Kriittisyysluokittelu varaosavarastojen hallinnan tehostamisen keinona

Tämän kandidaatintyön tavoitteena on teollisuusyrityksen varaosavarastojen hallinnan tehostamisen keinojen löytäminen prosessin ja osien saatavuuden kriittisyydet huomioon ottaen. Prosessi- ja saatavuuskriittisyyttä käytetään luokittelukeinoina, jotta tuotantoprosessin sujuva läpimeno saadaan huomioitua varastojenhallinnassa. Tavoitteena onkin optimoida varaosavarastoja siten, että tehtaan tuotantovarmuus pystytään kuitenkin takaamaan. Työssä tutkitaan, mitkä tekijät johtavat siihen, että varaosista tulee kriittisiä. Kriittisyyttä tarkastellaan kahdesta näkökulmasta, joita pidettiin tärkeänä tehtaan tasaisen tuotannon takaamiseksi. Näiden näkökulmien pohjalta luodaan nelikenttämalli, jonka avulla varaosat luokitellaan ja luokittelua laajennetaan kirjallisuudesta löydettyjä analyysimalleja apuna käyttäen. Tarkoituksena on parantaa varaosien hallintaa ja tehostaa varaosavarastoja. Työssä esitelläänkin erilaisia varaosien varastointitapoja entistä tehokkaamman varastonhallinnan saavuttamiseksi. Varaosilla on suuri merkitys koko yrityksen toimintaan. Silti niiden hallintaan on kiinnitetty kirjallisuudessa varsin vähän huomiota ja tehdyt tutkimukset ovat yksipuolisia. Työssä onkin tutkittu varaosien luokittelua useasta eri näkökulmasta ja näin saatu monipuolinen sekä kattava näkemys varaosavarastojen tehostamiskeinoista. Tärkeimpänä tuloksena havaittiin kriittisyysluokittelun ja analyysien yhdistämisen edut varaosavarastojen optimoinnissa.

Possibilities and challenges in utilization of information provided by Industrial Internet applications

Global digitalization has affected also industrial sector. A trend called Industrial Internet has been present for some years and established relatively steady position in businesses. Industrial Internet is also referred with the terminology Industry 4.0 and in consumer businesses IoT (Internet of Things). Eventually, trend consists of many traditionally proven technologies and concepts, such as condition monitoring, remote services, predictive maintenance and Internet customer portals. All these technologies and information related to them are estimated to change the rules of business in industrial sector. This may result even a new industrial revolution. This research has its focus on Industrial Internet products, services and applications. The study analyses four case companies and their digital service offerings. According to this analysis the comparison of these services is done to find out if there is still space for companies to gain competitive advantage through differentiation with these state of the art solutions. One of the case companies, Case Company Ltd., is working as a primary case company and a subscriber of this particular research. The research and results are analyzed primarily from this company’s perspective and need. In empirical part, the research clarifies how Case Company Ltd. has allocated its development resources through last five years. These allocations in certain categories are then compared to other case companies’ current customer offering and conclusions are made how the approach of different companies differ from each other. Existing theoretical knowledge of Industrial Internet is about to find its shape. In this research we take a look how the case company analysis and findings correlate with the existing knowledge and literature of the topic.

How CSR and stakeholder engagement encourage the development of Industrial symbiosis from the management viewpoint?

The thesis aims to understand how CSR and stakeholder engagement can contribute to the development of industrial symbiosis. Theory suggests that corporate social responsibility and stakeholder engagement theories have many similar aspects that correlate with the development of industrial symbiosis. This study is qualitative and empirical suggestions are derived from integrative analysis of literature, secondary data and case study analysis. The empirical findings from the interviews support the framework that is created from the findings of the literature review. The results discovered throughout the thesis research suggest that CSR functions as a theoretical background for industrial symbiosis and stakeholder engagement helps develop more thorough understandings of it from the management viewpoint. Empirical findings and literature review also suggest that in the developing of industrial symbiosis the key aspect are the social characteristics such as a robust management structure, trust between partners and long-term commitment to the common goals that support the development of these symbioses. Also, communication and transparency supports the development of industrial symbiosis. For managerial contribution, this thesis presents organizational practices that can help managers to understand how they can engage in effective engagement with stakeholders in the development of industrial symbiosis.

