Research questions:   What are the brand images and brand identities of Renault Trucks, Novembal/Tetra Pak and IKEA? Is there a brand gap? How does country-of-origin have an effect on the perception of the brands? How does the respondent’s sex have an importance in the perception of the brand and the effect of country-of-origin? Purpose:   The purpose of this thesis is to describe, compare and analyze the existence of brand gaps and the effect of country-of-origin with the final intention to provide management recommendations for the studied companies. Method:   A quantitative consumer survey of 42 subjects was collected and analyzed. In addition, interviews were conducted with three Swedish companies, as well as an interview with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Lyon. Aaker’s (1997) Big Five model was used in the analysis. Conclusions:    The study demonstrated the brand identities and brand images of the companies. A brand gap is widely present. Aaker’s (1997) model had to be modified and includes new dimensions and traits. Country-of-origin (COO) plays a role in 100% of the consumers’ perception and purchasing process. COO bias, ethnocentrism and animosity are present and play a role in the 42 consumers’ attitudes and purchase decisions in Rhone-Alps. Men      and women have different attitudes and degree of ethnocentrism towards the effect of country-of-origin (COE).

For Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), the distribution of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by vehicle type is the most significant parameters for onroad mobile source emissions modeling used in the development of air quality management and regional transportation plans. There are two approaches for the development of the HDV VMT distribution; one approach uses HDV registration data and annual mileage accumulation rates, and another uses HDV VMT counts/observations collected with the FHWA truck classification. For the purpose of emissions modeling, the FHWA truck classes are converted to those used by the MOBILE6.2 emissions rate model by using either the EPA guidance or the National Research Council conversion factors. However, both these approaches have uncertainties in the development of onroad HDV VMT distributions that can lead to large unknowns in the modeled HDV emissions. This dissertation reports a new heavy-duty vehicle visual classification and activity estimation method that minimizes uncertainties in current HDV conversion methods and the vehicle registration based HDV VMT estimation guidance. The HDV visual classification scheme called the X-scheme, which classifies HDV/truck classes by vehicle physical characteristics (the number of axles, gross vehicle weight ratings, tractor-trailer configurations, etc.) converts FHWA truck classes into EPA HDV classes without losing the original resolution of HDV/truck activity and emission characteristics. The new HDV activity estimation method using publicly available HDV activity databases minimizes uncertainties in the vehicle registration based VMT estimation method suggested by EPA. The analysis of emissions impact with the new method indicates that emissions with the EPA HDV VMT estimation guidance are underestimated by 22.9% and 25.0% for oxides of nitrogen and fine particulate matter respectively within the 20-county Atlanta metropolitan area. Because the new heavy-duty vehicle visual classification and activity estimation method has the ability to provide accurate HDV activity and emissions estimates, this method has the potential to significantly influence policymaking processes in regional air quality management and transportation planning. In addition, the ability to estimate link-specific emissions benefits Federal and local agencies in the development of project (microscale), regional (mesoscale), and national (macroscale) level air quality management and transportation plans.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis--Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

In this master thesis project carried out on Scania’s interaction design department in Södertälje an evaluation of the technology gaze interaction has been done. The aim was to see if the technology was suitable for implementation in a truck environment and what potential it had. The work started by doing a context analysis to get a deeper knowledge of the research done on within the area related to the subject. Following the context analysis a comprehensive need finding process was done. In this process, data from interviews, observations, ride along with truck drivers, benchmarking and more was analysed. The analysis of this was used to identify the user needs. Based on the user needs the concept development phase was conducted. The whole development phase was done in different stages and started off by an idea generation process. The work flow was made in small iterations with the idea to continuously