It is assumed that technological progress plays a vital role in energy efficiency improvements wh... more It is assumed that technological progress plays a vital role in energy efficiency improvements when the effects of industrial restructuring, infrastructure, environmental challenges, and economic shocks seem more dubious. However, a limited number of studies have been conducted to examine the impact of technological innovation on countries’ energy efficiency levels. This study aims to explore the relationship between energy efficiency, technological innovation, and economic growth in 30 European countries by utilizing data from 2012 to 2020. To this end, a two-stage analysis is carried out. The first step involves estimating the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) by the countries to illustrate the effects of energy parameters on economic growth and the environment, and technological innovation (TI) to estimate the innovation capability of each country by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The second step includes a panel regression model to explore how technologic...
This article explores how waste reduction approaches as found in lean thinking can be applied to ... more This article explores how waste reduction approaches as found in lean thinking can be applied to engineering design in Engineer-To-Order (ETO) projects based on a multiple case study of ten companies over a 2-year period. ETO projects deliver capital goods that are customised to individual customer requirements. Customisation and ultimately value generation are achieved through an iterative engineering design process. Although inevitable, iterative engineering design allows much leeway for waste generation, expressed in higher costs and longer lead times. Accordingly, this paper investigates the iterative nature of engineering design in current practice and discusses how these iterations create wastes. It applies the concept of lean engineering design and elaborates on how this concept can eliminate wastes. The findings extend the literature on lean thinking by demonstrating its applicability to engineering design and provide a unique description of the most common wastes found in ETO projects. Furthermore, this article provides managerial implications on how lean engineering design can eliminate wastes and ultimately improve ETO project performance based on lessons learned from the case companies.
The scientific and experimental approach influences behavior and cognitive therapy, including cli... more The scientific and experimental approach influences behavior and cognitive therapy, including clinical interviews. The present paper stresses the active and intelligent processes that occur during interviewing. The clinical interview is not simply a passive collection of information; it is an active process similar to problem solving and decision making. The therapist works intelligently throughout the initial assessment, generating many clinical hypotheses and reducing them by suitable questioning (or by other assessment modalities). The patient is also an active participant, and the resulting interview may be conceptualized as an example of social problem solving undertaken by an interactive dyad in search of better treatment strategies. Furthermore, clinical interviewing is not an inductive process and the detective metaphor is misleading. Behavior therapists mainly proceed by rejection of hypotheses (falsification) rather than their verification and use heuristics of the hypothetical-deductive type. Finally, the clinical interview in behavior therapy is not an autonomous and self-sufficient technique, like in other therapeutic approaches, but a subset of the multidimensional assessment strategy. We hope that a similar theoretical framework will stimulate empirical research, improve clinical interview models in behavior therapy, and take it 'out of the realm of art and move to the realm of science. '
Sustainable development requires sustainable energy sources. Nuclear energy is proposed, but it i... more Sustainable development requires sustainable energy sources. Nuclear energy is proposed, but it is perceived as problematic in terms of proliferation, waste, safety and costs. In this paper, these ...
AbstractDeep-sea shipping is one of the major polluters in the world. Unlike for smaller ships, t... more AbstractDeep-sea shipping is one of the major polluters in the world. Unlike for smaller ships, there is currently no feasible and competitive alternative for deep-sea shipping. This fleet uses large, two-stroke engines running on heavy fuel oil (HFO), which in total produce more pollution than all of Germany combined. It is therefore desirable to find a better technology to power these large ships, and a thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR) is suggested here. Not only is this technology safe and clean, but it is also extremely powerful allowing these large vessels to run for years without refueling. The question is “What are the economics?” This paper will investigate the comparative costs of TMSR compared to the two-stroke HFO technology, including the uncertainties that exist. The purpose of the paper is to primarily provide a conceptual, economic feasibility study to provide an impetus for future research so that this power source can one day become a reality.
