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The business cycle of the wood flooring branch is currently high however that situation may not be sustainable. In a possible future weaker business climate, the importance of marketing becomes accentuated for firms that aim to maintain their sales levels. We can see trends that competition among the Swedish and foreign manufactures is already stepping up. The intent of this study is to establish marketing guidelines for floor- and molding manufacturers, so they can establish a clearer brand image in DIY retail outlets. By comparing the approach of sports- and DIY stores to brand and product placement, this study aims to bring new knowledge to the DIY branch for improved consumer and product handling. A second related issue this work addresses is the need to move the moldings from their anonymous placement in the lumberyard to a more attractive placement inside the DIY-store. The theory applied in this study is in the field of consumer behavior and branding. Consumer behavior addresses how consumers behave in different situations, why they act like they do and how they react to different stimuli. Brand theory addresses the advantages and disadvantages of trademarks, what is needed to establish a trademark as well as factors that influence brand equity. The research approach is qualitative. Six people who deal with marketing and sales on the floor of DIY-stores have been interviewed. They represente six different do-it your-self-stores. Moreover, three people respresenting different sport stores have been interviewed. The results from these interviews composed a comparative material that is used to get new ideas and a wider perspective for marketing of flooring products in DIY outlets. The sports segment was choosen as a benchmark because of both its similarities and differences with do-it your-self-retailing. The interviews were semi-structured and were recorded, transcribed and processed according to qualitative methodology. The findings were analyzed using consume, Idag går det väldigt bra för golvbranschen och extra bra för trägolvsförsäljningen, men högkonjunkturen kommer med all säkerhet inte att hålla i sig för evigt. Vid en lågkonjunktur blir marknadsföring allt viktigare för att upprätthålla en hög försäljning. Redan idag hårdnar konkurrensen från både svenska och utländska tillverkare. Företag försöker hitta sina profiler för att nå ut till det segment de riktat in sig på. Syftet är att ett interiörföretag med fokus på golvtillverkning ska förbättra sitt varumärke genom råd till gör-det-själv (GDS) återförsäljare och produktställ anpassade för att lyfta fram produkten i butiken. För att ta lärdom från liknande branscher och jämföra med företag där i utfördes en jämförande studie mellan sporthandelns och bygghandelns hantering av varumärken och produkter. Ett andra syfte, som delvis anknyter till det första, är att undersöka vad som behövs för att flytta in listerna från en oexponerad placering på brädgården in till exponering i butik och bli ett inredningselement. . Teorin som tas upp i detta arbete berör främst konsumentbeteende och varumärken. Konsumentbeteende behandlar hur konsumenter beter sig i olika situationer, vad som ligger bakom beteendet och hur de reagerar på olika stimuli. Varumärkesteorin behandlar fördelar och nackdelar med varumärken, vad som bör tänkas på när varumärket byggs upp och vad märkeskapital är och vilka delar det består av. Den empirisk datan har bearbetats utifrån kvalitativ metod. Sex personer anställda på sex olika bygghandlar med varierande befattning men alla med koppling till golvsegmentet har intervjuats. Tre personer från tre olika sportbutiker har intervjuats för att få ett jämförande material och ett bredare perspektiv på studien. Valet av sporthandeln för den jämförande studien beror på de likheter men ändå olikheter som finns mellan koncepten. Under intervjuerna har personerna besvarat ett antal frågor från en intervjumanual. Intervjuerna har spelats in för att sen transkriberas

The process of discovery in science and technology may require investigation of a large number of features, such as factors, genes or molecules. In Screening, statistically designed experiments and analyses of the resulting data sets are used to identify efficiently the few features that determine key properties of the system under study. This book brings together accounts by leading international experts that are essential reading for those working in fields such as industrial quality improvement, engineering research and development, genetic and medical screening, drug discovery, and computer simulation of manufacturing systems or economic models. Our aim is to promote cross-fertilization of ideas and methods through detailed explanations, a variety of examples and extensive references. Topics cover both physical and computer simulated experiments. They include screening methods for detecting factors that affect the value of a response or its variability, and for choosing between various different response models. Screening for disease in blood samples, for genes linked to a disease and for new compounds in the search for effective drugs are also described. Statistical techniques include Bayesian and frequentist methods of data analysis, algorithmic methods for both the design and analysis of experiments, and the construction of fractional factorial designs and orthogonal arrays. The material is accessible to graduate and research statisticians, and to engineers and chemists with a working knowledge of statistical ideas and techniques. It will be of interest to practitioners and researchers who wish to learn about useful methodologies from within their own area as well as methodologies that can be translated from one area to another.

