Atualmente, o conhecimento, a técnica e a inovação tornaram-se fatores críticos para o desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas. O fator tecnológico, com suas rápidas taxas de propagação e obsolescência, apresenta um desafio ímpar para a gestão de uma empresa. Nesse contexto, as empresas utilizam sua função de pesquisa e desenvolvimento (P&D) como forma de tomar conhecimento do ambiente tecnológico global, de suas mudanças e tendências, das inovações em desenvolvimento de produtos e dos impactos destas em relação ao seu negócio. Ao mesmo tempo, com a internacionalização, as empresas ficaram aptas a desenvolver, produzir e comercializar seus produtos em diferentes localidades, o que resultou em um aumento da complexidade gerencial. Assim, o desenvolvimento global de produtos passou a ser um fator-chave para o sucesso da estratégia organizacional, tornando-se imperativo coordenar os avanços tecnológicos globais com as necessidades dos mercados. Todas essas mudanças obrigaram as empresas multinacionais, inclusive as brasileiras, a ampliarem suas fronteiras tecnológicas de ação, pesquisando e desenvolvendo globalmente produtos e processos, tanto para um mercado mundial quanto para cada mercado local. Focando no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos, este trabalho estuda casos desse tipo de internacionalização em seis empresas multinacionais brasileiras. Os resultados mostraram que, em apenas dois caso, essa internacionalização do desenvolvimento de produto ocorreu por decisão da empresa. Em três outros, houve a internacionalização derivada de competências pré-existentes nas empresas, e, no último não houve internacionalização do desenvolvimento. / Nowadays, the knowledge, the technique and the innovation have become critical factors for the development of competitive advantages. The technological factor, with its rapid rate of propagation and obsolescence, represents a challenge for the management of firms. In this context, firms must be aware of the global technological environment, its changes and tendencies, innovations regarding the development of products and also the impacts of those in the firms\' business. At the same time, with the internationalization firms become capable to develop, manufacture and commercialize in different locations increasing the complexity of management. So, the global development of products becomes a key-factor for the success of the organizational strategy, because it has become crucial to coordinate the global technological advancements to the markets\' needs. All these changes lead multinationals, including the Brazilian ones, to extend its technological borders to global research, and to develop products and processes for local and global markets. Researching the process of product development, this dissertation presents a multiple case study of internationalization of the product development on Brazilian multinationals, aiming to answer the following question: how did the process of internationalization of firms motivate the internationalization of the product development? The results shown that for one multinational occurred the internationalization, for four others, this internationalization was \"incidental\" and for the last one there were no internationalization whatsoever.

The following project is a collaboration with HRI Teknik and Robomatic AB, that found a possible market for improving cleanliness in grocery stores by improving the hygiene of costumer baskets. Bacteria and left over items in the basket builds up a health risk for the costumers, if not properly cleaned regularly. The dirt and bacteria from the basket is broth home thru the groceries coming in contact during shopping. The need has been strengthened by surveys for the two store managers and the customers of the grocery store. To reduce the spreads of diseases, the baskets should be cleaned better and more frequently by having the proper detergent and cleaning system. The aim of the study is to develop a concept of a cleaning machine for baskets used in grocery stores. This is done by a well- defined technical driven development process, considering all six steps. The supportive research concerning framework has laid as a foundation for the construction of the cleaning machine. Research proves that framework creates a robust and safe construction, absorbing tensile and compressive forces in the longitudinal direction. The outcome from the technical driven process and the theoretical study is a visual, three dimensional model of concept. The concepts main function is to be driven by a belt with hooks, which is hanging on the machine. The baskets are then hanged on the movable belt in order to get cleaned. During the project, resources as material, working place and expertise is provided to sufficient degree so a concept can be developed. Since the project has a limited period of time, it was recognized the project would not be able to get to the production stages. The concept and function need to be tested and investigated to solve the remaining details. This is left for further development beyond the project, and is laying at HRI Teknik and Robomatic AB.

