A Local DLP-GIS-LP system for geographically decentralized wood procurement planning and decision making

Summary

Planning and control of internal development projects in a fast changing environment: Case study

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kuvata ja ymmärtää kuinka sisäisiä kehityshankkeita voidaan hallita onnistuneesti kun toimitaan nopeasti muuttuvassa ympäristössä. Tutkimus kuvailee etenkin projekteille tärkeitä menestymistekijöitä, kuten suunnittelu, kontrollointi ja päätöksenteko. Tutkimus selvittää yleisimmät ongelma-alueet case-organisaation sisäisten kehityshankkeiden hallinnassa. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen tutkimus, jossa tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty tapaustutkimusta. Empiirisessa osassa käsittellään case-organisaation sisäisiä informaatioteknologia-hankkeita (IT) ja uusien konseptien kehityshankkeita (NCD). iSisäisten kehityshankkeiden erilaisuuden ymmärtäminen oli tutkimuksen tärkein tulos. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osio osoitti sen, että epävarmuudella on erittäin suuri vaikutus projektihallintaan sekä projektin kontrollointiin. Case-organisaation IT-projektien onnistuminen riippuu organisaatiomuu-toksen onnistumisesta. Asiakkaisiin ja markkinoihin liittyvät epävarmuudet ovat vaikuttavimmat NCD projektien epävarmuuksista. Näillä epävarmuuk-sil­la on vaikutusta projektihallintaan jonka myötä NCD projektit juuttuvat useim­mi­ten noidankehiin tai ne lopetetaan jo aikaisessa vaiheessa.

Sheeting efficiency improvement through production planning and control development.

Arkitus on kartongin jatkojalostusmuoto, jonka tehokkuus muodostuu monen tekijän vaikutuksesta. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli parantaa arkitustehokkuutta tutkitussa kahden folioleikkurin arkittamossa tuotannonsuunnittelun ja tuotannonohjauksen kehittämisellä. Kartonkitehtaan sisäisessä jalostusketjussa arkitus on viimeinen vaihe, mikä tekee siitä pitkälti riippuvaisen edeltävistä konevaiheista, eli kartonkikoneista ja PE-päällystyskoneista. Pelkkä arkituksen tuotannonsuunnittelun huomiointi ei siis vielä takaa hyvää lopputulosta arkitustehokkuuden kannalta. Folioarkitustoiminta on hyvin asiakassuuntautunutta. Arkkikoot määräytyvät asiakkaiden omien tarpeiden perusteella, jolloin eri arkkikokojen kokonaismäärä kasvaa huomattavan suureksi. Viime vuosien trendinä on ollut tilauseräkokojen pieneneminen. Näiden tekijöiden yhteisvaikutuksena arkituksen tuotantoprosessille on ominaista erilaisten asetusten aiheuttama katkonaisuus. Lisäksi pelkästään yhden millimetrin muutos arkin leveydessä voi usein vaikuttaa arkitustehokkuuteen hyvinkin merkittävästi. Näistä syistä arkituksen tuotannonsuunnittelun apuvälineeksi tarvitaan tarkkuuteen ja joustavuuteen kykenevää tietojärjestelmää. Tehokkaan tuotannonohjauksen tueksi tarvitaan lisäksi erilaisia leikkuri- ja kartonkilaatukohtaisia raportteja. Työn teoriaosassa käsitellään tarkemmin arkitustoiminnan ominaisuuksia ja sen tehokkuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Lisäksi käsitellään tuotannonsuunnittelun ja tuotannonohjauksen periaatteita ja toimintoja.

Web user interface architecture for advanced planning and scheduling systems Case: Nokia Demand / Supply Planning Applications

In modem hitec industry Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems provide the basis for e-business solutions towards the suppliers and the customers. One objective of this thesis was to clarify the modem supply chain management with the APS systems and especially concentrate on the area of Collaborative Planning. In order Advanced Planning and Scheduling systems to be complete and usable, user interfaces are needed. Current Visual Basic user interfaces have faced many complaints and arguments from the users as well as from the development team. This thesis is trying to analyze the reasons and causes for the encountered problems and also provide ways to overcome them. The decision has been made to build the new user interfaces to be Web-enabled. Therefore another objective of this thesis was to research and find suitable technologies for building the Web-based user interfaces for Advanced Planning and Scheduling Systems in Nokia Demand/Supply Planning business area. Comparison between the most suitable technologies is made. Usability issues of Web-enabled user interfaces are also covered. The empirical part of the thesis includes design and implementation of a Web-based user interface with the chosen technology for a particular APS module that enables Collaborative Planning with suppliers.

