Palvelun hankinnan prosessi ja laatu. Case: Espoon kaupungin koulukuljetukset

Palvelujen hankinta on yhä kiinteämmin osa yritysten liiketoimintaa, kun kiristyvässä kilpailussa yritykset pyrkivät siirtämään keskittymistään enenevissä määrin ydintoimintojensa tuottamiseen. Yleisiä ohjeistuksia palveluiden laadun kehittämisestä ja hankintaprosessin läpiviennistä on olemassa runsaasti, mutta palveluihin keskittyvän hankinnan kokonaisvaltaista kuvausta on tutkimuskentästä vaikea löytää. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tutkia palvelun hankinnan prosessia ja laatua, sekä paikata olemassa olevaa tutkimusaukkoa tunnistaen hankintaprosessista lopputuloksen laadun kannalta kriittisiä elementtejä. Tutkimusaihetta lähestytään tarkastelemalla ensin olemassa olevaa tutkimusta palvelujen hankintaprosessista ja laadusta. Lisäksi tutkimusta varten on haastateltu hankinta-asiantuntijoita, sekä suoritettu case-tutkimus Espoon kaupungin koulukuljetusten hankinnasta, jossa hyödynnetään QFD-matriisianalyysiä kriittisten tekijöiden tunnistamiseksi. Lopputuloksena tutkimus esittää hankintaprosessiin perustuvan listan niistä laadukkaan lopputuloksen kannalta kriittisistä tekijöistä, joihin keskittymällä palveluhankinnan laatua on mahdollista parantaa. Keskeisimpinä tekijöinä tuloksissa esiin nousevat hankintatiimin kokoaminen, yrityksen tahtotilan tunnistaminen, palvelusisällön ja sen tavoitteiden ymmärtäminen, sanktiomallien hyödyntäminen, sekä yhteistyön vaaliminen hankinnan suunnittelussa ja sopimusseurannassa.

Hankinnan prosessien systemaattinen kehittäminen

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena oli standardoida ja kehittää hankinnan prosesseja systemaattisesti. Prosessien standardoiminen edesauttaa organisaation itseohjautuvuutta ja parantaa organisaation kyvykkyyttä. Tämä tutkielma tuottaa uutta tutkimustietoa tutkimusaukkoon hankinnan prosessien systemaattisesta kehittämisestä. Tutkielman teoriaosassa käsitellään prosessiajattelua, ISO 9001 standardin vaikutusta hankintatoimintaan, tunnistetaan hankinnan prosesseja ja esitetään erilaisia hankinnan prosesseihin soveltuvia LEAN Six Sigma kehitystyökaluja. Tutkielman empiirinen osio on toteutettu toimeksiantona suurelle teollisuusyritykselle. Tämän tutkielman empiirisessä osiossa on yhdistelty kvalitatiiviselle ja kvantitatiiviselle tutkimukselle ominaisia tutkimusmetodologioita. Tutkimusmetodologioiden yhdisteleminen tuottaa lisäarvoa tutkielman toteutukselle ja parantaa työn luotettavuutta. Tässä tutkielmassa käytetyt tutkimusmenetelmät koostuvat kvantitatiiviselle tutkimukselle ominaisesta kyselystä hankinnan prosessien nykytilan selvittämiseksi sekä kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen tutkimusmenetelmille ominaisesta tapaustutkimuksesta. Kyselyn avulla muodostettiin analyysi hankinnan prosessien nykytilasta, jonka pohjalta toimeksiantajayritykselle ehdotettiin kehitettäviä hankinnan prosesseja. Lopulliseksi kehityskohteeksi valittu prosessi määriteltiin aivoriihessä kerätyn tiedon perusteella kehityspotentiaalin esille tuovasta nelikentästä. Kehitettävä prosessi asemoitui samalla tapaustutkimuksella tutkittavaksi tapaukseksi. Kehitettäväksi prosessiksi valittiin saapuvan tavaran vastaanotto ja visuaalinen tarkastaminen. Prosessia kehitettiin mallintamalla ja LEAN Six Sigma menetelmiä hyödyntäen. Prosessimallinnuksen sekä LEAN Six Sigma menetelmien tueksi kerättiin tietoa aivoriihistä ja teemahaastatteluista. Tutkielman tuloksena toimeksiantajayritys sai kokonaiskuvan hankinnan prosessien nykytilasta, kehitetyn tavoiteprosessin ja työohjeen saapuvan tavaran vastaanotolle ja visuaaliselle tarkastukselle sekä jatkossa hankinnan prosessien standardoimista ja kehittämistä helpottavan hankinnan prosessin systemaattisen kehittämismallin. Hankinnan prosessin systemaattinen kehittämismalli on uutta tutkimustietoa, joka asemoituu hankinnan prosessien kehittämisen tutkimusaukkoon. Hankinnan prosessin systemaattista kehittämismallia ei tämän tutkielman pohjalta voida yleistää, koska tutkielma on toteutettu toimeksiantajayrityksen lähtökohdista. Johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että toimeksiantajayritys, muut organisaatiot sekä tutkimuskenttä tarvitsevat lisää tietoa hankinnan prosessien kehittämisestä. Hankinnan prosessien kehittämistä tulisi tutkia enemmän ja erityisesti tässä tutkielmassa esitettyä kehittämismallia tulisi jatkossa testata niin, että kehittämismallin toimivuus voitaisiin yleistää.

