Background: Electric vehicles have been getting increasing attention due to their possibility to deliver multiple environmental, social, and health benefits. This has started a technological shift from the traditional combustion engine towards electric vehicle batteries. Because the inherited value in reverse- flow batteries is high, aftermarket activities such as remanufacturing, repurposing, and recycling become increasingly important to take part in value-added margins. However, these activities battery manufacturing have not historically been a core business of the automotive industry. In times of technological change, firms need to evaluate how the organization can integrate, build and reconfigure both internal and external competencies to respond to the dynamic environment. The dynamic environment puts pressure on operational and dynamic capabilities for original equipment manufacturers to reorganize to be a competitive force in the evolving industry. Purpose: Make-or-buy decisions have in extant literature been investigated thoroughly. However, in the context of the aftermarket of electric vehicle batteries, underlying motives affecting original equipment manufacturers’ make-or-buy decisions has not. The purpose of this work is to explore how underlying motives are affecting the original equipment manufacturer’s make-or-buy decisions in the reverse-flow value chains of electric vehicle batteries. This thesis helps explain the varying integration alternatives that firms confront when facing external pressure, and limitations within the firms’ own capabilities. Method: A qualitative embedded single case study was conducted in the context of the Swedish vehicle manufacturer Volvo Group. The case was analyzed using an abductive approach. The three aftermarket activities remanufacturing, repurposing and recycling were investigated to find out how underlying motives affect the make-or-buy decisions. This was done by adopting a paradox view looking at external factors, through an institutional lens, and internal factors, using dynamic capability theory. Underlying motives were identified by conducting dialogue-based informal interviews, semi-structured interviews, observations, and using corporate documents which were triangulated to improve the accuracy of the findings. The underlying motives were identified by coding first- and second-order motivations and thereafter connecting these with identified make-or-buy decisions. Results: The six second-order motivations: learning, business potential, compliance, cooperation simplicity, industry competitiveness, and ambiguity were identified to affect make-or-buy decisions. These underlying motives are related to the identified decisions: make, buy, collaborate, and limbo. Besides traditional responses to make-or-buy decisions, limbo was also an identified choice, defined in this thesis as a state of not doing anything while waiting for ambiguity to be reduced. This make-or-buy choice was not anticipated and is considered to be an anomaly from the findings. Conclusions: The identified underlying motives come from both internal and external factors, which shows that the firm must use a system perspective when conducting make-or-buy decisions. Furthermore, the capabilities of the firm are crucial whether the firm has the potential of integrating the operation or collaborating. However, in an environment highly influenced by ambiguity, as the present state of the electromobility industry is, the firm may end up not committing to making, buying nor collaborating at all. Instead, they end up in a state of limbo where they organize to have flexibility in the decision by not committing to any of them. The strength in the firm’s dynamic capabilities to handle the ambiguity is proposed to determine how long the firm is stuck in limbo. Based on this, a new proposed framework for how capabilities influence the make-or-buy decision is introduced. / Bakgrund: Elfordon har fått ökad uppmärksamhet på grund av deras möjlighet att bidra med flertalet miljömässiga, sociala och hälsoassocierade fördelar. Det har lett till ett accelererande teknologiskt skifte från traditionella förbränningsmotorerna till elfordonsbatterier. Eftersom det kvarvarande värdet i batterier på eftermarknaden är hög blir eftermarknadsaktiviteter såsom fabriksrenovering, återanvändning i andra applikationer och återvinning mer och mer viktiga för att ta del av marginaler från värdeskapande i värdekedjan. Dock har dessa eftermarknadsaktiviteter, i kontexten av batterier, inte historiskt sett varit en kärnverksamhet inom fordonsindustrin. Under perioder av teknologisk förändring behöver företag bedöma hur organisationen kan integrera, bygga vidare och ställa om interna och externa kompetenser för att anpassa sig till den