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Lack of safe drinking water is one of the biggest humanitarian problems in the world today. Over one billion people in developing countries have no access to good quality drinking water, and subsequently, diarrhoea caused by unclean water leads to 1.8 million deaths of children under the age of five. That corresponds to 90 per cent of all deaths among children in that age group. However, by improving water and sanitation management, one tenth of all worldwide cases of disease can be prevented. In relation to this, the United Nations has launched the seventh millennium goal, which is to half the proportion of people lacking access to safe drinking water by year 2015 (compared with the proportion of year 2000). Therefore, it is important to both improve and develop water treatment techniques in order to achieve a sustainable development, especially in the third world.   Kofi Ansah and Edumafa are two villages on the Ghanaian countryside. Here, as in the rest of Ghana, it is common to drink water from throwaway plastic containers. This is because the water quality is poor in the stationary water sources such as tanks and wells etc. The plastic containers contribute to a big waste problem and it´s therefore desirable to improve the water quality in stationary water sources in order to reduce the waste problem that now is occurring.   Solar Disinfection, or SODIS, is a water treatment technique that is based on solar radiation. Water containers (usually PET bottles) are filled with water and then exposed to the sun for about six hours. The germicidal effect can be derived to thermal heating in combination with the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The technique is suitable in the third world since the treatment procedure is both simple and inexpensive. The purpose of this study was to estimate the possible waste reduction regarding the small plastic containers by the implementation of SODIS as a water treatment technique, and evaluate if SODIS is an adequate way to improve the quality of water collected from stationary water distribution systems in Ghana.   The study has shown that SODIS is an adequate method for producing low health risk water at a household level in Ghana. A solar exposure of six hours is enough to reach a safe bacterial content within the treated water. It is also clear that SODIS could reduce the present waste problem regarding the throwaway plastic containers by more than 1600 plastic bags per person and year, and that the Ghanaians attitude to start performing SODIS is positive.   Further work should be aimed at implementing SODIS as a water treatment technique by teaching the Ghanaian people, especially in the rural areas, the importance of water and sanitation issues. The implementation of SODIS is a long term project that cannot be accomplished singlehandedly. It can be achieved by instructing certain people in the villages as to how the procedure is done. For this to be effective, these individuals should preferably be well educated and speak both English and the local language. These people can in turn educate and instruct the other villagers in how SODIS is executed and by doing so complete and secure a sustainable use of the technique. / Bristen på rent dricksvatten är ett av de största humanitära problemen världen står inför idag. Över en miljard människor i utvecklingsländer saknar tillgång till rent dricksvatten, och diarré orsakat av orent vatten leder varje år till 1,8 miljoner barn under fem års död. Det motsvarar 90 procent av alla dödsfall bland barn i den åldersgruppen. Vidare kan 10 procent av världens alla sjukdomsfall förebyggas genom förbättrad vatten- och sanitetshantering. I tillägg till detta har Förenta Nationerna lanserat det sjunde millenniemålet som är att halvera antalet människor utan tillgång till rent dricksvatten till år 2015 (jämfört med nivåerna år 2000). Det råder därför ingen tvekan om att det är viktigt att både förbättra och utveckla vattenreningstekniker, särskilt i tredje världen.   Kofi Ansah och Edumafa är två byar på den ghananska landsbygden. Där är det, som i resten av landet, vanligt att dricka sitt vatten ur engångsplastpåsar. Detta eftersom vattenkvalitén är undermålig i stationära vattenkällor, såsom tankar och brunnar etc. Plastpåsarna bidrar till ett omfattande avfallsproblem och det vore därför önskvärt att förbättra kvalitén hos vattnet från stationära källor för att på så vis minska plastanvändningen.   Solar Disinfection, eller SODIS, är en vattenreningsteknik som baseras på solstrålning. Vattenbehållare (vanligtvis PET-flaskor) fylls med vatten och exponeras sedan för solen i ungefär sex timmar. Den desinficerande effekten kan förklaras med termisk rening i kombination med solens ultravioletta strålning. Tekniken är lämplig i utvecklingsländer eftersom den är både enkel och billig att utföra. Studiens syfte var att uppskatta den potentiella avfallsreduceringen som skulle uppstå om man skulle implementera SODIS, samt att undersöka om SODIS är en lämplig vattenreningsteknik för att förbättra vattenkvalitén från stationära system i Ghana.   Studien har visat att SODIS är en lämplig metod för att producera vatten med en låg hälsorisk för små hushåll Ghana. Sex timmars solexponering är tillräckligt för att nå en säker bakterienivå hos det behandlade vattnet. Det är också tydligt att SODIS kan reducera avfallsproblemet gällande plastpåsarna med mer än 1600 plastpåsar per person och år samt att ghananernas inställning till SODIS är positiv.   Framtida arbete bör vara inriktat på att implementera SODIS genom att upplysa den ghananska befolkningen, särskilt på landsbygden, vikten av vatten- och sanitetsfrågor. En SODIS-implementering är ett långsiktigt projekt och kan inte åstadkommas ensamt. Det kan uppnås genom att instruera vissa människor i byarna hur tekniken går till. Dessa individer bör vara välutbildade och dessutom tala både engelska och det lokala språket. Dessa personer kan sedan lära och instruera övriga bybor hur SODIS går till och på så sätt fullborda och säkerställa ett hållbart användande av tekniken.