Software business expansion through distribution channel : Case M-Files - Denmark

The purpose of this study was to find out how a software company can successfully expand business to the Danish software market through distribution channel. The study was commissioned by a Finnish software company and it was conducted using a qualitative research method by analyzing external and internal business environment, and interviewing Danish ICT organizations and M-Files personnel. Interviews were semi-structured interviews, which were designed to collect comprehensive information on the existing ICT and software market in Denmark. The research used three external and internal analyzing frameworks; PEST analysis (market level), Porter´s Five Force analysis (industry level competition) and SWOT analysis (company level). Distribution channels theory was a base to understand why and what kind of distribution channels the case company uses, and what kind of channels target markets companies’ uses. Channel strategy and design were integrated to the industry level analysis. The empirical findings revealed that Denmark has very business friendly ICT environment. Several organizations have ranked Denmark´s information and communication technology as the best in the world. Denmark’s ICT and software market are relatively small, compared to many other countries in Europe. Danish software market is centralized. Largest software clusters are in the largest cities; Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg. From these clusters, software companies can most likely find suitable resellers. The following growing trends are clearly seen in the software market: mobile and wireless applications, outsourcing, security solutions, cloud computing, social business solutions and e-business solutions. When expanding software business to the Danish market, it is important to take into account these trends. In Denmark distribution channels varies depending on the product or service. For many, a natural distribution channel is a local partner or internet. In the public sector solutions are purchased through a public procurement process. In the private sector the buying process is more straight forwarded. Danish companies are buying software from reliable suppliers. This means that they usually buy software direct from big software vendors or local partners. Some customers prefer to use professional consulting companies. These consulting companies can strongly influence on the selection of the supplier and products, and in this light, consulting companies can be important partners for software companies. Even though the competition is fierce in ECM and DMS solutions, Danish market offers opportunities for foreign companies. Penetration to the Danish market through reseller channel requires advanced solutions and objective selection criteria for channel partners. Based on the findings, Danish companies are interested in advanced and efficient software solutions. Interest towards M-Files solutions was clearly seen and the company has excellent opportunity to expand business to the Danish market through reseller channel. Since the research explored the Danish ICT and software market, the results of the study may offer valuable information also to the other software companies which are expanding their business to the Danish market.

