The Business Models of Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturers. Case: Cisco Systems.

Tutkielman tavoitteena oli tarkastella telekommunikaatiolaitevalmistajien liiketoimintamalleja. Tutkielma jakaantuu teoreettiseen ja empiiriseen osaan. Teoreettinen osa keskittyy lähinnä liiketoimintamallin käsitteen määrittelyyn. Olemassa olevien määritelmien, sekä liiketoimintamallin käsitteeseen läheisesti liittyvien termien, pohjalta luotiin liiketoimintamallille uusi malli. Tutkielman empiirinen osa keskittyy case-yritys Cisco Systemsin liiketoimintamallin määrittelyyn ja kehityksen kuvaamiseen. Liiketoimintamallin kehitystä seurattiin kahden vuoden ajalta perehtymällä lähinnä yrityksen lehdistötiedotteisiin, artikkeleihin ja muuhun julkiseen materiaaliin. Ciscon lisäksi empiirisessä osassa tutkittiin kahdeksan muun laitevalmistajan liiketoimintamallien kehitystä. Empiirisen osan päätavoitteena oli selvittää, miten telekommunikaatiolaitevalmistajien liiketoimintamallit kehittyvät nyt ja tulevaisuudessa.

Offset-print mottling measurement using machine vision

Mottling is one of the key defects in offset-printing. Mottling can be defined as unwanted unevenness of print. In this work, diameter of a mottle spot is defined between 0.5-10.0 mm. There are several types of mottling, but the reason behind the problem is still not fully understood. Several commercial machine vision products for the evaluation of print unevenness have been presented. Two of these methods used in these products have been implemented in this thesis. The one is the cluster method and the other is the band-pass method. The properties of human vision system have been taken into account in the implementation of these two methods. An index produced by the cluster method is a weighted sum of the number of found spots, and an index produced by band-pass method is a weighted sum of coefficients of variations of gray-levels for each spatial band. Both methods produce larger indices for visually poor samples, so they can discern good samples from the poor ones. The difference between the indices for good and poor samples is slightly larger produced by the cluster method. 11 However, without the samples evaluated by human experts, the goodness of these results is still questionable. This comparison will be left to the next phase of the project.

Visual Measurement and Modelling of Tool Wear in Rough Turning

Huolimatta korkeasta automaatioasteesta sorvausteollisuudessa, muutama keskeinen ongelma estää sorvauksen täydellisen automatisoinnin. Yksi näistä ongelmista on työkalun kuluminen. Tämä työ keskittyy toteuttamaan automaattisen järjestelmän kulumisen, erityisesti viistekulumisen, mittaukseen konenäön avulla. Kulumisen mittausjärjestelmä poistaa manuaalisen mittauksen tarpeen ja minimoi ajan, joka käytetään työkalun kulumisen mittaukseen. Mittauksen lisäksi tutkitaan kulumisen mallinnusta sekä ennustamista. Automaattinen mittausjärjestelmä sijoitettiin sorvin sisälle ja järjestelmä integroitiin onnistuneesti ulkopuolisten järjestelmien kanssa. Tehdyt kokeet osoittivat, että mittausjärjestelmä kykenee mittaamaan työkalun kulumisen järjestelmän oikeassa ympäristössä. Mittausjärjestelmä pystyy myös kestämään häiriöitä, jotka ovat konenäköjärjestelmille yleisiä. Työkalun kulumista mallinnusta tutkittiin useilla eri menetelmillä. Näihin kuuluivat muiden muassa neuroverkot ja tukivektoriregressio. Kokeet osoittivat, että tutkitut mallit pystyivät ennustamaan työkalun kulumisasteen käytetyn ajan perusteella. Parhaan tuloksen antoivat neuroverkot Bayesiläisellä regularisoinnilla.

Revising customer profitability measurement in a paper industry company

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, pitäisikö trimmihävikin kustannukset lisätä case yrityksen asiakaskannattavuuslaskelmaan. Trimmihävikin vaihtelua asiakkaiden välillä tutkittiin yhdellä case yrityksen tuotantolinjalla. Myös tilaustekijöiden sekä ajankohdan vaikutusta trimmihävikin määrään selvitettiin. Teoreettinen viitekehys rakennettiin asiakaskannattavuuden ja asiakassuhteiden johtamisen ympärille. Tutkimuksen empiirisessä osassa hyödynnettiin kvantitatiivista tutkimusmenetelmää ja tilastollisissa analyyseissä käytettiin laajaa aineistoa. Tulokset osoittivat, että trimmihävikin määrä vaihteli asiakkaiden kesken. Asiakkaista muodostettiin kolme klusteria. Näiden klustereiden tarkempi tutkiminen osoitti selvän yhteyden asiakkaan ostokäyttäytymisen ja trimmihävikin välillä. Lopuksi tutkimuksen tulosten hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia pohdittiin ja myös tutkimuksen rajoitukset tunnistettiin.