Authors        Jonathan Kölemo (890303) and Simon Jensen (870212)                         Title              Goodbye to Inbound and Outbound waste - A case study at IKEA’s Distribution                      Centre, Älmhult   Background The DC in Älmhult is working in two administrative teams; Inbound and Outbound. The relationship between and inside the Inbound and Outbound teams are complex and unclear. This increases the risk for bad and unnecessary work. The teams’ are handling tasks regarding planning and scheduling for unloading and loading shipments. The complexity at the DC in Älmhult also makes it difficult for managers to control and understand the whole flow within the two teams. The problem is based on complicated and unsynchronized tasks, poor utilization of IT systems and lack of integration and standardization within the teams work.   Purpose        The purpose with the thesis is to identify wastes within the teams’ work, and thereby provide suggestions for improvements.                 Method         A positivist approach has been used as a scientific perspective throughout the study. The scientific approach is deductive and the research strategy is qualitative. From the theoretical and empirical material an analysis has been designed that eventually lead to a conclusion.   Results            The study shows that both the Inbound and Outbound teams’ processes consist of a number of wastes. By using One-piece-flow, Standardization, Capacity and FIFO theories, the wastes can be reduced or completely eliminated.   Conclusions The most critical wastes have been chosen and by combining the four improvement theories, reductions of unnecessary activities can be made. By implementing the suggested improvements, the number of unnecessary activities can be reduced, and the total process and lead times will decrease. By doing this, the Flow planners can focus on more important activities and the same amount of staff can handle increased throughput of goods.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The reduction of waste is a constant concern for companies that form part of a supply chain. In industrial processors, these are related to logistics solutions, because the production process of the different products is highly automated. In the case of the Peruvian potato, this model is not applicable due to its irregular characteristics. In this context, this paper proposes an improvement in the process of elaboration of processed potatoes in order to reduce or eliminate waste in food sector companies. Identification tools are used for activities that do not generate value, such as the VSM, and other continuous improvement tools such as Kaizen and 5S, as well as a simulation model. In the validation, an 89% increase in the product yield, as well as a 72% efficiency increase, is obtained.

Textile waste, both pre and post consumer, is a problem that needs a solution, and fast. This work aims to find a simple solution to that problem, to exemplify how a small change in thinking and structures can make a big difference. The proposal is a design system of square construction, with roots in historical fabric conservancy practices and by use of salvage craft techniques. By constructing garments out of squares, waste is eliminated by simple means and existing materials of different qualities can be cut in the same way, thereby rationalized, then assembled into larger materials and so an up cycling process is achieved. The result of this work is a versatile design system which may lead to many different outcomes in the hands of different designers without compromising on desired fit and without the waste generated from cutting conventionally. In the present fashion field solutions such as this system are necessary to encourage the apprehensive designer to take steps towards sustainable practices.

Purpose – To provide a framework for the improvement of the supply chain of Completely Knocked Down Products with a focus on waste reduction and cost-efficiency. Method– A case study at a company dealing with CKD assembly, based on observations and interviews. Triangulation of several sources from scholarly articles, examples from the automotive industries and researches. This investigation has been designed to provide logic and coherent structure backing the purpose following the red-thread of answering the research questions. The objective of the study is achieved combining literature review and a case study mainly based on observations and interviews. Results – CKD production can be beneficial depending on the specific content and market conditions. This thesis focuses on value creation throughout each stage of the production of CKD, from design to final assembly. The study found some guidelines that should be followed in managing the supply chain of CKD products. It fills a vacuum of knowledge on the topic. Implications – The frameworks resulting from the research, highlight the actions to be taken to implement CKD efficiently, with minimum waste and cost, leading to an overall improvement of the entire supply chain. Limitations – There have been found limited resources on the topic. Developing a framework without thorough examples from different industries contexts was a limitation due to the absence of available information. Observations and interviews limited to one company that locally assembles globally sourced parts.

In this study, possible cleaner production opportunities for a dairy processing facility are examined, considering the market milk production process. Cleaner production concept and its key tools of implementation were analyzed to build the basis of study. General production process and its resulting environmental loads are discussed by taking possible CP opportunities as the axis of study. A methodology is developed for cleaner production opportunity assessment in Milk Processing Facility of Atat&uuml / rk Orman Ciftligi. The methodology covers two major steps / preparation of checklists for assisting auditing and opportunity assessment / implementation of the mass balance analysis. For mass balance analysis, measurements and experimental analysis of the mass flows are utilized to determine the inputs and outputs. Prepared check lists are utilized to determine waste reduction options that could be implemented. Selected opportunities are evaluated considering its environmental benefits and economic feasibility.

