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The continuously developing requirements of the offshore oil and gas Operators are placing more stringent demands on the designers to produce optimised solutions, with reduced development schedules, and application of new technologies for extreme environmental and operational conditions. The compounding uncertainty of service conditions and in the design capabilities is causing the designer to over-design, conduct extensive pre-service testing and introduce design redundancy. As such, designers have been forced to turn to reliability techniques in order to quantify the life of their designs. This has extended as far as needing to integrate reliability concepts, tools and methodologies into the design process. In recent times, the industry has attempted to apply conventional reliability tools within the design process, in terms of failure identification and reliability quantification. However, the use of historical reliability data has shown to be a particular downfall. As such, there has been a drive to predict the reliability of mechanical components based on their underlying degradation and failure processes and mechanisms. Consequently, this research is initially concerned with the development of a methodology, including an assessment of existing methods, that could be used to more readily understand the underlying failure characteristics of a mechanical component in terms of material, geometrical, environmental and operational characteristics. A particular underlying mechanism has been chosen and mathematical models were developed that simulate its physical behaviour and its degradation characteristics. Additionally, due to the potential uncertainty in the models and limited understanding of the characteristics of the underlying mechanism, the model was simulated within a probabilistic framework, fundamentally by application of the stress strength interference modelling approach. Finally, the model and its parameters were assessed to determine how uncertain governing parameters could appear to lead to variations in the reliability of the actuator.

RFID is a transformational technology that can bring about numerous benefits for its users. The US Department of Defense recognizes the potential benefits and has therefore issued a mandate for its suppliers to be RFID equipped. RFID allows for hands-free data capturing thus enabling the efficient recording of material transactions as well as increased efficiencies within the supply chain. Accurate tag reads are vital for the successful implementation of an RFID system. The factors that affect the read reliability of an RFID system are examined in this paper. The extent to how these factors affect the reliability is studied and the possible methods of mitigating these factors are explored, with the aim of increasing the reliability of reading single tags. Specific study into alternative coding and modulation techniques is done, and their performance compared with techniques used in the existing technology.

Husqvarna AB has as of today an extensive research and development department.This department serves to control the active product as well as the upcoming ones.The way that is done is through two different sets of tests. The first one being a longterm endurance test with aimed to unveil the durability of a product. Second and finalsort of test is a more one dimensional one. The aim is to determine different specificunits of interest like for example Newton (N). Today the R&D department has a great knowledge within normal distributed data andsomewhat less when it comes to the opposite, so called none normal distributed data.When endurance is of interest the likelihood of that to be of the latter sort is morecommon than not. For now no complete method has been appointed to make iteasier to process a situation of this kind. Studying ever unique case individually, bylooking at the data, has been the way to go. This causes an inconsistency in theanalysis and makes it purely based on which individual that has done it. Lastly it mayalso, unintentionally, ignore the large picture of how a product has progressed. To solve these problems this thesis work was put together to propose and conduct amethod. To form this method was an ongoing process throughout the whole thesisperiod. Ideas and thoughts were put forward to be reviewed and discussed. After aseries of tweaks to steer it towards the overall goal the method was finalized. Themethod that was put forward was firmly tested. Also a wide laboration in what themethod actually meant was done. The result was a method to be applied on none normal distributed data. This methodhas three parts. The first being the report where everything is embraced. The secondpart is a short manual for an operator to use. Last part is an example where themethod is put to use.

To be able to meet an increased competition through for instance globalization, and shorter product lifecycles, focus on performance control is central for organizations, where for instance processes and stakeholder orientation are central when continuously improving the operation of the organization. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the knowledge of how process maturity can be linked to process management. The following research questions have been formulated:  How does process theories relate to the integration of management systems?  How are process theories used within the field of process maturity? Which are the key elements in a process maturity model? Regarding the first research question a literature review was conducted in order to find out how organizations are working with integration of management systems. The main focus of this study was how integration of management systems relates to processes and stakeholder involvement. Secondly a literature review has been conducted on the concept of process maturity. The main aim was to find maturity models focusing on processes and process management, examine the structure of the maturity models used and explore how process management is described within different maturity models. Thirdly a conceptual model for measuring process maturity has been constructed. The content of this model has mainly been based on findings from the literature review conducted on articles on process maturity as well as a literature review of Process Management literature.