Ekologisuuden merkitys julkisissa hankinnoissa

Ilmastonmuutos, ympäristön saastuminen sekä luonnonvarojen ehtyminen lukeutuvat voimakkaimpiin taustalla vaikuttaviin tekijöihin, joiden vuoksi ympäristönäkökohdat ovat nousseet yhä voimakkaammin esille julkisissa hankinnoissa. Julkisten hankintojen tekijät ovat velvoitettuja huomioimaan talouden ohella myös ympäristönäkökohdat. Suuren ostovolyyminsa vuoksi julkinen sektori voi toimia suunnannäyttäjänä ympäristöä säästävien hankintojen toteuttajana. Tämä Pro gradu –tutkielma kartoittaa ekologisten hankintojen merkitystä suomalaisissa kunnissa vuonna 2016. Tavoitteena on selvittää mitä julkisten hankintojen ekologisuus kunnille merkitsee, miten ekologisuus näkyy hankintaprosessissa sekä mitkä tekijät ovat ekologisten hankintojen esteenä ja mitkä tekijät puolestaan kannustavat kuntia tekemään ekologisia hankintoja. Tutkimuksen tuloksena selvisi, että kunnat suhtautuvat ekologisuuteen hankinnoissa varsin positiivisesti ja ennen kaikkea ympäristönäkökohdat koetaan tärkeänä osana hankintoja. Ympäristönäkökohtien huomioiminen hankintaprosessissa koetaan kuitenkin melko vaikeaksi. Erityisesti tiedon puute, hinta ja taloudelliset resurssit vaikeuttavat ekologisten hankintojen toteutusta. Positiivisesti ympäristönäkökohtien huomioimiseen hankinnoissa puolestaan vaikuttavat henkilöstön osaaminen, taloudellisuus ja lainsäädäntö.

Process Evaluation and Business Process Reengineering in Forest Industry

Pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää millaisia muutoksia uusi SAP-pohjainen järjestelmä aiheuttaa metsäteollisuusyrityksen hankinta-prosesseissa ja ostajien työssä. Tilannetta tarkasteltiin myös liiketoiminta-prosessien uudistamisprojektina. Tutkimus oli kvalitatiivinen case-tutkimus, jonka lähteinä olivat haastattelut ja prosessikuvaukset. Hankintaprosessit on pyritty standardisoimaan ja kuvaamaan tarkasti, koska järjestelmä on tarkoitus ottaa vähitellen käyttöön yrityksen kaikissa toimipisteissä. Teoriaosassa käsiteltiin globaalia hankintaa, erilaisia tilauksia, sähköistä liiketoimintaa ja uudistettujen liiketoimintaprosessien käyttöönottoa sekä siihen liittyviä haasteita. Yritys pyrkii kehittämään hankintatoimintaansa ja hyödyntämään kokonsa tuomia mittakaavaetuja, uusi järjestelmä on merkittävä osa tätä kehitystyötä. Haastattelujen perusteella uusi järjestelmä on toivottu ja siihen kohdistuu paljon odotuksia. Järjestelmän käyttöönotto tulee olemaanhaastava tehtävä, koska järjestelmän käyttäjiä on paljon ja loppukäyttäjät tekevät entistä enemmän tapahtumia järjestelmään tilausaloitteiden ja kotiinkutsujenmuodossa. Tehdasostajien roolissa tapahtuu muutoksia, rutiinitilaamisen vähentyessä he toimivat tietoa molempiin suuntiin jakavina linkkeinä keskitetyn hankinta-organisaation ja tehtaan välissä.