dynamiska omgivningen. Det här sätter press på operationella och dynamiska förmågor eftersom slutproduktsleverantörer tvingas omorganisera sin verksamhet för att bli konkurrenskraftiga i den utvecklande industrin. Syfte: Beslut gällande att göra själv, eller att köpa (make-or-buy) har i tidigare forskning utforskats grundligt. Men i kontexten av eftermarknaden av elfordonsbatteriers underliggande motiv som avgör slutproduktsleverantörers make-or-buy beslut är den bristfällig. Syftet med arbetet är att utforska hur dessa motiv påverkar slutproduktsleverantörers make-or-buy-beslut i tillbakaflöden av elfordonsbatterier. Det här arbetet bidrar med en ökad förklaring på hur företag hanterar de åtskilliga integrationsalternativ som finns tillgängliga när de påverkas av externa faktorer, men också är begränsade av egna förmågor. Metod: En kvalitativ inbäddad (embedded) enfallsstudie har utförts i kontexten av den svenska fordonstillverkaren Volvo Group. Fallstudien analyserades genom att använda ett abduktivt tillvägagångssätt. De tre eftermarknadsaktiviteterna fabriksrenovering, återanvändning i andra applikationer och återvinning undersöks för att identifiera hur underliggande motiv påverka make-or-buy besluten. Det här utfördes genom att använda ett paradoxalt synsätt och genom att undersöka både externa faktorer, genom en institutionell lens, och interna faktorer, genom att använda dynamisk kapabilitetsteori. Underliggande motiv blev identifierade genom att använda dialogbaserade informella intervjuer, semistrukturella intervjuer, observationer och företagsdokument där datakällorna triangulerades för att öka träffsäkerheten i resultaten. De underliggande motiven blev identifierade genom att koda första- och andra-ordningens motiv och därefter sattes dessa samman med de identifierade make-or-buy besluten. Resultat: De sex andra-ordningens motiv: inlärning, affärspotential, samtycke, enkelhet i samarbete marknadskonkurrens och osäkerhet blev identifierade faktorer som påverkar make-or-buy beslut. Dessa underliggande motiv kopplades ihop med de identifierade besluten: göra, köpa, samarbeta och limbo. Förutom de traditionella make-or-buy besluten identifierades även limbo som ett alternativ, där limbo i det här arbetet definierades som ett avvaktande tillstånd när man väntar på att osäkerhet ska minska. Det här make-or-buy beslutet var inte förväntat i resultatet och anses i det här arbetet vara en anomali. Slutsats: De identifierade underliggande motiven kom både från interna och externa faktorer vilket visar att ett företag måste använda ett systemperspektiv när de tar make-or-buy beslut. Därutöver är ett företagets förmågor avgörande huruvida de har en potential i att integrera operationen alternativt samarbeta. I en miljö som är starkt influerat av osäkerhet, vilket är faktumet i elektromobilitetsindustrin, kan dock företaget ta ett val att varken köpa, göra eller samarbeta i operationen. Istället kan de välja ett stadie av limbo där de organiserar sig för att ha en flexibilitet i beslutet genom att inte binda upp sig på ett alternativ över huvud taget. Styrkan i ett företags dynamiska förmågor att hantera osäkerhet föreslås i arbetet bestämma hur lång tid företaget är fast i limbo. Baserat på detta föreslås ett nytt ramverk som förklarar hur företagets förmågor influerar make-or-buy beslut.

Many multinational corporations find themselves frequently in the dichotomous question of whether to make or buy a given component; but when those companies are operating with a global purchasing strategy, oriented to high levels of centralization and dealing simultaneously with the implications of purchasing and producing the same item, the approach to take the decision becomes difficult to find, even with the current literature and practitioners knowledge This master thesis addresses in a comprehensive proposal the way to undertake this kind of make-or-buy decisions. Through the literature review done, regarding global purchasing strategy, purchasing models, supplier selection methods and make-or-buy frameworks; it was found a convenient model to merge those concepts with the empirical experiences of a single case study in the Italcementi Group, one of the largest Cement producers in the world. The model proposed considers both strategic and economic elements and is designed as an iterative algorithm that evaluates several alternatives in order to arrive to the best make-or-buy approach. The methodologies selected and combined to solve the problem are mostly quantitative, but keeping the importance of qualitative elements within the analysis. The outcome of the thesis is a contribution to academicians and practitioners aiming to turn the existing knowledge about make-or-buy decisions into practical solutions for business management.

