Mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen osaamisen kehittämismalli

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuottaa koulutuksen kehittämismalli mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen kehittämiseen. Työssä tarkasteltiin myös mikroyritysten asenteita tietotekniikan oppimiseen. Tutkimus tehtiin EU-projektiin nimeltä 'Mikrotie', jonka tavoitteena on estää mikroyritysten tietotekninen syrjäytyminen. Työ koostuu teoreettisesta ja empiirisestä osasta. Teoriaosassa kerrotaan konstruktivistisesta oppimisprosessista ja sen ympärille rakennetaan teoriaviitekehystä niin kouluttajasta kuin oppimisympäristöstä. Teoria keskittyy myös erityisesti aikuisopiskelijoiden erityispiirteisiin. Empiirisen osan aloittaa lomakekyselynä toteutettu kvantitatiivinen tutkimus mikroyritysten asenteista, jonka jälkeen käsitellään haastattelututkimuksena tehtyä tarkempaa kvalitatiivista osaa palveluntarjoajien ja mikroyritysten suhtautumisesta tapahtuneeseen koulutukseen sekä heidän parhaaksi katsomistaan koulutustavoista. Johtopäätösten mukaan aikuisoppimisen ja kouluttamisen asiantuntijan tulisi suunnitella mikroyritysten tietotekniikan koulutus tukenaan koulutettaviin asioihin perehtyneet palveluntarjoajat. Pelkästään vikojen korjailun sijaan mikroyrityksiä tulisi kouluttaa suuremmista asiakokonaisuuksista. Opiskelutavoitteet saavutetaan parhaiten vierikoulutuksena ja yleisemmän peruskäytön osalta pienryhmissä. Parhaana oppimisympäristönä toimisi yrityksen oma työskentelytila ja pienryhmäkoulutuksessa tietokoneluokka. Oppimistapahtumat pitäisi jakaa alle neljän tunnin osiin, jotka sijoiteltaisiin niin että opiskelu ei haittaa mikroyrityksen liiketoimintaa.

Superjumborullien rullauksen hallinta

UPM-Kymmene Oyj:n Jämsänkosken PK6:n ongelmana ovat olleet ajoittaiset pohjakatkot suurilla rullilla. Diplomityön tavoitteena oli parantaa superjumborullien rullauksen hallintaa Jagenbergin rakentamalla VariTop keskiörullaimella. Kirjallisuusosassa selvitettiin rullanmuodostumista ja erilaisia rullausteorioita. Samalla käytiin läpi paperin rullautuvuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä, rullausperäisten vikojen muodostumisen syitä sekä pehmeän rullaussylinterin etuja verrattuna kovaan sylinteriin. Kokeellisessa osassa suoritettiin koeajoja tuotannon pituusleikkurilla. Näistä kokeista saatujen tulosten perusteella leikkurin ajoreseptit päivitettiin vastaamaanoptimaalisinta rullarakennetta. Pehmeän rullaussylinterin etuja verrattuna kovaan rullaussylinteriin selvitettiin koeajoissa Voithin koeleikkurilla Saksan Krefeldissä. Tuloksista selvisi, että samalla ajoreseptillä rullattaessa pehmeä sylinteri antoi valmiille rullalle suuremman kovuuden. Myös paperissa olevien profiilivirheiden vaikutukset lievenivät käytettäessä pehmeää rullaussylinteriä. Istukoiden luistamisesta johtuvaa hylsyjen sisäpinnan jauhautumista on ilmennyt suurilla jumborullilla. Tämä johtuu todennäköisimmin kasvaneesta rasituksesta hylsyn sisäpinnalla, mikä on seurausta rullien kasvusta. Ratkaisuina tälle ongelmalle on mahdollinen istukan pidentäminen sekä välyksen pienentäminen istukan ja hylsyn välissä. Myös hylsyjen toimintaa testattiin rullauksessa jahuomattiin niiden täyttävän toimittajien antamat laatuarvot. Lepo- ja liikekitkalla tiedetään olevan suuri merkitys rullausperäisten vikojenmuodostumiseen. Eri lajeista lähetettiin paperinäytteitä UPM-Kymmene Oyj:n Lappeenrannan tutkimuskeskukseen kitkojen määrittämiseksi. Tulosten perusteella havaittiin luettelolajilla lepo- ja liikekitkassa merkittävä ero. Standardi SC lajilla ero oli selvästi pienempi kuin luettelolajilla. Tämä saattaa olla yksi syy luettelolajeilla ilmeneviin pohjaongelmiin.

