Tuottavuuden ja investointitehokkuuden parantaminen kunnallisteknisissä töissä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää keinoja parantaa tuottavuutta ja investointitehokkuutta kunnallisteknisissä töissä. Tutkimusmenetelmäksi valittiin konstruktiivinen tutkimusmenetelmä, jossa käytännölliseen ongelmaan luodaan teoriapohjan kautta ratkaisuehdotus. Työn teoriaosuus käsittelee palveluiden tuottavuutta ja sen mittaamista. Työn tuloksena syntyi excel-työkalu, jonka avulla on mahdollista tarkastella palveluntuottajan konekannan aiheuttamia kustannuksia ja tuottoja. Työkalu laskee konekohtaiset kustannukset ja tuotot, joiden avulla palveluntuottajalle on mahdollista osoittaa aiempien investointien kannattavuus. Työkalu laskee kustannus- ja tuottoarvion myös vaihtoehtoiselle konekannalle, jossa alhaisen käyttöasteen koneita korvataan monipuolisemmalla kalustolla. Palveluntuottajan konekannan hallinta ja kustannusrakenteen tarkka määrittely ovat tärkeässä roolissa tuottavuuden ja kannattavuuden kehittämisessä. Työkalu mahdollistaa myös eri kustannuserissä tapahtuvien muutosten vaikutusten arvioinnin, mikä auttaa palveluntuottajia toiminnan pitkäjänteisessä kehittämisessä.

Modifioidun MAG-kaarihitsausprosessin hyödyntäminen railotilavuuden pienentämisessä mekanisoidussa orbitaalihitsauksessa.

Länsimaisen työn hinta luo jatkuvan paineen hitsauksen tuottavuuden parantamiseen. MIG/MAG-hitsauksen tuottavuutta voidaan parantaa tehostamalla hitsausprosessia, vähentämällä hitsien lukumäärää ja pienentämällä hitsiaineen tarvetta. Eri virtalähdevalmistajat tuovat markkinoille hitsausprosesseja hitsauksen tehostamiseen, joilla pystytään korvata vähemmän tuottavia hitsaustyövaiheita. Hitsien lukumäärän vähentäminen on rakenteen suunnitteluun liittyvä tekijä ja hitsiaineen tarpeen pienentäminen voidaan toteuttaa railogeometrian muutoksilla tai tuotteen sopivalla suunnittelulla. Diplomityössä on tutkittu 30 mm paksujen S355 rakenneteräsputkien hitsauksen tuottavuuden kasvattamista käyttäen nykyaikaisia modifioituja kaarihitsausprosesseja ja railotilavuutta pienentämällä. Työssä vertailtiin 30o ja 60o railokulmalla tehtyjä liitoksia. Railogeometrian muutoksen lisäksi diplomityössä vertailtiin eri menetelmien tehokkuutta putken pohjapalon hitsauksessa.

Improving productivity by developing knowledge management practices for a consulting company

The objective of the research was to identify knowledge conversion states in consultancy sales and delivery processes for the company’s one business unit, to know where to store certain types of information and knowledge, and to create best practices for the company’s knowledge management activities in the selected business processes. The used research methodology was action research. The current business processes were analyzed by interviewing people involved in them. The results were documented and catego- rized, and based on them the target states of the processes were developed. Knowledge man- agement activities were integrated to the business processes. The main findings of the research were that roles and responsibilities in the processes were not clear to people, information systems did not fully support individuals and time was wasted searching for information and knowledge. There were also many variations of how the processes actually realized, which affected the overall quality of the process. The conclusions of the research were that knowledge management activities should be high- lighted in businesses where knowledge workers are the main assets of the company. Knowledge management practices can be supported by company culture, leadership and in- formation systems. However, one main factor is each individual’s willingness to share knowledge. By integrating knowledge management activities to business processes and hav- ing information systems supporting knowledge management, individual productivity can be improved.

Há evidências de desindustrialização no Brasil?

Are There evidences of deindustrialization in Brazil? This paper aims at analyzing the theoretical concept of deindustrialization, and evaluating if Brazil, following the implementation of economic reforms in the 1990's, has suffered from a " new Dutch disease" . Despite the manufacturing sector declining participation in the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the empirical evidence show that the changes in the economy structure since the mid-1980’s to the end of 2005 should not be described as deindustrialization. Since there was not evidence of either generalized reallocation of resources towards industries based on natural resources, or a pattern of export specialization in goods technologically based on natural resources or even on labor, one cannot conclude that Brazil was infected by a " new Dutch disease" .

Grève des cheminots anglais, Mr Arthur Henderson [secrétaire du Labor party] quittant Caxton Hall : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

Référence bibliographique : Rol, 56234

Tourism and the precautionary principle : a survey of academic and government stakeholders

The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to provide a more precise understanding and basis from which to assess the potential role of the precautionary principle in tourism. The precautionary principle, analogous to the ideal of sustainable development, is a future-focused planning and regulatory mechanism that emphasizes pro-action and recognizes the limitations of contemporary scientific methods. A total of 100 respondents (80 tourism academics, 20 regional government tourism officials) from Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand completed the webbased survey between May and June 2003. Respondents reported their understanding of the precautionary principle, rated stakeholder involvement and education strategies, assessed potential barriers in implementation, and appraised steps of a proposed fi-amework for implementation. Due to low sub sample numbers, measures of central tendency were primarily used to compare groups, while inferential statistics were applied when warranted. Results indicated that most respondents (79%) felt the principle could be a guiding principle for tourism, while local and regional government entities were reported to have the most power in the implementation process. Findings suggested close links between the precautionary principle and sustainability, as concern for future generations was the most critical element of the principle for tourism. Overall, tourism academics were more supportive of the precautionary principle in tourism than were regional government tourism officials. Only minor variation was found in responses among regional groups across all variables. This study established basic ground for understanding the precautionary principle in tourism and has been effective in formulating more precise questions for future research.