The aim of this thesis is to compare the consecutive years of degree of happiness between the Nordic region and Japan. The second aim is to seek for the detrimental factor contributing to happiness before and during the pandemic, based on the measurement by the World Happiness Report. Yearly based datasets of 'life ladder score', 'log GDP per capita', 'social support', 'healthy life expectancy', 'freedom to make life choices', 'generosity', and 'perception of corruption' from 2008 to 2021 were used for the aim and goal. The results of this study showed there were no significant changes in the trend of happiness from 2008 to 2021 between the Nordic region and Japan. Also, there were not any significant differences in terms of subjective well-being before and during the pandemic. Besides, as a result of multiple regression analysis, the study revealed that 'freedom to make life choices' was the detrimental factor that contributed to the subjective well-being before the pandemic. On the other hand, during the pandemic, 'social support' was the detrimental factor between the Nordic region and Japan. This study implied the connectedness between the subjective well-being and self-determination theory in terms of relatedness, and autonomy. For further investigation, it was concluded that creating a more inclusive measurement of happiness which adjusts diverse psychological definitions of happiness, investigating the relationship between the subcategories of population and happiness, and reviewing more comprehensive detrimental factors that explain well-being between the Nordic region and Japan should be needed.

This study details Roman women’s use of makeup, and the relevance of studying makeup whenexploring the history of Roman women. The study explores the relation between the use ofmakeup and female identity through texts and archaeological material. By first presenting thetypes of makeup used and the paraphernalia associated with the application of makeup, thiscontextualizes how women interacted with makeup on a day-today basis. This leads to adiscussion on who used makeup and what the use of makeup says about female identity. When analyzing women’s use of makeup, this study compares ancient texts, archaeologicalfinds, and modern chemical analysis of ancient makeup. This study argues that women ofdifferent social standings could use makeup, and that women were able to use makeup as a toolto establish some control over how they were perceived by the public. This in turn makesmakeup a way to study female agenda in antiquity. / Denna studie fokuserar på romerska kvinnors användning av smink och relevansen av attstudera smink i anknytning till romerska kvinnors historia. Studien utforskar relationen mellananvändningen av smink och kvinnlig identitet genom texter och arkeologiskt material. De olikatyperna av smink och föremålen associerade med appliceringen av smink presenteras, med syfteatt kontextualisera hur kvinnor interagerade med smink i sin vardag. Detta lägger grunden fördiskussionen om vem som använde smink och vad användningen av smink säger om kvinnorsidentitet. För att analysera kvinnors användning av smink jämför denna studie antika texter,arkeologiska fynd och modern kemisk analys av antikt smink. Denna studie argumenterar attkvinnor från olika samhällsklasser kunde använda smink, och att smink gav kvinnormöjligheten att påverka hur allmänheten såg dem. Detta gör i sin tur att smink kan ses som ettsätt att studera kvinnlig agenda under antiken.

