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Färggrossen is a warehousing company that was established in 1976. The company has over 400 customers ranging across mid and south Sweden; it stores 5,000 different types of products such as paints, wallpapers, chemicals and tools which are used for painting. Since its establishment, the company has not changed how it manages its warehouse. Decisions are based on the warehouse manager’s personal memory and decisions, and this method worked sufficiently well until the company was bought by Mikael Lindgren in September 2008. Lindgren, the CEO, believed that the company had more potential, which is why the company has eagerly started to make changes in order to improve the warehouse operations as well as to reach its full potential. This thesis is to guide the company to reach this goal. At our first meeting with Färggrossen, improvements regarding different processes as well as the warehouse layout were identified. As a first step, a literature study was conducted in order to gain deeper insight and understanding about warehouse layouts; also we benefited from studying literature regarding different warehouse aspects from a system perspective: inputs, processes and outputs. Subsequent to the literature study, we identified those thesis research questions which needed to be answered in order to improve the warehouse management at Färggrossen. The next step was to decide which methods should be used in order to answer these questions. After researching different methodology options, a meeting with Färggrossen and our supervisor Bengt Ekdahl took place where we, together, decided to use the multiple case study method. Färggrossen suggested that we study two other companies, BSAB and ECO; according to them, these companies had similar warehouses. To be able to benchmark three companies, we needed to understand the warehousing management systems of all three companies, which is why we conducted our interviews. Once we finished gathering the required data, we defined the three companies’ activities in a manner to correspond with the terminology which is used in the literature.  In the analysis chapter we compared the three companies, and also used the information from the literature in order to provide Färggrossen with recommendations on how to improve the warehouse processes and layout. These are categorised as main, secondary and future recommendations; the main recommendations are the most important and inexpensive to implement, which is why we strongly suggest that they are prioritized. The two most important recommendations to improve the outputs of the warehouse system are implementing a serialized locater addressing system and defining a bulk area to support the replenishment process. These particular modifications will improve the overall efficiency of the warehouse system as well as the product availability and the customer satisfaction. The overall efficiency of the warehouse system will be further improved by eliminating manual labour as much as possible and combining the inspections whih are done in the receiving process with the putaway process. The product condition will be improved if the following recommendations are implemented; a small shelf solution which is used in ECO, a fixed slot system in the wallpaper area and the implementation of safety precautions in the company. The purpose of this thesis was to map and analyze Färggrossen in order to improve the inventory, warehouse layout and the methods being used in the warehouse management. With our recommendations, the company will have an improved and new warehouse layout, the processes will be improved and the efficiency will be increased.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a new intervention method, Technology Assisted Therapy for Separation Anxiety (TTSA), on the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of persons with intellectual and visual disability who experience separation anxiety and exhibit challenging behaviour. A pre-experimental within group design was used with randomised multiple baselines and staggered intervention start points. The data was collected at an institution in the Netherlands that provides long-term care and residence for persons with intellectual disability and visual impairment. Six participants took part in this study. This research was informed by Bowlby‟s attachment theory, which conceptualises the tendency of human beings to forge strong emotional bonds with others and explains how the disturbance of this bond might lead to various forms of emotional distress and personality disturbances. The interplay of separation anxiety and challenging behaviour with respect to the formation of attachment relationships provides the specific theoretical context in which this study is grounded. The results indicate that both the separation anxiety experienced and the challenging behaviour exhibited by the participants decreased significantly after the implementation of TTSA. Their psychosocial functioning and quality of life also increased significantly. This study demonstrates the first successful application of TTSA to treat separation anxiety and challenging behaviour in persons with intellectual and visual disability. TTSA therefore has the potential to be a valid intervention to address these disorders. / MA (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a new intervention method, Technology Assisted Therapy for Separation Anxiety (TTSA), on the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of persons with intellectual and visual disability who experience separation anxiety and exhibit challenging behaviour. A pre-experimental within group design was used with randomised multiple baselines and staggered intervention start points. The data was collected at an institution in the Netherlands that provides long-term care and residence for persons with intellectual disability and visual impairment. Six participants took part in this study. This research was informed by Bowlby‟s attachment theory, which conceptualises the tendency of human beings to forge strong emotional bonds with others and explains how the disturbance of this bond might lead to various forms of emotional distress and personality disturbances. The interplay of separation anxiety and challenging behaviour with respect to the formation of attachment relationships provides the specific theoretical context in which this study is grounded. The results indicate that both the separation anxiety experienced and the challenging behaviour exhibited by the participants decreased significantly after the implementation of TTSA. Their psychosocial functioning and quality of life also increased significantly. This study demonstrates the first successful application of TTSA to treat separation anxiety and challenging behaviour in persons with intellectual and visual disability. TTSA therefore has the potential to be a valid intervention to address these disorders. / MA (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Aim: This study explores what type of information patients and nurses share with, or provide to, each other, and whether or not the information received was relevant and sufficient for their needs. Background: Information exchange, as part of shared decision-making, is advocated in policy and practice throughout the healthcare sector. Much of the literature on information exchange relates to one-to-one consultations with consultants or GPs. To date, no studies have explored information exchange between patients and nurses in ward settings. Nursing literature on patients’ information needs focuses on one-way information provision from nurses to patients, rather than on two-way information