Abstract Product development (PD) has an important role as a key competitive factor in business environments. The capacity of designers and other stakeholders to perceive and process product related information is burdened by the increasing complexity of products and the high demands of working life. Therefore, companies need new human-centred perspectives and methods of balancing and enhancing their overall PD processes in order to develop successful products. The main motive for this research arises from the fact that ergonomics design research has been scarce from the process-oriented and systemic methods perspective. It has mainly focused on the methods, such as those needed in user interface design, and the usability and safety testing of products. The purpose of this dissertation is to consider the PD work system from the macroergonomics perspective. Macroergonomics is a top-down sociotechnical systems approach that is concerned with the analysis, design and evaluation of work systems. Nowadays, the individual user context is the dominating source of product requirements, but the designers’ work system has significant influence on its outcome as well. As an open work system, PD covers the use and design contexts of a product, not only at the individual, but also at the social and system levels. In this dissertation, the use and design contexts of products are examined through six individual studies, which were carried out during a demanding PD project of a new simulation game. In this design process, from the initial state to the goal state, macroergonomics was used as the main theoretical guideline. In many companies, PD processes are considered and developed mainly from the project management or technological points of view. However, because of the increasing complexity and systemic nature of products, PD organisations, too, will have to become more participatory, more networked and more systems oriented. As the main findings, this dissertation indicates that the macroergonomic approach can enrich the PD process and its outcomes by emphasising the balance between the technical and social subsystems of PD work system. The emerging complexity of products must be controlled from the entire PD work system, not the individual context of use only. The research introduces a new PD work system model that includes both the design and use contexts of products and demonstrates their analogical sociotechnical structures. The value of this dissertation for the industry is that companies can overcome certain emerging challenges of PD by applying the introduced macroergonomic principles. The findings of the research may encompass the re-designing of the current PD process in a company. Instead of shutting their eyes to the complexity of the surrounding world, companies should consider it as the macroergonomic PD work system and be more aware about the overall product requirements.

Requirements Engineering has two main directions, Bespoke (product developed for one customer) and Market-Driven (several potential customers for the same product). These two are in some ways very much alike but in some aspects very different. Over the last couple of years the software development industry has tended to shift more and more to Market-Driven Requirements Engineering. This has brought attention to the challenges facing a Market-Driven development organization, without focusing on the actual shift from Bespoke development. Based on the differences and similarities between Bespoke and Market-Driven Requirements Engineering, this thesis presents a framework for shifting from the former to the latter. The framework (BESMART) involves three steps. Firstly, the organization assesses their potential to become more Market-Driven. Secondly they assess their current way of working to identify which areas that may need to be improved. Finally, BESMART provides multiple suggestions that address the identified improvement areas. The organization is then able to choose the one that best suits their needs. This also lets the organization choose a solution that they find feasible. The framework was used at a case organization during its development. This way it was ensured that the theoretical framework could actually be used in a real world setting. The practical use of BESMART resulted in some refinements aimed at making it more applicable in industry. Once the framework had been applied, it was evaluated by representatives from the case organization. The industry evaluation resulted in some improvement suggestions but showed that the framework was both useful and usable and provided an improvement plan that seemed promising enough to pilot in the organization.

The purpose of this study was to develop an educational application and evaluate how it could support multilingualism in preschool. In carrying out this study, two methods were used. First, a research and development method (R&D) was used to help form and develop the application. To develop the product further, an interview study was used to explore preschool teachers` experiences of the developed application and whether the developed application supports multilingualism in preschool. The interviews were processed and categorized. The study found that the developed application can encourage multilingualism in preschools and has the potential to be developed further. / Syftet med denna studie var att utveckla en digital applikation, samt utvärdera applikationen om den stödjer flerspråkighet i förskolan. Det har använts två metoder i studien. Den första är en forskning och utvecklingsmetod (R & D) för att forma och utveckla produkten. För att utveckla produkten vidare användes metoden intervjustudie, för att undersöka förskollärares upplevelser av den utvecklade applikationen samt om den stödjer flerspråkighet i förskolan. Intervjuerna bearbetades och kategoriserades. Studien påvisade att den utvecklade applikationen kan stödja flerspråkighet i förskolan och har potential att utvecklas vidare.