Spare Part Management of Bubbling Fluidized Bed Boiler

Energy generation industry is very capital-intensive industry. Productivity and availability requirements have increased while competition and quality requirement have increased. Maintenance has a significant role that these requirements can be reached. Even maintenance is much more than repairing faults nowadays, spare parts are important part of maintenance. Large power boilers are user-specific therefore features of boilers vary from project to project. Equipment have been designed to follow the customer’s requirements therefore spare parts are mainly user-specific also. The study starts with literature review introducing maintenance, failure mechanisms, and systems and equipment of bubbling fluidized bed boiler. At the final part spare part management is discussed from boiler technology point of view. For this part of the study science publications about spare part management are utilized also some specialist from a boiler technology company and other original equipment manufacturers were interviewed. Spare part management is challenging from the boiler supplier point of view and the end user of spare parts has a responsibility of stocking items. Criticality analysis can be used for finding most critical devices of the process and spare part management shall focus to those items. Spare parts are part of risk management. Stocking spare parts is increasing costs but then high spare part availability is decreasing delay time caused by fault of item.

Standardized electrical tests for electrical equipment in road vehicles Case: Visedo Oy PowerMASTER M-frame

Electrical road vehicles were common at the begin of the 20th century but internal combustion engines took a victory from electrical motors in road vehicles. The acknowledgement of the environment, and the price and the availability of the crude oil are reasons for the comeback of the electrical vehicles. Advancement in industrial technology and political atmosphere in EU as the directive 20--20--20, which consists of reducing fossil emission, increasing renewable energy and increasing the energy efficiency, have made the electrification popular again. In this thesis tests based on standard ISO 16750--2 electrical loads for electrical equipment in road vehicles are made for Visedo Oy's PowerMASTER M-frame power electronics device. This device is designed for mainly drive trains in mobile work machines and marine vessels but can be used in other application in its power range which also includes road vehicles. The functionality of the device is tested with preliminary tests which act as a framework for the tests based on standards.

The Pricing of Customized Industrial Products

The main objective of this study was to examine the pricing of customized industrial products in international markets, and to understand what pricing decision making consists of. Another purpose of the study was to identify the main factors that affect the pricing decisions of industrial companies, as well as the different pricing strategies industrial companies may choose when pricing customized products. The research was conducted as a qualitative single case study, and a Finnish industrial company specializing in indoor environment solutions, Halton Marine Oy, was used as the case company in the study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured theme interviews with the key management personnel of the company, and the results were discussed and analyzed in the light of the existing literature. The results of this study indicate that the pricing of customized industrial products consists of several dimensions, and is influenced by a large variety of factors that are both internal and external to the firm. In addition, it was found that the choice of a pricing strategy is largely dependent on the chosen segment, the product category, and the stage in the product life cycle. The results also suggest that customizing companies should consider using the value-based pricing orientation, since customization is closely linked to customer value.

Ekosysteemit yritysmaailmassa

Ekosysteemi-termin käyttö on yleistynyt viime aikoina yritysmaailmassa, mutta sitä käytetään eri tavoin eri lähteissä ja asianyhteyksissä eikä käsitteelle ole olemassa vakiintunutta määritelmää. Yritykset toimivat ekosysteemissä vuorovaikutuksessa, joten hyötyäkseen systeemistä tulee niiden tunnistaa ja ymmärtää kaikki muut systeemin osat ja toimijat. Tämä olisi helpompaa oikeellisen terminologian avulla. Kandidaatintyön tavoitteena on selvittää, missä eri yhteyksissä ekosysteemitermiä käytetään ja löytyykö termille yksiselitteistä määritelmää. Työssä esitellään eri lähteiden käyttämiä määritelmiä ekosysteemeille puhuttaessa yritysten välisistä verkostoista. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään kolmeen pääsysteemiin: liiketoiminnan ekosysteemiin, teolliseen ekosysteemiin sekä digitaaliseen ekosysteemiin. Lisäksi tarkastellaan muutamia pienempiä, sekä itsenäisiä että johonkin pääekosysteemiin pohjautuvia, ekosysteemikokonaisuuksia. Työ on toteutettu kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Verkostoissa kukin toimija ajaa omia etuuksiaan, kun taas ekosysteemissä kaikilla on yhteinen päämäärä, jota tavoitellaan yhdessä. Ekosysteemit ovat verkostoja laajempia ja ne pystyvät korvaamaan puuttuvia tekijöitä itsenäisesti. Keskenään ekosysteemit eroavat puolestaan toimijoiden ja niiden välisten virtojen laadun osalta. Lisäksi eri systeemeissä on erilaiset toimintaperiaatteet. Kaikki ekosysteemit kuitenkin perustuvat yhteistyöhön ja vuorovaikutukseen, joiden avulla luodaan arvoa. Myös uudet innovaatiot ja kustannustehokkuus yhdistävät kaikkia systeemejä. Ei kuitenkaan ole olemassa yksiselitteistä määritelmää, joka pätisi kussakin tilanteissa, mutta eri asianyhteyksiin liitettynä ekosysteemillä tarkoitetaan ydinajatukseltaan samaa asiaa.