Demand forecasting process design and methods in medium sized enterprise

The purpose of this thesis was to study the design of demand forecasting processes and management of demand. In literature review were different processes found and forecasting methods and techniques interviewed. Also role of bullwhip effect in supply chain was identified and how to manage it with information sharing operations. In the empirical part of study is at first described current situation and challenges in case company. After that will new way to handle demand introduced with target budget creation and how information sharing with 5 products and a few customers would bring benefits to company. Also the new S&OP process created within this study and organization for it.

Advanced analysis and design methods for preparative chromatographic separation processes

Preparative liquid chromatography is one of the most selective separation techniques in the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Several process concepts have been developed and applied for improving the performance of classical batch chromatography. The most powerful approaches include various single-column recycling schemes, counter-current and cross-current multi-column setups, and hybrid processes where chromatography is coupled with other unit operations such as crystallization, chemical reactor, and/or solvent removal unit. To fully utilize the potential of stand-alone and integrated chromatographic processes, efficient methods for selecting the best process alternative as well as optimal operating conditions are needed. In this thesis, a unified method is developed for analysis and design of the following singlecolumn fixed bed processes and corresponding cross-current schemes: (1) batch chromatography, (2) batch chromatography with an integrated solvent removal unit, (3) mixed-recycle steady state recycling chromatography (SSR), and (4) mixed-recycle steady state recycling chromatography with solvent removal from fresh feed, recycle fraction, or column feed (SSR–SR). The method is based on the equilibrium theory of chromatography with an assumption of negligible mass transfer resistance and axial dispersion. The design criteria are given in general, dimensionless form that is formally analogous to that applied widely in the so called triangle theory of counter-current multi-column chromatography. Analytical design equations are derived for binary systems that follow competitive Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. For this purpose, the existing analytic solution of the ideal model of chromatography for binary Langmuir mixtures is completed by deriving missing explicit equations for the height and location of the pure first component shock in the case of a small feed pulse. It is thus shown that the entire chromatographic cycle at the column outlet can be expressed in closed-form. The developed design method allows predicting the feasible range of operating parameters that lead to desired product purities. It can be applied for the calculation of first estimates of optimal operating conditions, the analysis of process robustness, and the early-stage evaluation of different process alternatives. The design method is utilized to analyse the possibility to enhance the performance of conventional SSR chromatography by integrating it with a solvent removal unit. It is shown that the amount of fresh feed processed during a chromatographic cycle and thus the productivity of SSR process can be improved by removing solvent. The maximum solvent removal capacity depends on the location of the solvent removal unit and the physical solvent removal constraints, such as solubility, viscosity, and/or osmotic pressure limits. Usually, the most flexible option is to remove solvent from the column feed. Applicability of the equilibrium design for real, non-ideal separation problems is evaluated by means of numerical simulations. Due to assumption of infinite column efficiency, the developed design method is most applicable for high performance systems where thermodynamic effects are predominant, while significant deviations are observed under highly non-ideal conditions. The findings based on the equilibrium theory are applied to develop a shortcut approach for the design of chromatographic separation processes under strongly non-ideal conditions with significant dispersive effects. The method is based on a simple procedure applied to a single conventional chromatogram. Applicability of the approach for the design of batch and counter-current simulated moving bed processes is evaluated with case studies. It is shown that the shortcut approach works the better the higher the column efficiency and the lower the purity constraints are.

Creating better customer experiences: Service Design effects on customer experience

Pro gradu –tutkielman tavoitteena oli tutkia, kuinka palvelumuotoilua voidaan käyttää parempien asiakaskokemusten luomisessa. Tutkimuksen teoreettisessa osuudessa keskityttiin tutkimaan palvelumuotoilun ja asiakaskokemuksen käsitteitä. Tutkielman empiirinen osuus tehtiin laadullisena tutkimuksena, jossa vertailtiin asiakaskokemuksia kahdessa Espoon kaupungin yhteispalvelupisteessä: Leppävaarassa sijaitseva yhteispalvelupiste oli hiljattain suunniteltu uudelleen käyttäen palvelumuotoilun periaatteita; Matinkylän palvelupiste oli alkuperäisessä muodossaan tutkimuksen aikana. Tutkimuksen yhtenä tavoitteena oli myös selvittää, oliko palvelumuotoilun menetelmin tehty muotoiluprojekti Leppävaaran yhteispalvelupisteessä onnistunut, kun sitä arvioitiin asiakaskokemuksen näkökulmasta. Tutkielman aineisto kerättiin suoran havainnoinnin ja haastattelun keinoin. Yhteensä 33 yksittäistä asiakasta havannoitiin ja haastateltiin tutkimusta varten toukokuussa 2015. Vastaajat valikoituivat satunnaisesti havannointipäivien asiakkaista. Heitä havainnoitiin koko asiakaspolun ajan minkä jälkeen heitä haastateltiin. Tutkimuksen tulokset ovat kaksiosaiset. 1) Arvioitaessa asiakkaiden kokemuksia liittyen palvelutilan toimivuuteen ja aineelliseen ympäristöön todettiin, että palvelumuotoilulla saavuttettiin parempi asiakaskokemus, ja täten Leppävaaran muotoiluprojekti oli onnistunut tavoitteissaan. 2) Kun taas tuloksia tarkasteltiin asiakaspalvelutilanteiden näkökulmasta, projekti ei ollut päässyt tavoitteisiin ja palvelumuotoilun menetelmillä ei pystytty parantamaan asiakaskokemuksta. Espoon kaupungin muotoiluprojekti on vielä kesken, tulosten perusteella tutkija ehdotti jatkotoimenpiteenä muun muassa lisäkoulutusta palveluhenkilökunnalle.

