Utilizing analytic modelling process in industrial retail context

Nykypäivän monimutkaisessa ja epävakaassa liiketoimintaympäristössä yritykset, jotka kykenevät muuttamaan tuottamansa operatiivisen datan tietovarastoiksi, voivat saavuttaa merkittävää kilpailuetua. Ennustavan analytiikan hyödyntäminen tulevien trendien ennakointiin mahdollistaa yritysten tunnistavan avaintekijöitä, joiden avulla he pystyvät erottumaan kilpailijoistaan. Ennustavan analytiikan hyödyntäminen osana päätöksentekoprosessia mahdollistaa ketterämmän, reaaliaikaisen päätöksenteon. Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on koota teoreettinen viitekehys analytiikan mallintamisesta liike-elämän loppukäyttäjän näkökulmasta ja hyödyntää tätä mallinnusprosessia diplomityön tapaustutkimuksen yritykseen. Teoreettista mallia hyödynnettiin asiakkuuksien mallintamisessa sekä tunnistamalla ennakoivia tekijöitä myynnin ennustamiseen. Työ suoritettiin suomalaiseen teollisten suodattimien tukkukauppaan, jolla on liiketoimintaa Suomessa, Venäjällä ja Balteissa. Tämä tutkimus on määrällinen tapaustutkimus, jossa tärkeimpänä tiedonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin tapausyrityksen transaktiodataa. Data työhön saatiin yrityksen toiminnanohjausjärjestelmästä.

Separation of lignin in Pulp Mill process and its effect on sodium sulphur balance

The aim of this thesis is to define effects of lignin separation process on Pulp mill chemical balance especially on sodium/sulphur-balance. The objective is to develop a simulation model with WinGEMS Process Simulator and use that model to simulate the chemical balances and process changes. The literature part explains what lignin is and how kraft pulp is produced. It also introduces to the methods that can be used to extract lignin from black liquor stream and how those methods affect the pulping process. In experimental part seven different cases are simulated with the created simulation model. The simulations are based on selected reference mill that produces 500 000 tons of bleached air-dried (90 %) pulp per year. The simulations include the chemical balance calculation and the estimated production increase. Based on the simulations the heat load of the recovery boiler can be reduced and the pulp production increased when lignin is extracted. The simulations showed that decreasing the waste acid stream intake from the chlorine dioxide plant is an effective method to control the sulphidity level when about 10 % of lignin is extracted. With higher lignin removal rates the in-mill sulphuric acid production has been discovered to be a better alternative to the sulphidity control.

Reengineering and modelling of a product certification process

Työn teoriaosuudessa tutkittiin prosessien uudelleen suunnittelua, prosessien mallintamista sekä prosessimittariston rakentamista. Työn tavoitteena oli uudelleen suunnitella organisaation sertifiointiprosessi. Tämän tavoitteen saavuttamiseksi piti mallintaa nykyinen ja uusi prosessi sekä rakentaa mittaristo, joka antaisi organisaatiolle arvokasta tietoa siitä, kuinka tehokkaasti uusi prosessi toimii. Työ suoritettiin osallistuvana toimintatutkimuksena. Diplomityön tekijä oli toiminut kohdeorganisaatiossa työntekijänä jo useita vuosia ja pystyi näinollen hyödyntämään omaa tietämystään sekä nykyisen prosessin mallintamisessa, että uuden prosessin suunnittelussa. Työn tuloksena syntyi uusi sertifiointiprosessi, joka on karsitumpi ja tehokkaampi kuin edeltäjänsä. Uusi mittaristojärjestelmä rakennettiin, jota organisaation johto kykenisi seuraamaan prosessin sidosryhmien tehokkuutta sekä tuotteiden laadun kehitystä. Sivutuotteena organisaatio sai käyttöönsä yksityiskohtaiset prosessikuvaukset, joita voidaan hyödyntää koulutusmateriaalina uutta henkilöstöä rekrytoitaessa sekä informatiivisena työkaluna esiteltäessä prosessia virallisille sertifiointitahoille.

Analysis of the Change Management Process in a Multinational Company

The purpose of this thesis was to study change management and find out how the theory applies to practise with the help of studying an organizational change process. The goal was to investigate the different ways of the change management and how those could be utilized in practise. The purpose was also to see what kind of tools and information packages for change management the company involved has developed and taken in to use and check if these could have been utilized in the change process studied in this thesis. This thesis was established by studying the theory of change management and interviewing the people involved in the organizational change and the stakeholders. The questions were formed in line with the change management theory. The main theory used was John P. Kotter’s Eight Steps of Change. The study revealed valuable details about change processes in real life and concrete improvement ideas were recognized from the interviews. Overall the people were quite happy with the outcome of the change process. There were also some failures identified in this change process. Most probably those can be avoided in the future if people planning the change are familiar with the company’s new information packages and tools for change management. Change management is a complex area that is still today quite often forgotten by companies. Effective change management can give a huge competitive advantage for a company. Acknowledging that change process is always complex and not easy is already a good step forward in handling change processes. All changes need change management and understanding the way people react on change. A good and efficient change management is the key to make the change process smooth and easier for the people involved.

