Groupware and Workflow Tools - A Case study of SAP Business Workflow Supporting System Integration in a Global Telecommunication Company

Workflow management systems aim at the controlled execution of complex application processes in distributed and heterogeneous environments. These systems will shape the structure of information systems in business and non-business environments. E business and system integration is a fertile soil for WF and groupware tools. This thesis aims to study WF and groupware tools in order to gather in house knowledge of WF to better utilize WF solutions in future, and to focus on SAP Business Workflow in order to find a global solution for Application Link Enabling support for system integration. Piloting this solution in Nokia collects the experience of SAP R/3 WF tool for other development projects in future. The literary part of this study will guide to the world of business process automation providing a general description of the history, use and potentials of WF & groupware software. The empirical part of this study begins with the background of the case study describing the IT environment initiating the case by introducing SAP R/3 in Nokia, the communication technique in use and WF tool. Case study is focused in one solution with SAP Business Workflow. This study provides a concept to monitor communication between ERP systems and to increase the quality of system integration. Case study describes a way create support model for ALE/EDI interfaces. Support model includes monitoring organization and the workflow processes to solve the most common IDoc related errors.

Late Roman amphorae in the eastern Tarraconensis. Some chronological and quantitative approaches

Since the classic study of Simon J. Keay published in 1984, knowledge of late Roman amphorae has progressed markedly, thanks to scholars such as Michel Bonifay and Paul Reynolds, amongst others. The area studied by Keay was Catalonia, the ancient Eastern Tarraconensis. The overview here offered for this same region reveals the central role played by African imports in late Antique times, with a minor presence of the Eastern-Mediterranean and South-Hispanic (both Baetican and Lusitanian) productions. Progress in research in the last 25 years has been centred on a series of new and well-dated contexts: the data they have yielded has clarified more precisely the chronology and the proportions of the different imports. On occasion a quantitative approach may even be applied. At the same time the relationship between town and country with respect to the late Roman amphorae is proving of interest and providing results of significance.

Delivery Reliability: Timely and Quantitative Accuracy in a Forest Industry Company

The primary objective of this thesis was to research delivery reliability of mill business unit of a forest industry company, especially timely and quantitative accuracy of sales orders. Delivery reliability is an important factor of customer satisfaction, which has a great influence for success of a company. The secondary objective was to find out reasons for possible problems of delivery reliability and give propositions for improvable performances. The empirical part of the thesis based on reporting database of the forest industry company’s ERP-software and detailed information of the mill system. The delivery reliability results of the mill business unit were compared to delivery reliability of similar mill business unit inside the forest industry company. The research results expressed problems in the supply chain. The delivery reliability reporting should be also developed further. This would advance delivery reliability monitoring. The improvement propositions of the thesis were logistic operation mode estimation, particular benchmarking of the compared mill business unit and more detailed survey on production delivery reliability.

Elimination of dyes from aqueous solutions using iron oxides and chitosan as adsorbents: a comparative study

This work investigates the adsorption of Alizarin, Eriochrome Blue Black R and Fluorescein using chitosan, goethite and magnetite as adsorbents. For Alizarin, the best adsorbent is chitosan with a Langmuir parameter of 15.8 mmol dye/g adsorbent. For Eriochrome Blue Black R only 1.94 mmol dye/g chitosan is adsorbed. Langmuir parameters for the Alizarin adsorption on both iron oxides display one or two orders of magnitude lower than for chitosan and two orders of magnitude lower in the case of Eriochrome Blue Black R. Fluorescein does not adsorb in appreciable amounts on chitosan and it presents the lower affinity on the iron oxides.