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This thesis presents the novel use of Coherent Point Drift in improving the robustness of a number of computer vision applications. CPD approach includes two methods for registering two images - rigid and non-rigid point set approaches which are based on the transformation model used. The key characteristic of a rigid transformation is that the distance between points is preserved, which means it can be used in the presence of translation, rotation, and scaling. Non-rigid transformations - or affine transforms - provide the opportunity of registering under non-uniform scaling and skew. The idea is to move one point set coherently to align with the second point set. The CPD method finds both the non-rigid transformation and the correspondence distance between two point sets at the same time without having to use a-priori declaration of the transformation model used. The first part of this thesis is focused on speaker identification in video conferencing. A real-time, audio-coupled video based approach is presented, which focuses more on the video analysis side, rather than the audio analysis that is known to be prone to errors. CPD is effectively utilised for lip movement detection and a temporal face detection approach is used to minimise false positives if face detection algorithm fails to perform. The second part of the thesis is focused on multi-exposure and multi-focus image fusion with compensation for camera shake. Scale Invariant Feature Transforms (SIFT) are first used to detect keypoints in images being fused. Subsequently this point set is reduced to remove outliers, using RANSAC (RANdom Sample Consensus) and finally the point sets are registered using CPD with non-rigid transformations. The registered images are then fused with a Contourlet based image fusion algorithm that makes use of a novel alpha blending and filtering technique to minimise artefacts. The thesis evaluates the performance of the algorithm in comparison to a number of state-of-the-art approaches, including the key commercial products available in the market at present, showing significantly improved subjective quality in the fused images. The final part of the thesis presents a novel approach to Vehicle Make & Model Recognition in CCTV video footage. CPD is used to effectively remove skew of vehicles detected as CCTV cameras are not specifically configured for the VMMR task and may capture vehicles at different approaching angles. A LESH (Local Energy Shape Histogram) feature based approach is used for vehicle make and model recognition with the novelty that temporal processing is used to improve reliability. A number of further algorithms are used to maximise the reliability of the final outcome. Experimental results are provided to prove that the proposed system demonstrates an accuracy in excess of 95% when tested on real CCTV footage with no prior camera calibration.

In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, wie eine theoriegeleitete Bewertung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen erfolgen kann und welche Ansatzpunkte für profitables Wachstum von Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)-Anbietern in Deutschland sich aus der Nutzung einer entsprechenden Methodik ableiten lassen. Dazu wird in drei Schritten vorgegangen. In einem ersten Schritt wird ein theoretisch-konzeptionelles Bewertungsmodell zur Bestimmung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen entwickelt. In einem zweiten Schritt werden Möglichkeiten einer konzeptionellen Übertragung dieses Modells auf Praxisanwendungen geprüft. Im abschließenden dritten Schritt wird gezeigt, wie die Verwendung des in dieser Arbeit entwickelten Bewertungsmodells im Rahmen der Marktbearbeitungsaktivitäten von BPO-Dienstleistern einen Beitrag zum profitablen Wachstum dieser Anbieter leisten kann. / In this thesis it is studied how a theory-based assessment of business processes regarding their adequacy for outsourcing can be carried out and what starting points for profitable growth of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers in Germany can result from the application of such a methodology. For this purpose a three step approach is taken. As a first step a theory-based concept of an assessment model to determine the adequacy of outsourcing business processes is developed. As a second step possibilities for transferring the concept of this model to real life applications are examined. In a final third step it is shown how the assessment model developed here can be used as part of the marketing activities of BPO companies to contribute to their profitable growth.