Kriittiset menestystekijatjulkisen sektorin ulkoistamishankkeissa. Case: eKarjala Oy

Tarve kuntienväliselle yhteistyölle on kasvanut voimakkaasti. Pyrkimys kustannusten hallintaan ja tehokkaampien palveluntuotantomallien kehittämiseen on tuonut palveluiden ulkoistamisen voimakkaasti myös julkiselle sektorille. Menestyksekäs yhteistyö toisten kuntien ja palveluntuottajien kanssa vaatii osaamista myös kumppanuussuhteiden hallinnassa. Tehdyssä tutkimuksessa keskitytään juuri tähän osa-alueeseen vaikuttaviin tekijöihin. Tässä työssä keskitytään käsittelemään julkisen sektorin yhteistyötä toisten kuntien ja palveluntuottajan kanssa IT -sektorilla. Työssä tuodaan esiin teorian kautta yhteistyön kriittiset menestystekijät sekä tutkitaan näiden tekijöiden toteutumista todellisessa yhteistyössä kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen avulla. Kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen tulokset tukevat aiempia tutkimustuloksia siitä että luottamus, sitoutuminen, kommunikaatio sekä riippuvuus ja kontrolli ovattekijöitä jotka vaikuttavat yhteistyön onnistumiseen myös tutkitussa casessa.

Value added logistical support service. Part 1 : Trends and new concept model

The aim of `Valssi' study was to find out the service requirements in `business-to-business' (B2B) markets and to present a new logistics service concept, where the traditional logistics service is expanded with significant manufacturing and value addedfacilities. The traditional third-party logistics service providers are not necessarily able to offer services, which cover widely the needs of potential customers. The study has been outlined to spare part markets in metal industry. In the second phase of the Valssi-project the aim is to examine the economical conditions and potentiality of the new logistics business concept. This research report (Part 1) concentrates on examining current trends in global and domestic logistics markets. Based on detailed survey among the participating companies, the study presents basis for a new logistics business concept model. The developed concept consists of 12 different service modules, which are split into deeper details of processes. The integration of worldwide supplier and service provider network together with customer companies systems is a challenge. The report focuses on evaluating the requirements for the new business concept from the customer-companies point of view. The study paints an overall picture of distribution and service provider network including an abstract about the software and system integration possibilities. As a result of the survey, it can be concluded that thereis need for the new business concept among the participating companies, and a modular service concept meets the requirements of them, because the new sophisticated concept considers the specialities involved in spare part logistics in metal industry.

Value added logistical support service: logistics cost structure and performance in the new concept. Part 3

The aim of this study is to present an Activity-Based Costing spreadsheet tool for analyzing the logistics costs. The tool can be used both by customer-companies and logistics service providers. The study discusses the influence of different activity models on costs. Additionally this paper discusses about the logistical performance across the total supply chain This study is carried out using ananalytical research approach and literature material has been used for supplementing the concerned research approach. Cost structure analysis was based on the theory of activity-based management. This study was outlined to spare part logistics in machine-shop industry. The outlines of logistics services and logisticalperformance discussed in this report are based on the new logistics business concept (LMS-concept), which has been presented earlier in the Valssi-project. Oneof the aims of this study is to increase awareness of different activity modelson logistics costs. The report paints an overall picture about the business environment and requirements for the new logistics concept.

Value added logistics in supply and demand chains. Smile. Part 1. eBusiness between global company and itslocal sme supplier network