Context: Today, many organizations in global market now frequently scan and assess their environment as consumers’ taste and preference became the sole target. Consumers’ preferred product of yesterday might unexpectedly devalue or be perceived staled the next day, due to the varieties, quality options and advancement in information technology from other firms. 3D printing technology describes a series of digital manufacturing technologies, which produce component parts layer-by-layer through the additional use of materials. 3D printing technology consists of three core phases that is, the modelling, the printing and the finishing of the product. In the modelling, 3D printing technology could proffer additional improvements depending on the engaged manufacturing method. Objectives: This research seeks to critically evaluate the influence of information technology on 3D printing for product development in Lagos, Nigeria. In this project, variables such as product design tools, decision support systems and file transfer protocol were categorized into three phases, namely; discovery, development and commercialization as the major sub-construct measuring the independent variable (Information Technology) on the dependent variable (3D printing and product development). Methods: The research was purely quantitative as questionnaires were used as the major evaluating instrument under descriptive and cross sectional research design (survey methods). The population consisted of seven selected printing press companies in Lagos, Nigeria. The survey was used to generate responses related to the research questions and objectives. Results: The result of the study reveals that product design tools in the discovery and development phase, the decision support system in the development and commercialization phase, and the file transfer protocols in the discovery, development and commercialization phase have significant influence on 3D printing for product development. Also, it was found that product design tools in the commercialization phase and in the discovery phase of decision support system do not have significant influence on 3D printing for product development. Conclusions: The study concludes that product design tools in the discovery and development phase, the decision support system in the development and commercialization phase, and the file transfer protocols in the discovery, development and commercialization phase have significant influence on 3D printing for product development. Thus, the study recommends that there is need for more innovations, there is need to standardise packages for loan applications, which will act as a decision support system for the employees in order to make consistent applications for loans, credit analysis, etc. Finally, more research work can be devoted through the use of other related textbooks and journals.

Laxå Special Vehicles (LSV) är ett företag som har ett starkt samarbete med Scania. De modifierar och bygger olika delar till Scanias lastbilar, bland annat hytter. Scania har uppdaterat hytternas design och verksamheten i Laxå har tvingats expandera med en ny lokal i samma område. Den nya produktionen kommer kräva stor yta och LSV kommer få ont om buffertplatser. Detta projekt har fokuserat på att ta fram ett koncept för hur hytterna ska transporteras mellan lokalerna på ett så smidigt sätt som möjligt, idag används en lastbilstrailer. Konceptet skulle kunna användas som buffertzon vilket ställde krav på lastutrymmets fuktighet. Dessutom skulle den hytt som lastas först kunna tas ut först. Uppdraget avgränsades till att ta fram ett traktorsläp då dessa ansågs ha få trafikkrav. I början av projektet låg fokus på att skapa en uppfattning av problemet. Detta gjordes genom att följa med och titta på hur problemet hanterades med den befintliga lösningen samt genom att prata med berörda personer. Det konstaterades att det steg som var krångligast var när trucken skulle lyfta hytterna i och ur trailern. I samråd med LSV valdes att titta närmare på en lösning där lastning kunde ske manuellt genom att reglera släpvagnens höjd efter lastplatsens utformning. För att hitta inspiration till detta söktes befintliga höj- och sänkbara släp. Problemet bröts ner i delproblem och flera lösningar försökte hittas. Idéerna utvärderades först enskilt och ett antal koncept valdes ut. Dessa presenterades för de inblandade personerna på företaget och ett gemensamt konceptval gjordes. Därefter bestämdes släpvagnens utseende och funktion mer i detalj. Enklare hållfasthetsberäkningar utfördes i datorprogram och en 3D – modell av släpvagnen skapades. En ritning med viktiga mått och en beskrivande sprängskiss togs fram. Flera företag kontaktades för att få prisuppgifter på släpets olika delar, för de delar där inget pris hittades gjordes uppskattningar. Kostnaderna sammanställdes i en kostnadskalkyl. / Laxå Special Vehicles (LSV) is a company that has a strong partnership with Scania. They modify and build various parts of Scania's trucks, including cabs. Scania has updated the cabs design and LSV has been forced to expand with a new factory in the same area. The new production will require a large area and LSV will get fewer buffer zones. This project has focused on developing a concept for how to transport the cabs between the factories as smoothly as possible, today a trailer is used. The concept would also be used as a buffer zone, which demands that the cargo space humidity is low enough. Another demand was that the first loaded cab is possible to remove first (FIFO). The task was delimited to develop a tractor trailer as these were considered to have few traffic requirements. At the beginning the project focused on understanding the problem. This was done by looking at how the problem was handled today and by talking to persons of interest. The most difficult step was when the cabs were to be loaded by forklift. In consultation with LSV, it was chosen to look into a solution where loading could be done manually, by changing the trailer’s level relative to the cargo loading area. To find inspiration for this, a search for existing lifting and lowering trailers was performed. The big problem was broken into smaller problems and several possible solutions were examined. The ideas were evaluated individually and a number of concepts were selected. These were presented to the company and a final choice was made. Then, the appearance and function of the trailer was determined in more detail. Strength analysis were made in a computer program and a 3D model of the trailer was created. A drawing with important dimensions and an exploded view of the trailer was presented. Several companies were contacted for price information on the trailers parts, for those parts where no price was found an estimation was made. The costs was then summarized.