Strategic planning is essential for the management of Information and Communication Technologies in organizations, providing more assertive decisions to establish the basic purposes of improvement and implementation of new resources. The goal of this study was the adaptation of the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) in the creation of a new model to support decision making on the prioritization of investments in strategic planning of Information and Communication Technologies as a support to the methodology PETIC, called PETIC Decision Make (PDM), evaluating its applicability in real case studies. The investigated institutions were a municipal public administration body and a labor union entity, where the PDM was used in the prioritization of investments for the period of five years, using the tool PDMSys created in this study. By means of the proposed method was possible to select alternatives of actions considered preferable and to analyze their dependencies, besides creating a continuous cycle for classification. The results indicated the practicability of the method, avoiding an indication that the dependencies would jeopardize the investment in technologies. In this way, it was verified that the application of the PDM increases the predictability of expenditures, allows the reduction of initial costs and contributes to the assertiveness in the decisions on the management of the technological resources, implying in the global management of the institutions. / O planejamento estratégico é essencial para a gestão das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação nas organizações, proporcionando decisões mais assertivas para o estabelecimento dos propósitos básicos de melhoria e implementação de novos recursos. Abordando o tema, o objetivo deste estudo foi a adaptação do Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) na criação de um novo modelo de apoio à tomada de decisão sobre a priorização de investimentos em planejamento estratégico de Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação como suporte à metodologia PETIC, denominado PETIC Decision Make (PDM), avaliando sua aplicabilidade em estudos de caso real. As instituições investigadas foram um órgão da administração pública municipal e uma entidade sindical, onde se empregou o PDM na priorização de investimentos para o período de cinco anos, utilizando-se a ferramenta PDMSys criada neste estudo. Por meio do método proposto foi possível selecionar alternativas de ações consideradas preferíveis e analisar as suas dependências, além de criar um ciclo contínuo para ordená-las. Os resultados indicaram a praticabilidade do método, evitando indicação em que as dependências prejudicassem o investimento em tecnologias. Dessa forma, constatou-se que a aplicação do PDM amplia a previsibilidade sobre os gastos, possibilita a redução de custos iniciais e contribui para a assertividade nas decisões sobre a gestão dos recursos tecnológicos, implicando na gestão global das instituições.

In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, wie eine theoriegeleitete Bewertung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen erfolgen kann und welche Ansatzpunkte für profitables Wachstum von Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)-Anbietern in Deutschland sich aus der Nutzung einer entsprechenden Methodik ableiten lassen. Dazu wird in drei Schritten vorgegangen. In einem ersten Schritt wird ein theoretisch-konzeptionelles Bewertungsmodell zur Bestimmung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen entwickelt. In einem zweiten Schritt werden Möglichkeiten einer konzeptionellen Übertragung dieses Modells auf Praxisanwendungen geprüft. Im abschließenden dritten Schritt wird gezeigt, wie die Verwendung des in dieser Arbeit entwickelten Bewertungsmodells im Rahmen der Marktbearbeitungsaktivitäten von BPO-Dienstleistern einen Beitrag zum profitablen Wachstum dieser Anbieter leisten kann.:1 Einführung: Organisationen im Wandel 1.1 Problemstellung 1.2 Zielsetzung der Arbeit und wissenschaftliche Vorgehensweise 1.3 Stand der Publikationen 2 Business Processs Outsourcing: Entwicklung, Systematisierung und Definition 2.1 Entwicklung des Business Process Outsourcing 2.2 Systematisierungsansätze für die Begriffe Sourcing und Outsourcing 2.3 Definition und Abgrenzung des Business Process Outsourcings 3 Entwicklung eines theoretisch-konzeptionellen Modells zur Bedarfsermittlung an BPO-Leistungen 3.1 Grenzen der Theorieauswahl 3.2 Vorstellung ausgewählter theoretischer Ansätze 3.3 Klassifizierung von Entscheidungsmodellen 3.4 Multikriterielle Entscheidungsmodelle 3.5 Eingrenzung der theoretischen Elemente zur Entwicklung eines BPO-Entscheidungsmodells 3.6 Entwicklung eines BPO-Entscheidungsmodells 