The search for operational excellence includes both a thorough understanding of the nature of the manufacturing operations and a choice of the right production and inventory control system for the environment in which it will operate. Understanding the nature of manufacturing operations can be facilitated by simulating the manufacturing system, so that the interrelationships among parameters can be studied. Production and inventory control systems can be simulated together with the physical manufacturing environment in order to enhance the understanding of the behaviour of a particular control system and also to facilitate the selection of control systems for the manufacturing system under study. In this paper we report on the design and learning effects of using simulation for investigating the behaviour and impact of different production and inventory control systems in a manufacturing system. We discuss the structure and simulation perspectives of production and inventory control systems. We provide a review of the benefits of using simulation for learning the manufacturing environment, and the related testing of alternative control systems.

Jordbruken i Sverige tenderar att bli allt större och större. Expansionen hos vissa enheter har den sista tiden varit väldigt stora. Maskinkostnaderna måste hela tiden hållas på ett minimum och många rationaliseringar görs för att uppnå detta. Detta får till följd att samma maskiner som gick på en begränsad areal används nu effektivare och utnyttjas bättre. Om man ser till växtskyddsbekämpningen finns det regler och miljöaspekter att ta hänsyn till i stor utsträckning. Dessa får inte tummas på! Frågan är var gränsen ligger för en gårds sputkapacitet för att kunna utföra bekämpningen under de rätta förhållandena. I detta arbete har har två Söderslättsgårdar studerats för att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar sprutkapaciteten. Den ena gården på 995 ha har en Danfoil självgående spruta och den andra gården på 264 ha en bogserad Hardi Commander. En viktig skillnad mellan ekipagen är att Danfoilsprutan har luftassistans och Hardisprutan konventionella spridare. Liknande undersökningar har gjorts, bl.a. från Hardi där de jämför sin konventionella teknik med deras TWIN system som innebär luftassistans. Här görs beräkningar med hänsyn till teknikens betydelse för vätskemängd och vindavdrift. I detta fall har jag utgått från maj månads bekämpning 2005 och jämfört detta med SMHI:s väderdata för samma period. Med utgång från detta har kapacitetsmaximum kunnat fastställas för denna period. Resultatet av undersökning visade att det skiljer mycket på kapaciteten vid val av sprutteknik. Efter att studerat väderdata för perioden framkom det att RO:s luftassisterade spruta klarade av att spruta 1710 ha där Egonsborg under samma period klarar 635 ha. Med rätt teknik för att motverka vindavdriften och reducera vätskemängden kan man uppnå mer än en fördubbling av kapaciteten. Maj månad 2005 gav väldigt goda förhållanden för bekämpning. Lite nederbörd och låga vindhastigheter möjliggjorde bekämpning under de bästa förhållandena. Båda gårdarna hade inga större problem att hinna med s, Many farms in Sweden tend to be larger and larger. At some farms, this expansion has accelerated during the last few years. Machinery costs must be kept to a minimum and rationalizations is carried out all the time. The same machinery that has worked on a smaller area is now used more effective and on larger acreage. In plant protection there are rules and environmental factors to take in consideration. These may not be interfered. The question is what the limit on a farm sprayer is to do the work under the right circumstances. In this study, two farms have been studied to find out which factors effects the spraying capacity the most. One farm has 995 ha and a self propelled Danfoil sprayer and the other farm, with 264 ha, has a towed Hardi Commander sprayer. An important difference between the two is that the Danfoil is air assisted and the Hardi Commander has conventional nozzles. Similar studies has been done, among others by Hardi, were they compared conventional techniques with their own air assisted TWIN system. Calculations with consideration to liquid rate and wind drift are made. In this project I have worked with documented spraying occasions in May and compared that with the weather data from Sweden National Weather Institute. The maximum capacity has been calculated. The result shows great difference in spray capacity with different spraying technique. After studying weather for the period, the self propelled sprayer would be able to spray 1710 ha when the other sprayer would spray 635 ha. With right technique to prevent wind drift and reduction of the liquid rate one can achieve more than twice the capacity. May 2005 had very good weather conditions. Little rain and low wind speeds made the best spraying conditions. None of the farms had any trouble to spray their acreage. The first sugar beet spraying, which some times have to be done all at once, was the only thing that showed a capacity shortage. One has to keep in mind that May 2005 was an extremely

