<p>To be more competitive in the market, many companies are trying to speed up the quotation process and quote more attractive prices. Therefore, they have identified a need for support in the quotation process in order to reduce the quotation lead-time and ensure a higher level of accuracy in the cost estimations. The Quotation Calculator, an application program, has been developed as part of the degree thesis which was carried out at AB Norrahammars Mekaniska Verkstad, NMW 2006/07. This Quotation Calculator can be operated to calculate the material and manufacturing costs of a new product.</p><p>NMW has recently acquired licenses for CATIA V5, Dassault Systems, for the purpose of making process planning and NC-programming more efficient. NMW wants to generate the data needed from the machining module for the cost calculations. Hence this project was initiated in order to extract data from CATIA V5 for further use in Quotation Calculator or other computer system in NMW.</p><p>This work has resulted in a system developed with a common hosted programming language to extract and transfer information. The system retrieves model geometry from CAD and information on process planning from CAM, then matches the information in the application for the purpose of cost estimation. The system once developed, is supposed to be used for every new product. For this approach, the relationship of the data from CATIA V5 and the Quotation Calculator has been analyzed.</p><p>Within this thesis, the focus is on production cost estimation. The method used here is programming in Visual Basic Editor to extract information from the machining module in CATIA V5 and then import them to Microsoft Excel. With standard operations, tables of data and several inputs, the cost calculation and hence the quotation process can be automatically implemented. This work has been generated with the Quotation Calculator. With the correct input data to process planning and this new quotation system, the machining time and the costs can be estimated more accurately and easier. The time and cost information is made available for decision making. As a result, the lead time for the quotation process will be shortened and a relatively more attractive price can be quoted to the customers.</p>

<p>Denna rapport beskriver ett examensarbete inom Programmet för Användarinriktad Systemutveckling vid Linköpings universitet, Campus Norrköping. Resultatet är en databasapplikation som är utvecklad specifikt för C.N.S. Systems AB i Linköping. </p><p>I uppgiften ingår analys, utformning, realisering, implementering, dokumentation samt i viss mån även förvaltning och drift. Utvecklingsarbetet har skett i nära samarbete med företaget som har tillhandhållit arbetsplatser och datorutrustning. </p><p>Applikationen är ett dokumentregistreringssystem där information om företagets interna och externa dokument lagras. Tidigare har motsvarande uppgifter lagrats i Excel. Den färdiga databasapplikationen har främst gjort det lättare att registrera och söka ett dokument vilket också var ett av de uppsatta målen. Själva databasen är utvecklad i Access och gränssnittet i Visual Basic. Kopplingen mellan dessa är skapad med ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 (ADO). </p><p>Rapporten ger inledningsvis en närmare presentation av utgångsläge och förutsättningar. Därefter beskrivs teorin bakom det arbetssätt som använts. I resultatdelen presenteras applikationen översiktligt, valda delar lite mer ingående. Och slutligen, i diskussionsavsnittet, görs en subjektiv bedömning av resultatet och utvecklingsarbetet. </p> / <p>This report is based on a project within ”User oriented System development Program”, ASP, at the University of Linköping, Campus Norrköping, Sweden. The result is a database application developed for C.N.S. Systems AB in Linköping. </p><p>The report describes analysis, design, implementation, documentation and in some extent maintenance of the system. The development work has been done in collaboration with the company at their office in Linköping. </p><p>The application handles and stores information about internal and external documents. The purpose of the database is to improve registration and searching of documents. The system is designed with MS Access 2000 connected to Visual Basic with ActiveX Data Objects 2.0(ADO).</p>