Planning, scheduling, controlling and measuring design and engineering activities is challenged n... more Planning, scheduling, controlling and measuring design and engineering activities is challenged nowadays not only by the strong competition, but also by the technology and the way projects are organized. The project organization challenges the planning process through its variety of people, organizations and cultures participating along the whole building project. Concurrent engineering is a building method dependent on a dynamic planning process that integrates and coordinates all the entities involved in the project. 3D modeling is a tool that necessitates more specialized engineers and a more collaborative way of engineering a project. It seems that today’s planning systems fail to take into consideration these challenges. This literature review is an attempt to find if and how the fields of project management and lean construction deal with planning and measuring design/engineering activities in a concurrent engineering process that is globally dispersed both on engineering and ...
There are basically three avenues for dealing with risk and uncertainty in project planning as – ... more There are basically three avenues for dealing with risk and uncertainty in project planning as – 1) forecast its impact before making a decision, 2) maneuver or adapt to uncertainty and risks that materializes and thus making it irrelevant, or 3) accept it. To discuss this the very definitions of uncertainty and risk are revisited because there is great confusion about uncertainty and its cousin risk – also in the literature. Once a proper distinction between these two concepts are established, the paper will show that if project planning is contemplated as ‘planning for coordination’ we can augment it with agility to handle surprises, which is in contradistinction with the ‘planning the future’ approach which is path dependent and fails to handle surprises.
Realization of the circular economy (CE) and its full potential requires firms to rethink their s... more Realization of the circular economy (CE) and its full potential requires firms to rethink their supply chains and business models. Although several frameworks in the literature propose circular economy business models (CEBMs) to redefine how companies create and capture value while adhering to CE principles, there has yet to be an examination of CEBMs in engineer to order (ETO) context. To address this gap, this study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging a case study of a Norwegian company that deals with a large number of small ETO projects. Our findings increase knowledge of how ETO products can adapt to CEBMs.
This paper addresses issues related to planning within the pre-contract phase of shipbuilding pro... more This paper addresses issues related to planning within the pre-contract phase of shipbuilding projects – issues that will facilitate lean execution of later construction phases. In the existing literature on Front End Loading (FEL) there can be identified a certain gap with regards to application of FEL in shipbuilding industry, which this paper attempts to partially fill. The first part of this paper reviews literature on the concept of FEL (also referred to as Pre-Project Planning, Early Project Planning, Feasibility Analysis). The literature review focuses on application of the FEL approach in different project-oriented industries, with major attention paid to application of FEL in megaprojects and building projects. Based on this study of theoretical concepts and experiences of their use, an adequate FEL concept tailored to shipbuilding industry is proposed in the second part of the paper. The paper also features the analysis of opportunities of transition and adaptation of some...
Volume 4: Design for Manufacturing Conference, 1997
In this paper, a new activity-based method for the concurrent assessment and tracing of costs, en... more In this paper, a new activity-based method for the concurrent assessment and tracing of costs, energy consumption and waste generation for usage in Life-Cycle Design is presented. The method is based on Activity-Based Costing (ABC). By utilizing ABC we are able to assess and trace accurately overhead — and direct costs, energy and waste generation. The inherent uncertainty is modeled in terms of fuzzy numbers, but solved numerically using the Monte Carlo simulation technique, which allows us to perform a sensitivity analysis. This enables us to not only estimate the costs, energy consumption and waste generation, but also trace the largest contributors. The capability to trace the contributors is perhaps the most significant feature — especially when the method is employed for design. To illustrate the usage of this method, a simple case study is provided in which we explore the life-span costs, energy consumption and waste generation of a oil/gas exploration platofrm supply vessel ...
This paper deals with evaluation of the efficiency of polygraphy design in the marketing activity... more This paper deals with evaluation of the efficiency of polygraphy design in the marketing activity of a company, presents the activities of the online shop, which trades in flowers. The analysis of the structure of the shop and its service in general is presented. The state of development of shop popularization on the Internet is determined. A number of printed advertising products have been created in order to distribute it among buyers and those wishing to learn more detailed information about the shop's activities. The schemes of interrelations of development of printed products and the approval of polygraphy are presented.