Preconcentration, determination and speciation of iron by solid-phase extraction using dimethyl (E)-2-[(Z)-1-acetyl)-2-hydroxy-1-propenyl]-2-butenedioate

A new sensitive and selective procedure for speciation of trace dissolved Fe(III) and Fe(II), using modified octadecyl silica membrane disks and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry was developed. A ML3 complex is formed between the ligand and Fe(III) responsible for extraction of metal ion on the disk. Various factors influencing the separation of iron were investigated and the optimized operation conditions were established. Under optimum conditions, an enrichment factor of 166 was obtained for Fe3+ ions. The calibration graph using the preconcentration system for Fe3+ was linear between 40.0 and 1000.0 μg L-1.

Syntheses, characterization and antifungal activity of tris(1,10-phenanthroline)iron(ii) bis(n-r-sulfonyldithiocarbimate)zincate(ii)

Four new compounds with the general formula [Fe(phen)3][Zn(RSO2N=CS2)2], where phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, R = 4-FC6H4 (1), 4-ClC6H4 (2), 4-BrC6H4 (3) and 4-IC6H4 (4), respectively, were obtained by the reaction of the appropriate potassium N-R-sulfonyldithiocarbimate (RSO2N=CS2K2) and tris(1,10-phenanthroline)iron(II) sulfate, with zinc(II) acetate dihydrate in dimethylformamide. The elemental analyses and the IR data were consistent with the formation of the expected complexes salts. The ¹H and 13C NMR spectra showed the signals for the cationic iron(II) complex and dithiocarbimate moieties. The molar conductance data were consistent with the 1:1 cation:anion complexes in 1-4. The antifungal activities of the compounds were tested in vitro against Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

Inertization of small-scale chemical wastes using iron phosphate glass

The viability of small-scale heavy-metal waste immobilization into iron phosphate glasses was investigated. Several waste forms containing different amounts of heavy-ion wastes were evaluated (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 26%, 33%, 40% and 50% by mass) and their X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that no crystallization occurred in glasses with waste concentrations up to 26%. The dissolution rates for all of the reported glass compositions (ca. 10-8 g cm-2 min-1) are similar to those reported for the materials most commonly used for waste vitrification. Iron phosphate glasses thus proved to be very useful for the immobilization of heavy-metal wastes, exhibiting good contention and chemical durability comparable to that of borosilicate glasses.

DIRECT INFUSION ESI-MS APPLIED IN THE DETECTION OF BYPRODUCTS DUE TO REDUCTIVE DEGRADATION OF ACETAMIPRID BY ZERO-VALENT IRON

This study investigated the reductive degradation of acetamiprid (5 mg L-1) in aqueous medium (at pH 2.0) induced by zero-valent iron (50 mg). The process was monitored using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the degradation rate as a function of reaction time, and direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DI-ESI-MS) to search for (and potentially characterize) any possible byproducts formed during degradation. The results obtained via HPLC showed that after 60 min, the degradation of the substrate reached nearly 100% in an acidic medium, whereas the mineralization rate (as determined by total organic carbon measurements) was as low as 3%. Data obtained by DI-ESI-MS showed that byproducts were formed mainly by insertions of hydrogen atoms into the nitrile, imine, and pyridine ring moieties, in addition to the observation of chlorine substitution by hydrogen replacement (hydrodechlorination) reactions.

Innovative Culture – Searching for Innovativeness in a Construction Company

The purpose of the thesis is to study innovativeness in a context of the construction industry especially the front-end of the innovation process. The construction industry is often considered an old-fashioned manufacturing industry. Innovations and innovativeness are rarely linked to the industry. The construction industry, as well as other industries in Finland, is facing challenges such as productivity, the climate change and internationalization. The meaning of innovations is greater than ever in continuously changing markets, for standing out from competitors or increasing the competitiveness. Traditional production methods, tight building regulations, unique buildings, one-of-a-kind project organizations and highlighting the cheapest price in building contracts are particular challenges in the construction industry. The research questions of the thesis were: - What kind of factors shift the existing company culture towards innovativeness? - What are the phases of the front-end of the innovation process? - What kind of tools and methods enable managing the front-end of the innovation process? The theoretical part of the thesis bases on the literature review. The research methodology of the empirical part was the action research and qualitative approach. Empirical data was collected by the theme interviews from three companies. The results were practical methods and experiences from innovation activities of the companies. The results of the thesis can be clarified as follows: enhancement of the innovation activities requires support and commitment of the top management, innovative culture and innovation strategy. Innovativeness can be promoted by systematical methods for example collecting ideas from employees. Controlling and managing the front-end phase is essential to succeeding. Despite that managing the front-end is the most challenging part of the innovation process, development and management of that save companies’ money, resources and prevents useless investments. Further clarification and studies are needed to find out furthermore functional tools and methods to manage innovations and implementing them to the culture of the companies.