Developing supply chain performance measurement metrics, case Halton Oy

Tämä tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään, miten toimitusketjun suorituskykyä voidaan mitata kohdeyrityksessä. Supply Chain Council (SCC) on vuonna 1996 kehittänyt Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) – mallin, joka mahdollistaa myös suorituskyvyn mittaamisen. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on soveltaa SCOR-mallin suorituskyvyn mittausmallia kohdeyrityksessä. Työ on kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus. Työn teoriaosassa on pääasiallisesti käsitelty toimitusketjua ja suorituskyvyn mittaamista koskevaa kirjallisuutta. Mittausjärjestelmän luominen alkaa kohdeyrityksen esittelyllä. SCOR – mallin mittarit on kohdeyrityksessä rakennettu SCC:n ehdotusten mukaisesti, jotta mittareiden tulokset olisivat käyttökelpoisia myös benchmarkkausta varten. Malli sisältää 10 SCOR – mittaria, sekä muutamia muita Haltonin omia mittareita. Lopputuloksena voidaan nähdä, että SCOR – malli antaa hyvän yleiskuvan toimitusketjun suorituskyvystä, mutta kohdeyrityksessä on silti tarvetta kehittää edelleen informatiivisempia mittareita, jotka antaisivat yksityiskohtaisempaa tietoa kohdeyrityksen johdolle.

Competitor comparison: variable speed drives in pumping applications

As the world’s energy demand is increasing, a durable solution to control it is to improve the energy efficiency of the processes. It has been estimated that pumping applications have a significant potential for energy savings trough equipment or control system changes. For many pumping application the use of a variable speed drive as a process control element is the most energy efficient solution. The main target of this study is to examine the energy efficiency of a drive system that moves the pump. In a larger scale the purpose of this study is to examine how the different manufacturers’ variable speed drives are functioning as a control device of a pumping process. The idea is to compare the drives from a normal pump user’s point of view. The things that are mattering for the pump user are the efficiency gained in the process and the easiness of the use of the VSD. So some thought is given also on valuating the user-friendliness of the VSDs. The VSDs are compared to each other also on the basis of their life cycle energy costs in different kind of pumping cases. The comparison is made between ACS800 from ABB, VLT AQUA Drive from Danfoss, NX-drive from Vacon and Micromaster 430 from Siemens. The efficiencies are measured in power electronics laboratory in the Lappeenranta University of Technology with a system that consists of a variable speed drive, an induction motor with dc-machine, two power analyzers and a torque transducer. The efficiencies are measured as a function of a load at different frequencies. According to measurement results the differences between the measured system efficiencies on the actual working area of pumping are on average few percent units. When examining efficiencies at the whole range of different loads and frequencies, the differences get bigger. At low frequencies and loads the differences between the most efficient and the least efficient systems are at the most about ten percent units. At the most of the tested points ABB’s drive seem to have slightly better efficiencies than the other drives.