Validation 5 of engineering research has traditionally been anchored in the tradition of scientif... more Validation 5 of engineering research has traditionally been anchored in the tradition of scientific inquiry. This demands formal, rigorous and quantitative validation, which is based primarily on logical induction and / or deduction. Since much engineering research is based on mathematical modeling, this kind of validation has worked-and still works-very well. There are, however, other areas of engineering research that rely on subjective statements as well as mathematical modeling, which makes formal, rigorous and quantitative validation problematic. One such area
PurposeThe aim of the paper is to present and illustrate a new approach for long‐range planning.D... more PurposeThe aim of the paper is to present and illustrate a new approach for long‐range planning.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on well‐tested frameworks such as activity‐based costing (ABC), life‐cycle costing (LCC) and Monte Carlo methods as well as earlier case studies, an approach is developed further and tested using a real‐life case.FindingsThe effectiveness of the approach is confirmed using a process‐oriented framework (ABC) and introducing an LCC perspective. Monte Carlo methods are used to handle uncertainty and identify risks and critical success factors.Research limitation/implicationsThe presented research is a starting‐point for developing a simple approach for budgeting that overcomes many of the problems with traditional budgeting.Practical implicationsThe paper shows how long‐range planning can be performed in a realistic fashion without ending up in many of the traps of traditional budgeting.Originality/valueThe paper presents an approach that can help corporat...
Purpose – The article sets out to discuss and present a solution to the fact that various qualita... more Purpose – The article sets out to discuss and present a solution to the fact that various qualitative risk analyses of the same problem can reach significantly different conclusions. Design/methodology/approach – By reviewing a common risk analysis approach and identifying where the possible problems arise, the authors propose ways to overcome the problems based on what they have found in the literature in general. Findings – There are ways to greatly reduce the problems, but this requires a risk analysis approach in which information quality and consistency are the subject of greater focus. Research limitations/implications – The definitions used, Monte Carlo methods and the analytical hierarchy process are well tested in countless applications. Hence, the authors believe that this work possesses no major limitations. Practical implications – The approach has only been applied to theoretical situations; real-life situations are needed to address possible practical limitations. Originality/value – The paper illustrates the importance of distinguishing between “uncertainty”, “risk” and “capabilities” and the associated implications. It also shows how this can be done in a logically consistent way using the analytical hierarchy process so that the problem of inconsistency is reduced, and how the analysis can be used to systematically improve itself. The proposed risk analysis is a novel approach that has, to the authors' knowledge, never been thought of before.
... Problem with Traditional Cost Accounting 61 1.2 Actrsity-Based Costing 64 1.3 ABC versusTradi... more ... Problem with Traditional Cost Accounting 61 1.2 Actrsity-Based Costing 64 1.3 ABC versusTraditional Costing - An ... Processes versus Managing Costs 83 2.3 Cost Drrsers versus Actrsity Drrsers 84 2.4 Cost Reduction in ABM 85 2.5 ABM and Total Quality Management 89 3 ...
In this paper, the development of an Activity-based Cost (ABC) model is presented for use in desi... more In this paper, the development of an Activity-based Cost (ABC) model is presented for use in design for demanufacture under the presence of uncertainty. Demanufacture is defined as the process opposite to manufacturing involved in recycling materials and product components after a product has been taken back by a company. The crux in developing an ABC model is to identify the activities that will be present in the demanufacturing process of a product, and afterwards assign reliable cost drivers and associated consumption intensities to the activities. Uncertainty distributions are assigned to the numbers used in the calculations, representing the inherent uncertainty in the model. The effect of the uncertainty on the cost and model behavior are found by employing a numerical simulation technique — the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The additional use of disassembly action charts allows the influence of the uncertainty to be traced through the cost model to specific demanufacture ...
Soy protein concentrate (SPC) is a key ingredient in fish feed and most of it originates from Bra... more Soy protein concentrate (SPC) is a key ingredient in fish feed and most of it originates from Brazil. However, the Brazilian soy industry has reportedly resulted in significant environmental problems including deforestation. Consequently, new sources for protein are investigated and protein extracted from farmed seaweed is considered an alternative. Therefore, we investigate how seaweed protein product (SPP) can compete against SPC as a protein ingredient for fish feed. The study uses the positioning matrix, cost analyses involving the power law, and uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulations, and key research challenges are identified. The initial finding is that, with the emerging seaweed industry, the cost of producing SPP is too high to be competitive for fish feed applications. To overcome this challenge, two solutions are investigated. First, substantial investments in cultivation and processing infrastructure are needed to accomplish scale, and a break-even scale of 6...