Net communication strategy planning and management

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää kuinka suunnitella ja hallita tehokasta verkkoviestintää, joka vastaa kohdeyleisön ja palvelun ylläpitäjien kasvaviin vaatimuksiin. Tutkielma on normatiivinen tapaustutkimus, jonka tuloksena syntyy konstruktiivinen askelmalli kokonaisvaltaisen verkkoviestintäprojektin toteuttamiseen. Tutkimus esittää myös teoreettisesti merkittävän näkökulman verkkopalvelujen sisällön hallintaongelmien ratkaisemiseen. Tosielämän verkkoviestintäprojektin toteutusta seurataan TietoEnator Forestissa, jossa tutkielman kirjoittaja työskentelee. Tutkimusmateriaalina käytetään 11 TietoEnator Forestissa toteutettua haastattelua, TietoEnator konsernin dokumentaatiota ja osallistuvaa havainnointia. Haastattelulomake sisältää 13 avointa kysymystä, jotka käsittelevät verkkoviestintästrategian perusasioita. Tunnistetut verkkoviestinnän avainmenestystekijät ovat vahva sisäinen sitoutuminen hajautettuihin ylläpitorooleihin ja perinpohjainen asiakastarpeiden tunnistaminen. Teknisesti on tärkeää, että eritason verkkoympäristöt, Internet, Intranet ja Extranet, hallitaan samoilla sisällönhallinta työkaluilla. Näin pystytään rationalisoimaan ylläpitotoiminnot.

Planning and Implementing a New Corporate Identity in a Global Service Company, Case: TNT International Express

Tutkielman tavoitteena on tarkastella uuden yritysidentiteetin suunnittelua ja käyttöönottoa maailmanlaajuisessa palveluyrityksessä. Tutkielma jakaantuu teoreettiseen ja empiiriseen osaan. Teoreettisessa osassa käsitellään yritysidentiteetin käsitettä sekä tarkastellaan uuden yritysidenteetin suunnittelua ja käyttöönottoa. Teoriaa tarkastellaan keskeisten kirjallisten lähteiden perusteella, jotka käsittelevät markkinoinnin johtamista, palveluyritystä, yritysidentiteettiä, imagoa ja brändiä. Empiirinen tarkastelu pohjautuu yritysesimerkkiin. Yritysesimerkkinä on maailmanlaajuinen palveluyritys, ja sen uuden yritysidentiteetin suunnittelu- ja lanseeraustoimenpiteet. Empiirinen aineisto perustuu markkinointipäälliköiden haastatteluihin Australiassa ja Suomessa sekä yrityksen sisäiseen suunnittelu- ja lanseerausmateriaaliin. Tutkielmassa tulee esille yritysidentiteettikäsitteen monimuotoisuus. Yritysidentiteetin rakentaminen lähtee visiosta, missiosta ja yrityksen tavoitteista, jotka pitää olla selkeät ja johdonmukaiset. Yritysidentiteetti käsittää visuaalisen ilmeen lisäksi kaikki ne prosessit, joissa ollaan tekemisissä sidosryhmien kanssa. Yritysidentiteetin rakentaminen ja ylläpitäminen vaatii, että jokainen liiketoimintafunktio ymmärtää yritysidenteetin sisällön ja toimii sen mukaisesti kaikissa tilanteissa. Yrityksen on viestittävä henkilöstölle ja ulkoisille sidosryhmilleen, miksi se on olemassa. Henkilöstön tulee ymmärtää yrityksen tapa toimia, jotta he pystyvät vastaamaan yrityksen asettamiin haasteisiin kohdatessaan asiakkaan. Uuden yritysidentiteetin suunnitteluun on panostettava. Onnistumisen edellytykseksi osoittautui, että suunnitellaan tarkasti toimenpiteet ennen käyttöönottoa, käyttöönoton aikana sekä käyttöönoton jälkeen.

Planning and ramping up a new SW Testing site

During recent years, mobile phone markets have changed significantly. Asian markets have become vital for the manufacturers with their millions of end users and multiple major mobile network operators. This has resulted in software development as global companies have research and development sites running in multiple locations, including Asia. The reasons behind this are not only in reducing labor costs but also in capitalizing on the local knowledge and knowhow. A ramp-up site has multiple effects in the software development and software release activities. This thesis focuses on representing the importance of software testing as part of software development process and highlighting issues that need to be considered during ramp-up activities. In addition this work tries to emphasize the importance of communication between parties and information gathering prior to setting up the ramp-up site. The output of this thesis was successful software testing site ramp-up within the set time limits. The quality of software testing work was assured and the ramp-up -project requirements were achieved.