Value added logistical support service Part 2. Outsourcing process of spare part logistics in metal industry

The aim of this research study was to find out guidelines for outsourcing of logistics processes. The study was outlined to spare parts and `business-to-business' (B2B) markets in metal industry. This study can be applied as a manual for outsourcing especially warehousing and transportation activities. The study also touches other important areas of spare part logistics like manufacturing, customer service, procurement, quality control, reverse and recycling logistics, logistics technologies and valueadded services. The method of study consisted of three areas. Firstly exchanging views with logistics experts in participating companies, and secondly compiling material based on author's practical experience in logistics business with several international and domestic logistics service providers and vendors. Thirdlythe study includes also references to literature material. Due to the fact thatthe outsourcing of logistics functions can be handled widely and from differentpoint of views, in this study it is concentrated mainly on giving general levelguidelines for defining logistics strategy, hints both for tendering process and implementation project, and not forgetting the aftercare of business partnership.

Procurement, Quality and Productivity Enhancements and Manufacturing Strategy Formulation Applying Product Life Cycle Method

The objective of the thesis was to create a framework that can be used to define a manufacturing strategy taking advantage of the product life cycle method, which enables PQP enhancements. The starting point was to study synkron implementation of cost leadership and differentiation strategies in different stages of the life cycles. It was soon observed that Porter’s strategies were too generic for the complex and dynamic environment where customer needs deviate market and product specifically. Therefore, the strategy formulation process is based on the Terry Hill’s order-winner and qualifier concepts. The manufacturing strategy formulation is initiated with the definition of order-winning and qualifying criteria. From these criteria there can be shaped product specific proposals for action and production site specific key manufacturing tasks that they need to answer in order to meet customers and markets needs. As a future research it is suggested that the process of capturing order-winners and qualifiers should be developed so that the process would be simple and streamlined at Wallac Oy. In addition, defined strategy process should be integrated to the PerkinElmer’s SGS process. SGS (Strategic Goal Setting) is one of the PerkinElmer’s core management processes. Full Text: Null

Procurement and inventory management in product ramp down

Tuotteiden elinkaaret elektroniikkateollisuudessa ovat lyhentyneet entisestään. Paineet uusien kehittyneempien tuotteiden lanseeraamiselle ovat kasvaneet. Huonosti hoidettu tuotevaihto voi aiheuttaa merkittäviä kustannuksia yritykselle mikäli alasajon kustannusvaikutusta tulokseen aliarvioidaan. Työ käsittelee markkinoilta poistuvan tuotteen materiaalivirtojen hallintaa tuotevaihdon aikana. Lähtökohtana työssä oli kehittää toimintatapa miten tuotteen alasajon aikana tulisi toimia sekä mallintaa hankintaketju riskien ja pullonkaulojen löytämiseksi. Päätavoitteena oli materiaalivaraston arvon minimoiminen sekä ylijäämämateriaalien hyödyntäminen. Työn merkittävimpiä tuloksia oli hankintaketjun materiaalivirtojen seurantaan kehitetty Excel työkalu sekä alasajon liittyvien työvaiheiden kuvaaminen.

Improving and User Interface to E-Procurement Software Used in Asset Accounting and Investigating Effects to Efficiency

This diploma thesis has been done to international organization which takes care from the accounting actions of two major companies. In this organization are used three different purchasing tools which are used when new asset master data is wanted to input to SAP R/3- system. The aim of this thesis is to find out how much changing the user interface of one of these three e-procurement programs will affect to overall efficiency in asset accounting. As an addition will be introduced project framework which can be used in future projects and which help to avoid certain steps in the development process. At the moment data needs to be inputted manually with many useless mouse clicks and data needs to be searched from many various resources which slow down the process. Other organization has better tools at the moment than the myOrders system which is under investigation Research was started by exploring the main improvement areas. After this possible defects were traced. Suggested improvements were thought by exploring literature which has been written from usability design and research. Meanwhile also directional calculations from the benefits of the project were done alongside with the analysis of the possible risks and threats. After this NSN IT approved the changes which they thought was acceptable. The next step was to program them into tool and test them before releasing to production environment. The calculations were made also from implemented improvements and compared them to planned ones From whole project was made a framework which can be utilized also to other similar projects. The complete calculation was not possible because of time schedule of the project. Important observation in the project was that efficiency is not improved not only by changing the GUI but also improving processes without any programming. Feedback from end user should be also listened more in development process. End-user is after all the one who knows the best how the program should look like.