<p>Flextronics Design i Linköping tillverkar prototypskretskort till telekomindus-trin. Examensarbetet tog de fram eftersom de upplever att de har problem medolika områden inom den funktion där själva tillverkningen sker, SMA (SurfaceMount Assembly). De var inte säkra på exakt vilka problemen var men de vis-ste att de rör rutiner, kommunikation, samt materialtillförsel. Genom att i ettexamensarbete definiera och lyfta fram problemen samt ta fram åtgärdsförslag,hoppades företaget att vissa av problem skulle kunna uppmärksammas ochlösas och på det sättet skulle kvaliteten i processerna öka. Genom att förbättravissa områden hoppades de även kunna bli effektivare i sitt arbetssätt vilketi sin tur skulle kunna frigöra värdefull kapacitet, något som är mycket viktigtför Flextronics i Linköping, eftersom de har hög beläggning.Syftet med examensarbetet var att genom en kartläggning tydligt definieraproblemen och ta fram förbättringsområden. Fokus lades sedan på det om-råde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i. Målet var att ta fram ett konkret åtgärds-förslag, som löser de mest angelägna problemen, och som kan implementeraspå företaget.Kartläggningen bygger främst på ett stort antal intervjuer som gjordes med oli-ka personer som är involverade i SMA och dess stödprocesser. Det visade sigatt det var inom områdena strategier, kommunikation och informationssprid-ning, ansvarsområden, materialrutiner samt personalfrågor som problemenfrämst finns. Inom dessa områden definierades ett stort antal problempunkter,som var och en kategoriserades efter vilket ursprungligt problem de härstam-mar ur, alltså vad som skulle behöva förbättras för att få respektive problem-punkt åtgärdad. Det resulterade i åtta olika förbättringsområden, nämligenåterrapportering, kommunikation, spårbarhet, spill, sårbarhet, plock check, SMA-fel och ansvarsfördelning.Det förbättringsområde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i var återrapportering.För att kunna förbättra den, och lösa de problem som fanns knutna till detproblemområdet, låg fokus under andra halvan av examensarbetet på att tafram ett informationssystem. Först togs strategier för både utveckling och im-plementering fram och därefter utvecklades systemet med hjälp av program-varan Microsoft SharePoint. Resultatet av arbetet blev informationssystemetReFlex som kommer att implementeras och börja användas på företaget.Med hjälp av ReFlex finns nu möjligheten att effektivisera arbetet på en radpunkter. Tack vare en effektiv återanvändning av informationen kan de frånoch med nu på ett bra sätt utnyttja tidigare erfarenheter, vilket gör att misstaginte behöver upprepas. Problem kommer inte behöva lösas flera gånger, vilketsparar mycket värdefull tid och frigör kapacitet. Kvaliteten i processerna kanöka, då problem kan uppmärksammas på ett smidigare sätt och därmed åtgär-das snabbare.</p> / <p>Flextronics Design in Linköping is an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS)company and manufactures printed circuit boards assemblies (PCBAs) for thetelecommunication industry. The site in Linköping is focused on prototypingPCBAs. They have problems regarding their SMA (Surface Mount Assembly)line, where the PCBAs are manufactured. The problems were not clearly de-fined in the beginning, but regarded routines, communication and materialsupply. By defining exactly where the major problems were and by solvingsome of these, they hoped that both the quality of their processes and the effi-ciency regarding their methods of working could improve. That could increasetheir capacity, something that would be valuable to Flextronics, since they areoften working above their capacity level.The purpose of this master thesis was to clearly define the problems through asurvey and suggest different ideas about which areas that should be improved.The area considered most important was then chosen for further work. Theobjective was to create a solution that solves as many problems as possible, asolution that could be implemented at Flextronics.The survey that was carried out is based on interviews with people involvedin the processes concerning SMA. The problems showed to involve strategies,communication and information sharing, management of responsibilities, rou-tines regarding material supply, and human resource issues. Within these ar-eas a large number of problem matters were defined. Each of these were cate-gorised based on what type of action that could solve that particular problem.The result was eight different action areas, that each could be the solution todifferent kinds of problems. The areas were; improving possibilities for report-ing and giving feedback, improving communication, improving traceability,decrease waste, decrease the vulnerability, improve routines for plock check,reduce the number of defect PCBAs due to SMA-problems and make the re-sponsibiliies more clear.The action area that was considered most important was increasing the possi-bilities for giving feedback. To make that happen, an information system wasdeveloped. First strategies for development and implementation was formu-lated and after that, the system was developed in Microsoft SharePoint. Thework resulted in the system ReFlex, that will be implemented at Flextronics.ReFlex will give the possibility to make work more efficient in many ways.Thanks to improved feedback possibilities they can now reuse information andtake advantage of prior experiences when starting a new build. The risk ofmaking the same mistake twice will decrease, which will save a lot of timeand thereby increase their capacity. The quality of the processes can also beincreased, since mistakes are more likely to be paid attention to and can therebybe solved faster.</p>

