The diploma thesis focuses on rationalization of manufacturing processes in company Honeywell Safety Products Partizanske s.r.o.. Main target is to track actual state of processes, which are connected to manufacturing activity, search for reasons of collisions and try to minimize or eliminate them. By designing of multiple optimization solutions, evaluating of data and after applying best-fitted solution can be collision eliminated on purpose. These solutions are exposed to economic analyse and possible share with Company. Economic perspective can help to easier identify which of solution could have bigger impact after implementation to support prosperity of mentioned company.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially in economies around the world and in South Africa in particular. This study aimed to explore and describe the financial performance measures currently used by manufacturing SMEs in Pretoria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participant SMEs’ premises in order to gather the information. It was found that most of the respondents use financial ratios, but to a limited extent, when measuring their financial performance. The use of bankruptcy prediction models is totally absent among the participants. It has been recommended that SMEs use more ratios from the literature that have been proven to be the best financial measures, and the six ratios that have worked well for some of the participants in the study. It is also recommended that SME owners enrol their financial staff for training in bankruptcy prediction models, and use financial software packages if they can afford them. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.Tech. (Business Administration))

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially in economies around the world and in South Africa in particular. This study aimed to explore and describe the financial performance measures currently used by manufacturing SMEs in Pretoria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participant SMEs’ premises in order to gather the information. It was found that most of the respondents use financial ratios, but to a limited extent, when measuring their financial performance. The use of bankruptcy prediction models is totally absent among the participants. It has been recommended that SMEs use more ratios from the literature that have been proven to be the best financial measures, and the six ratios that have worked well for some of the participants in the study. It is also recommended that SME owners enrol their financial staff for training in bankruptcy prediction models, and use financial software packages if they can afford them. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.Tech. (Business Administration))

於德語系國家提供3D列印積層製造技術之可行性分析 / ‘People can have the Ford Model T in any color – as long as it‘s black‘ (Henry Ford) In today’s competitive business environment, more is needed than building competitive advantages solely on cheap mass production on the other side of the globe. Product life cycles become shorter, customers more demanding, cost advantages of producing large amounts far from the distribution channels are eroding and flexibility in production is an essential parameter to meet customer’s demands. The purpose of this business plan is to show small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) a possibility to conquer constrains of mass production by using one of the few real disruptive technologies of our times. 3D printing or additive manufacturing indeed has the potential to change the paradigm for manufacturing. In short, it is the process of building solid three-dimensional objects from any digital model data by applying materials usually layer upon layer. This method of building parts of virtually every shape is the reason for the name as opposed to subtractive or traditional manufacturing, where material is being removed by drilling, cutting, and milling. Additive manufacturing technologies can be used anywhere in the product life cycle from pre-production prototypes to full-scale production: On the entry level, small and medium sized enterprises could increase their performance through cost reduction by accelerating the business cycle. This is an implication of reduced time to market and improved product quality. The next level not only involves speed but also cost savings arising out of supply chain improvements. Additive manufacturing is able to significantly reduce required inventory and therefore is reducing working capital requirements. The third level takes full advantage of this new technology, exploiting the complexity for free phenomenon, which demonstrates that geometrically complex shapes can be produced at virtually no additional costs. Last but not least, while putting all the advantages of additive manufacturing, mass-customization of products becomes an available option even for smaller companies. The described paradigm shift already started, and although the industry is still small in absolute terms, growth rates have been impressive for the last few years. The global additive manufacturing market grew by 34.9% (CAGR) to US$ 3.07 billion in 2013, which is a continuation of the remarkable growth rates of 2010, 2011, and 2012. Even more exciting are the forecasts, which indicate that additive manufacturing could easily exceed US$ 21 billion by 2020. (cf. McKinsey Global Institute, 2013; Wohlers Associates Inc., 2014). The german speaking market is about 15% of the global additive manufacturing market with players being more educated in terms of additive manufacturing. Thus, it seems to be the right time to enter this market eager for innovation. This business plan proposes to set-up an additive manufacturing service provider in Austria, targeting the German speaking countries, and offering its services to mainly but not exclusively small and medium sized enterprises. Since the competition is existent but very segmented, the declared goal of 5% market share should be manageable in the first three years of operation. The main target clients are SME’s in the following fields: Manufacture of fabricated metal products and machinery and equipment Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers Manufacture of furniture Manufacture of jewelry, bijouterie, and related articles Manufacture of medical and dental instruments and supplies 3magination, which is the proposed name for the company, shall provide the following services: Additive manufacturing education Design consultancy Material consultancy Small series production and prototyping However, the business model classifies the first three services as trust and relationship building investments and the company only charges for the production itself. 3magination disposes of metal and polymer processing printers and is able to produce a very large spectrum of objects. Design, material selection, and the flexible production itself are 3maginations’s declared competitive advantages. To ensure this path, a detailed analysis of key talents has been performed. Considering the conservative forecasts, initial investment of EUR 1.1 million in equity and a loan facility from banks of EUR 1.92 million would generate a NPV of EUR 25.5 million. Due to the large investments in fixed assets and the low sales volume at the beginning, a loss is anticipated in the first year. However, the company breaks even in the second year of operation and makes a small profit of EUR 286,394. From there on, the net income and sales ratio starts accelerating up to 34% in 2019.