Automated Purchase to Pay Process Value Modeling and Comparative Process Speeds

The importance of efficient supply chain management has increased due to globalization and the blurring of organizational boundaries. Various supply chain management technologies have been identified to drive organizational profitability and financial performance. Organizations have historically been concentrating heavily on the flow of goods and services, while less attention has been dedicated to the flow of money. While supply chains are becoming more transparent and automated, new opportunities for financial supply chain management have emerged through information technology solutions and comprehensive financial supply chain management strategies. This research concentrates on the end part of the purchasing process which is the handling of invoices. Efficient invoice processing can have an impact on organizations working capital management and thus provide companies with better readiness to face the challenges related to cash management. Leveraging a process mining solution the aim of this research was to examine the automated invoice handling process of four different organizations. The invoice data was collected from each organizations invoice processing system. The sample included all the invoices organizations had processed during the year 2012. The main objective was to find out whether e-invoices are faster to process in an automated invoice processing solution than scanned invoices (post entry into invoice processing solution). Other objectives included looking into the longest lead times between process steps and the impact of manual process steps on cycle time. Processing of invoices from maverick purchases was also examined. Based on the results of the research and previous literature on the subject, suggestions for improving the process were proposed. The results of the research indicate that scanned invoices were processed faster than e-invoices. This is mostly due to the more complex processing of e-invoices. It should be noted however that the manual tasks related to turning a paper invoice into electronic format through scanning are ignored in this research. The transitions with the longest lead times in the invoice handling process included both pre-automated steps as well as manual steps performed by humans. When the most common manual steps were examined in more detail, it was clear that these steps had a prolonging impact on the process. Regarding invoices from maverick purchases the evidence shows that these invoices were slower to process than invoices from purchases conducted through e-procurement systems and from preferred suppliers. Suggestions on how to improve the process included: increasing invoice matching, reducing of manual steps and leveraging of different value added services such as invoice validation service, mobile solutions and supply chain financing services. For companies that have already reaped all the process efficiencies the next step is to engage in collaborative financial supply chain management strategies that can benefit the whole supply chain.

Excelling in procurement : IT Contract Management with Lean and Six Sigma. Case study on legacy contract management at Philips Global IT.

Few people see both opportunities and threats coming from IT legacy in current world. On one hand, effective legacy management can bring substantial hard savings and smooth transition to the desired future state. On the other hand, its mismanagement contributes to serious operational business risks, as old systems are not as reliable as it is required by the business users. This thesis offers one perspective of dealing with IT legacy – through effective contract management, as a component towards achieving Procurement Excellence in IT, thus bridging IT delivery departments, IT procurement, business units, and suppliers. It developed a model for assessing the impact of improvements on contract management process and set of tools and advices with regards to analysis and improvement actions. The thesis conducted case study to present and justify the implementation of Lean Six Sigma in IT legacy contract management environment. Lean Six Sigma proved to be successful and this thesis presents and discusses all the steps necessary, and pitfalls to avoid, to achieve breakthrough improvement in IT contract management process performance. For the IT legacy contract management process two improvements require special attention and can be easily copied to any organization. First is the issue of diluted contract ownership that stops all the improvements, as people do not know who is responsible for performing those actions. Second is the contract management performance evaluation tool, which can be used for monitoring, identifying outlying contracts and opportunities for improvements in the process. The study resulted in a valuable insight on the benefits of applying Lean Six Sigma to improve IT legacy contract management, as well as on how Lean Six Sigma can be applied in IT environment. Managerial implications are discussed. It is concluded that the use of data-driven Lean Six Sigma methodology for improving the existing IT contract management processes is a significant addition to the existing best practices in contract management.