This Master Thesis analyzes how augmented reality (AR) can be used as assistance for a warehouse truck driver in order to make the driver more safe and efficient. The working environment is observed in an everyday warehouse and solutions are developed for situations based on observations. The AR solutions for the situations will be developed and evaluated. The software will be made for a pair of android see-through AR-glasses. Based on user tests and internal evaluation, the solutions will be evaluated for usage in the industry today or in the future.

Much has been written on the subject of sustainable development and the urgent need for society to understand and address human impacts on socio-ecological systems. Emerging from this broad context, the concept of sustainable product development (SPD) represents an important strategy to steer human society towards sustainability. This thesis investigates strategies for integrating sustainability concepts, through organisational learning and stakeholder management, into a new product development tool entitled ‘Touchpoint’. Built on prior research, specifically Methods for Sustainable Product Development(MSPD) and Templates for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD), this could help to eliminate product development approaches that lead to reductionism and ensure that SPD is adopted rapidly and widely.

Research findings in requirements engineering (RE) report that software organizations still struggle in establishing processes that lead to proper requirements handling. This leads to the acknowledgement that the adoption of good requirements engineering practices by industry is still not common. Although some initiatives have been made to spread the use of good practices of bespoke RE, the area of market-driven requirements engineering (MDRE) still lacks a contribution in that direction. MDRE is characterized by strong market and strategic orientation, which contrasts with the customer/development organization relationship of bespoke RE. This poses several challenges to software product organizations, such as the need for aligning development activities with organizational and product strategies. In an attempt to help these organizations to realize the benefits of MDRE, this Master Thesis presents the Market-Driven Requirements Engineering Process Model (MDREPM). MDREPM is both a collection of good practices in MDRE, and an assessment tool for organizations to get a snapshot of the current state of their MDRE practices. The assessment intends to reveal problem areas of organization’s requirements process, which can then be worked upon by introducing good practices described in the model. The thesis describes the motivation for creating MDREPM, both from an academia and industry perspectives. In addition, it describes the process of developing the model, from its creation through to its validation within academia and industry. As the series of three case studies conducted indicate, the MDREPM has been shown to be useful for industry practitioners. A unanimous opinion has been found as to the good coverage it provides of issues related to MDRE, and as to its usefulness for driving improvement efforts in requirements engineering.