Following the Model-Based-Design (MBD) development process used presently by the automotive industry, the control systems for a new Series-Parallel Multiple-Regime Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), UVic EcoCAR2, have been developed, implemented and tested. Concurrent simulation platforms were used to achieve different developmental goals, with a simplified system power loss model serving as the low-overhead control strategy optimization platform, and a high fidelity Software-in-Loop (SIL) model serving as the vehicle control development and testing platform. These two platforms were used to develop a strategy-independent controls development tool which will allow deployment of new strategies for the vehicle irrespective of energy management strategy particulars. A rule-based energy management strategy was applied and calibrated using genetic algorithm (GA) optimization. The concurrent modeling approach was validated by comparing the vehicle equivalent fuel consumption between the simplified and SIL models. An equivalency factor (EF) of 1 was used in accounting for battery state of charge (SOC) discrepancies at cycle end. A recursively-defined subsystem efficiency-based EF was also applied to try to capture real-world equivalency impacts. Aggregate results between the two test platforms showed translation of the optimization benefits though absolute results varied for some cycles. Accuracy improvements to the simplified model to better capture dynamic effects are recommended to improve the utility of the newly introduced vehicle control system development method. Additional future work in redefining operation modes and mode transition threshold conditions to approximate optimal vehicle operation is recommended and readily supported by the control system platform developed. / Graduate / 0540 / 0548 / 0790 / d.e.prescott@gmail.com

To be more competitive in the market, many companies are trying to speed up the quotation process and quote more attractive prices. Therefore, they have identified a need for support in the quotation process in order to reduce the quotation lead-time and ensure a higher level of accuracy in the cost estimations. The Quotation Calculator, an application program, has been developed as part of the degree thesis which was carried out at AB Norrahammars Mekaniska Verkstad, NMW 2006/07. This Quotation Calculator can be operated to calculate the material and manufacturing costs of a new product. NMW has recently acquired licenses for CATIA V5, Dassault Systems, for the purpose of making process planning and NC-programming more efficient. NMW wants to generate the data needed from the machining module for the cost calculations. Hence this project was initiated in order to extract data from CATIA V5 for further use in Quotation Calculator or other computer system in NMW. This work has resulted in a system developed with a common hosted programming language to extract and transfer information. The system retrieves model geometry from CAD and information on process planning from CAM, then matches the information in the application for the purpose of cost estimation. The system once developed, is supposed to be used for every new product. For this approach, the relationship of the data from CATIA V5 and the Quotation Calculator has been analyzed. Within this thesis, the focus is on production cost estimation. The method used here is programming in Visual Basic Editor to extract information from the machining module in CATIA V5 and then import them to Microsoft Excel. With standard operations, tables of data and several inputs, the cost calculation and hence the quotation process can be automatically implemented. This work has been generated with the Quotation Calculator. With the correct input data to process planning and this new quotation system, the machining time and the costs can be estimated more accurately and easier. The time and cost information is made available for decision making. As a result, the lead time for the quotation process will be shortened and a relatively more attractive price can be quoted to the customers.