improve the concepts. All concepts were evaluated in a concept scoring chart to see which of the concepts that best fulfilled the concept specifications. The concepts that best could highlight the techniques strengths and weaknesses were chosen and these are Head Up Display Interaction and Gaze Support System.. These concepts focused on the interaction part of the technique rather than a specific function. Test of the two concepts were conducted in a simulator to get data and see how they performed compared to today´s Scania trucks. The result overall was good and the test subjects were impressed with the systems. However there was no significance in most of the cases of driving except for some conditions where the concepts prove to be better than the systems used today. Gaze interaction is a technology that is suitable for a truck driving environment given that a few slight improvements are made. Implementation of the concepts have a good potential of reducing road accidents caused by human errors.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:03:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 YTCS_DISSERT.pdf: 5384825 bytes, checksum: aa8710a0ccd842fef87d4421af582dca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-18 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Only 32% of the population of Natal is attended by sewage, while the remaining population use pits and septic tanks. The characterization of the contents of septic tanks and pits contributes to the performance of such system and may guide the decision on treatment of these contents. The main of this research is to characterize the contents of interior residential pits and septic tanks in the greater Natal, with the following specific goals: to develop and manufacture a sampler capable of collecting a representative sample of the entire column (the surface scum, the clarified liquid and sludge bottom); to compare the contents of the tanks with the pits; to compare the contents of the septage from vacuum trucks; to relate the composition content with socioeconomic characteristics of households; to compare the content in both chambers of the septic tanks in series; to assess the situation of the content before and six months after the cleanness; and ultimately propose a pilot scale plant for treatment of septage. Once the sampler was developed, samples were collected within 14 septic tanks and 10 pits in many districts of Natal. Medians of the 24 systems were obtained: temperature, pH, conductivity, oil and grease, total solids, total suspended solids and sediments of 28.0 ?C, 6.95; 882 mS/cm, 75.2 mg/L; 10,169 mg/L, 6,509 mg/L and 175 mL/L respectively; 111.0 mgN/L for ammonia, 130.5 mgN/ L for organic nitrogen, 0.2 mgN/L for nitrite, 0.4 mg/L for nitrate; 8935 mgO2/L for COD, 29.2 mgP/L for total phosphorus, thermotolerant coliforms from 9.95 E +06 CFU/100mL helminth eggs and 9.2 eggs/L with a maximum concentration of 688 eggs/L and minimum of 0 eggs/L. Medians of organic nitrogen and TKN were significantly different between groups of tanks and pits. The systems with cleanness gap from 11 and 20 years presented the higher concentrations for most variables. The effluent from the toilets and bathrooms participate more effectively in contributing fractions of solids, alkalinity, nitrogen, COD, total phosphorus, thermotolerant coliforms and helminth eggs. The systems used by socioeconomics class with income from R$ 3,700.00 to R$ 7,600.00, presented higher concentrations for COD, nitrogen, solids and helminth eggs. The first of the two chambers had always presented higher concentrations over the second compartment. The analysis of variance for most variables, showed that the values of septic tanks, pits and septage from vacuum trucks belong to the same group. In the samples taken after cleanness, the median of pH and temperature increased, while alkalinity, COD, organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, ammonia and helminth eggs decreased. The oils and greases and thermotolerant coliforms had slightly varied due to the continuous release of sewage into the systems that maintained their steady state concentrations. / Apenas 32% da popula??o de Natal ? coberta por rede coletora de esgotos, sendo as fossas e tanques s?pticos os mecanismos de disposi??o de esgotos comumente utilizados pelo restante da popula??o. A caracteriza??o do conte?do de fossas e tanques colabora para o conhecimento sobre o tratamento desses res?duos no pr?prio domic?lio, al?m de enriquecer as informa??es a respeito deste conte?do. O objetivo geral desta pesquisa ? caracterizar o conte?do do interior de fossas e tanques s?pticos residenciais da cidade de Natal, tendo como metas espec?ficas desenvolver e fabricar um amostrador capaz de coletar uma amostra representativa de toda a coluna dos tanques s?pticos e fossas, que contemple a escuma da superf?cie, o l?quido clarificado e o lodo presente no fundo; comparar