VALOSADE (Value Added Logistics in Supply and Demand Chains) is the research project of Anita Lukka's VALORE (Value Added Logistics Research) research team inLappeenranta University of Technology. VALOSADE is included in ELO (Ebusiness logistics) technology program of Tekes (Finnish Technology Agency). SMILE (SME-sector, Internet applications and Logistical Efficiency) is one of four subprojects of VALOSADE. SMILE research focuses on case network that is composed of small and medium sized mechanical maintenance service providers and global wood processing customers. Basic principle of SMILE study is communication and ebusiness insupply and demand network. This first phase of research concentrates on creating backgrounds for SMILE study and for ebusiness solutions of maintenance case network. The focus is on general trends of ebusiness in supply chains and networksof different industries; total ebusiness system architecture of company networks; ebusiness strategy of company network; information value chain; different factors, which influence on ebusiness solution of company network; and the correlation between ebusiness and competitive advantage. Literature, interviews and benchmarking were used as research methods in this qualitative case study. Networks and end-to-end supply chains are the organizational structures, which can add value for end customer. Information is one of the key factors in these decentralized structures. Because of decentralization of business, information is produced and used in different companies and in different information systems. Information refinement services are needed to manage information flows in company networksbetween different systems. Furthermore, some new solutions like network information systems are utilised in optimising network performance and in standardizingnetwork common processes. Some cases have however indicated, that utilization of ebusiness in decentralized business model is not always a necessity, but value-add of ICT must be defined case-specifically. In the theory part of report, different ebusiness and architecture models are introduced. These models are compared to empirical case data in research results. The biggest difference between theory and empirical data is that models are mainly developed for large-scale companies - not for SMEs. This is due to that implemented network ebusiness solutions are mainly large company centered. Genuine SME network centred ebusiness models are quite rare, and the study in that area has been few in number. Business relationships between customer and their SME suppliers are nowadays concentrated more on collaborative tactical and strategic initiatives besides transaction based operational initiatives. However, ebusiness systems are further mainly based on exchange of operational transactional data. Collaborative ebusiness solutions are in planning or pilot phase in most case companies. Furthermore, many ebusiness solutions are nowadays between two participants, but network and end-to-end supply chain transparency and information systems are quite rare. Transaction volumes, data formats, the types of exchanged information, information criticality,type and duration of business relationship, internal information systems of partners, processes and operation models (e.g. different ordering models) differ among network companies, and furthermore companies are at different stages on networking and ebusiness readiness. Because of former factors, different customer-supplier combinations in network must utilise totally different ebusiness architectures, technologies, systems and standards.

Value added logistics in supply and demand chain. Smile. Part 2. eBusiness in a service business. Case: A maintenance and operations network in forest industry

VVALOSADE is a research project of professor Anita Lukka's VALORE research team in the Lappeenranta University of Technology. The VALOSADE includes the ELO technology program of Tekes. SMILE is one of four subprojects of the VALOSADE. The SMILE study focuses on the case of the company network that is composed of small and micro-sized mechanical maintenance service providers and forest industry as large-scale customers. The basic principle of the SMILE study is the communication and ebusiness in supply and demand networks. The aim of the study is to develop ebusiness strategy, ebusiness model and e-processes among the SME local service providers, and onthe other hand, between the local service provider network and the forest industry customers in a maintenance and operations service business. A literature review, interviews and benchmarking are used as research methods in this qualitative case study. The first SMILE report, 'Ebusiness between Global Company and Its Local SME Supplier Network', concentrated on creating background for the SMILE study by studying general trends of ebusiness in supply chains and networks of different industries. This second phase of the study concentrates on case network background, such as business relationships, information systems and business objectives; core processes in maintenance and operations service network; development needs in communication among the network participants; and ICT solutions to respond needs in changing environment. In the theory part of the report, different ebusiness models and frameworks are introduced. Those models and frameworks are compared to empirical case data. From that analysis of the empirical data, therecommendations for the development of the network information system are derived. In process industry such as the forest industry, it is crucial to achieve a high level of operational efficiency and reliability, which sets up great requirements for maintenance and operations. Therefore, partnerships or strategic alliances are needed between the network participants. In partnerships and alliances, deep communication is important, and therefore the information systems in the network also are critical. Communication, coordination and collaboration will increase in the case network in the future, because network resources must be optimised to improve competitive capability of the forest industry customers and theefficiency of their service providers. At present, ebusiness systems are not usual in this maintenance network. A network information system among the forest industry customers and their local service providers actually is the only genuinenetwork information system in this total network. However, the utilisation of that system has been quite insignificant. The current system does not add value enough either to the customers or to the local service providers. At present, thenetwork information system is the infomediary that share static information forthe network partners. The network information system should be the transaction intermediary, which integrates internal processes of the network companies; the network information system, which provides common standardised processes for thelocal service providers; and the infomediary, which share static and dynamic information on right time, on right partner, on right costs, on right format and on right quality. This study provides recommendations how to develop this system in the future to add value to the network companies. Ebusiness scenarios, vision, objectives, strategies, application architecture, ebusiness model, core processes and development strategy must be considered when the network information system will be developed in the next development step. The core processes in the case network are demand/capacity management, customer/supplier relationship management, service delivery management, knowledge management and cash flow management. Most benefits from ebusiness solutions come from the electrifying of operational level processes, such as service delivery management and cash flow management.