Pastaruoju metu tyrimams dažniausiai naudojami žinduoliai, kadangi rezultatai šiek tiek atspindi žmogaus organizme vykstančius procesus. Šis darbas parengtas analizuojant besivystančias paukščio embriono sistemas: tai būdas, leidžiantis sutaupyti lėšų bei dėka trumpo embrioninio vystymosi laikotarpio suteikiantis galimybę operatyviam rezultatų gavimui. Iki šiol literatūroje neradome duomenų apie pirmojo raumens susitraukimo ypatybes, o šį procesą įtakojančios nervų sistemos vystymąsi apibūdina keletas hipotezių. Taigi darbo tikslas buvo išsiaiškinti pirmojo susitraukiančiojo raumens atsiradimo laiką, jo morfologiją (1) ir išanalizuoti ankstyvajame embriogenezės laikotarpyje kontraktilų aparatą įtakojančios nervų sistemos vystymosi ypatumus (2). Tyrimams naudojome kalakuto ir vištos embrionus – kadangi skirtingų porūšių skirtumai mums nebuvo svarbūs, palyginimas tarp minėtų paukščių embrionų neatliktas. Embrionai buvo stebimi in vivo, tyrimams in vitro atlikti buvo naudojami šie molekulinės biologijos metodai: paruoštų pjūvių dažymas histo- ir imunohistochemiškai, polimerazės grandininės reakcijos, ląstelių kultūrų auginimas ir Western blotas. Pirmasis aktyvus raumens susitraukimas kalakuto embrione atsiranda 19-22 Hamburgerio Hamiltono stadijoje, t.y., praėjus 116 val. nuo inkubacijos pradžios: porinis raumuo sudarytas iš keturių susiliejusių miomerų, yra 1 mm ilgio ir 0,1 mm pločio – šis iš dviejų ląstelių tipų sudarytas audinys atsakingas už pirmuosius aktyvius embriono... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of the study was to characterize the first contraction of an isolated muscle in turkey embryo and to determine whether at early stages of chicken brain development during neurogenesis, cells from the astrocytic lineage are present in relevant amounts, where they are located in the neural tube, and to what extend brain regional differences exist. MATERIAL AND METHODS. From the 3rd day of incubation on until the 6th day the embryos were continuously watched through a cellophane window in the eggshell. For histology the embryos were fixed in Bouin's fluid, then completely cut in serial sections of 5 microm thickness and stained according to Masson-Goldner's trichrome procedure plus resorcin-fuchsin. For gene expression analysis markers for stem cells, neurons and astrocytes were used. Immunohistochemistry was made against SMI 312 and GFAP antibodies and Western blot against GFAP as well. RESULTS. A paired muscle 1 mm long and 0.1 mm broad, derived by fusion of the four occipital myomeres, is responsible for the first individual contraction. The contraction produces a stretching in the neck region. The muscle named M. occipitalis primordialis consists of four end-to-end connected groups of mononucleated muscle cells. The muscle contains two types of cells according to the cell nuclei. The elastic rod-shaped notochord represents an endoskeleton. Immediately after contraction it brings the body of the embryo back into its former shape. We also demonstrate that specific... [to full text]

Programinio kodo generavimo iš veiklos taisyklių modelių sritis iki šiol yra menkai ištirta ir tai neigiamai veikia veiklos taisyklių koncepcijos plėtrą. Nagrinėjama kodo generavimo iš grafinių IS (informacinių sistemų) reikalavimus atspindinčių modelių problema. Pristatomas modifikuotu Roso metodu grindžiamo veiklos taisyklių modeliavimo IS projektavimo stadijoje metodo tyrimas, siekiant sukurti adekvačią programinio kodo generavimo iš taisyklių diagramų metodiką. / One of the reasons for a relatively slow growth of the business rules approach could be the lack of developments in the field of program code generation from the business rules models. During this work methods for code generation from IS requirements models are analysed. The focus is placed on a modified Ross method based rules modelling method aiming to create an adequate code generation methodology.