o conte?do dos tanques com os das fossas; comparar o conte?do com os res?duos dos caminh?es limpa-fossa; avaliar a composi??o do conte?do e relacionar com as caracter?sticas s?cio-econ?micas dos domic?lios; comparar a qualidade do conte?do nas duas c?maras dos tanques s?pticos em s?rie; avaliar a situa??o do conte?do antes e decorridos seis meses ap?s o esgotamento e, por fim, propor uma esta??o, em escala piloto, para o tratamento dos res?duos gerados por tanques s?pticos e fossas. Com o amostrador desenvolvido foram coletadas amostras do interior de 14 tanques s?pticos e 10 fossas em bairros de Natal. O conte?do dos 24 sistemas obteve medianas para temperatura, pH, condutividade el?trica, ?leos e graxas, s?lidos totais, s?lidos suspensos totais e sediment?veis de 28,0?C; 6,95; 882 mS/cm; 75,2 mg/L; 10.169 mg/L; 6.509 mg/L e 175 mL/L respectivamente; 111,0 mgN/L para am?nia, 130,5 mgN/L para nitrog?nio org?nico, 0,2 mgN/L para nitrito, 0,4 mg/L para nitrato; 8.935 mgO2/L para DQO, 29,2 mgP/L para f?sforo total; coliformes termotolerantes de 9,95E+06 UFC/100mL e ovos de helmintos 9,2 ovos/L com concentra??o m?xima de 688 ovos/L e m?nima de 0 ovos/L. Houve diferen?a estat?stica significativa para nitrog?nio org?nico e NTK entre os grupos dos tanques e fossas. A classe com tempo de esgotamento entre 11 a 20 anos apresentou para a maioria das vari?veis concentra??es bem mais elevadas. O efluente oriundo dos banheiros e sanit?rios participou mais efetivamente na contribui??o das fra??es dos s?lidos, alcalinidade, fra??es nitrogenadas, DQO, f?sforo total, coliformes termotolerantes e ovos de helmintos. A classe com renda entre R$ 3.700,00 a R$ 7.600,00, apresentou maiores concentra??es para DQO, nitrog?nio, s?lidos e ovos de helmintos. A primeira c?mara dos tanques s?pticos de duas c?maras em s?rie apresentou conte?do mais concentrado em rela??o ao segundo compartimento. Nas an?lises de vari?ncia a maioria das vari?veis apontou que os valores de fossas, tanques s?pticos e res?duos de carros limpa-fossa pertencem ao mesmo grupo. Na amostragem ap?s o esgotamento, o pH e temperatura aumentaram suas medianas, enquanto que alcalinidade, DQO, nitrog?nio org?nico, f?sforo total, am?nia e ovos de helmintos diminu?ram. Os ?leos e graxas e coliformes termotolerantes variaram pouco devido ao lan?amento cont?nuo de esgoto dentro dos sistemas que mantinham suas concentra??es est?veis

A utilização de sistemas semi-ativos no controle de movimento e vibração vem crescendo muito nos últimos anos, e está se firmando como a opção mais econômica em muitas aplicações. Os sistemas de controle semi-ativos baseados em fluidos magneto-reológicos (MR) já são empregados no controle de vibrações desde máquinas de lavar a grandes pontes suspensas, e até mesmo no controle de vibração de edifícios sujeitos a abalos sísmicos. No controle de movimento, eles têm sido aplicados em aparelhos de fisioterapia, próteses de joelho humano e embreagens. No setor automobilístico, os sistemas semi-ativos são empregados em sistemas de controle da suspensão e sistemas anti-rolagem, e também no controle de sistemas de torque e tração. Visto a crescente importância dos sistemas de controle semi-ativo, este trabalho aborda este assunto dividindo-o em duas partes: a primeira, apresentada no volume 1, trata do projeto de atuadores magneto-reológicos e do seu modelamento dinâmico voltado para projetos de controle; e a segunda parte, apresentada no volume 2, trata de projeto de controladores para sistemas semi-ativos, mais especificamente voltados para o controle de suspensão veicular semi-ativa, buscando a melhoria do desempenho em conforto, segurança e dirigibilidade do veículo. Na primeira parte, a maior contribuição deste trabalho está em preencher uma lacuna na literatura no que diz respeito a uma técnica sistemática de projeto de atuadores magneto-reológicos e da forma mais adequada de sua representação dinâmica para projetos de controle, que é feita a partir de dados experimentais. Na segunda parte deste trabalho buscou-se desenvolver um sistema de controle economicamente viável para veículos utilitários (caminhonetes principalmente). Estes são os veículos que mais carecem de sistemas de suspensão capazes de atender a uma grande variedade de situações (variação de pista, variação de carga), e cujo mercado exige uma relação custo/benefício melhor que aquela dos mercados de carros de luxo, onde estes sistemas são empregados atualmente. Como resultados mais importantes deste trabalho têmse: uma proposição para o uso da lei de controle LQG/LTR em sistemas não estritamente próprios; um modelo de um veículo utilitário completo com sete graus de liberdade e capaz de representar as situações mais importantes do comportamento dinâmico deste tipo de veículo; o desenvolvimento de uma estratégia de controle robusto baseado na técnica LQG/LTR, adequada para trabalhar com atuadores semi-ativos, e que utiliza sensores de custo