The Nordic media market has since the end of the 1990’s experienced a number of consolidations and the market has become increasingly integrated. Some companies within the market are diversified, meaning they are involved in many different kinds of businesses, while other are focused, which implies that they are focused on one business segment. Different research views explain different motives for diversification. The resource view explain diversification by claiming that a company having underused resources needs to profitably employ them elsewhere in order to expand. The agency view explains diversification with the agent’s different incentives compared to the principal. The market power view implies that by having more resources a company can strengthen its competitiveness. Furthermore, there may be financial and synergetic motives behind diversification. This thesis investigates the relation diversification has with size, sales growth, financial efficiency ratios, and stability. By doing this we can explain the motives behind diversification in the Nordic media market through using existing theories and hence applying a deductive research approach. The thirty largest media companies in the Nordic media market were analyzed. The degree of diversification had a positive relationship with the total revenue of the investigated firms. Furthermore, diversified firms on average had higher revenues than its focused counterparts. The more diversified the firms are the higher sales growth they have and diversified companies had a higher average sales growth than the focused firms. A higher degree of diversification did not increase the firms’ financial efficiency and diversified firms did not have a higher average efficiency. However, one of the measured ratios, ROA, was higher for focused firms. Based on knowledge gained from portfolio theory we believed, before conducting the statistical analyses, that a higher degree of diversification would stabilize the cash flows f

En paneldebatt mellan Fredrik Lundberg, Sören Gyll och Håkan Eriksson visar på optimism om industrins framtid i Sverige.

Planering och styrning av försörjningskedjor har fått ett ökat intresse på senare tid. I artikeln presenteras en simuleringsstudie av en försörjningskedja för tillverkning av produkter inom mobil kommunikation.

SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference Model) har fått allt större spridning internationellt. Men vad är SCOR? Hur används SCOR? I artikeln beskrivs SCOR och dess ingående delar blandat med några exempel som visar på nyttan med SCOR.

Vi rapporterar från produktionsstrategicentrums höstkonferens som gick av stapeln 20 oktober 2005 med inbjudna talare från både industri och högskola.

This paper describes the case of a simulation study of the Swedish Prison and Probation system regarded as a queuing system. The situation in Swedish prisons today is not acceptable with a utilisation over 100 per cent. The short-term solution of the problem has been to overcrowd the prisons. The purpose of this work is to describe the relations between waiting time in remand prison, the official number of cells in prisons and the degree of differentiation regarding to the expected torrent of criminals. Differentiation is the attempt to keep different categories of clients apart during their prison time. The degree of differentiation is defined as the number of defined categories used for client placement. The conclusions from this study is that there are not enough number of prison cell available. The situation for male inmates/clients is more critical than for female clients. The results from the study suggest that there needs to be approximately 11,000 prison cells in total to meet the unofficial recommendation of a maximum of seven days in remand prison.

When UMTS is part of IP end-to-end communication, there must exist means for UMTS to be able to provide the required Quality of Service (QoS) for applications running over IP. Hence there is a need for a translation function for translation between IP QoS parameters and UMTS QoS attributes. This translation is not trivial because of several reasons. First, the number of QoS parameters in the IP level and the UMTS level are different. Second, definitions of parameters at the two levels are different. Keeping these factors in view, the present invention provides for a method for translation of IP QoS parameters to UMTS QoS attributes, and another method for translation of UMTS QoS attributes to IP QoS parameters. This translation will enable spectrum efficient UMTS bearers to be set up for applications running over IP. This will also make negotiation of services possible between an entity at the IP level and the UMTS network. These methods are placed in both the User Equipment as well as the Gateway of the UMTS network., QC 20170517