exchange between patients and nurses. Methods: Interactions between patients and nurses were observed and audio-recorded using a remotely controlled audio-recording system. Semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews were then conducted to clarify and add to the observation data. A multiple case study design was used for this study: each case comprised one patient, the nurses caring for that patient, and the interactions between them. A pilot study was undertaken to inform the methods for recruitment and data collection for the main study. Results: The pilot study comprised five cases (patients n=5, nurses n=3). Changes to the recruitment strategy for the main study included surgical patients being invited to participate in the same way as medical patients. There were no difficulties with the data collection methods. The main study comprised nineteen cases (patients n=19, nurses n=22). Information exchange seemed unfamiliar to ward-based nurses. The findings show that information exchange may not be a one-off event but a complex series of interactions. Patients did not distinguish between clinical and non-clinical information in the same way as nurses. Primary reasons for patients’ hospital admission were not discussed and nurses did not share information about nursing interventions. The relevance for patients and nurses differed; patients generally wanted information for reducing anxiety and socialization; nurses wanted information for assessment and care planning. In terms of sufficiency, observation sessions highlighted that insufficient information was provided, often due to lost opportunities and paternalistic practice. However, the majority of patients and nurses perceived that they had exchanged sufficient information. Conclusion: This multiple case study provides insights into the type, relevance and sufficiency of information for patients and nurses in ward settings. In ward settings, information exchange as conceptualised by Charles et al. (1997 and 1999) may be difficult to achieve due to the complexity of patient/nurse interactions. Therefore, there are implications for policy makers as policies are not context specific. However, information exchange may be helpful for reducing patients’ anxieties. The concepts of shared decision-making and information exchange are not part of ward-based cultures and philosophies, which suggests implications for patient and nurse education. Research on information exchange between patients and nurses in other ward contexts may contribute to further understanding of information exchange in ward settings.

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The industry is facing major challenges today. The challenges are tougher global competition, customers who require individualized products and shorter product lifecycles. The predicted industrial revolution is a way to deal with these challenges. Industry 4.0 includes strategies linked to several technologies that will meet the new needs. Smart factory is a central concept in industry 4.0, which involves connected technologies of various kinds. Such as digital manufacturing technology, network communication technology, computer technology, automation technology and several other areas. In this work, these were defined as smart factory technologies. Implementing such technologies will result in improved flexibility, resource productivity and efficiency, quality, etc. But, implementing smart factory technologies poses major challenges for the companies. Laboratory environments can be utilized to address the challenges. This results in a new problem, how to transfer a smart factory technology developed in a laboratory environment to a full-scale production system. In the literature study no, structured approach was identified to handle this challenge. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to: create a work process that supports the technology transfer from a smart factory compliant laboratory environment to a full-scale production system. To justify the purpose, the following research questions were answered: RQ1: What are the differences in the operating environment between the laboratory and the full-scale production system? RQ2: How is a smart factory technology determined ready to be implemented into a full-scale production system? RQ3: What critical factors should a work process for the implementation of smart factory technologies include? The research questions were answered by conducting a multiple-case study in collaboration with Scania CV AB. During the case studies, interviews, observations and other relevant types of data collection were conducted. The results were as follows: RQ1: How difficult it is to transfer a technology from a laboratory environment to a full-scale production system depends on how large the differences between these are. The general difference is that laboratory environments are used to experiment and develop technologies and a full-scale production system is used to produce products. Some want the laboratory environment to be an exact copy of a full-scale production system, but this is not appropriate because it means you lose the freedom of experimentation and it would be much more expensive. RQ2: Determining whether a smart factory technology is ready consists of two parts, laboratory activities and pilot testing. A structured assessment method has been developed. The laboratory operations reduce the risks and contribute to raising the degree of maturity of the technology. In pilot testing, it is important not to interfere with the full-scale production system stability. This is the reason for doing pilot testing in a delimited area first and checking that the technology works as desired. RQ3: The critical factors identified were: competence and knowledge, technology contributing to improvements, considering risks with implementation, cost versus potential improvement, clear goals and reason for implementation and communication.

Poor input data quality used in repairable spare parts forecasting by aerospace small and midsize enterprises (SME) suppliers results in poor inventory practices that manifest into higher costs and critical supply shortage risks. Guided by the data quality management (DQM) theory as the conceptual framework, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to identify the key strategies that the aerospace SME repairable spares suppliers use to maximize their input data quality used in forecasting repairable spare parts. The multiple case study comprised of a census sample of 6 forecasting business leaders from aerospace SME repairable spares suppliers located in the states of Florida and Kansas. The sample was collected via semistructured interviews and supporting documentation from the consenting participants and organizational websites. Eight core themes emanated from the application of the content data analysis process coupled with methodological triangulation. These themes were labeled as establish data governance, identify quality forecast input data sources, develop a sustainable relationship and collaboration with customers and vendors, utilize a strategic data quality system, conduct continuous input data quality analysis, identify input data quality measures, incorporate continuous improvement initiatives, and engage in data quality training and education. Of the 8 core themes, 6 aligned to the DQM theory's conceptual constructs while 2 surfaced as outliers. The key implication of the research toward positive social change may include the increased situational awareness for SME forecasting business leaders to focus on enhancing business practices for input data quality to forecast repairable spare parts to attain sustainable profits.