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Agriculture currently faces a number of environmental sustainability issues. Three key issues that are the focus of this study are greenhouse gas emissions, depletion of mineral phosphorus resources and cadmium contamination in agricultural soil. Biomass can potentially be used as a renewable energy source and can also be returned to improve the nutrient and drainage structure of agricultural soils. Sustainable management of biomass and agriculture can have significant impacts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a region. Moreover, it reduces the demand for external energy supply, phosphorous (P) based fertilizer, and it??s associated Cadmium (Cd) impurity which can contaminate the soil, plant and food chains. These three issues have typically been considered separately, and managed by different agencies or organisations. The aim of this thesis is to develop an integrated decision support tool that can be used for evaluating alternative options for management and resource recovery from biomass for enhancing recovery of energy, returning carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) from biomass back to soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and also cadmium (Cd) contamination in an agricultural region. This research employed a combination of the tools of Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). MFA is used as the primary tool for this research. GIS and CBA are combined with MFA in later stages of the overall procedure to develop an integrated decision support tool. This integrated tool has been applied to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) in Australia. Tracking the flow of essential substances using MFA has identified current resource management efficiency and substances accumulation across the region. Integrating a spatial analysis tool (GIS) with MFA has provided a feedback driven monitoring tool for evaluating trends of spatial accumulation of substances on agricultural land. This enables the time remaining before acceptable limits are exceeded to be estimated on a spatial basis. Integrated MFA and CBA has been applied to evaluate the tradeoffs and potential synergies of alternative biomass management options. Overall the tool can assist in evaluating the effectiveness of alternative scenarios and visualise the results to stakeholders in a systematic way.

In this paper, Finite Element method and full-scale experiments have been used to study a hot forging method for fabri-cation of a spindle using reduced initial stock size. The forging sequence is carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the hot rolled cylindrical billet is pre-formed and pierced in a closed die using a spherical nosed punch to within 20 mm of its base. This process of piercing or impact extrusion leads to high strains within the work piece but requires high press loads. In the second stage, the resulting cylinder is placed in a die with a flange chamber and upset forged to form a flange. The stock mass is optimized for complete die filling. Process parameters such as effective strain distribution, material flow and forging load in different stages of the process are analyzed. It is concluded from the simulations that minor modifications of piercing punch geometry to reduce contact between the punch and emerging vertical walls of the cylinder appreciably reduces the piercing load. In the flange chamber, a die surfaces angle of 52° instead of 45° is pro-posed to ensure effective material flow and exert sufficient tool pressure to achieve complete cavity filling. In order to achieve better compression, it is also proposed to shorten both the length of the inserted punch and the die “tongues” by a few mm.

The thesis that follows is performed in collaboration with Nitator in Oskarström.The factory in Oskarström focuses on laser cutting, robotic welding and surfacetreatment of steel for the automotive industry. The project aims to streamline the flow of materials in production by automatingthe movements of the forklifts, running to and from the interlayer, and betweenworkstations. The project started with a systematic literature search. The literature searchshowed the research position around the AGV-system. Also a review of studentliterature was made, so that a suitable method for practical implementation couldbe developed and applied. Selected method uses both quantitative and qualitativeapproaches, which is analyzed by using triangulation. The work has resulted in a modified layout of the current facility in Oskarströmthat can be used for the implementation of the AGV-system. It has also resulted inthe tender documents and profitability calculation from several of AGV-suppliers.

This thesis has been performed in Gaborone, Botswana, where all interviews and relevant research data collection took place. The main method of data collection was a semi-structured interviews with relevant parties involved in waste management and generation in Gaborone.This work is part of a larger feasibility study called “Gaborone Transfer and Recycling Station (GTARS)”. The main objective is to make waste management in Gaborone more sustainable, taking environmental, social and economic aspects into account. The aim of this master thesis is to investigate the waste flow rates and composition in the capital city of Botswana, Gaborone. Taking this into account, other factors which directly influence waste generation and composition are identified. The findings show that currently in the year 2014, the city of Gaborone is generating about 348 tons of solid waste per day.Further investigation showed that illegal dumping is a prominent practice in Gaborone, mostly due to the long distance to the landfill and generally low environmental awareness amongst the citizens of the city. The waste generation rates are increasing every year, because the city of Gaborone is expanding rapidly and economic conditions facilitate the increasing urbanization rate. The analysis done till the year 2024 indicate that waste amounts might reach up to 433 tons of solid waste generated per day. Waste composition analysis is constrained, because of the limited data sources available on this subject, but the analysis shows that paper, biodegradable waste and plastics are the main fractions found in the municipal waste stream. / Gaborone Transfer and Recycling Station (GTARS)

My graduation theses concerns an analysis of processes in field of material flow in the company Linde Pohony in Český Krumlov. The analysis is orientated to processes which have direct influence of product added value. The current processes are describe by the help of process map. The main objective of my graduation theses, on the basis of affected analysis, is to create a project of systematical improvement the processes, which will lead to better material flow and bring savings in field of material costs. The main instrument is an implementation of lean production principles. Lean production means elimination of wastings in all activities and processes in the company. The lean production is mainly based on following principles: pull principle, takt principle, one piece flow principle.

The diploma thesis focuses on internal logistics and manipulation in the manufacturing company. First part provides theoretical background. Second part offers an insight into the current state and last part contains a solution for optimization of internal logistics.