Unveiling the power of selling spare-parts as a happy-meal

Companies selling industrial machines are seeing a shift where profits are moving from new sales, towards retrieving revenue throughout the whole customer life cycle. Instead of selling new machines, the companies in the industry need to look towards what is referred to as “the aftermarket”. The aftermarket is the part of the market where spare-parts and maintenance services are sold to existing customers. This part of the market is growing rapidly, and the competition on capturing market shares of the after-market have been increasing. Manufacturers of industrial machines need to capture market shares from the aftermarket, which currently is under the pressure of increased competition. Today, spare-parts can be sold either separately, or in combination with maintenance services. However, the first alternative is tedious for the customers, and the other alternative is not applicable for all customer segments. A third alternative, namely putting spare-parts together in bundles or “spare-part-kits” is also possible, but its potential has not been investigated until today. Investigate how a company can become a more attractive supplier of spare-parts by offering the parts in spare-part-kits. 1. Who are the stakeholders involved in the purchase of spare-parts? 2. Why is the concept of spare-part-kits relevant to suppliers of spare-parts? 3. What should be considered when implementing spare-part-kits? This thesis uses a holistic perspective to the problem, aiming to investigate how spare-part- kits would affect the organization as a whole. This is done by investigating the different parts of the organization relevant for the study by adopting a systems view to the problem, outlining the work by taking support in the Business Model Canvas. Spare-part-kits have the potential of increasing customer satisfaction and therefore also the potential of increasing sales of spare-parts. Spare- part-kits can reduce the time spent on ordering, handling and administrating spare-parts, improving communication internally between the stakeholders within the customer company. From a supplier’s point of view could spare-part- kits increase the customers trust towards the supplier and provide the customer with the ability to evaluate the process of ordering spare- parts.BACKGROUND Companies that are selling industrial machines are seeing a shift where their profits are moving away from new sales, towards retrieving revenue throughout the whole customer life cycle. Instead of selling new machines, the companies in the industry need to look towards what is referred to as “the aftermarket”. The aftermarket is the part of the market where spare-parts and maintenance services are sold to existing customers. This part of the market is growing rapidly, and the competition on capturing market shares of the after-market have been also been increasing. PROBLEMATIZATION AND PURPOSE Manufacturers of industrial machines need to capture market shares from the aftermarket, which, as stated earlier, is currently under the pressure of increased competition. Today, spare-parts can be sold either separately, or in combination with maintenance services. However, the first alternative is tedious for the customers, and the other alternative is not applicable for all customer segments. A third alternative, putting spare-parts together in bundles, “service-kits”, is possible, but its potential has not been investigated until today why the purpose of the thesis is to: “Investigate how a company can become a more attractive supplier of spare-parts by offering the parts in service-kits” METHODOLOGY This thesis uses a holistic perspective to the problem, aiming to investigate how service-kits would affect the organization as a whole. This is done by investigating the different parts of the organization relevant for the study by adopting a systems view to the problem, outlining the work by taking support in the Business Model Canvas (BMC). The BMC is a framework developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur in 2010 that identifies nine generic building blocks needed to consider when setting up a successful business model. CONCLUSIONS Service-kits have the potential to increase customer satisfaction and therefore also the potential of increasing spare-parts business as a whole. Service-kits can reduce the time spent on ordering, handling and administrating spare-parts as well as improve communication internally between the stakeholders within the customer company. This since the kits aggregates a large number of spare-parts into one single convenient package instead of multiple. Looking at the concept from a supplier’s point of view could service-kits help increase the customers trust towards the supplier and provide the customer with an improved ability to evaluate the process of ordering spare-parts

