Internal material logistics development in customer-driven production

Työn tavoitteena oli synkronoida yleinen materiaalivirta tuotannon kanssa. Pyrkimyksenä oli virtaviivaistaa materiaalivirta, jotta materiaalin määrä, sekä turhat työvaiheet tuotantoalueella vähenisivät. Päämääränä oli vähentää materiaalilavojen määrää lattialla, sekä parantaa materiaalitoimitusten OTD (On-Time-Delivery) prosenttia.Teoreettinen osa käsittelee nykypäivän toimitusketjun tärkeimpiä elementtejä. Keskeisenä asiana perehdytään materiaalivirtaan ja sen tehokkaaseen hallintaan. Työ esittelee myös synkronisen johtamismallin periaatteet, sekä materiaalivirran synkronoimisen tuotannon kanssa.Empiirinen osuus kuvaa yrityksen materiaalihallinnan nykypäivän tilanteen, sen keskeiset ongelmat, sekä uuden toimintamalliehdotuksen. Työ esittelee kaksi pilottia, joiden tulokset varmistivat uuden virtaviivaistetun materiaalivirran ja täydennysmallin toimivuuden.Työn tulokset osoittavat, miten uusi materiaalin täydennysmalli vähentää materiaalilavojen, sekä jalostamattoman työn määrää tuotantoalueella.

Dynamic application development in Symbian OS

Diplomityössä tutkitaan, kuinka Symbian-sovelluskehitystä voitaisiin tehostaa. Työssä esitellään Symbian-käyttöjärjestelmä, sekä pohditaan haasteita ja rajoitteita joita Symbian sovelluskehityksessä kohdataan. Myöskin jo olemassa olevia kehitystapoja pohditaan työn tavoitteen kannalta. Symbian-sovelluskehityksessä tehdään toistuvasti samoja asioita. Koska Symbian on avoin käyttöjärjestelmä, sovelluskehittäjiä on paljon. Tehokkaamman kehitystavan löytäminen säästäisi paljon resursseja. Tällä hetkellä perinteiset ohjelmointitavat näyttävät olevan suosituin tapa kehittää sovelluksia. Kuitenkin on jo olemassa useita ratkaisuja, jotka pyrkivät tehostamaan sovelluskehitystä, mikä todistaa tarpeen kehittää tehokkuutta. Työssä toteutettu systeemi ajaa Symbian sovelluksia XML-määrityksen pohjalta. Kun käytetään XML-määritystä C++-koodin sijasta, sovelluskehitys muuttuu. Näiden muutosten täytyy kuitenkin olla myönteisiä, eivätkä ne saa haitata ohjelmiston laatua tai käytettävyyttä.

Partnering in the International Marketplace: The Role of Culture for Trust Development in Multicultural Partnerships

Tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli kasvattaa tietämystä kultuurin vaikutuksesta luottamuksen rakentamiseen monikulttuurisissa partnerisuhteissa. Kulttuurin oletettiin aiheuttavan hankaluuksia pitkäaikaisen suhteen luomisessa, etenkin luottamuksen ollessa kyseessä, sillä kulttuurit ja tavat olivat erilaisia toimittajan ja asiakkaan päässä. Tutkimus käsitteli johtajan nakökulmaa: mikä oli johtajien mielestä kriittistä luottamuksen ja yhteistyön onnistumiselle. Empiirinen osa suoritettiin UPM-Kymmenellä ja sen kolme partneria valittiin case-esimerkeiksi. Tutkimus keskittyi ostaja-myyjä –suhteeseen. Materiaali kerättiin case-asiakkaista vastuussa olevia myyntijohtajia haastattelemalla. Tulos oli, että johtajille tärkeintä yhteistyössä olivat samanlaiset organisaatiokulttuurit sekä normit. Kansallisella kulttuurilla oli merkittävä vaikutus suhteen alussa sekä liikeasioiden mennessä huonosti. Luottamuksen havaitseminen eri kultuurien välillä todettiin vaikeaksi. Eri arvot, viestintätyylit, jopa kieli joissain tapauksissa vaikeuttivat luottamuksen rakentamista. Luottamus oli erilaista maasta riippuen, sen tyyli ja määrä vaihteli.

Small scale waste management. Composting project in selected schools in Mwanza, Tanzania

No 2/2008, sivu 8.

The state of research and development in Australia: implications for future development

The scale of research and development (R&D), and other technological activities, and the way in which the available resources are managed and organized at the enterprise and national level contribute to the rate of technological change in a country. A well organized national innovation system can be a powerful engine of progress, whereas a lack of interaction between institutions results in the slowing down of technological change, thereby diminishing its contribution to economic growth and welfare. The research object of this thesis is Australia’s national innovation system and the state of R&D in Australia. In order to establish an overall picture of the situation and to be able to make recommendations for future development, the general level of R&D activity and the main performers and funders of R&D within the system are analyzed. The framework policies supporting R&D and prevalent dynamics between different actors and sectors are of specific interest of the research. The findings reveal that the Australian culture is not a culture of research and innovation and that the main challenge is building a coherent system with strong domestic and international linkages.

Mobile technology, gender and development in Africa, India and Bangladesh

Presenting

Production planning development in global manufacturing company

Larox Corporation is a provider of full service filtration in solid and liquid separation. Larox develops, designs, manufactures and supplies industrial filters. By Larox’s continuous development principle, a project for more efficient production was started. At the same time production planning was taken under review. Aim for this Master’s thesis was to find software designed for production planning purposes replacement for old Microsoft Excel based method. In this Master’s thesis current way of production planning was thoroughly analyzed and improvement targets were specified and also requirements for new software were assigned. Primary requirements for new software were possibility to production scheduling, planning, follow-up and also for long-time capacity planning and tracking. Also one demand was that new software should have data link to Larox’s current ERP-system. Result of this Master’s thesis was to start using Larox’s ERP-system also for production planning purposes. New mode of operation fulfils all requirements which were placed to new system. By using new method of production planning, production planners can get more easier and reliable data than from current system.

Distribution development in global business environment

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to analyze a case company’s distribution and its elements. With different distribution structure options a customer can be served with different ways. However, cost elements and service elements create different trade-offs. In this work the case company’s distribution’s present state was analyzed and conclusions were made. Based on these conclusions different alternatives for distribution were created. These different alternatives were analyzed through simulations and with more traditional calculations to compose the total operative costs of each alternative. Also other aspects were considered, such as required organizational changes and the possible better customer service. With the suggested 3-stock distribution structure shorter delivery times and possibly more punctual deliveries for products kept in stock could be achieved with the same operative costs as in current direct delivery model. Also, similar benefits could be achieved with other products with the 3-stock model.

Generic and professional caring in a Chinese setting: an ethnopraphic study

The objective of the present study is to describe the cultural care practices, meanings, values and beliefs which form the basis of caring in a Chinese context. The research has its starting point in a caring science perspective and a qualitative research approach with interpretative ethnography as methodological guideline. The theoretical perspective is formed by elements of the theory of caritative caring, developed by Eriksson, and the theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality, developed by Leininger. Previous research of suffering, culture and caring is described and also a presentation of actual transcultural nursing research as well as a presentation of the social structure dimensions of Chinese culture is included in the theoretical background. The empirical part includes patients and relatives, nurses and Hu Gongs as informants. The data collected are analysed based on Geertz’s idea of forming “thick descriptions” through examining the “what, how and why” of people’s actions. The findings show that the family has a prominent position in Chinese caring practices. The patient plays an unobtrusive role and a mutual dependence between the patient and the family members is evident. The professional nursing care is an extended act which includes the family in the caring relationship. The care practices of the Chinese nurse are characterized by great professional nursing skills. Suffering is described by the informants as being caused by disease, pain and social circumstances. “Social suffering” is described as worse than physical or mental suffering. Culturally competent and congruent care is a prerequisite for avoiding cultural pain, imposition and blindness when caring for the suffering human being. The findings of the present study necessitate a broadening in caring theory to include the family in the caring relationship. A further conclusion is that a broadening in our perception and understanding of culture would promote the delivery of culturally competent and congruent care. Suffering need to be seen as enclosed in cultural patterns of how it is expressed, interpreted, understood and relieved. Care and caring need to be seen as embedded in culture and the care practices values and beliefs have to be congruent with the cultural patterns where the care is provided.

Middle school mediocrity : quality and inequality in secondary education

Centrala teman i min avhandling är parallellskolesystem, linjedelning och segregering i högstadier och gymnasier. Det finns stora skillnader mellan länder gällande den årskurs då eleverna sorteras in i olika nivåer genom skilda klasser eller skolor. I Tyskland och Nederländerna till exempel delas eleverna upp före högstadiet medan Sverige och Finland har enhetsskolor på högstadienivå. Jag argumenterar att parallellskolesystem har en positiv effekt på elevernas testresultat i årskurserna före linjedelningen. Eleverna har incitament att jobba hårdare för att komma på i den akademiska linjen. Jag undersöker incitamentseffekter empiriskt, och hittar mönster konsistenta med incitamentseffekter både i brittisk och i internationell data. Det andra bidraget i avhandlingen är metodologiskt. Nationalekonomer brukar behandla testresultat från t.ex. IQ-tester eller internationella PISA-undersökningar som om absoluta nivån på poängantalen har betydelse i sig. I verkligheten antyder de endast en rangordning. Jag visar att normalfördelade testresultat i många fall ligger tillräckligt nära dess pengavärde på arbetsmarknaden för att ändå kunna tolkas som absoluta.

Process approach in quality management - Case: ECO process development in EMS industry

The aim of the thesis was to study quality management with process approach and to find out how to utilize process management to improve quality. The operating environment of organizations has changed. Organizations are focusing on their core competences and networking with suppliers and customers to ensure more effective and efficient value creation for the end customer. Quality management is moving from inspection of the output to prevention of problems from occurring in the first place and management thinking is changing from functional approach to process approach. In the theoretical part of the thesis, it is studied how to define quality, how to achieve good quality, how to improve quality, and how to make sure the improvement goes on as never ending cycle. A selection of quality tools is introduced. Process approach to quality management is described and compared to functional approach, which is the traditional way to manage operations and quality. The customer focus is also studied, and it is presented, that to ensure long term customer commitment, organization needs to react to changing customer requirements and wishes by constantly improving the processes. In the experimental part the theories are tested in a process improvement business case. It is shown how to execute a process improvement project starting from defining the customer requirements, continuing to defining the process ownership, roles and responsibilities, boundaries, interfaces and the actual process activities. The control points and measures are determined for the process, as well as the feedback and corrective action process, to ensure continual improvement can be achieved and to enable verification that customer requirements are fulfilled.

Challenges in scaling agile software development in offshoring environment

Corporate decision to scale Agile Software development methodologies in offshoring environment has been obstructed due to possible challenges in scaling agile as agile methodologies are regarded to be suitable for small project and co-located team only. Although model such as Agile Scaling Model (ASM) has been developed for scaling Agile with different factors, inabilities of companies to figure out challenges and addressing them lead to failure of project rather than gaining the benefits of using agile methodologies. This failure can be avoided, when scaling agile in IT offshoring environment, by determining key challenges associated in scaling agile in IT offshoring environment and then preparing strategies for addressing those key challenges. These key challenges in scaling agile with IT offshoring environment can be determined by studying issues related with Offshoring and Agile individually and also considering the positive impact of agile methodology in offshoring environment. Then, possible strategies to tackle these key challenges are developed according to the nature of individual challenges and utilizing the benefits of different agile methodologies to address individual situation. Thus, in this thesis, we proposed strategy of using hybrid agile method, which is increasing trend due to adaptive nature of Agile. Determination of the key challenges and possible strategies for tackling those challenges are supported with the survey conducted in the researched organization.