Home Blood Pressure Measurement – Epidemiology and Clinical Application

Verenpaineen kotimittaus − epidemiologia ja kliininen käyttö Kohonnutta verenpainetta, maailmanlaajuisesti merkittävintä ennenaikaiselle kuolemalle altistavaa riskitekijää, ei voida tunnistaa tai hoitaa ilman tarkkoja ja käytännöllisiä verenpaineen mittausmenetelmiä. Verenpaineen kotimittaus on saavuttanut suuren suosion potilaiden keskuudessa. Lääkärit eivät ole kuitenkaan vielä täysin hyväksyneet verenpaineen kotimittausta, sillä riittävä todistusaineisto sen toimivuudesta ja eduista on puuttunut. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli osoittaa, että kotona mitattu verenpaine (kotipaine) on perinteistä vastaanotolla mitattua verenpainetta (vastaanottopaine) tarkempi, ja että se on tehokas myös kliinisessä käytössä. Tutkimme kotipaineen käyttöä verenpainetaudin diagnosoinnissa ja hoidossa. Lisäksi tarkastelimme kotipaineen yhteyttä verenpainetaudin aiheuttamiin kohde-elinvaurioihin. Ensimmäinen aineisto, joka oli edustava otos Suomen aikuisväestöstä, koostui 2 120 45–74-vuotiaasta tutkimushenkilöstä. Tutkittavat mittasivat kotipainettaan viikon ajan ja osallistuivat terveystarkastukseen, johon sisältyi kliinisen tutkimuksen ja haastattelun lisäksi sydänfilmin otto ja vastaanottopaineen mittaus. 758 tutkittavalle suoritettiin lisäksi kaulavaltimon seinämän intima-mediakerroksen paksuuden (valtimonkovettumataudin mittari) mittaus ja 237:lle valtimon pulssiaallon nopeuden (valtimojäykkyyden mittari) mittaus. Toisessa aineistossa, joka koostui 98 verenpainetautia sairastavasta potilaasta, hoitoa ohjattiin satunnaistamisesta riippuen joko ambulatorisen eli vuorokausirekisteröinnillä mitatun verenpaineen tai kotipaineen perusteella. Vastaanottopaine oli kotipainetta merkittävästi korkeampi (systolisen/diastolisen paineen keskiarvoero oli 8/3 mmHg) ja yksimielisyys verenpainetaudin diagnoosissa kahden menetelmän välillä oli korkeintaan kohtalainen (75 %). 593 tutkittavasta, joilla oli kohonnut verenpaine vastaanotolla, 38 %:lla oli normaali verenpaine kotona eli ns. valkotakkiverenpaine. Verenpainetauti voidaan siis ylidiagnosoida joka kolmannella potilaalla seulontatilanteessa. Valkotakkiverenpaine oli yhteydessä lievästi kohonneeseen verenpaineeseen, matalaan painoindeksiin ja tupakoimattomuuteen, muttei psykiatriseen sairastavuuteen. Valkotakkiverenpaine ei kuitenkaan vaikuttaisi olevan täysin vaaraton ilmiö ja voi ennustaa tulevaa verenpainetautia, sillä siitä kärsivien sydän- ja verisuonitautien riskitekijäprofiili oli normaalipaineisten ja todellisten verenpainetautisten riskitekijäprofiilien välissä. Kotipaineella oli vastaanottopainetta vahvempi yhteys verenpainetaudin aiheuttamiin kohde-elinvaurioihin (intima-mediakerroksen paksuus, pulssiaallon nopeus ja sydänfilmistä todettu vasemman kammion suureneminen). Kotipaine oli tehokas verenpainetaudin hoidon ohjaaja, sillä kotipaineeseen ja ambulatoriseen paineeseen, jota on pidetty verenpainemittauksen ”kultaisena standardina”, perustuva lääkehoidon ohjaus johti yhtä hyvään verenpaineen hallintaan. Tämän ja aikaisempien tutkimusten tulosten pohjalta voidaan todeta, että verenpaineen kotimittaus on selkeä parannus perinteiseen vastaanotolla tapahtuvaan verenpainemittaukseen verrattuna. Verenpaineen kotimittaus on käytännöllinen, tarkka ja laajasti saatavilla oleva menetelmä, josta voi tulla jopa ensisijainen vaihtoehto verenpainetautia diagnosoitaessa ja hoitaessa. Verenpaineen mittauskäytäntöön tarvitaan muutos, sillä näyttöön perustuvan lääketieteen perusteella vaikuttaa, että vastaanotolla tapahtuvaa verenpainemittausta tulisi käyttää vain seulontatarkoitukseen.

Improvement of Operational Efficiency effectiveness (OEE) using Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology — Case Bottomer line AD2378

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is the key metric of operational excellence. OEE monitors the actual performance of equipment relative to its performance capabilities under optimal manufacturing conditions. It looks at the entire manufacturing environment measuring, in addition to the equipment availability, the production efficiency while the equipment is available to run products, as well as the efficiency loss that results from scrap, rework, and yield losses. The analysis of the OEE provides improvement opportunities for the operation. One of the tools used for OEE improvement is Six Sigma DMAIC methodology which is a set of practices originally developed to improve processes by eliminating defects. It asserts the continuous efforts to reduce variation in process outputs as key to business success, as well as the possibility of measurement, analysis, improvement and control of manufacturing and business processes. In the case of the Bottomer line AD2378 in Papsac Maghreb Casablanca plant, the OEE figures reached 48.65 %, which is below the accepted OEE group performance. This required immediate actions to achieve OEE improvement. This Master thesis focuses on the application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in the OEE improvement on the Bottomer Line AD2378 in Papsac Maghreb Casablanca plant. First, the Six Sigma DMAIC and OEE usage in operation measurement will be discussed. Afterwards, the different DMAIC phases will allow the identification of improvement focus, the identification of OEE low performance causes and the design of improvement solutions. These will be implemented to allow further tracking of improvement impact on the plant operations.