Orientador: Jose de Alencar Simoni / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T19:19:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Duarte_AlineEiras_M.pdf: 1068677 bytes, checksum: 59b0dbfa7366f507ed4f00586382d731 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Este trabalho propõe possíveis alterações em procedimentos experimentais de química geral envolvendo mudanças de materiais, reagentes, quantidades e concentrações de soluções, para a redução de custos e resíduos produzidos em laboratórios de ensino. Os roteiros experimentais estudados fazem parte da disciplina de Química Geral Experimental (QG-102), ministrada no Instituto de Química da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), no 2° semestre de 2005 e 1° semestre de 2006. Durante esses dois semestres os alunos foram observados no desenvolvimento de suas aulas.Diante das observações, modificações foram propostas em cinco dos doze experimentos trabalhados e novos materiais foram criados, na intenção de preservar ou melhorar os aspectos didáticos dos experimentos, os resultados obtidos e o processo de aprendizagem. Alguns dos experimentos modificados reduzem em até vinte vezes a quantidade de reagentes, a quantidade de resíduos produzidos, o tempo de realização do experimento, energia elétrica e água para a limpeza dos materiais, sem comprometer os objetivos didáticos e, em alguns casos, melhorando os resultados obtidos e a compreensão dos conceitos envolvidos no experimento. Os novos roteiros experimentais foram descritos neste trabalho e aplicados para alunos ingressantes no 1° semestre de 2007, na mesma disciplina, com sucesso. Embora não avaliadas sistematicamente, as modificações propostas agradaram aos alunos e demonstraram que a preocupação com a geração e tratamento de resíduos foi despertada nos mesmos. / Abstract: This work shows possible changes introduced in experiments procedures of general chemistry involving the modification of educational materials, reagents, and solutions amount and/or concentrations, in order to diminish cost and residues. The modified experimental procedures suggested for disciplines of Laboratory of General Chemistry at Campinas State University, were conceived by observing, during two semesters, the students' pratical work at the laboratory. The aim of this project is to create new educational materials that present the same didactic performance of the conventional experimental procedures. In many respects the utilization of these new educational materials or procedures lead to the achievement of better experimental results and improved the students learning process. The new experimental procedures reduced by 20 times the amount of used reagents, and also reduced the amount of generated residues as well as the cleaning materials and energy. This work also describes new experimental procedures that were already effectively applied during experimental classes. Experiments procedures reducing by 20 times the reagent amounts, classified as micro scale, resulted in short times to carry on the experimental work, allowing free time for experimental reports and theoretical studies. The modifications proposed did not show any loss regarding the didactics purposes of the experiments. Even though not systematically evaluated, the students appreciated the modifications proposed and were concerned residue generations and managements. / Mestrado / Físico-Química / Mestre em Química

La presente tesis de investigación se orientó en la aplicación de las Buenas Prácticas de Ingeniería, como herramienta para reducir las mermas dentro de las líneas de producción en el procesamiento de vidrios laminados de la Corporación Miyasato. Para ello se analizaron los síntomas y causas que ocurren dentro de los procesos y se determinó la problemática principal. Se utilizó la metodología de las 5S para mejorar la percepción de la calidad de los trabajadores, se organizaron espacios y se fomentaron programas de capacitación del recurso humano. Como resultado final se obtuvo una reducción de las mermas hasta en 30.8%. This thesis research was aimed at implementing the Good Engineering Practices as a tool to reduce waste in the production lines in the processing of laminated glasses Miyasato Corporation. To do the symptoms and causes occurring within processes and it determined the main problem analyzed. 5S methodology was used to improve the perception of the quality of workers, space programs were organized and training of human resources is encouraged. As a final result in reduced shrinkage was obtained. The final result was the reduced of waste. Was obtained up to 30.8%.

Since the last recession the hardwood flooring industry is currently enjoying strong growth. With this growth come new challenges for manufacturers of hardwood flooring. QEP Wood Flooring division, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, USA is a midsize flooring company which historically struggled with high customer claims. In 2016, QEP’s Johnson City management team implemented an initiative to address the top three leading causes of defects and waste in their hardwood flooring panels. A systematic plan was devised and implemented by utilizing basic quality tools and methods such as Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC), root cause analysis, 5-why, check sheet and deployment of effective employee awareness training. As a result, QEP Wood Flooring division reduced 81.56% in chip-out, increased 1.7% in production yield, saved over $90k annually in customer claims while improving the quality of their products and increasing customer satisfaction. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an effective process and low-cost tools to improve the quality of wood flooring products elsewhere in the wood flooring industry.