och har då också kvar smärtan en längre tid. De produkter som finns för privat bruk idag, för att sträcka ut ländryggen, är antingen dyra, klumpiga eller känns osäkra. Detta projekt handlar om att utforma en ryggsträckare som kan göra utsträckningen säkert, enkelt och vara billigare än de dyra produkter som finns idag. Produkten ska vara för privatpersoner, för användning i egna hemmet, för att kunna bestämma själv när och var de vill sträcka ut ländryggen. Detta är en möjlighet till självhjälp, mestadels för de som arbetar med tunga lyftsom får ont i ländryggen.