Researching Manufacturing Planning and Control system and Master Scheduling in a manufacturing firm.

The objective of this thesis is to research Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) system and Master Scheduling (MS) in a manufacturing firm. The study is conducted at Ensto Finland Corporation, which operates on a field of electrical systems and supplies. The paper consists of theoretical and empirical parts. The empirical part is based on weekly operating at Ensto and includes inter-firm material analysis, learning and meetings. Master Scheduling is an important module of an MPC system, since it is beneficial on transforming strategic production plans based on demand forecasting into operational schedules. Furthermore, capacity planning tools can remarkably contribute to production planning: by Rough-Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP) tool, a MS plan can be critically analyzed in terms of available key resources in real manufacturing environment. Currently, there are remarkable inefficiencies when it comes to Ensto’s practices: the system is not able to take into consideration seasonal demand and react on market changes on time; This can cause significant lost sales. However, these inefficiencies could be eliminated through the appropriate utilization of MS and RCCP tools. To utilize MS and RCCP tools in Ensto’s production environment, further testing in real production environment is required. Moreover, data accuracy, appropriate commitment to adapting and learning the new tools, and continuous developing of functions closely related to MS, such as sales forecasting, need to be ensured.

Planning and implementation of entrepreneurial marketing processes in SMEs

Entrepreneurial marketing is newly established term and there is need for more specific studies in order to understand the concept fully. SMEs have entrepreneurial marketing elements more visible in their marketing and therefore provide more fruitful insights for this research. SMEs marketing has gained more recognition during the past years and in some cases innovative characteristics can be identified despite constraints such as lack of certain resources. The purpose of this research is to study entrepreneurial marketing characteristics and SME processes in order to wider understanding and gain more insights of entrepreneurial marketing. In addition, planning and implementation of entrepreneurial marketing processes is examined in order to gain full coverage of SMEs marketing activities. The research was conducted as a qualitative research and data gathering was based on semi-structured interview survey, which involved nine company interviews. Multiple case research was used to analyze data so that focus and clarity could be maintained in organized manner. Case companies were chosen from different business fields so that more variation and insights could be identified. The empirical results suggest that two examined processes networking and word-of-mouth communication are very important processes for case companies which supports the previous researches. However, the entrepreneurial marketing characteristics had variation some were more visible and recognizable than others. Examining more closely the processes companies did not fully understand that networking or word-of-mouth marketing could be used as efficiently as other conventional marketing methods.

Production planning and optimization of a pulp mill: introduction of the optimisation based scheduling software for pulp industry

The objective of this project was to introduce a new software product to pulp industry, a new market for case company. An optimization based scheduling tool has been developed to allow pulp operations to better control their production processes and improve both production efficiency and stability. Both the work here and earlier research indicates that there is a potential for savings around 1-5%. All the supporting data is available today coming from distributed control systems, data historians and other existing sources. The pulp mill model together with the scheduler, allows what-if analyses of the impacts and timely feasibility of various external actions such as planned maintenance of any particular mill operation. The visibility gained from the model proves also to be a real benefit. The aim is to satisfy demand and gain extra profit, while achieving the required customer service level. Research effort has been put both in understanding the minimum features needed to satisfy the scheduling requirements in the industry and the overall existence of the market. A qualitative study was constructed to both identify competitive situation and the requirements vs. gaps on the market. It becomes clear that there is no such system on the marketplace today and also that there is room to improve target market overall process efficiency through such planning tool. This thesis also provides better overall understanding of the different processes in this particular industry for the case company.

Stiffness based trajectory planning and feedforward based vibration suppression control of parallel robot machines