4 Ansätze zur konzeptionellen Übertragung des BPO-Entscheidungsmodells auf Praxisanwendungen 4.1 Entwicklung einer individuellen Bewertungsmethodik 4.2 Entwicklung einer Gesamtbewertungsmethodik 4.3 Zwischenfazit 5 Ansätze für profitables Wachstum von BPO-Dienstleistern 5.1 Marktbegriffe 5.2 Marketing und Marketing-Wissenschaft 5.3 Entwicklung von Marketingansätzen für BPO-Dienstleister 6 Fazit und Ausblick 6.1 Fazit 6.2 Ausblick / In this thesis it is studied how a theory-based assessment of business processes regarding their adequacy for outsourcing can be carried out and what starting points for profitable growth of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers in Germany can result from the application of such a methodology. For this purpose a three step approach is taken. As a first step a theory-based concept of an assessment model to determine the adequacy of outsourcing business processes is developed. As a second step possibilities for transferring the concept of this model to real life applications are examined. In a final third step it is shown how the assessment model developed here can be used as part of the marketing activities of BPO companies to contribute to their profitable growth.:1 Einführung: Organisationen im Wandel 1.1 Problemstellung 1.2 Zielsetzung der Arbeit und wissenschaftliche Vorgehensweise 1.3 Stand der Publikationen 2 Business Processs Outsourcing: Entwicklung, Systematisierung und Definition 2.1 Entwicklung des Business Process Outsourcing 2.2 Systematisierungsansätze für die Begriffe Sourcing und Outsourcing 2.3 Definition und Abgrenzung des Business Process Outsourcings 3 Entwicklung eines theoretisch-konzeptionellen Modells zur Bedarfsermittlung an BPO-Leistungen 3.1 Grenzen der Theorieauswahl 3.2 Vorstellung ausgewählter theoretischer Ansätze 3.3 Klassifizierung von Entscheidungsmodellen 3.4 Multikriterielle Entscheidungsmodelle 3.5 Eingrenzung der theoretischen Elemente zur Entwicklung eines BPO-Entscheidungsmodells 3.6 Entwicklung eines BPO-Entscheidungsmodells 4 Ansätze zur konzeptionellen Übertragung des BPO-Entscheidungsmodells auf Praxisanwendungen 4.1 Entwicklung einer individuellen Bewertungsmethodik 4.2 Entwicklung einer Gesamtbewertungsmethodik 4.3 Zwischenfazit 5 Ansätze für profitables Wachstum von BPO-Dienstleistern 5.1 Marktbegriffe 5.2 Marketing und Marketing-Wissenschaft 5.3 Entwicklung von Marketingansätzen für BPO-Dienstleister 6 Fazit und Ausblick 6.1 Fazit 6.2 Ausblick

Bakgrund: Dagens marknader har med tiden tenderat att bli mer globala vilket i sin tur har ökat konkurrensen mellan företag. Detta har inneburit att många industriorganisationer har behövt förändra sig för att vara konkurrenskraftiga på marknaden. Ett koncept som idag genomsyrar många företag är lean vilket bygger på att maximera användandet av sina resurser, eliminera slöserier och skapa en effektivare tillverkning. Genom att arbeta med lean kan företag uppnå snabbare genomloppstider. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att kartlägga Press Kogyos propellerprocess för att kunna identifiera icke-värdeadderande aktiviteter i processen. Vidare kommer studien bidra Press Kogyo med förslag gällande hur en effektivare material- och produktionsstyrning kan reducera genomloppstiden i propellerprocessen. För att studien ska uppnå teoretisk relevans är ytterligare ett syfte med studien att bidra med teori kring hur tillverkande företag, med en funktionell layout, kan reducera de nackdelar som finns med layouten med effektivare material- och produktionsstyrning. Genomförande: Studien har delats upp i tre forskningsfrågor. De två första forskningsfrågorna var specifikt inriktade mot det studerade företaget medan den tredje forskningsfrågan var mer generellt ställd mot tillverkande företag med funktionell layout. Studien har genomförts som en fallstudie och präglats av kvalitativa forskningsmetoder. Empiriska data har samlats in genom intervjuer, observationer samt en fokusgrupp. För första forskningsfrågan skapades processkartor och VSM-kartor. Dessa i samband med diverse intervjuer låg till grund för att identifiera icke-värdeadderande aktiviteter/slöserier i propellerprocessen vilka påverkade genomloppstiden. För forskningsfråga två applicerades teori kring material-och För tillverkande industriföretag kan en reducering av genomloppstid generera diverse fördelar. Några av dessa fördelar är: minskat antal produkter i arbete, bättre kvalité, minskade kostnader, bättre prognoser, ökad flexibilitet samt minskad ledtid gentemot kund. Press Kogyo har under en längre period upplevt en problematik kring en av deras processer. Problematiken har legat i att de inte vetat om vilka icke- värdeadderade aktiviteter som finns i processen samt hur de påverkar genomloppstiden.   