VR from a Learning Perspective

Det finns många exempel på att använda teknologi i skolan för att förbättra elevers lärande. En relativt oanvänd teknologi i utbildning är Virtual Reality. De flesta VR applikationer som används i utbildning idag är passiva virtuella studiebesök, där användaren interagerar med applikationen genom att observera den virtuella världen. Detta examensarbete undersöker om interaktiva Virtual Reality applikationer kan ha en positiv effekt på elevers lärande och engagemang, när det kommer till att lära sig grunderna i naturvetenskap. Detta utfördes genom att utveckla en applikation och testa den på högstadieelever. Detta exjobb studerar också hur en Virtual Reality applikation bör utvecklas för att fungera som ett lärandeverktyg. Applikationen lär ut grunderna i elektriska kretsar och designades med en användarcentrerad designprocess och baseras på variationsteori. Ämnet elektriska kretsar valdes baserat på enkäter och en intervju med lärare. En komparativ studie utfördes med två grupper av elever; en grupp som hade en traditionell lektion, och en grupp som använde Virtual Reality applikationen. Båda grupperna testades på vad de hade lärt sig och den andra gruppen svarade på en enkät om deras upplevelse med applikationen. Resultatet från testet visar att eleverna uppskattade användandet av Virtual Reality som lärandeverktyg och att de hade lärt sig av att använda applikationen. På grund av det låga antalet medverkande och att eleverna hade mycket kort tid med applikationen kunde inga konkreta svar ges på huruvida elever lär sig bättre med Virtual Reality. Dock visades det att Virtual Reality har god potential som ett lärandeverktyg på grund av Virtual Realitys uppslukande och interaktiva karaktär.There are many examples of using technology in schools for enhancing student’s learning experience. A relatively unexplored technology in education is Virtual Reality. Most of the existing VR applications aimed at learning are passive virtual field trips, where the user only interacts with the application by observing the virtual world. This thesis explores if interactive Virtual Reality applications can have a positive effect on high school students’ learning and engagement when it comes to learning the basics of natural science. This was done by developing a Virtual Reality application and testing it on high school students. The thesis also studies how a Virtual Reality application should be developed to function as a learning tool. The application teaches the basics of electric circuits and was designed using a user-centered design process and by utilizing variation theory. Electric circuits was chosen as a subject, based on questionnaires and an interview with teachers. A comparative study was performed with two groups of students; one group had a traditional lecture and the other used the Virtual Reality application. Both groups were then tested on what they had learned and the second group answered a questionnaire about their experience with the application. The results of the test show that the students enjoyed using Virtual Reality as a learning tool and that they were able to learn. Due to the small sample size and the short time each student had with the application, there was no conclusive answer to whether or not the students could learn better from a Virtual Reality application. However, it was concluded that Virtual Reality has great potential as a learning tool due to the immersive and interactive nature of Virtual Reality technology

A wave function based ab initio non-equilibrium Green's function approach to charge transport

We present a novel ab initio non-equilibrium approach to calculate the current across a molecular junction. The method rests on a wave function based description of the central region of the junction combined with a tight binding approximation for the electrodes in the frame of the Keldysh Green's function formalism. In addition we present an extension so as to include effects of the two-particle propagator. Our procedure is demonstrated for a dithiolbenzene molecule between silver electrodes. The full current-voltage characteristic is calculated. Specific conclusions for the contribution of correlation and two-particle effects are derived. The latter are found to contribute about 5% to the current. The order of magnitude of the current coincides with experiments.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure

Fluid evolution in CM carbonaceous chondrites tracked through the oxygen isotopic compositions of carbonates

The oxygen isotopic compositions of calcite grains in four CM carbonaceous chondrites have been determined by NanoSIMS, and results reveal that aqueous solutions evolved in a similar manner between parent body regions with different intensities of aqueous alteration. Two types of calcite were identified in Murchison, Mighei, Cold Bokkeveld and LaPaz Icefield 031166 by differences in their petrographic properties and oxygen isotope values. Type 1 calcite occurs as small equant grains that formed by filling of pore spaces in meteorite matrices during the earliest stages of alteration. On average, the type 1 grains have a δ18O of ∼32–36‰ (VSMOW), and Δ17O of between ∼2‰ and −1‰. Most grains of type 2 calcite precipitated after type 1. They contain micropores and inclusions, and have replaced ferromagnesian silicate minerals. Type 2 calcite has an average δ18O of ∼21–24‰ (VSMOW) and a Δ17O of between ∼−1‰ and −3‰. Such consistent isotopic differences between the two calcite types show that they formed in discrete episodes and from solutions whose δ18O and δ17O values had changed by reaction with parent body silicates, as predicted by the closed-system model for aqueous alteration. Temperatures are likely to have increased over the timespan of calcite precipitation, possibly owing to exothermic serpentinisation. The most highly altered CM chondrites commonly contain dolomite in addition to calcite. Dolomite grains in two previously studied CM chondrites have a narrow range in δ18O (∼25–29‰ VSMOW), with Δ17O ∼−1‰ to −3‰. These grains are likely to have precipitated between types 1 and 2 calcite, and in response to a transient heating event and/or a brief increase in fluid magnesium/calcium ratios. In spite of this evidence for localised excursions in temperature and/or solution chemistry, the carbonate oxygen isotope record shows that fluid evolution was comparable between many parent body regions. The CM carbonaceous chondrites studied here therefore sample either several parent bodies with a very similar initial composition and evolution or, more probably, a single C-type asteroid

Social participation of families with children with autism spectrum disorder in a science museum