Press forming of paperboard – advancement of converting tools and process control

Press forming is nowadays one of the most common industrial methods in use for producing deeper trays from paperboard. Demands for material properties like recyclability and sustainability have increased also in the packaging industry, but there are still limitations related to the formability of paperboard. A majority of recent studies have focused on material development, but the potential of the package manufacturing process can also be improved by the development of tooling and process control. In this study, advanced converting tools (die cutting tools and the press forming mould) are created for production scale paperboard tray manufacturing. Also monitoring methods that enable the production of paperboard trays with enhanced quality, and can be utilized in process control are developed. The principles for tray blank preparation, including creasing pattern and die cutting tool design are introduced. The mould heating arrangement and determination of mould clearance are investigated to improve the quality of the press formed trays. The effect of the spring back of the tray walls on the tray dimensions can be managed by adjusting the heat-related process parameters and estimating it at the mould design stage. This enables production speed optimization as the process parameters can be adjusted more freely. Real-time monitoring of pressing force by using multiple force sensors embedded in the mould structure can be utilized in the evaluation of material characteristics on a modified production machinery. Comprehensive process control can be achieved with a combination of measurement of the outer dimensions of the trays and pressing force monitoring. The control method enables detection of defects and tracking changes in the material properties. The optimized converting tools provide a basis for effective operation of the control system.

Enhancement of ultrafiltration process by pretreatment in recovery of hemicelluloses from wood extracts

Hemicelluloses are potential raw material for several items produced in future wood-based biorefineries. One possible method for recovering hemicelluloses from wood extracts is ultrafiltration (UF). However, low filtration capacities and severe fouling restrict the use of tight UF membranes in the treatment of wood extracts. The lack of suitable commercial membranes creates a need for pretreatment which would decrease fouling and increase the filtration capacity. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of the possibility to improve the filtration capacity and decrease fouling with the pretreatment of wood extracts. Methods which remove harmful compounds and methods which degrade them are studied, as well as combinations of the methods. The tested pretreatments have an influence on both the concentration of different compounds and the molecular mass distribution of the compounds in the extract. This study revealed that in addition to which kind of compounds were removed, also the change in molecular size distribution affected the filtration capacity significantly. It was shown that the most harmful compounds for the filtration capacity of the hydrophobic 5 kDa membrane were the ones capable of permeating the membrane and fouling also the inner membrane structure. Naturally, the size of the most harmful compounds depends on the used UF membrane and is thus case-specific. However, in the choice of the pretreatment method, the focus should be on the removal of harmful compound sizes rather than merely on the total amount of removed foulants. The results proved that filtration capacity can be increased with both adsorptive and oxidative pretreatments even by hundreds of per cents. For instance, the use of XAD7 and XAD16 adsorbents increased the average flux in the UF of a birch extract from nearly zero to 107 kg/(m2h) and 175 kg/(m2h), respectively. In the treatment of a spruce extract, oxidation by pulsed corona discharge (PCD) increased the flux in UF from 46 kg/(m2h) to 158 kg/(m2h). Moreover, when a birch extract batch was treated with laccase enzyme, the flux in UF increased from 15 kg/(m2h) to 36 kg/(m2h). However, fouling was decreased only by adsorptive pretreatment while oxidative methods had a negligible or even negative impact on it. This demonstrates that filtration capacity and fouling are affected by different compounds and mechanisms. The results of this thesis show that filtration capacity can be improved and fouling decreased through appropriate pretreatment. However, the choice of the best possible pretreatment is case-specific and depends on the wood extract and the membrane used. Finding the best option requires information on the extract content and membrane characteristics as well as on the filtration performance of the membrane in the prevailing conditions and a multivariate approach. On the basis of this study, it can be roughly concluded that adsorptive pretreatment improves the filtration capacity and decreases fouling rather reliably, but it may lead to significant hemicellulose losses. Oxidation reduces the loss of valuable hemicelluloses and could improve the filtration capacity, but fouling challenges may remain. Combining oxidation with adsorptive pretreatment was not a solution for avoiding hemicellulose losses in the tested cases.

Business process re-engineering -menetelmät myyntiprosessin tehokkuuden parantamisessa (Case-yritys)

Tämän Pro Gradu-tutkielman tavoite on tutkia Business Process Re-engineering menetelmiä myyntiprosessien tehostamisessa. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viiteke-hys rakentuu myynninjohtamisen, myyntiprosessien ja Business Process Mana-gementin ja Business Process Re-enineeringin ympärille. IT-järjestelmät ovat myös oleellinen osa-alue tutkimuksen kannalta ja niiden osuutta kuvataan niin myyntiprosesseissa kuin Business Process Re-engineering -menetelmien yhtey-dessä. Tutkielmassa perehdytään aikaisempaan tutkimusmateriaaliin ja akateemiseen kirjallisuuteen yllämainituilla osa-alueilla. Tavoitteena on löytää aikaisempia tutki-muksia myyntiprosessien tehostamisesta ja BPR:n roolista näissä tapauksissa. Myös myynninjohtamisen vaikutusta tehokkaaseen myyntiprosessiin tutkitaan, kuten myös IT-järjestelmien erilaisia rooleja tehokkaissa myyntiprosesseissa. Tutkielman empiirinen osio on kvalitatiivinen Case-tutkimus eräässä rahoitusalan yrityksessä. Tutkimus tehdään haastattelemalla myyntihenkilöstöä ja esimiehiä. Lisäksi analysoidaan yrityksen myyntiprosessiin liittyvää muuta materiaalia. Case-tutkimuksen tuloksia peilataan aiempaan akateemiseen tutkimukseen ja tuloksista pyritään löytämään ratkaisuja, miten BPR -menetelmillä voidaan tehostaa yrityksen myyntiprosessia.

Spurring innovation through idea contests : data analysis and process improvements

This research concerns the Urban Living Idea Contest conducted by Creator Space™ of BASF SE during its 150th anniversary in 2015. The main objectives of the thesis are to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Urban Living Idea Contest (ULIC) and propose a number of improvement suggestions for future years. More than 4,000 data points were collected and analyzed to investigate the functionality of different elements of the contest. Furthermore, a set of improvement suggestions were proposed to BASF SE. Novelty of this thesis lies in the data collection and the original analysis of the contest, which identified its critical elements, as well as the areas that could be improved. The author of this research was a member of the organizing team and involved in the decision making process from the beginning until the end of the ULIC.

The role of organization-level factors on informal learning process

This study discusses the nature of informal learning process in business organizations, and the importance of different organization-level factors in this process. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of organization-level factors on informal learning process with three subquestions: how informal learning process takes place in business organizations, what organization-level factors affects informal learning process, and how informal learning process is affected by organizational-level factors. The theoretical background of this study includes literatures on the concept of informal learning, its process, and organization-level factors that can affect informal learning process. The empirical research has been conducted in this study by face-to-face interviews. The interviews were conducted between June and August 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thirteen interviews were made with the employees from different hierarchical levels from four freight forwarding MNCs in Bangladesh. Constant comparative analysis has been used to process the collected data until reaching a level of saturation. The empirical research found that all the phases in an informal learning process are not linear and sequential, and the role of organization-level factors on each phase varies with the degree and nature of each factor. In addition, the results also revealed that all the organization-level factors do not interact with each other while playing their role on informal learning process. The findings of this study considerably extend our understanding of the important role of HRD, manager, colleague, culture, and work structure on informal learning process in the workplace. However, future research in different organizational contexts is required to generalize the findings of this study.

Successful new venturing process implemented by the founding entrepreneur: A case of Finnish sawmill industry

The fundamental purpose of this research is to emphasise a founding entrepreneur’s own role in the construction of a successful business story, with the focus being on the analysis of the entrepreneur’s activities. The theoretical section sheds light on the heterogeneous nature of existing performance research and, thereby, opens the way for the behavioural approach research of entrepreneurs in the field of new venture performance research. This research can be seen to be in line with the latest trends in entrepreneurship research, which question the applicability of different organisational theories in entrepreneurship research. For this reason, the founding entrepreneur has been chosen, instead of the company, to be the unit of analysis in this research in order to lighten the link in question while developing and refining new knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. The empirical section of this research focuses on the entrepreneur’s own actions or behaviours that can be seen to be associated with the company’s success. Although some of these actions may resemble the strategic actions of a company as defined in strategic management literature, these actions taken by the entrepreneur themselves must be distinguished from the different organisational actions. Usually, an entrepreneur makes decisions rather independently, mainly on basis of their own intuition and prevailing market conditions, whereas organisational actions are very systematic, and each decision involves many different people. For this reason, an entrepreneur’s actions must be distinguished from organisational actions. In additional to different action paths, the empirical data collected for this research also offers almost unambiguous proof that the actions taken by an entrepreneur at the different stages of a company’s development do play a crucial role in the success of the companies studied in this research. In this way, it is possible to identify a significant link between the behavioural approach research of entrepreneurs and new venture performance research. Due to a lack of behavioural research into founding entrepreneurs, this research has utilised a qualitative (hermeneutic) research approach. The researcher strove to establish a particularly close connection with the entrepreneurs that were studied here and, thus, understand the actions taken at the different stages of their companies’ development as well as the motives and fundamental purposes of these actions. It would not have been possible to manage such profound data that focuses on causalities by using quantitative methods. In addition to interviews, this research used corporate histories of the companies for collecting some of the research data. These corporate histories can be considered excellent tools for the researcher to obtain a preliminary understanding and can, thereby, be seen to have laid the ground for more in-depth and diverse analyses.