It is assumed that technological progress plays a vital role in energy efficiency improvements wh... more It is assumed that technological progress plays a vital role in energy efficiency improvements when the effects of industrial restructuring, infrastructure, environmental challenges, and economic shocks seem more dubious. However, a limited number of studies have been conducted to examine the impact of technological innovation on countries’ energy efficiency levels. This study aims to explore the relationship between energy efficiency, technological innovation, and economic growth in 30 European countries by utilizing data from 2012 to 2020. To this end, a two-stage analysis is carried out. The first step involves estimating the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) by the countries to illustrate the effects of energy parameters on economic growth and the environment, and technological innovation (TI) to estimate the innovation capability of each country by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The second step includes a panel regression model to explore how technologic...
This article explores how waste reduction approaches as found in lean thinking can be applied to ... more This article explores how waste reduction approaches as found in lean thinking can be applied to engineering design in Engineer-To-Order (ETO) projects based on a multiple case study of ten companies over a 2-year period. ETO projects deliver capital goods that are customised to individual customer requirements. Customisation and ultimately value generation are achieved through an iterative engineering design process. Although inevitable, iterative engineering design allows much leeway for waste generation, expressed in higher costs and longer lead times. Accordingly, this paper investigates the iterative nature of engineering design in current practice and discusses how these iterations create wastes. It applies the concept of lean engineering design and elaborates on how this concept can eliminate wastes. The findings extend the literature on lean thinking by demonstrating its applicability to engineering design and provide a unique description of the most common wastes found in ETO projects. Furthermore, this article provides managerial implications on how lean engineering design can eliminate wastes and ultimately improve ETO project performance based on lessons learned from the case companies.
The scientific and experimental approach influences behavior and cognitive therapy, including cli... more The scientific and experimental approach influences behavior and cognitive therapy, including clinical interviews. The present paper stresses the active and intelligent processes that occur during interviewing. The clinical interview is not simply a passive collection of information; it is an active process similar to problem solving and decision making. The therapist works intelligently throughout the initial assessment, generating many clinical hypotheses and reducing them by suitable questioning (or by other assessment modalities). The patient is also an active participant, and the resulting interview may be conceptualized as an example of social problem solving undertaken by an interactive dyad in search of better treatment strategies. Furthermore, clinical interviewing is not an inductive process and the detective metaphor is misleading. Behavior therapists mainly proceed by rejection of hypotheses (falsification) rather than their verification and use heuristics of the hypothetical-deductive type. Finally, the clinical interview in behavior therapy is not an autonomous and self-sufficient technique, like in other therapeutic approaches, but a subset of the multidimensional assessment strategy. We hope that a similar theoretical framework will stimulate empirical research, improve clinical interview models in behavior therapy, and take it 'out of the realm of art and move to the realm of science. '
Sustainable development requires sustainable energy sources. Nuclear energy is proposed, but it i... more Sustainable development requires sustainable energy sources. Nuclear energy is proposed, but it is perceived as problematic in terms of proliferation, waste, safety and costs. In this paper, these ...
AbstractDeep-sea shipping is one of the major polluters in the world. Unlike for smaller ships, t... more AbstractDeep-sea shipping is one of the major polluters in the world. Unlike for smaller ships, there is currently no feasible and competitive alternative for deep-sea shipping. This fleet uses large, two-stroke engines running on heavy fuel oil (HFO), which in total produce more pollution than all of Germany combined. It is therefore desirable to find a better technology to power these large ships, and a thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR) is suggested here. Not only is this technology safe and clean, but it is also extremely powerful allowing these large vessels to run for years without refueling. The question is “What are the economics?” This paper will investigate the comparative costs of TMSR compared to the two-stroke HFO technology, including the uncertainties that exist. The purpose of the paper is to primarily provide a conceptual, economic feasibility study to provide an impetus for future research so that this power source can one day become a reality.
Planning, scheduling, controlling and measuring design and engineering activities is challenged n... more Planning, scheduling, controlling and measuring design and engineering activities is challenged nowadays not only by the strong competition, but also by the technology and the way projects are organized. The project organization challenges the planning process through its variety of people, organizations and cultures participating along the whole building project. Concurrent engineering is a building method dependent on a dynamic planning process that integrates and coordinates all the entities involved in the project. 3D modeling is a tool that necessitates more specialized engineers and a more collaborative way of engineering a project. It seems that today’s planning systems fail to take into consideration these challenges. This literature review is an attempt to find if and how the fields of project management and lean construction deal with planning and measuring design/engineering activities in a concurrent engineering process that is globally dispersed both on engineering and ...