This article describes a qualitative research study undertaken as a collaboration between museum and occupational therapy (OT) researchers to better understand museum experiences for families with a child or children impacted by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Inclusion for visitors with ASD is an issue that museums are increasingly considering, and the social dimension of inclusion can be particularly relevant for this audience. The construct of social participation, used in OT, provides a promising avenue for museum professionals to think about inclusion. Social participation situates social and community experiences within the context of peoples’ diverse motivations and the strategies they use to navigate environments. This study took these multiple factors into account when observing families’ museum visits—including analysis of their motivations for visiting, environmental features that influenced their visit, family strategies used before and during the visit, and the families’ definitions of a successful visit. Learning more about these factors that are associated with social participation can inform future efforts to improve museum inclusion for families with children with ASD

Phylotranscriptomics to Bring the Understudied into the Fold: Monophyletic Ostracoda, Fossil Placement, and Pancrustacean Phylogeny

An ambitious, yet fundamental goal for comparative biology is to understand the evolutionary relationships for all of life. However, many important taxonomic groups have remained recalcitrant to inclusion into broader scale studies. Here, we focus on collection of 9 new 454 transcriptome data sets from Ostracoda, an ancient and diverse group with a dense fossil record, which is often undersampled in broader studies. We combine the new transcriptomes with a new morphological matrix (including fossils) and existing expressed sequence tag, mitochondrial genome, nuclear genome, and ribosomal DNA data. Our analyses lead to new insights into ostracod and pancrustacean phylogeny. We obtained support for three epic pancrustacean clades that likely originated in the Cambrian: Oligostraca (Ostracoda, Mystacocarida, Branchiura, and Pentastomida); Multicrustacea (Copepoda, Malacostraca, and Thecostraca); and a clade we refer to as Allotriocarida (Hexapoda, Remipedia, Cephalocarida, and Branchiopoda). Within the Oligostraca clade, our results support the unresolved question of ostracod monophyly. Within Multicrustacea, we find support for Thecostraca plus Copepoda, for which we suggest the name Hexanauplia. Within Allotriocarida, some analyses support the hypothesis that Remipedia is the sister taxon to Hexapoda, but others support Branchiopoda + Cephalocarida as the sister group of hexapods. In multiple different analyses, we see better support for equivocal nodes using slow-evolving genes or when excluding distant outgroups, highlighting the increased importance of conditional data combination in this age of abundant, often anonymous data. However, when we analyze the same set of species and ignore rate of gene evolution, we find higher support when including all data, more in line with a “total evidence” philosophy. By concatenating molecular and morphological data, we place pancrustacean fossils in the phylogeny, which can be used for studies of divergence times in Pancrustacea, Arthropoda, or Metazoa. Our results and new data will allow for attributes of Ostracoda, such as its amazing fossil record and diverse biology, to be leveraged in broader scale comparative studies. Further, we illustrate how adding extensive next-generation sequence data from understudied groups can yield important new phylo- genetic insights into long-standing questions, especially when carefully analyzed in combination with other data

The urban economy as a scale-free network

We present empirical evidence that land values are scale-free and introduce a network model that reproduces the observations. The network approach to urban modelling is based on the assumption that the market dynamics that generates land values can be represented as a growing scale-free network. Our results suggest that the network properties of trade between specialized activities causes land values, and likely also other observables such as population, to be power law distributed. In addition to being an attractive avenue for further analytical inquiry, the network representation is also applicable to empirical data and is thereby attractive for predictive modelling.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. E. 7 pages, 3 figures. (Minor typos and details fixed

Ab initio study of alanine polypeptide chains twisting

We have investigated the potential energy surfaces for alanine chains consisting of three and six amino acids. For these molecules we have calculated potential energy surfaces as a function of the Ramachandran angles Phi and Psi, which are widely used for the characterization of the polypeptide chains. These particular degrees of freedom are essential for the characterization of proteins folding process. Calculations have been carried out within ab initio theoretical framework based on the density functional theory and accounting for all the electrons in the system. We have determined stable conformations and calculated the energy barriers for transitions between them. Using a thermodynamic approach, we have estimated the times of characteristic transitions between these conformations. The results of our calculations have been compared with those obtained by other theoretical methods and with the available experimental data extracted from the Protein Data Base. This comparison demonstrates a reasonable correspondence of the most prominent minima on the calculated potential energy surfaces to the experimentally measured angles Phi and Psi for alanine chains appearing in native proteins. We have also investigated the influence of the secondary structure of polypeptide chains on the formation of the potential energy landscape. This analysis has been performed for the sheet and the helix conformations of chains of six amino acids.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure