Toimintaa ohjaavan mittariston kehittäminen rakennustuoteliiketoiminnassa

Mittaustietoa tuotetaan paljon, jolloin haasteena on poimia liiketoiminnan johtamisen tarpeiden kannalta oleellinen informaatio. Samalla muuttuva toimintaympäristö asettaa yrityksen suorituskykymittaristolle uudenlaisia haasteita. Mittariston tulee mukautua johtamisen informaatiotarpeisiin ja kehittyä yrityksen strategian mukana. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitkä mittarit ovat oleellisia rakennustuoteteollisuudessa toimivan yrityksen liiketoiminnan johtamisessa ja kehittää toimintaa ohjaava mittaristo. Tutkimuksen tavoitteisiin liittyen tutkimuksessa pyrittiin selvittämään mittaamiseen liittyviä haasteita sekä ymmärtämään johtamisen informaatiotarpeita. Tutkimus on menetelmältään laadullinen. Tutkimuksen empiirisen osan aineiston keräämisessä käytettiin menetelmänä haastattelua, joka oli tyypiltään teemahaastattelu. Haastattelun kohteena oli rakennustuoteteollisuudessa toimivan yrityksen liiketoimintayksikön johto. Tutkimuksen teoriakatsauksen perusteella tunnistettiin mittariston kehittämisessä huomioitavia seikkoja, joita ovat yleiskäsityksen luominen toimintaympäristöstä, mittaamiselle asetettujen päämäärien tunnistaminen, strategian määrittäminen ja menestystekijöiden hahmottaminen. Näiden perusteella määritetään tavoitteet ja niille mittarit. Tutkimuksen empiirisen osan tutkimusaineiston analyysin avulla pyrittiin hahmottamaan liiketoimintaympäristön mittaamisen nykytilaa ja siihen liittyviä haasteita sekä tunnistamaan toimintaa ohjaavat mittarit. Tutkimuksen tuloksena kehitettiin toimintaa ohjaava mittaristo. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin johdon päätöksenteon ja johtamisen informaatiotarpeille kolme näkökulmaa, jotka ovat talous, tuotanto ja myynti. Tulosten perusteella tunnistettiin jatkotutkimustarve koskien toimintaa ohjaavan mittariston kehittämistä konserniympäristöissä.

Performance measurement and management in a collaborative network

This study concerns performance measurement and management in a collaborative network. Collaboration between companies has been increased in recent years due to the turbulent operating environment. The literature shows that there is a need for more comprehensive research on performance measurement in networks and the use of measurement information in their management. This study examines the development process and uses of a performance measurement system supporting performance management in a collaborative network. There are two main research questions: how to design a performance measurement system for a collaborative network and how to manage performance in a collaborative network. The work can be characterised as a qualitative single case study. The empirical data was collected in a Finnish collaborative network, which consists of a leading company and a reseller network. The work is based on five research articles applying various research methods. The research questions are examined at the network level and at the single network partner level. The study contributes to the earlier literature by producing new and deeper understanding of network-level performance measurement and management. A three-step process model is presented to support the performance measurement system design process. The process model has been tested in another collaborative network. The study also examines the factors affecting the process of designing the measurement system. The results show that a participatory development style, network culture, and outside facilitators have a positive effect on the design process. The study increases understanding of how to manage performance in a collaborative network and what kind of uses of performance information can be identified in a collaborative network. The results show that the performance measurement system is an applicable tool to manage the performance of a network. The results reveal that trust and openness increased during the utilisation of the performance measurement system, and operations became more transparent. The study also presents a management model that evaluates the maturity of performance management in a collaborative network. The model is a practical tool that helps to analyse the current stage of the performance management of a collaborative network and to develop it further.

Magnetic properties of multi-walled nanotubes on polysterene substrate

Nanotubes are one of the most perspective materials in modern nanotechologies. It makes present investigation very actual. In this work magnetic properties of multi-walled nanotubes on polystyrene substrate are investigated by using quantum magnetometer SQUID. Main purpose was to obtain magnetic field and temperature dependences of magnetization and to compare them to existing theoretical models of magnetism in carbon-bases structures. During data analysis a mathematical algorithm for obtained data filtration was developed because measurement with quantum magnetometer assume big missives of number data, which contain accidental errors. Nature of errors is drift of SQUID signal, errors of different parts of measurement station. Nanotube samples on polystyrene substrate were studied with help of atomic force microscope. On the surface traces of nanotube were found contours, which were oriented in horizontal plane. This feature was caused by rolling method for samples. Detailed comparison of obtained dependences with information of other researches on this topic allows to obtain some conclusions about nature of magnetism in the samples. It emphasizes importance and actuality of this scientific work.

A Digital Repository for the Herbarium Collection of Brasília Botanical Garden

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Intellectual Capital Measurement in IT industry

The goal of this research – which is to critically analyze current theories and methods of intangible assets evaluation and potentially develop and test new methodology based on the practical example(s) in the IT industry. Having this goal in mind the main research questions in this paper will be: What are advantages and disadvantages of the current practices of measurement intellectual capital or valuation of intangible assets? How to properly measure intellectual capital in IT? Resulting method exhibits a new unique approach to the IC measurement and potentially even larger field of application. Despite the fact that in this particular research, I focused my attention on IT (Software and Internet services cluster – to be exact), the logic behind the method is applicable within any industry since the method is designed to be fully compliant with measurement theory and thus can be properly scaled for any application. Building a new method is a difficult and iterative process: in the current iteration the method stands out as rather a theoretical concept rather than a business tool, however even current concept totally fulfills its purpose as a benchmarking tool for measuring intellectual capital in IT industry.

A systematic mapping study on open data

This thesis presented the overview of Open Data research area, quantity of evidence and establishes the research evidence based on the Systematic Mapping Study (SMS). There are 621 such publications were identified published between years 2005 and 2014, but only 243 were selected in the review process. This thesis highlights the implications of Open Data principals’ proliferation in the emerging era of the accessibility, reusability and sustainability of data transparency. The findings of mapping study are described in quantitative and qualitative measurement based on the organization affiliation, countries, year of publications, research method, star rating and units of analysis identified. Furthermore, units of analysis were categorized by development lifecycle, linked open data, type of data, technical platforms, organizations, ontology and semantic, adoption and awareness, intermediaries, security and privacy and supply of data which are important component to provide a quality open data applications and services. The results of the mapping study help the organizations (such as academia, government and industries), re-searchers and software developers to understand the existing trend of open data, latest research development and the demand of future research. In addition, the proposed conceptual framework of Open Data research can be adopted and expanded to strengthen and improved current open data applications.

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.

Analogisen tunnisteanalyysin käyttö korjauspalveluissa mikropiirien ylijännitteestä aiheutuneiden vaurioiden paikantamisen

Korjauspalveluissa aikaa vieviä tapauksia ovat mikropiirien vaikeasti paikannettavat viat. Tällaista vianetsintää varten yrityksemme oli ostanut Polar Fault Locator 780 –mittalaitteen, jolla voidaan mitata mikropiirien toimintaa käyttämällä analogista tunnisteanalyysiä. Diplomityön tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten mittaustapaa voidaan käyttää korjauspalveluissa. Tutkintaa lähestyttiin joidenkin tyypillisten komponenttien näkökulmasta, mutta pääpaino oli mikropiireissä. Joitain mikropiirejä vaurioitettiin tahallisesti, jolloin mittaustulokset uusittiin ja tutkittiin miten vaurioituminen näkyy mittaustuloksissa. Tutkimusmenetelmänä oli kirjallisuus ja empiirinen kokeellisuus. Diplomityön tuloksena oli, että tätä mittaustapaa käyttämällä mikropiirien kuntoa voidaan tutkia. Ongelmiksi osoittautuivat alkuperäinen oletus mittalaitteen tuloksien tulkinnasta ja taustamateriaalin heikko saatavuus. Täten mittalaite parhaiten soveltuu tilanteisiin, joissa sen antamia tuloksia verrataan suoraan toisen toimivaksi tunnetun yksikön mittaustuloksiin. Vaurioitettaessa komponenteissa oli kuitenkin havaittavissa selvä poikkeavuus.