compatível com a aplicação. O sistema de controle proposto foi capaz de melhorar o desempenho em conforto e segurança, evitando situações de perda de aderência dos pneus e comportamentos dinâmicos indesejáveis destes veículos, que foi verificado experimentalmente e através de simulações em computador. / The application of semi-active systems to motion and vibration control has significantly grown during the last years, and it is becoming an economically viable option for several applications. Semi-active systems based on magneto-rheological (MR) fluids were applied to vibration control ranging from washing machines to suspended bridges, and also in vibration control of buildings under seismic tremors. Regarding the movement control, they have been used in gym apparati, human knee prosthesis and clutches. More specifically in the automotive industry, semi-active systems have been applied in suspension and anti-roll systems, and also in torque and traction control systems. This work treats this subject dividing it into two parts: the first one, presented in volume 1, deals with the design of semi-active actuators based on magneto-rheological fluids and dynamic modeling; and the second one, presented in volume 2, deals with the design of semi-active control for vehicular suspension systems. The control main objective is the performance improvement in comfort, safety and handling features of a vehicle. In the first part, the main contribution of this work is to fulfill a literature gap regarding a systematic procedure for design of magneto-rheological actuators and to find a better representation for the dynamic behavior regarding the control system development, which is done based on experimental data analysis. The second part of this work leaded with the development of a vehicular suspension system for utility vehicles (for SUVs, and mainly for light trucks), which need suspension systems able to face a great number of situations (road variation, load variation, etc.), and which present stability problems due to its high gravity center height. Important results of this work are: the development of a robust control strategy based on LQG/LTR techniques for non-strictly proper systems, the development of a dynamic model for light trucks and SUVs with seven degrees of freedom; the development of a robust control strategy based on the LQG/LTR synthesis, suit to work with semi-active actuators, and using sensors with costs compatible to the application. The proposed control system was able to improve the performance of comfort and safety, avoiding the loss of adherence between tires and the ground and other undesirable dynamic behaviors of these vehicles, that was verified experimentally and through computer simulations.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In today's competitive market, a reflection of the capitalist system, we witnessed the view that multinational companies are responsible for the economic development of cities and regions due to its strong financial capital and ability to hand labor absorption. Given this reality, we find theories that recognize the importance of activities at the local level, strengthened by its potential and underpinned by social relations of the actors, and emerging as an alternative to vertical development. To stimulate activities in the territory as a social reproduction strategy and cost that goes against the logic of attracting multinational and transnational companies, concepts, theories are formulated and reformulated, and point to the strength of local initiatives as an alternative to the territorial development anchored in potential, a trend built from the spread of small and medium enterprises in the Third Italy region. In territorial development policies the role of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) is relevant to step up economic flows in areas not exist the presence of industries or large corporations, providing an endogenous economic growth process strengthening horizontal economic relations in some cases, they are guided in local traditions. Among the concepts that emerge from the place development perspective are the Local Productive Arrangements (LPA), conformed by production clusters of companies with activities segments in common and which have as their main growth strategies knowledge sharing between groups and features of competition and cooperation features. This thesis aims to analyze the spatial configuration of the LPA of truck bodies in the municipality of Itabaiana City / SE and folding down the city's economy. To meet these and other objectives were accomplished reading of the literature, as well as field work with questionnaires and interviews with actors related to the theme. This arrangement Productive comprises a total of 66 companies dedicated to maintenance and supply of equipment for the trucks, of this total 16 are aimed at making bodies, the fate of production goes beyond the