Förändringskrafter såsom klimatförändringar, ny teknik, globalisering, demografi och värderingar skapar utmaningar för den kommunala verksamheten i Sverige. Krav på förbättring och effektivisering av offentlig verksamhet ökar ständigt och kvalitetsfokus blir allt viktigare. Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling med principer, arbetssätt och verktyg som hjälper organisationer att ge kundtillfredsställelse i en snabbt föränderlig värld behöver genomföras. Syftet med arbetet har varit att undersöka hur ett kvalitetsledningsarbete i en offentlig förvaltning kan utföras och Samhällsbyggnadsförvaltningen i Kinda kommun i södra Östergötland har varit föremål för fallstudien. I januari 2018 införde kommunen en ny organisation och Samhällsbyggnadsförvaltningen var den förvaltning som genomgick störst förändring då flera förvaltningar slogs samman till en gemensam. När verksamheten drog igång uppdagades brister och behov och det blev tydligt att rutiner som behövdes för den nya organisationen saknades. Det ansågs prioriterat att börja arbetet med att införa ett kvalitetsledningssystem som främjar utveckling inom områdena struktur, kultur och systematik och som dessutom integrerar hållbar utveckling. Uppsatsarbetet inleddes med en teoristudie och skapande av ett teoretiskt ramverk som bygger på en generell förbättringsprocess med input, förändringsprocess och output. Ramverket innehåller bland annat teorier om modellen PESTLE, Maslows behovstrappa, hållbar utveckling, Hörnstensmodellen, Total Quality Management/Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling, transaktionellt och situationsanpassat ledarskap, PAV-modellen, förändringsprocesser enligt Janssen, Lewin, Kotter, med flera samt organisationskultur och lärande organisation. Fallstudien genomfördes med hjälp av intervjuer, observationer, enkät och work-shops. Djupintervjuer genomfördes för att erhålla kunskap om hållbar förändringsledning och teleintervjuer och internetsökningar gav tips om arbetssätt, verktyg och införande. Analysen gjordes genom att resultatet applicerades och sorterades med utgångspunkt från indelningen i det teoretiska ramverket. Resultatet visar att vikten av ett engagerat ledarskap inte nog kan poängteras och behov av att skapa en känsla av angelägenhet, genom att säkerställa en tydlig bild över förbättringsbehov, är stor. Införandet av ett kvalitetsledningssystem är en förändringsprocess där nuläget och förbättringsbehov behöver kartläggas för att därefter ta fram en förändringsstrategi. Verksamheten behöver bestämma sig för vilka principer som ska ingå i deras ledningssystem och vilka arbetssätt och verktyg som ska stödja principerna. Hållbarhetsprinciperna bör integreras i kvalitetsledningssystemet för att säkerställa en hållbar kvalitetsutveckling. Det finns ett värde i att ha en n-stegsmodell att hålla sig till och få stöd av genom förändringsarbetet. En införandemodell föreslås där det inledningsvis handlar om att skapa strukturer och system. För att underlätta benchmarking och kunskapsuppbyggnad är det en fördel att bli medlem i SIQ (Swedish Institute for Quality) och delta i deras nätverk för att få stöd och hjälp. Att skapa en kvalitetskultur tar tid och det krävs uthållighet, ständigt lärande av misstag och ett kontinuerligt förbättringsarbete. / Drivers for change like climate change, new technology, globalisation, demographyand values create challenges for public sector and municipalities in Sweden. Demandsfor improvement and making the public sector more efficient increase. Focus onquality becomes more and more important. Total Quality Management (TQM) withvalues, techniques and tools need to be implemented to support organisations withcustomer satisfaction in a fast changing world. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to explore how a quality management system inpublic sector can be designed. The Civil Services Department (Samhällsbyggnadsförvaltningen) in Kinda Municipality in Sweden has been in focus inthis case study. In January 2018 a new organisation was introduced, and the Civil Services Department was the department that was subject to the biggest changes when several departments were merged. When the work started in the new form several deficiencies and needs became apparent and it became clear that the new organisation lacked necessary routines. Introducing TQM became a priority in orderto promote development in structure, culture and systematics as well as integrating sustainable development. The research was initiated by conducting a theory study and creating a theoretical framework based on a general improvement process with input, change process andoutput. The framework contains theories of the PESTLE model, Maslows, sustainable development, The cornerstone model, TQM, transactional and situation based leadership, The PAV-model, change processes according to Janssen, Lewin, Kotter amongst others, as well as culture of organisations and learning organisations. The case study was carried out through interviews, observations, a survey and workshops. In depth interviews were conducted in order to obtain knowledge ofsustainable change management and telephone interviews as well as internet researchsuggested techniques, tools and implementation. The analysis was made by applying the result and sorted based on the theoretical framework. The result from the case study shows that the importance of management commitment cannot be stressed enough. It is necessary to create a sense of urgency by ensuring there is a clear picture of the need for change. The introduction of a quality management system is a change process where the present situation and the need for change need to be mapped out followed by the creation of a change strategy. It is necessary for the organisation to determine which principles to include in its management system and which techniques and tools to use to support the principles.The principles for sustainability should be integrated into the quality management system to ensure a sustainable quality development. There is a value to employ a n-step model for support and guidance throughout the change process. Anintroduction model is suggested in which the initial phase requires the creation ofstructure and systems. Membership in SIQ makes it easier to benchmark and shareknowledge and to participate in their network to receive support and aid. Creating aculture of quality takes time and requires perseverance, constant learning from mistakes and continuous improvement.