Development of category planning process in construction business

The aim of this thesis was to develop the category planning process in the case company operating in construction industry. As the interest in the field of research has just recently started to emerge towards the benefits of category management and planning, the theoretical background was derived from literature of subjects with a relation to category planning i.e. procurement strategy, purchasing portfolio model, information flow management and cost analysis. The background for the development of category planning process was derived from retail industry, to where the category planning is more researched. The empirical study was executed with mixed method approach: quantitative data of the categories was analyzed and qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interview and discussions within the case company. As a result, the category planning process was critically analyzed and development proposals addressed for improving the process description. Additionally a tool was developed based on the empirical study to support the category planning process of the case company.

Development of project cash flow forecasting process

Process management refers to improving the key functions of a company. The main functions of the case company - project management, procurement, finance, and human resource - use their own separate systems. The case company is in the process of changing its software. Different functions will use the same system in the future. This software change causes changes in some of the company’s processes. Project cash flow forecasting process is one of the changing processes. Cash flow forecasting ensures the sufficiency of money and prepares for possible changes in the future. This will help to ensure the company’s viability. The purpose of the research is to describe a new project cash flow forecasting process. In addition, the aim is to analyze the impacts of the process change, with regard to the project control department’s workload and resources through the process measurement, and how the impacts take the department’s future operations into account. The research is based on process management. Processes, their descriptions, and the way the process management uses the information, are discussed in the theory part of this research. The theory part is based on literature and articles. Project cash flow and forecasting-related benefits are also discussed. After this, the project cash flow forecasting as-is and to-be processes are described by utilizing information, obtained from the theoretical part, as well as the know-how of the project control department’s personnel. Written descriptions and cross-functional flowcharts are used for descriptions. Process measurement is based on interviews with the personnel – mainly cost controllers and department managers. The process change and the integration of two processes will allow work time for other things, for example, analysis of costs. In addition to the quality of the cash flow information will improve compared to the as-is process. Analyzing the department’s other main processes, department’s roles, and their responsibilities should be checked and redesigned. This way, there will be an opportunity to achieve the best possible efficiency and cost savings.

Purchasing Process of Industrial Solutions – Added Value, Difficulties and Good Practices

Purpose of this study is to clarify the industrial solutions purchasing process from purchaser companies’ point of view. Also customer’s view on value generating aspects and difficulties in purchases will be discussed as well as different purchas-ing entities where customers have ended up in their solution purchases. Current solution literature is mainly concentrated in supplier views and customer perspec-tive has been left without adequate attention. However, knowledge of the customer and the identification of customer need are at the core of a successful solution business. The focus of this thesis is on Finnish companies’ solution purchases that have been realized during last five years. Industrial solutions in this case are facto-ries or other large industrial plants. Industrial solutions’ purchasing process will be opened all the way from discovering the need until the start-up of the plant. Of in-terest is the customer experience of the success of the acquisition and the pur-chaser’s view on good practices allowing a successful procurement project.

Development of Project Logistics in Engineering, Procurement and Construction Projects

The aim of this Master’s Thesis is to develop project logistics functions in large scale en-gineering, procurement and construction projects. The background of the research topic is compounded from two separate subjects; OPAL Program and case study of an actual EPC project. The purpose is to examine Project Logistics process in accordance with OPAL Program as well as logistics process in focus EPC project. Both entities are researched by using the case study research methodology. Logistics process of the focus EPC project is described as well as presented and in addi-tion, logistics related findings and observations are introduced. Significant findings and observations are found from logistics costs as well as shipment volume estimations in the early phase of the focus ECP project. A notable finding is also that because goods were transported as readily assembled as possible it caused expensive oversized cargo deliveries. From findings and observation of the focus EPC project it can be derived that logistics has to be involved in the early sales phase in order to receive more accurate logistics cost esti-mations for project deliveries. It is also noticed that in order to obtain savings in logistics costs, oversized deliveries must be avoided.