The focus on supply chain management has increased in recent years, among academics as well as among practitioners. In this paper, we present a supply chain simulation study for a real case, concerned with the manufacturing of mobile communication systems. The purpose of the study is twofold. One objective is to evaluate alternative supply chain designs with respect to quality, lead-times and costs as the key performance parameters. A second objective is to increase the understanding of the interrelationships among these and other parameters, relevant for the design of the supply chain structure. The design alternatives differ in terms of the level of integration and synchronisation between supply chain stages. Modelling and validation issues are highlighted since these are fundamental to a supply chain simulation study. The results are discussed and a model capturing the relationships among cost, quality, and lead-times, based on the simulation study, is presented. ⌐ 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

SYFTE Undersökningens syfte är att skapa förståelse för vilka kvalitetsdeterminanter som är betydelsefulla för den kundupplevda tjänstekvaliteten på Internetbaserade handelsplatser. PROBLEM Vilka determinanter beskriver hur kunder upplever tjänstekvalitet på detaljhandelstjänster som utförs över Internet? METOD Efter genomgång av de tjänstekvalitetsteorier som finns idag inom tjänstemarknadsföringen visade det sig att det saknades modeller som beskriver teknologibaserade tjänster där kunden använder sig av egen utrustning för att handla på Internet. För att få en bredare teoretisk bas tillämpade vi därför även teorier från den mer tekniska disciplinen HCI. Med detta som grund samlade vi genom 33 djupintervjuer, med personer som handlat varor en eller flera gånger på Internet, in åsikter om och redogörelser för vad dessa kunder upplevt vara tjänstekvalitet då de handlat på Internet. En omfattande analys av existerande teorier inom tjänstekvalitet i allmänhet och områden liknande det av oss studerade i synnerhet samt kategoriserade citat från djupintervjuerna, genererade 19 determinanter som beskriver kundupplevd tjänstekvalitet på Internethandelsplatser. Utifrån dessa determinanter formulerades hypoteser med underhypoteser som vi presenterat som en konceptuell modell, vi rekommenderar att denna testas kvantitativt. SLUTSATSER Undersökningens resultat fyller en lucka i tidigare tjänsteforskning i det att ingen tidigare har gjort undersökningar likt denna på Internethandelsplatser. Undersökningens resultat går även för den kvalitetsorienterade praktikern att använda som utgångspunkt vid skapandet av Internethandelsplatser av god kvalitet.

The CP conserving amplitudes for the decays $K\to3\pi$ are calculated in Chiral Perturbation Theory at the next-to-leading order. We present the expressions in a compact form with single parameter functions only. These expressions are then fitted to all available $K\to2\pi$ and $K\to3\pi$ data to obtain a fit of the parameters that occur. We compare with the work of Kambor, Missimer and Wyler., Comment: 27 pages, uses axodraw.sty, some misprints corrected. Short discussion on isospin breaking and final state interaction added

Modelling and simulating manufacturing systems often involves several different organisational units. This can make data collection difficult and it can be hard to obtain data that allows for the model to be built with a consistent level of detail. To investigate the impact of a varying level of detail, a manufacturing system was modelled using different levels of detail. The first model was modelled at a high level of detail containing all elements in the system. The second model was an aggregation of some of the processes in the system and the third model consisted only of the main processes. The experiments performed with the models, aimed at finding differences between models' outputs that originated from the choice of the level of detail. The results show that there are significant differences between the models. The simulation models used for this paper are made in collaboration with a company in the mobile communications industry and deals with supply chain problems.

The exact form of the form-factor associated with a meson-photon-photon vertex is not known. Different suggestions exist, based on constraints from QCD and on recent experiments. Four different form-factors are studied in this article. We calculate decay rates for the decays $\pi^{0}\to \gamma\gamma$, $\eta\to \gamma e^{+}e^{-}$, $\eta\to \mu^{+}\mu^{-} e^{+}e^{-}$} and $\eta\to e^{+}e^{-} e^{+}e^{-}$ and cross sections for the processes $e^{+}e^{-}\to PS e^{+}e^{-}$, where $PS=\pi^{0}$, $\eta$ or $\eta'$. The results depend on the choice of form-factor and we examine if the differences are large enough to distinguish in upcoming experiments. The dominant part of the light-by-light contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment is also calculated. Here the uncertainty around the choice of form-factor implies that it is possible to estimate a smallest error in the theoretical value of this contribution., Comment: 28p. Master thesis from december 1999 but the results were felt useful for the muon g-2 discussion. Version with more references in preparation