Developing the Sourcing with the Purchasing Tool in the Chemical Company

The aim of this research was to investigate Tikkurila Oyj's Vantaa factories' current status in procurement and to develop the reporting of purchases and purchase warehouses, and to measure the activities during the implementation of the new purchasing tool. The implemented purchasing tool was based on ABC-analysis. Based on its reports the importance of performance measurements for the operations of the company, and the purpose of getting transparency to the company's supply chain on the part of purchasing were examined. A successful purchase- and material operation calls for accurate knowledge and professional skills. The research proved that with a separate purchasing tool, that analyses the existing information of the company's production management system, it is possible to get added value to whole supply chain's needs. The analyses and reports of the purchasing tool enable a more harmonized purchasing process at the operative level, and create a basis for internal targets and to their follow-up. At the same time the analyses clarify the current status and development trends of procurement fresh to the management. The increase of the possibilities of exploitation of information technology enables a perfect transparency to the case company's purchase department.

Holocene Varved Lake Sediments as Records of Palaeoenvironmental Change and Geomagnetic Palaeosecular Variation in Eastern Finland

This dissertation discusses Holocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeomagnetic secular variation (PSV) records reconstructed from sediments preserved in Lake Lehmilampi (63º37´N, 29º06´E) and Lake Kortejärvi (63º37´N, 28º56´E) in eastern Finland. Several piston and freeze cores were obtained from both lakes for varve and magnetic analyses. Sediment samples were impregnated in low-viscosity epoxy and physical parameters of varves, including varve thickness and relative grey-scale values, were recorded using x-ray densitometry combined with semiautomatic digital image analysis. On average, varve records of Lehmilampi and Kortejärvi cover 5122 and 3902 years, respectively. Past solar activity, as estimated by residual ₁₄C data, compares favourably with varve thicknesses from Lehmilampi during the last 2000 years. This indicates the potential of clastic-organic varves to record sensitively climatic variations. Bulk magnetic parameters, including magnetic susceptibility together with natural, anhysteretic and isothermal remanent magnetizations, were measured to describe mineral magnetic properties and geomagnetic palaeosecular variation recorded in the sediments. Main stages in the development of the investigated lakes are reflected in the variations in the mineral magnetic records, sediment lithology and composition. Similar variations in magnetic parameters and sediment organic matter suggest contribution of bacterial magnetite in the magnetic assemblages of Lehmilampi. Inclination and relative declination records yielded largely consistent results, attesting to the great potential of these sediments to preserve directional palaeosecular variation in high resolution. The PSV data from Lehmilampi and Kortejärvi were stacked into North Karelian PSV stack, which may be used for dating homogenous lake sediments in the same regional context. Reconstructed millennial variations in relative palaeointensity results are approximately in agreement with those seen in the absolute palaeointensity data from Europe. Centennial variations in the relative palaeointensity, however, are influenced by environmental changes. Caution is recommended when using varved lake sediments in reconstructing relative palaeointensity.