Handover aspects in Unlicensed Mobile Access Technology

Fixed Mobile Convergence is the recent buzz in the field of telecommunication technology. Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology is a realistic implementation of Fixed Mobile Convergence. UMA involves communication between different types of networks. Handover is a very important issue in UMA. The study is an analysis of theoretical handover mechanism and practical test results. It includes a new proposal for handover performance test in UMA. It also provides an overview of basic handover operation on different scenarios in UMA. The practical test involves an experiment on handover performance test using network analyzers. The new proposal provides a different approach for an experimental setting on handover performance test without using network analyzers. The approach is not be implemented because of some technical problem in a network equipment in UMA. The analysis of the test results reveals that time of handover between UMA and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network is similar to time of handover between inter base station controller (BSC) handover in GSM networks. The new approach is simple and provides measurement at the end point communicating entities. The study gives a general understanding of handover operation, an analysis of handover performance in UMA and specifically provides a new approach useful for further study of handover in different real world environments and scenarios.

Gamma spectrometry and gamma and X-ray tomography of nuclear fuel

The purpose of gamma spectrometry and gamma and X-ray tomography of nuclear fuel is to determine both radionuclide concentration and integrity and deformation of nuclear fuel. The aims of this thesis have been to find out the basics of gamma spectrometry and tomography of nuclear fuel, to find out the operational mechanisms of gamma spectrometry and tomography equipment of nuclear fuel, and to identify problems that relate to these measurement techniques. In gamma spectrometry of nuclear fuel the gamma-ray flux emitted from unstable isotopes is measured using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. The production of unstable isotopes correlates with various physical fuel parameters. In gamma emission tomography the gamma-ray spectrum of irradiated nuclear fuel is recorded for several projections. In X-ray transmission tomography of nuclear fuel a radiation source emits a beam and the intensity, attenuated by the nuclear fuel, is registered by the detectors placed opposite. When gamma emission or X-ray transmission measurements are combined with tomographic image reconstruction methods, it is possible to create sectional images of the interior of nuclear fuel. MODHERATO is a computer code that simulates the operation of radioscopic or tomographic devices and it is used to predict and optimise the performance of imaging systems. Related to the X-ray tomography, MODHERATO simulations have been performed by the author. Gamma spectrometry and gamma and X-ray tomography are promising non-destructive examination methods for understanding fuel behaviour under normal, transient and accident conditions.

Energy efficiency parameters in variable speed drives

The main purpose of this thesis is to measure and evaluate how accurately the current energy saving calculation in ABB’s new variable speed drive ACS850 works. The main topic of this thesis is energy-efficiency parameters. At the beginning of this thesis centrifugal pump, squirrel cage motor and variable speed drive, including some equations related to them, are being introduced. Also methods of throttling control and variable speed drive control of centrifugal pumps are being introduced. These subjects are introduced because the energy saving calculation in ACS850 is related to the centrifugal pumps usually driven by squirrel cage motors. The theory also includes short section about specific energy of pumping. Before measurements the current energy saving calculation of ACS850 is being introduced and analyzed. The measurements part includes introduction of measuring equipment, measurement results, summary and analysis of the measurements. At the end of this thesis a proposal for an improvement to the current energy saving calculation is being introduced and few proposals are made for new energy-efficiency parameters, which could be added to variable speed drives. At the end are also thoughts

Radio Frequency Measurement Method for Detecting Bearing Currents in Induction Motors

Induction motors are widely used in industry, and they are generally considered very reliable. They often have a critical role in industrial processes, and their failure can lead to significant losses as a result of shutdown times. Typical failures of induction motors can be classified into stator, rotor, and bearing failures. One of the reasons for a bearing damage and eventually a bearing failure is bearing currents. Bearing currents in induction motors can be divided into two main categories; classical bearing currents and inverter-induced bearing currents. A bearing damage caused by bearing currents results, for instance, from electrical discharges that take place through the lubricant film between the raceways of the inner and the outer ring and the rolling elements of a bearing. This phenomenon can be considered similar to the one of electrical discharge machining, where material is removed by a series of rapidly recurring electrical arcing discharges between an electrode and a workpiece. This thesis concentrates on bearing currents with a special reference to bearing current detection in induction motors. A bearing current detection method based on radio frequency impulse reception and detection is studied. The thesis describes how a motor can work as a “spark gap” transmitter and discusses a discharge in a bearing as a source of radio frequency impulse. It is shown that a discharge, occurring due to bearing currents, can be detected at a distance of several meters from the motor. The issues of interference, detection, and location techniques are discussed. The applicability of the method is shown with a series of measurements with a specially constructed test motor and an unmodified frequency-converter-driven motor. The radio frequency method studied provides a nonintrusive method to detect harmful bearing currents in the drive system. If bearing current mitigation techniques are applied, their effectiveness can be immediately verified with the proposed method. The method also gives a tool to estimate the harmfulness of the bearing currents by making it possible to detect and locate individual discharges inside the bearings of electric motors.