The dissertation proposes two control strategies, which include the trajectory planning and vibration suppression, for a kinematic redundant serial-parallel robot machine, with the aim of attaining the satisfactory machining performance. For a given prescribed trajectory of the robot's end-effector in the Cartesian space, a set of trajectories in the robot's joint space are generated based on the best stiffness performance of the robot along the prescribed trajectory. To construct the required system-wide analytical stiffness model for the serial-parallel robot machine, a variant of the virtual joint method (VJM) is proposed in the dissertation. The modified method is an evolution of Gosselin's lumped model that can account for the deformations of a flexible link in more directions. The effectiveness of this VJM variant is validated by comparing the computed stiffness results of a flexible link with the those of a matrix structural analysis (MSA) method. The comparison shows that the numerical results from both methods on an individual flexible beam are almost identical, which, in some sense, provides mutual validation. The most prominent advantage of the presented VJM variant compared with the MSA method is that it can be applied in a flexible structure system with complicated kinematics formed in terms of flexible serial links and joints. Moreover, by combining the VJM variant and the virtual work principle, a systemwide analytical stiffness model can be easily obtained for mechanisms with both serial kinematics and parallel kinematics. In the dissertation, a system-wide stiffness model of a kinematic redundant serial-parallel robot machine is constructed based on integration of the VJM variant and the virtual work principle. Numerical results of its stiffness performance are reported. For a kinematic redundant robot, to generate a set of feasible joints' trajectories for a prescribed trajectory of its end-effector, its system-wide stiffness performance is taken as the constraint in the joints trajectory planning in the dissertation. For a prescribed location of the end-effector, the robot permits an infinite number of inverse solutions, which consequently yields infinite kinds of stiffness performance. Therefore, a differential evolution (DE) algorithm in which the positions of redundant joints in the kinematics are taken as input variables was employed to search for the best stiffness performance of the robot. Numerical results of the generated joint trajectories are given for a kinematic redundant serial-parallel robot machine, IWR (Intersector Welding/Cutting Robot), when a particular trajectory of its end-effector has been prescribed. The numerical results show that the joint trajectories generated based on the stiffness optimization are feasible for realization in the control system since they are acceptably smooth. The results imply that the stiffness performance of the robot machine deviates smoothly with respect to the kinematic configuration in the adjacent domain of its best stiffness performance. To suppress the vibration of the robot machine due to varying cutting force during the machining process, this dissertation proposed a feedforward control strategy, which is constructed based on the derived inverse dynamics model of target system. The effectiveness of applying such a feedforward control in the vibration suppression has been validated in a parallel manipulator in the software environment. The experimental study of such a feedforward control has also been included in the dissertation. The difficulties of modelling the actual system due to the unknown components in its dynamics is noticed. As a solution, a back propagation (BP) neural network is proposed for identification of the unknown components of the dynamics model of the target system. To train such a BP neural network, a modified Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm that can utilize an experimental input-output data set of the entire dynamic system is introduced in the dissertation. Validation of the BP neural network and the modified Levenberg- Marquardt algorithm is done, respectively, by a sinusoidal output approximation, a second order system parameters estimation, and a friction model estimation of a parallel manipulator, which represent three different application aspects of this method.

Capital investments planning and life cycle simulations for the new valves manufacturing facility in Russia

The focus of the research is on the derivation of the valid and reliable performance results regarding establishment and launching of the new full-scale industrial facility, considering the overall current conditions for the project realization in and out of Russia. The study demonstrates the process of the new facility concept development, with following perfor-mance calculation, comparative analyzes conduction, life-cycle simulations, performance indicators derivation and project`s sustainability evaluation. To unite and process the entire input parameters complexity, regards the interlacing between the project`s internal technical and commercial sides on the one hand, and consider all the specifics of the Russian conditions for doing business on the other hand, was developed the unique model for the project`s performance calculation, simulations and results representation. The complete research incorporates all corresponding data to substantiate the assigned facility`s design, sizing and output capacity for high quality and cost efficient ferrous pipe-line accessories manufacturing, as well as, demonstrates that this project could be suc-cessfully realized in current conditions in Russia and highlights the room for significant performance and sustainability improvements based on the indexes of the derived KPIs.

Developing construction site operations for EPC power plant projects

The purpose of this thesis is to find development areas for site operations in power plant construction projects delivered by Wärtsilä. The inspected operations are subcontractor management, site material management and work scheduling. The contractor's role in EPC project is to respond for engineering, procurement, and construction supervision. Geographical and cultural differences brings challenges for finding development areas as Wärtsilä delivers projects world-wide. Searching for development area is mainly made with survey, which answers were collected from the target company's site personnel. Based on the results, with good planning and preparation various problems would be avoided. An external view for the thesis was collected by an expert interview, which was held to three expe-rienced construction operating executives. Interviewees believed that with the se-lection of right site personnel and clearly defined areas of responsibility will great-ly affect the outcome of the project. Some of the theory has been collected from areas, which have helped to under-stand the inspected operations on site. Improving competence knowledge has been important due to the broad scope of work and the author’s inexperience of the topic. Also generally effective practices from construction projects has been col-lected to the theory part. Functionality of general practices have been reflected together with the results of empirically collected data for Wärtsilä's projects. As a result, a model was generated where development proposals and the benefits from new procedures were presented.