Strategic Orientation of Knowledge Management: Influence on Company's Performance

Nowadays, the huge part of the most important research is done in the area of interaction of two or more fields of research. They open doors for new ideas and help to find that was not possible to find before, explain simple things, which was missed because of narrow vision. This research investigates the interconnection of strategy study and knowledge management. Well-known researches (e.g. Michael Zack, 2003) point out that organization should align its' knowledge management to strategy to gain success. But this is not well developed area yet. This research contributes to the growing knowledge of knowledge management - strategy alignment. The research tests the relation between strategic orientation of knowledge management and performance of the company. It also investigates the nature of strategy typology influence on strategic orientation of knowledge management. These two points have critical importance for development of this area. Moreover, it has management implication for those practitioners, who cares about sustainable success of their company based on knowledge.

Determination of Copper, Iron, Nickel and Zinc in fuel kerosene by FAAS after adsorption and pre-concentration on 2-aminothiazole-modified silica gel

Silica gel chemically modified with 2-Aminotiazole groups, abbreviated as SiAT, was used for preconcentration of copper, zinc, nickel and iron from kerosene, normally used as a engine fuel for airplanes. Surface characteristics and surface area of the silica gel were obtained before and after chemical modification using FT-IR, Kjeldhal and surface area analysis (B.E.T.). The retention and recovery of the analyte elements were studied by applying batch and column techniques. The experimental parameters, such as shaking time in batch technique, flow rate and concentration of the eluent (HCl- 0.25-2.00 mol L-1) and the amount of silica, on retention and elution, have been investigated. Detection limits of the method for copper, iron, nickel and zinc are 0.77, 2.92, 1.73 and 0.097 mg L-1, respectively. The sorption-desorption of the studied metal ions made possible the development of a preconcentration method for metal ions at trace level in kerosene using flame AAS for their quantification.

Software Licensing: Implementing Electronic Licensing in Medical Technology Company

The purpose of this thesis is to examine software licensing, how a software developer can benefit from it and to define specifications for licensing system of software based medical technology product. The thesis has been divided into theoretical and empirical parts. In the theoretical part the concept of software licensing and different aspects that are connected to it are examined with a help of research material. On the ground of this research, in the empirical part, a licensing system for a medical software product called iCentral is designed. The empirical part is based on interviews, questionnaire and on authors own experience gained while working for the case-company.The thesis has great practical importance for the case-company by proposing both an ideal, and more importantly, practical implementation for a licensing system of a product. Thesis shows that electronic licensing is a viable option to sell medical technology products without a need to revise existing procedures or the enterprise resource system in the case company.

Spectrophotometric study of iron oxidation in the iron(II)/thiocyanate/acetone system and some analytical applications

The possibility of using thiocyanate to determine iron(II) and/or iron(III) in water-acetone mixture has been re-examined as part of a systematic and comparative study involving metallic complexes of pseudohalide ligands. Some parameters that affect the complete oxidation of the ferrous cations, their subsequent complexation and the system stability have been studied to optimize the experimental conditions. Our results show the viability and potentiality of this simply methodology as an alternative analytical procedure to determine iron cations with high sensitivity, precision and accuracy. Studies on the calibration, stability, precision, and effect of various different ions have been carried out by using absorbance values measured at 480 nm. The analytical curve for the total iron determination obeys Beer's law (r = 0.9993), showing a higher sensitivity (molar absorptivity of 2.10x10(4) L cm-1 mol-1) when compared with other traditional systems (ligands) or even with the "similar" azide ion [1.53x10(4) L cm-1 mol-1, for iron-III/azide complexes, in 70% (v/v) tetrahydrofuran/water, at 396 nm]. Under such optimized experimental conditions, it is possible to determine iron in the concentration range from 0.5 to 2 ppm (15-65% T for older equipments, quartz cells of 1.00 cm). Analytical applications have been tested for some different materials (iron ores), also including pharmaceutical products for anemia, and results were compared with atomic absorption determinations. Very good agreement was obtained with these two different techniques, showing the potential of the present experimental conditions for the total iron spectrophotometric determinations (errors < 5%). The possibility of iron speciation was made evident by using another specific and auxiliary method for iron(II) or (III).