There are basically three avenues for dealing with risk and uncertainty in project planning as – ... more There are basically three avenues for dealing with risk and uncertainty in project planning as – 1) forecast its impact before making a decision, 2) maneuver or adapt to uncertainty and risks that materializes and thus making it irrelevant, or 3) accept it. To discuss this the very definitions of uncertainty and risk are revisited because there is great confusion about uncertainty and its cousin risk – also in the literature. Once a proper distinction between these two concepts are established, the paper will show that if project planning is contemplated as ‘planning for coordination’ we can augment it with agility to handle surprises, which is in contradistinction with the ‘planning the future’ approach which is path dependent and fails to handle surprises.
Realization of the circular economy (CE) and its full potential requires firms to rethink their s... more Realization of the circular economy (CE) and its full potential requires firms to rethink their supply chains and business models. Although several frameworks in the literature propose circular economy business models (CEBMs) to redefine how companies create and capture value while adhering to CE principles, there has yet to be an examination of CEBMs in engineer to order (ETO) context. To address this gap, this study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging a case study of a Norwegian company that deals with a large number of small ETO projects. Our findings increase knowledge of how ETO products can adapt to CEBMs.
This paper addresses issues related to planning within the pre-contract phase of shipbuilding pro... more This paper addresses issues related to planning within the pre-contract phase of shipbuilding projects – issues that will facilitate lean execution of later construction phases. In the existing literature on Front End Loading (FEL) there can be identified a certain gap with regards to application of FEL in shipbuilding industry, which this paper attempts to partially fill. The first part of this paper reviews literature on the concept of FEL (also referred to as Pre-Project Planning, Early Project Planning, Feasibility Analysis). The literature review focuses on application of the FEL approach in different project-oriented industries, with major attention paid to application of FEL in megaprojects and building projects. Based on this study of theoretical concepts and experiences of their use, an adequate FEL concept tailored to shipbuilding industry is proposed in the second part of the paper. The paper also features the analysis of opportunities of transition and adaptation of some...
Volume 4: Design for Manufacturing Conference, 1997
In this paper, a new activity-based method for the concurrent assessment and tracing of costs, en... more In this paper, a new activity-based method for the concurrent assessment and tracing of costs, energy consumption and waste generation for usage in Life-Cycle Design is presented. The method is based on Activity-Based Costing (ABC). By utilizing ABC we are able to assess and trace accurately overhead — and direct costs, energy and waste generation. The inherent uncertainty is modeled in terms of fuzzy numbers, but solved numerically using the Monte Carlo simulation technique, which allows us to perform a sensitivity analysis. This enables us to not only estimate the costs, energy consumption and waste generation, but also trace the largest contributors. The capability to trace the contributors is perhaps the most significant feature — especially when the method is employed for design. To illustrate the usage of this method, a simple case study is provided in which we explore the life-span costs, energy consumption and waste generation of a oil/gas exploration platofrm supply vessel ...
This paper deals with evaluation of the efficiency of polygraphy design in the marketing activity... more This paper deals with evaluation of the efficiency of polygraphy design in the marketing activity of a company, presents the activities of the online shop, which trades in flowers. The analysis of the structure of the shop and its service in general is presented. The state of development of shop popularization on the Internet is determined. A number of printed advertising products have been created in order to distribute it among buyers and those wishing to learn more detailed information about the shop's activities. The schemes of interrelations of development of printed products and the approval of polygraphy are presented.