state line reaching the regional scale. Companies are linked to family groups and transmitted to new generations that allow the continuation of activities. The LPA of truck bodies presents beyond the exchange of experience and information between the actors involved the mutual aid between the owners of companies, however, although recognized as a cluster in Sergipe, do not have the support from the Government to encourage and promote the development of activities. / No atual mercado competitivo, reflexo do sistema capitalista, presencia-se a visão de que as empresas multinacionais são as responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento econômico de cidades e regiões devido ao seu forte capital financeiro e capacidade de absorção de mão-de-obra. Diante dessa realidade, encontra-se teorias que afirmam a importância das atividades desenvolvidas no âmbito local, fortalecidas por suas potencialidades e alicerçadas pelas relações sociais dos atores, e que emergem como uma alternativa ao desenvolvimento vertical. Para estimular as atividades realizadas no território como uma estratégia de reprodução social e econômica que vai de encontro a lógica da atração de empresas multinacionais e transnacionais, conceitos, teorias estão sendo formuladas e reformuladas, e apontam a força das iniciativas locais como uma alternativa para o desenvolvimento territorial ancorada nas potencialidades, uma tendência construída a partir da difusão das pequenas e médias empresas na região Terceira Itália. Nas políticas de desenvolvimento territorial o papel das Micro e das Pequenas Empresas (MPEs) é relevante por incrementarem os fluxos econômicos em áreas onde inexiste a presença de indústrias ou corporações de grande porte, proporcionando um processo de crescimento econômico endógeno fortalecendo as relações econômicas horizontais que, em alguns casos, estão pautadas em tradições locais. Dentre os conceitos que emergem a partir da perspectiva do desenvolvimento lugar estão os Arranjos Produtivos Locais (APL), conformados por aglomerados produtivos de empresas que apresentam segmentos de atividades em comum e que contam como suas principais estratégias de crescimento o compartilhamento do conhecimento entre os grupos e apresenta características de competição e cooperação. A presente dissertação tem por objetivo analisar a configuração espacial do APL das carrocerias de caminhões no município de Itabaiana/SE e o rebatimento na economia do município. Para o cumprimento desses e de outros objetivos foram realizadas leitura da literatura, além de trabalhos de campo com aplicação de questionários e realização de entrevistas com atores ligados à temática. O presente Arranjo Produtivo conta com um total de 66 empresas voltadas a manutenção e fornecimento de equipamentos para os caminhões, desse total 16 são voltadas a fabricação de carrocerias, o destino da produção extrapola a fronteira estadual atingindo a escala regional. As empresas estão vinculadas aos grupos familiares e transmitidas às novas gerações que possibilitam a continuidade das atividades. O APL das carrocerias de caminhões apresenta além da troca de experiência e informações entre os atores envolvidos, a ajuda mutua entre os proprietários das empresas, entretanto, embora sejam reconhecidos como um APL em Sergipe, não contam com o apoio do poder público para incentivar e promover o desenvolvimento das atividades. / São Cristóvão, SE

Orientador: Auteliano Antunes dos Santos Jr / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T19:38:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antonio_SergioFranciscoDela_M.pdf: 2654431 bytes, checksum: a9d019fe7f3a17bc52fb361d8113f727 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: As cargas dinâmicas que ocorrem em veículos de carga quando estes estão em movimento, são fortemente responsáveis pela deterioração precoce do piso asfáltico das rodovias e logradouros no Brasil. Também são umas das principais responsáveis pelo desgaste excessivo e prematuro dos componentes do veículo. Estes dois fatores fazem com que os custos de transporte rodoviário no Brasil, de mercadorias e bens, fiquem mais elevados. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar uma metodologia para medir as cargas dinâmicas que ocorrem em veículos de carga. Na metodologia proposta, utilizou-se a própria suspensão do veículo como parte do sistema de medição, no caso, veículos com suspensão com feixes de molas. O sistema de medida das cargas dinâmicas é composto pelos feixes de molas e um transdutor de deslocamento. Gerou-se a curva de resposta do feixe de molas com relação aos deslocamentos ocorridos através da aplicação das cargas. Após os estudos preliminares, implantou-se este sistema na suspensão dianteira de um veículo de carga de porte médio. Estimaram-se as cargas dinâmicas em várias condições de piso com o veículo carregado, a partir dos deslocamentos medidos. Os resultados mostram que o sistema funcionou satisfatoriamente, e foi possível quantificar os níveis de cargas dinâmicas ocorridas em casos mais críticos. O maior nível encontrado foi de 33,9% acima da carga estática no lado esquerdo da suspensão dianteira, no trecho com lombadas. / Abstract: The dynamical loads and forces occurring in cargo vehicles under movement are among the major causes of the early deterioration on highway and road pavement in Brazil. These dynamical loads are also responsible for the premature and excessive wear on several vehicle components. These two factors combined are among the main reasons why road transportation costs are so expensive in Brazil. The objective of this work is to suggest and evaluate a methodology for measuring the dynamical loads and forces on moving cargo vehicles. This methodology utilizes the suspension system of the vehicle itself as part of the measurement system. In the experimental part of this study a force measuring system was conceived using the leaf spring assembly of the vehicle suspension combined with a simple displacement transducer strategically installed in the vehicle suspension. This force measuring system was installed in a mid-range cargo truck. The characteristic curve of the suspension leaf spring set was determined by the application of static loads onto the vehicle. After calibration and fine adjustments of the system, several experimental runs were performed in the loaded vehicle, measuring the dynamic loads in several pavement types and traffic conditions. The results showed that the system worked satisfactorily, and it was possible to determine the dynamic loads occurred on all experimental runs. The greatest dynamic load found in the field was 33,9 % above the static load on the left front suspension. / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

An increase in the demand for the freight shipping in the United States has been predicted for the near future and Longer Combination Vehicles (LCVs), which can carry more loads in each trip, seem like a good solution for the problem. Currently, utilizing LCVs is not permitted in most states of the US and little research has been conducted on the effects of these heavy vehicles on the roads and bridges. In this research, efforts are made to study these effects by comparing the dynamic and fatigue effects of LCVs with more common trucks. Ten Steel and prestressed concrete bridges with span lengths ranging from 30’ to 140’ are designed and modeled using the grid system in MATLAB. Additionally, three more real bridges including two single span simply supported steel bridges and a three span continuous steel bridge are modeled using the same MATLAB code. The equations of motion of three LCVs as well as eight other trucks are derived and these vehicles are subjected to different road surface conditions and bumps on the roads and the designed and real bridges. By forming the bridge equations of motion using the mass, stiffness and damping matrices and considering the interaction between the truck and the bridge, the differential equations are solved using the ODE solver in MATLAB and the results of the forces in tires as well as the deflections and moments in the bridge members are obtained. The results of this study show that for most of the bridges, LCVs result in the smallest values of Dynamic Amplification Factor (DAF) whereas the Single Unit Trucks cause the highest values of DAF when traveling on the bridges. Also in most cases, the values of DAF are observed to be smaller than the 33% threshold suggested by the design code. Additionally, fatigue analysis of the bridges in this study confirms that by replacing the current truck traffic with higher capacity LCVs, in most cases, the remaining fatigue life of the bridge is only slightly decreased which means that taking advantage of these larger vehicles can be a viable option for decision makers.

En el presente trabajo se describe el origen del nuevo modelo de negocio de los Food Trucks, así como también su crecimiento y desarrollo en el mercado peruano. Así mismo, se mencionan y describen los atributos del marketing mix de servicios relevantes en esta categoría que generan posicionamiento. Estos atributos serán comparados y analizados con el fin de determinar cuál de estos es el atributo más relevante en la generación de posicionamiento en los consumidores de esta categoría y finalmente estudiarlos a profundidad. / This investigation describes the origin of the new business model of Fodd Trucks, as well as it’s growth and development in the peruvian market. Likewise, the attributes of the marketing mix of relevant services in this category that generate positioning are mentioned and described. These attributes Will be compared and analyzed in order to determine which of these is the most relevant attribute in the generation of positioning in consumers os this category and finally study them in depth. / Trabajo de investigación