Communication is a critical success factor to information systems development (ISD) projects. Intercultural communication involves two or more people from diverse cultures communication and using different worldviews and context transmit messages to each other. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding on the influence of the intercultural communication on the performance of an ISD team. In order to achieve this aim one needs to understand information systems research and to justify the selection of the chosen research methodology; to understand information systems development and ISD teams; to understand culture and communication; to understand what affects communication has between different cultures; to discover how cultural misunderstandings impact upon ISD team performance and to discover the steps taken to eliminate miscommunication due to cultural issues in organizations. The interpretive research was carried out in several organizations in Gauteng province of South Africa that develop or has a department that develops information systems. A multiple case study using interviews and content analysis as research methods were instrumental in coming to the conclusion of the research. A multicultural dyad conducted interviews in three participating organizations. Diverse information systems development team members participated in this study. The results of the study describe how intercultural communication influences ISD teams in a South African environment. They also provide an understanding on culture and communication. The results of the study also report on culture and personality as determinants of behaviour, and also on different perceptions of culture. The different ISD team dynamics may be affected by team members’ culture and personality. The results also report on intercultural communication in information systems development teams and how it is affected by the different cultural context. / Thesis (MSc (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Communication is a critical success factor to information systems development (ISD) projects. Intercultural communication involves two or more people from diverse cultures communication and using different worldviews and context transmit messages to each other. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding on the influence of the intercultural communication on the performance of an ISD team. In order to achieve this aim one needs to understand information systems research and to justify the selection of the chosen research methodology; to understand information systems development and ISD teams; to understand culture and communication; to understand what affects communication has between different cultures; to discover how cultural misunderstandings impact upon ISD team performance and to discover the steps taken to eliminate miscommunication due to cultural issues in organizations. The interpretive research was carried out in several organizations in Gauteng province of South Africa that develop or has a department that develops information systems. A multiple case study using interviews and content analysis as research methods were instrumental in coming to the conclusion of the research. A multicultural dyad conducted interviews in three participating organizations. Diverse information systems development team members participated in this study. The results of the study describe how intercultural communication influences ISD teams in a South African environment. They also provide an understanding on culture and communication. The results of the study also report on culture and personality as determinants of behaviour, and also on different perceptions of culture. The different ISD team dynamics may be affected by team members’ culture and personality. The results also report on intercultural communication in information systems development teams and how it is affected by the different cultural context. / Thesis (MSc (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

According to recent surveys on the use of systems development methodologies, many organizations claim that they are adapting systems development methodologies (Hardy et al. 1995; Russo et al. 1996; Fitzgerald, 1998). The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the adaptation of systems development methodologies in South Africa. This problem was investigated by addressing the following research questions: • What are the perceptions of system developers regarding systems development methodologies? • Why do system developers adapt system development methodologies? • How do they adapt the methodologies? • Is there a difference in the quality of the systems which are developed with these adapted systems development methodologies opposed to those systems which are developed according to a specific formalised methodology? In this dissertation, interpretive case studies have been used to add to the researcher's knowledge concerning how and why systems development methodologies in South Africa are adapted. Qualitative interviewing was used as a data collection method. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The next step was to analyse the transcribed data. In this study, content analysis with cross-case analysis was used. The findings obtained were confirmed by making use of triangulation and member checking. The results indicated that although the use of systems development methodologies is mandatory in organizations, it is not enforced by senior employees. Organizations use multiple systems development methodologies. Systems development methodologies are adapted due to several reasons, i.e. financial gains that is obtained, the lack of knowledge, time limitations, the fact that methodologies are not universally applicable, etc. Systems development methodologies are statically and dynamically adapted by adding and removing steps. The combination of methodologies and switching between methodologies also occur. The results indicate that developers realize that formal systems development methodologies produce systems of a higher quality. However, because it is so time-consuming, they are prepared to accept a lower quality system in order to gain a faster delivery time. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.