produktionsstyrning i syfte att reducera de icke-värdeadderande aktiviteterna/slöserier som identifierats och följaktligen reducera genomloppstider i processen. Gällande forskningsfråga tre genomfördes intervjuer med det studerade företaget och ett annat tillverkande företag med funktionell layout. Författarna ämnade att genom dessa intervjuer besvara hur tillverkande företag med en funktionell layout kan reducera de nackdelar som finns med den layouten med hjälp av effektiv material- och produktionsstyrning. Slutsats: I studien identifierades sju slöserier där väntan ansågs vara det slöseri vilket mest påverkade genomloppstiden i propellerprocessen. För att eliminera alla slöserier och framförallt väntan applicerades teori kring material- och produktionsstyrning med fokus på production activity control (PAC). Den teori vilken användes skapade också en teoretisk modell vilken kan vara en bra grund när företag med funktionell layout vill effektivisera sin planering. Vissa delar av den teoretiska modellen användes också senare i studien där den användes för att reducera de nackdelar vilka kan finnas med en funktionell layout. / Background: Today's markets have over time tended to become more global, which in turn has increased competition between companies. This has meant that many industry organizations have had to change in order to be competitive in the market. A concept that today permeates many companies is the lean practice, which is based on maximizing the use of resources, eliminating waste, and creating more efficient production. By working with lean, companies can achieve faster throughput time. For manufacturing industrial companies, a reduction in throughput time can generate various benefits. Some of these advantages are: reduced number of products in work, better quality, reduced costs, better forecasts, increased flexibility and reduced lead time towards customers.Press Kogyo has for a long period experienced problems with one of their processes. The main problem has been that they do not know what non-value-added activities/waste that can be found in the process and how these activitiesaffect the total throughput time of the process. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to map Press Kogyo's propeller process in order to be able to identify non-value-adding activities in the process. Furthermore, the study will provide Press Kogyo with proposals regarding how more efficient material and production control can reduce the throughput time in the propeller process. In order for the study to achieve theoretical relevance, another purpose of the study is to contribute with theories about how manufacturing companies, with a functional layout, can reduce the disadvantages of the layout with more efficient material and production control. Methodology: The study has been divided into three research questions. The first two research questions were specifically aimed at Press Kogyo, while the third research question was more generally directed at manufacturing companies with a functional layout. The study was conducted as a case study and was characterized by qualitative research methods. Empirical data has been collected through interviews, observations, and a focus group. For the first research question, process maps and VSM maps were created. This together with various interviews created the foundation for identifying non-value-adding activities/waste in the propeller process which affected the throughput time. For research question two, theory of material and production control was applied in order to reduce the non-value-adding activities/waste and consequently reduce throughput time in the process. Regarding research question three, interviews were conducted with Press Kogyo and another manufacturing company with a functional layout. The authors intended to, through these interviews, find answers to how manufacturing companies with a functional layout can reduce the disadvantages of the layout with the help of efficient material and production control. Conclusions: In the study, seven wastes were identified where “wait” was considered to be the waste that affected throughput time the most in the propeller process. To eliminate all waste and specifically the waste “wait”, methods and theories regarding material and production control was applied with a focus on production activity control (PAC). All the different theories that was used also created a theoretical model which can be a good basis for planning when companies with a functional layout want to find ways tostreamline their planning. Some parts of the theoretical model were also used later in the study where it was used to reduce the disadvantages that may exist with a functional layout