Validation 5 of engineering research has traditionally been anchored in the tradition of scientif... more Validation 5 of engineering research has traditionally been anchored in the tradition of scientific inquiry. This demands formal, rigorous and quantitative validation, which is based primarily on logical induction and / or deduction. Since much engineering research is based on mathematical modeling, this kind of validation has worked-and still works-very well. There are, however, other areas of engineering research that rely on subjective statements as well as mathematical modeling, which makes formal, rigorous and quantitative validation problematic. One such area
PurposeThe aim of the paper is to present and illustrate a new approach for long‐range planning.D... more PurposeThe aim of the paper is to present and illustrate a new approach for long‐range planning.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on well‐tested frameworks such as activity‐based costing (ABC), life‐cycle costing (LCC) and Monte Carlo methods as well as earlier case studies, an approach is developed further and tested using a real‐life case.FindingsThe effectiveness of the approach is confirmed using a process‐oriented framework (ABC) and introducing an LCC perspective. Monte Carlo methods are used to handle uncertainty and identify risks and critical success factors.Research limitation/implicationsThe presented research is a starting‐point for developing a simple approach for budgeting that overcomes many of the problems with traditional budgeting.Practical implicationsThe paper shows how long‐range planning can be performed in a realistic fashion without ending up in many of the traps of traditional budgeting.Originality/valueThe paper presents an approach that can help corporat...
Purpose – The article sets out to discuss and present a solution to the fact that various qualita... more Purpose – The article sets out to discuss and present a solution to the fact that various qualitative risk analyses of the same problem can reach significantly different conclusions. Design/methodology/approach – By reviewing a common risk analysis approach and identifying where the possible problems arise, the authors propose ways to overcome the problems based on what they have found in the literature in general. Findings – There are ways to greatly reduce the problems, but this requires a risk analysis approach in which information quality and consistency are the subject of greater focus. Research limitations/implications – The definitions used, Monte Carlo methods and the analytical hierarchy process are well tested in countless applications. Hence, the authors believe that this work possesses no major limitations. Practical implications – The approach has only been applied to theoretical situations; real-life situations are needed to address possible practical limitations. Originality/value – The paper illustrates the importance of distinguishing between “uncertainty”, “risk” and “capabilities” and the associated implications. It also shows how this can be done in a logically consistent way using the analytical hierarchy process so that the problem of inconsistency is reduced, and how the analysis can be used to systematically improve itself. The proposed risk analysis is a novel approach that has, to the authors' knowledge, never been thought of before.
... Problem with Traditional Cost Accounting 61 1.2 Actrsity-Based Costing 64 1.3 ABC versusTradi... more ... Problem with Traditional Cost Accounting 61 1.2 Actrsity-Based Costing 64 1.3 ABC versusTraditional Costing - An ... Processes versus Managing Costs 83 2.3 Cost Drrsers versus Actrsity Drrsers 84 2.4 Cost Reduction in ABM 85 2.5 ABM and Total Quality Management 89 3 ...
In this paper, the development of an Activity-based Cost (ABC) model is presented for use in desi... more In this paper, the development of an Activity-based Cost (ABC) model is presented for use in design for demanufacture under the presence of uncertainty. Demanufacture is defined as the process opposite to manufacturing involved in recycling materials and product components after a product has been taken back by a company. The crux in developing an ABC model is to identify the activities that will be present in the demanufacturing process of a product, and afterwards assign reliable cost drivers and associated consumption intensities to the activities. Uncertainty distributions are assigned to the numbers used in the calculations, representing the inherent uncertainty in the model. The effect of the uncertainty on the cost and model behavior are found by employing a numerical simulation technique — the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The additional use of disassembly action charts allows the influence of the uncertainty to be traced through the cost model to specific demanufacture ...
Soy protein concentrate (SPC) is a key ingredient in fish feed and most of it originates from Bra... more Soy protein concentrate (SPC) is a key ingredient in fish feed and most of it originates from Brazil. However, the Brazilian soy industry has reportedly resulted in significant environmental problems including deforestation. Consequently, new sources for protein are investigated and protein extracted from farmed seaweed is considered an alternative. Therefore, we investigate how seaweed protein product (SPP) can compete against SPC as a protein ingredient for fish feed. The study uses the positioning matrix, cost analyses involving the power law, and uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulations, and key research challenges are identified. The initial finding is that, with the emerging seaweed industry, the cost of producing SPP is too high to be competitive for fish feed applications. To overcome this challenge, two solutions are investigated. First, substantial investments in cultivation and processing infrastructure are needed to accomplish scale, and a break-even scale of 6...
Uploads
Papers by Jan Emblemsvåg