Measuring software security from the design of software

The vast majority of our contemporary society owns a mobile phone, which has resulted in a dramatic rise in the amount of networked computers in recent years. Security issues in the computers have followed the same trend and nearly everyone is now affected by such issues. How could the situation be improved? For software engineers, an obvious answer is to build computer software with security in mind. A problem with building software with security is how to define secure software or how to measure security. This thesis divides the problem into three research questions. First, how can we measure the security of software? Second, what types of tools are available for measuring security? And finally, what do these tools reveal about the security of software? Measuring tools of these kind are commonly called metrics. This thesis is focused on the perspective of software engineers in the software design phase. Focus on the design phase means that code level semantics or programming language specifics are not discussed in this work. Organizational policy, management issues or software development process are also out of the scope. The first two research problems were studied using a literature review while the third was studied using a case study research. The target of the case study was a Java based email server called Apache James, which had details from its changelog and security issues available and the source code was accessible. The research revealed that there is a consensus in the terminology on software security. Security verification activities are commonly divided into evaluation and assurance. The focus of this work was in assurance, which means to verify one’s own work. There are 34 metrics available for security measurements, of which five are evaluation metrics and 29 are assurance metrics. We found, however, that the general quality of these metrics was not good. Only three metrics in the design category passed the inspection criteria and could be used in the case study. The metrics claim to give quantitative information on the security of the software, but in practice they were limited to evaluating different versions of the same software. Apart from being relative, the metrics were unable to detect security issues or point out problems in the design. Furthermore, interpreting the metrics’ results was difficult. In conclusion, the general state of the software security metrics leaves a lot to be desired. The metrics studied had both theoretical and practical issues, and are not suitable for daily engineering workflows. The metrics studied provided a basis for further research, since they pointed out areas where the security metrics were necessary to improve whether verification of security from the design was desired.

Organisational purchasing of service design – Agency and client perspectives

There has been an increase in the interest in service design, as companies have become more customer-centric and their focus has shifted to customer experiences. The actual organisational purchasing of service design has been given little attention, until recent years. The purpose of this study is to explore the purchasing of service design from the perspectives of sellers (service design agencies) and buying clients (business organisations). In order to understand the phenomenon, also agencies and clients’ approaches to service design discipline, purchasing processes, challenges related to purchasing and ways of facilitating the purchasing are explored. The research follows qualitative research method and utilises abductive reasoning. A proposition framework was formed by combining services marketing, design and organisational buying behaviour literatures, and was tested against real-life business cases. Empirical data was gathered by interviewing eight service design agency representatives and five client representatives in Finland. The results of semi-structural interviews were analysed by finding repetitive themes. The proposition framework was updated according to interview findings. There were both similarities and differences in service design agencies and clients’ approaches to service design. Service design represents a strategic activity to both parties, and it helps in clients’ business development and in discovering opportunities. It is an ideology; a way of thinking and working. The driving force for purchasing service design seemed to be something else than service design itself. Projects have been bought for 1) change and innovation related development, 2) channel related development or for 3) customer experience related development. Seven purchasing challenge themes were recognised: 1) poor or differing service design understanding, 2) selling of service design, 3) varying expectations, 4) difficulty of pre-evaluation, 5) buyers and buying companies, 6) project process and nature and 7) unclear project results. These all can be considered to cause challenges in organisational service design purchasing. Challenges can be caused by either participant, the agency or the client, and take place at any point of the purchasing process. Some of the challenges could be considered as barriers to purchasing or they play a role in an unsuccessful service project – and therefore, result in an unsuccessful organisational purchase. Purchasing could be facilitated in various ways by either participant; some ways are more attitude based, others actionable improvements. Thesis’s theoretical and managerial findings can be utilised to both improve the selling and purchasing of service design services.

Managing and utilizing information flow for new products’ periodic account sales process

The goal was to understand, document and module how information is currently flown internally in the largest dairy organization in Finland. The organization has undergone radical changes in the past years due to economic sanctions between European Union and Russia. Therefore, organization’s ultimate goal would be to continue its growth through managing its sales process more efficiently. The thesis consists of a literature review and an empirical part. The literature review consists of knowledge management and process modeling theories. First, the knowledge management discusses how data, information and knowledge are exchanged in the process. Knowledge management models and processes are describing how knowledge is created, exchanged and can be managed in an organization. Secondly, the process modeling is responsible for visualizing information flow through discussion of modeling approaches and presenting different methods and techniques. Finally, process’ documentation procedure was presented. In the end, a constructive research approach was used in order to identify process’ related problems and bottlenecks. Therefore, possible solutions were presented based on this approach. The empirical part of the study is based on 37 interviews, organization’s internal data sources and theoretical framework. The acquired data and information were used to document and to module the sales process in question with a flowchart diagram. Results are conducted through construction of the flowchart diagram and analysis of the documentation. In fact, answers to research questions are derived from empirical and theoretical parts. In the end, 14 problems and two bottlenecks were identified in the process. The most important problems are related to approach and/or standardization for information sharing, insufficient information technology tool utilization and lack of systematization of documentation. The bottlenecks are caused by the alarming amount of changes to files after their deadlines.