No description available.

<p>In the last century there have been drastic changes in the way products are developed and manufactured – manufacturing technologies have advanced and at the same time global competition has increased tremendously. For companies to survive, the name of the game has been to offer greater product variety, in more frequent intervals, and for a lower price. Mass production has been replaced by mass customization, where the basic rule is that the customers should get exactly what they want, at the time they want it.</p><p>A partial remedy to concurrently lower cost as well as provide customers with a greater number of variants has been to use platforms*. Platforms in the manufacturing industry have at times been highly advantageous while in other instances they have caused more problems than benefit. Platforms exist in different contexts and scope, and it has been found that companies need to improve their platform management skills in order to increase the general level of competitive advantage.</p><p>This dissertation proposes that a company can considerably improve the management of its platforms by increasing its holistic understanding of them. To do this, platforms are viewed from different viewpoints that aim to both display the effect a platform has on its surroundings, as well as the effect its surroundings has on it. This approach has been incorporated into a method called the PAMatrix (Platform Assessment Matrix) that uses a synthesis of cross-functional, subjective expert opinion and consensus based decision making.</p><p>The PAMatrix method uses already existing implicit and explicit knowledge to improve decision making on how to manage each individual platform. First a set of platforms are identified that the company views as key enablers for creating a competitive advantage. The platforms are then assessed from several different viewpoints – each capturing a partial evaluation of the platforms’ status or effect. After an assessment of a viewpoint, each stakeholder individually suggests a specific strategic action plan along with a weight factor of how important the viewpoint is to the overall assessment of the specific platform. Finally, the discrete action plan suggestions are collected and jointly assessed and debated – based on which, a final strategic action plan can be made.</p><p>The method has been tested in three industrial situations, where its use has been considered beneficial and platform understanding has increased.</p><p>* In this dissertation, a platform is defined as the set of core assets that are reused to create a competitive advantage.</p>

No description available.

In the last century there have been drastic changes in the way products are developed and manufactured – manufacturing technologies have advanced and at the same time global competition has increased tremendously. For companies to survive, the name of the game has been to offer greater product variety, in more frequent intervals, and for a lower price. Mass production has been replaced by mass customization, where the basic rule is that the customers should get exactly what they want, at the time they want it. A partial remedy to concurrently lower cost as well as provide customers with a greater number of variants has been to use platforms*. Platforms in the manufacturing industry have at times been highly advantageous while in other instances they have caused more problems than benefit. Platforms exist in different contexts and scope, and it has been found that companies need to improve their platform management skills in order to increase the general level of competitive advantage. This dissertation proposes that a company can considerably improve the management of its platforms by increasing its holistic understanding of them. To do this, platforms are viewed from different viewpoints that aim to both display the effect a platform has on its surroundings, as well as the effect its surroundings has on it. This approach has been incorporated into a method called the PAMatrix (Platform Assessment Matrix) that uses a synthesis of cross-functional, subjective expert opinion and consensus based decision making. The PAMatrix method uses already existing implicit and explicit knowledge to improve decision making on how to manage each individual platform. First a set of platforms are identified that the company views as key enablers for creating a competitive advantage. The platforms are then assessed from several different viewpoints – each capturing a partial evaluation of the platforms’ status or effect. After an assessment of a viewpoint, each stakeholder individually suggests a specific strategic action plan along with a weight factor of how important the viewpoint is to the overall assessment of the specific platform. Finally, the discrete action plan suggestions are collected and jointly assessed and debated – based on which, a final strategic action plan can be made. The method has been tested in three industrial situations, where its use has been considered beneficial and platform understanding has increased. * In this dissertation, a platform is defined as the set of core assets that are reused to create a competitive advantage.

Arbeidet med vakuuminnfesting for fjernstyrte undervannsverkt&#248;y har p&#229;g&#229;tt siden v&#229;ren 2011, som et samarbeid mellom LBO og studenter ved NTNU. I prosjektoppgaven &#148;Konsept for innfesting av fjernstyrte undervannsverkt&#248;y p&#229; flytende produksjonsinstallasjoner&#148;, Holmgard &amp; L&#229;stad 2011, ble det utviklet et helhetlig konsept for innfesting og tilkomst til skroget p&#229; et lasteskip. L&#248;sningen ble en rektangul&#230;r ramme med en robotarm for gjennomf&#248;ring av vedlikeholdsarbeidet. Et vakuumsystem med sugekopper fungerte som innfesting.Denne masteroppgaven unders&#248;ker gjennomf&#248;rbarheten til vakuumsystemet, gjennom videreutvikling og systematisk testing i en testrigg. Hovedfokuset l&#229; i &#229; teste innfestingskapasiteten til sugekopper under varierende forhold. Resultatene viste at innfestingskapasiteten i liten grad p&#229;virkes av vann og moderat ruhet. Sugekoppene kan dermed dimensjoneres utfra oppgitte spesifikasjoner fra leverand&#248;rene. Det fremstod ogs&#229; hensiktsmessig &#229; bruke vakuumtank som trykkakkumulator, da den f&#248;rer til hurtigere innfesting, og lavere trykktap ved lekkasje.I tillegg til &#229; gi svar p&#229; noen av sp&#248;rsm&#229;lene LBO hadde, har vi gjennom oppgaven tilrettelagt for videre arbeid med vakuuminnfesting offshore. Testriggen og &#248;vrig testutstyr kan benyttes til videreutvikling, og vi anbefaler LBO &#229; gjennomf&#248;re ytterligere tester.