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.

A web ontologies framework for digital rights management

In order to improve the management of copyright in the Internet, known as Digital Rights Management, there is the need for a shared language for copyright representation. Current approaches are based on purely syntactic solutions, i.e. a grammar that defines a rights expression language. These languages are difficult to put into practise due to the lack of explicit semantics that facilitate its implementation. Moreover, they are simple from the legal point of view because they are intended just to model the usage licenses granted by content providers to end-users. Thus, they ignore the copyright framework that lies behind and the whole value chain from creators to end-users. Our proposal is to use a semantic approach based on semantic web ontologies. We detail the development of a copyright ontology in order to put this approach into practice. It models the copyright core concepts for creation, rights and the basic kinds of actions that operate on content. Altogether, it allows building a copyright framework for the complete value chain. The set of actions operating on content are our smaller building blocks in order to cope with the complexity of copyright value chains and statements and, at the same time, guarantee a high level of interoperability and evolvability. The resulting copyright modelling framework is flexible and complete enough to model many copyright scenarios, not just those related to the economic exploitation of content. The ontology also includes moral rights, so it is possible to model this kind of situations as it is shown in the included example model for a withdrawal scenario. Finally, the ontology design and the selection of tools result in a straightforward implementation. Description Logic reasoners are used for license checking and retrieval. Rights are modelled as classes of actions, action patterns are modelled also as classes and the same is done for concrete actions. Then, to check if some right or license grants an action is reduced to check for class subsumption, which is a direct functionality of these reasoners.

Réhabilitation améliorée après chirurgie--L'ere de la prise en charge optimale du patient chirurgical [Enhanced Recovery After Surgery--optimal management of the surgical patient].

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is a multimodal, standardized and evidence-based perioperative care pathway. With ERAS, postoperative complications are significantly lowered, and, as a secondary effect, length of hospital stay and health cost are reduced. The patient recovers better and faster allowing to reduce in addition the workload of healthcare providers. Despite the hospital discharge occurs sooner, there is no increased charge of the outpatient care. ERAS can be safely applied to any patient by a tailored approach. The general practitioner plays an essential role in ERAS by assuring the continuity of the information and the follow-up of the patient.

Osuuskunta hyvinvointipalvelujen vaihtoehtoisena tuottajana

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the meaning of cooperation for the entrepreneurs who have planned to establish a co-operative. The objective is to understand what kind of benefits, expectations and challenges entrepreneurs see in the co-operative business and its establishment. The context of the study is welfare sector. As the population ages, increases the need for welfare services and the role of private service providers emphasizes. The study is based on qualitative theme interview. The empirical material was collected by interviewing eleven entrepreneurs in home care and home nursing sectors. The interviews were executed during the summer and autumn 2006. As an additional material there have been used five interviews of entrepreneurs who are members of co-operatives in different sectors. These interviews were executed during the spring 2007. The results show that the entrepreneurs experience that cooperation brings noticeable added value to their business activity. Cooperation is believed to be a channel to develop business activities. Besides development, co-operative business is expected to reply to the collective needs of entrepreneurs. The biggest challenges of functional cooperation are opportunistic behavior and finding a trustworthy group of entrepreneurs to establish the co-operative. Successful cooperation with the public sector would be the mutual benefit of government, companies and clients.

ASP-ohjelmiston kehittäminen kansainvälisille markkinoille

ASP eli sovellusvuokraus on jatkuvasti yleistyvä vaihtoehto perinteiselle ohjelmistojen ostamiselle. Suomessa on pieniä ASP-toimittajia joilla voisi olla mahdollisuuksia pärjätä kansainvälisillä markkinoilla, mutta kansainvälistyminen tuo haasteita kaupallisesti sekä myös teknisesti. Työn tavoitteena on suunnitella ASP-ohjelmiston kehittämistä kansainväliseen käyttöön sopivaksi sekä tarkastella myös laajemmin ASP-ohjelmiston vientiä koskevia kysymyksiä. Erityisesti kainsainvälistymiseen liittyvien aiheiden lisäksi työssä esitellään myös ASP-toimintamalli, kehityksen kohteena oleva Severa Oy:n ASP-palvelu sekä ASP-sovelluksen kehittämiseen käytettäviä tekniikoita ja työkaluja niin WWW-sovelluskehityksen kuin tietokantojenkin osalta.