Protection of the high-voltage equipment with reduced insulation strength

Power transformer is the most expensive equipment on a substation. It is always necessary to get needed benefit with the lowest expenses. Producing of power transformers with reduced insulation strength is one of the possible ways to reduce expenses. Exploitation of such transformers was begun in the end of 70-th in the last century. Protection from overvoltages was done with valve-type magnetic combined surge arresters with increased blanking voltage during switching overvoltages. Nowadays there is the necessity of replacement of those devices. That’s why modernized nonlinear surge arrester was invented. This master’s thesis is focused on the use research of that modernized device in comparison with usual nonlinear surge arresters. The goal is to show the lightning overvoltages level using different types of nonlinear surge arresters and then calculations of the lightning protection reliability.

Salient Pole Synchronous Machine Modelling in an Industrial Direct Torque Controlled Drive Application

Synchronous motors are used mainly in large drives, for example in ship propulsion systems and in steel factories' rolling mills because of their high efficiency, high overload capacity and good performance in the field weakening range. This, however, requires an extremely good torque control system. A fast torque response and a torque accuracy are basic requirements for such a drive. For large power, high dynamic performance drives the commonly known principle of field oriented vector control has been used solely hitherto, but nowadays it is not the only way to implement such a drive. A new control method Direct Torque Control (DTC) has also emerged. The performance of such a high quality torque control as DTC in dynamically demanding industrial applications is mainly based on the accurate estimate of the various flux linkages' space vectors. Nowadays industrial motor control systems are real time applications with restricted calculation capacity. At the same time the control system requires a simple, fast calculable and reasonably accurate motor model. In this work a method to handle these problems in a Direct Torque Controlled (DTC) salient pole synchronous motor drive is proposed. A motor model which combines the induction law based "voltage model" and motor inductance parameters based "current model" is presented. The voltage model operates as a main model and is calculated at a very fast sampling rate (for example 40 kHz). The stator flux linkage calculated via integration from the stator voltages is corrected using the stator flux linkage computed from the current model. The current model acts as a supervisor that prevents only the motor stator flux linkage from drifting erroneous during longer time intervals. At very low speeds the role of the current model is emphasised but, nevertheless, the voltage model always stays the main model. At higher speeds the function of the current model correction is to act as a stabiliser of the control system. The current model contains a set of inductance parameters which must be known. The validation of the current model in steady state is not self evident. It depends on the accuracy of the saturated value of the inductances. Parameter measurement of the motor model where the supply inverter is used as a measurement signal generator is presented. This so called identification run can be performed prior to delivery or during drive commissioning. A derivation method for the inductance models used for the representation of the saturation effects is proposed. The performance of the electrically excited synchronous motor supplied with the DTC inverter is proven with experimental results. It is shown that it is possible to obtain a good static accuracy of the DTC's torque controller for an electrically excited synchronous motor. The dynamic response is fast and a new operation point is achieved without oscillation. The operation is stable throughout the speed range. The modelling of the magnetising inductance saturation is essential and cross saturation has to be considered as well. The effect of cross saturation is very significant. A DTC inverter can be used as a measuring equipment and the parameters needed for the motor model can be defined by the inverter itself. The main advantage is that the parameters defined are measured in similar magnetic operation conditions and no disagreement between the parameters will exist. The inductance models generated are adequate to meet the requirements of dynamically demanding drives.

IT architecture for category driven corporate procurement measurement

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate creating and improving category purchasing visibility for corporate procurement by utilizing financial information. This thesis was a part of the global category driven spend analysis project of Konecranes Plc. While creating general understanding for building category driven corporate spend visibility, the IT architecture and needed purchasing parameters for spend analysis were described. In the case part of the study three manufacturing plants of Konecranes Standard Lifting, Heavy Lifting and Services business areas were examined. This included investigating the operative IT system architecture and needed processes for building corporate spend visibility. The key findings of this study were the identification of the needed processes for gathering purchasing data elements while creating corporate spend visibility in fragmented source system environment. As an outcome of the study, roadmap presenting further development areas was introduced for Konecranes.