I arbeidet med denne avhandlingen har det blitt utf&#248;rt et omfattende arbeid p&#229; ulike aspekter ved utviklingen av et monocoque chassis designet for &#229; konkurrere i Formula Student. Analyse, dimensjonering og produksjon er hovedtema i denne oppgaven. Fokuset har ligget i &#229; beskrive den tiln&#230;rmingen som brukes i designfasen, analyse og testing av lokaliserte laster p&#229; sandwichpaneler, samt utvikle en produksjonsprosess for chassiset. Alt av dimensjonering, analyse og testing er utf&#248;rt p&#229; sandwich paneler representativt for et monocoque chassis. Hovedfokuset har v&#230;rt et racerbilchassis for Revolve NTNU, med tilh&#248;rende laster. Monocoque-chassiset er en selvb&#230;rende konstruksjon hvor hjuloppheng, girkasse, velteb&#248;yler og andre innfestninger g&#229;r direkte i chassiset som tar opp alle kreftene.Mye av arbeidet har blitt gjort i analyse og eksperimentell testing av lokaliserte laster p&#229; sandwich paneler med s&#229;kalte &#147;inserts&#148;, da dette er den mest brukte metoden for &#229; overf&#248;re laster inn p&#229; et skj&#230;rsvakt sandwichpanel.Eksperimeter og testing har v&#230;rt en stor del av denne avhandlingen. Den meste av teorien som er beskrevet og brukt i denne oppgaven er ogs&#229; basert p&#229; empiriske resultater. Mye av arbeidet har best&#229;tt av den faktiske produksjon av strukturen, og tilh&#248;rende m&#229;ling og verifisering av strukturen.

<p>Background, aim and scope. In this thesis a framework for integrating life cycle assessment and investment analysis is derived, aimed to (1) unite economic and environmental perspectives, and (2) strengthen system borders. The application of the model is shown in a case study of a bioenergy facility in central Norway. Prices and environmental impacts are calculated, and the results are compared to those for electricity generated from natural gas. Two examples of utilisation of the results are presented. Methods. Hybrid life cycle assessment is employed to enable the use of the price model from input-output analysis. The price model is extended to facilitate the integration of investment analysis. The resulting framework embodies all aspects from investment analysis, including tax and discounting. The result is a model performing a state of the art hybrid life cycle assessment and a net present worth analysis to obtain environmental and economic results with consistent system borders. Application. The method is applied to a case study, evaluating an electricity generating bioenergy facility in central Norway. The bioenergy facility was found to be a viable investment. Using bioenergy as an abatement measure against global warming was found to be competitive against carbon credits in the case of CO2 quota prices at the level assumed in 2030. Results and discussion. The model produced robust results comparable to those found in other studies. The framework proved to have several advantages in addition to strengthened system borders; amongst others a mutual empowerment between the two base analyses in relation to decision making, and a possibility for establishing eco-efficiency indicators.</p>

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A team of 13 NTNU students have developed and built a car to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon 2012 competition. This master project is a continuation of the specialization project done in the autumn semester 2011. Production started in February and the car was ready on the start line the 18th of May. Out of 22 competing teams in the battery-electric category, the DNV Fuel Figher 2 came in 5th place. The best result achieved was 163km/kWh which can be calculated into an equivalent of 1581km/liter of gasoline. This report includes the design and production process of all sub systems. In addition project management, system engineering, media and the race itself is described.

<p>A wind tunnel study of speed-up effects above the very crest of a sharp-edged escarpment and a hill peak in a simulated atmospheric boundary layer has been carried out. It was desired to do a part-deep simulation of an atmospheric boundary that could be found above sea or coastal area exposed to the open sea. Because of the limited work section length was it used a modified roughness, barrier and mixing-device developed by Counihan to accelerate the boundary layer growth. The mean velocity, integral length scales, power spectrum and turbulence intensity in the simulated boundary layer were compared with full scale empirical data. It showed good agreement except for the turbulence intensity which was too low. Speed-up effects for the mean horizontal velocity and the longitudinal turbulence intensity above the very crest of an escarpment and a hill peak were investigated in the simulated atmospheric boundary layer. From the results it was observed that the speed-up effect gave a decrease in the turbulence intensity and a more uniform profile with height. A considerably increase of the horizontal mean velocity in the lowest part of the flow was also observed. Scaled-up data from the wind tunnel experiment were compared with estimations from the Norwegian standard and potential flow with varying degree of agreement.</p>