Moniprotokollapalveluiden luontiympäristö

Tieto- ja teleliikenneverkkojen konvergenssi on tuonut uusia vaatimuksia palvelukehitysympäristöille ja aiheuttanut haasteita ympäristöjen kehitykselle. Moderneilla palvelukehitysympäristöillä on pystyttävä tuottamaan nopeasti monimutkaisia ja samalla varmatoimisia palveluja. Lisäksi moniprotokollapalveluiden luontiympäristöjen on mukauduttava uusiin olosuhteisiin, jotta palveluntarjoajat pysyisivät kilpailukykyisinä. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli etsiä menetelmiä ja apuvälineitä nopeaan ja luotettavaan konvergoivissa verkoissa tarjottavien palveluiden luontiin. Työssä tutustuttiin markkinoilla oleviin palvelukehitysympäristöihin ja esiteltiin Intellitel OSN:n palvelukehitysympäristö ja sen palvelunluontimalli, joka tukee palvelunkehitystä läpi koko palvelunluontiprosessin. Työn käytäntöosuudessa parannettiin Intellitelin palvelunluontimallia ja palvelukehitysympäristön tarjoamia työkaluja ja apuohjelmia. Työssä toteutettiin Intellitelin palvelukehitysympäristöllä vaiheittain palvelunluontimallin mukaisesti numeronmuunnospalvelu.

Potential health-care service utilization substitution effects induced by case management for emergency department frequent users

BACKGROUND: In most of the emergency departments (ED) in developed countries, a subset of patients visits the ED frequently. Despite their small numbers, these patients are the source of a disproportionally high number of all ED visits, and use a significant proportion of healthcare resources. They place a heavy economic burden on hospital and healthcare systems budgets overall. Several interventions have been carried out to improve the management of these ED frequent users. Case management has been shown in some North American studies to reduce ED utilization and costs. In these studies, cost analyses have been carried out from the hospital perspective without examining the costs induced by healthcare consumed in the community. However, case management might reduce ED visits and costs from the hospital's perspective, but induce substitution effects, and increase health service utilization outside the hospital. This study examined if an interdisciplinary case-management intervention-compared to standard ED care -reduced costs generated by frequent ED users not only from the hospital perspective, but also from the healthcare system perspective-that is, from a broader perspective taking into account the costs of healthcare services used outside the hospital. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 250 adult frequent emergency department users (5 or more visits during the previous 12 months) who visited the ED of the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, between May 2012 and July 2013 were allocated to one of two groups: case management intervention (CM) or standard ED care (SC), and followed up for 12 months. Depending on the perspective of the analysis, costs were evaluated differently. For the analysis from the hospital's perspective, the true value of resources used to provide services was used as a cost estimate. These data were obtained from the hospital's analytical accounting system. For the analysis from the health-care system perspective, all health-care services consumed by users and charged were used as an estimate of costs. These data were obtained from health insurance providers for a subsample of participants. To allow comparisons in a same time period, individual monthly average costs were calculated. Multivariate linear models including a fixed effect "group" were run using socio-demographic characteristics and health-related variables as controlling variables (age, gender, educational level, citizenship, marital status, somatic and mental health problems, and risk behaviors).

UMTS-verkon radiorajapinnan aiheuttamat rajoitukset palvelutuotannossa

Diplomityössä perehdytään UMTS-verkon historiaan, monikäyttötekniikkaan ja suun-nitteluun. Erityisesti tarkastellaan UMTS-verkon palveluiden laatuvaatimuksia (QoS), joiden avulla sekä palveluiden käyttäjät että palveluiden tarjoajat voivat käyttää radiora-japintaa haluamallaan tavalla. Käytännön osassa tarkastellaan QoS:ien mukaisia palveluita, palveluiden sijoittamista UMTS-verkkoon ja palvelutuotantoon liittyviä teknisiä rajoituksia. Lisäksi tarkastel-laan, miten UMTS-verkossa olevan päätelaitteen dataliikenteen taajuuskaista muuttuu päätelaitteen liikkuessa.