Rullaavan ennustamisen kehittäminen CASE: ABB Oy Service

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää rullaavan ennustamisen toimintaa, jotta se tuottaisi relevanttia informaatiota tapausyrityksen ohjaukselle. Tutkimuksessa sovellettiin konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta, joka on ratkaisumenetelmä liikkeenjohdollisiin ongelmiin. Tutkimustulos eli ratkaisukonstruktio innovoitiin tutkijan luoman viitekehyksen ja empiirisen tutkimuksen havaintojen avulla. Tutkimustuloksien perusteella analyyttisen rullaavan ennustamisen tarkoituksena on tyydyttää eri ohjaustasojen informaatiotarpeita ja tukea asiakaslähtöisen tapausyrityksen liiketoimintaympäristöön sopeutumista. Tutkimuksen mukaan rullaava ennustaminen on suunnittelua, joka pyrkii organisatoriseen oppimiseen. Kehittämiseen liittyviä näkökulmia, organisatorisia ja järjestelmällisiä tekijöitä löydettiin useita. Nämä eivät rajoittuneet ainoastaan johdon laskentatoimen alueelle.

Hankintatoimen mittarit ja Balanced Scorecard kunnossapitopalveluyrityksessä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli löytää sopivia suorituskyvyn mittareita kunnossapitopalveluyrityksen hankintatoimeen. Mittarivalinnat rajattiin käsittelemään toimittajien hallintaa, hintakehityksen ja maksujen hallintaa sekä ostotyön onnistumista. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin myös, mihin hankintatoimen tekijöihin esimerkkiyrityksen sisäiset asiakkaat eivät olleet tyytyväisiä. Sovellettavaksi suorituskykymittaristoksi valittiin Balanced Scorecard. Materiaalihallinnon sisäiset asiakkaat kokivat asiakastyytyväisyyden ongelmakohdiksi hankintatoimen luotettavuuden, ostajan palvelualttiuden, saatavilla olon, yhteisen toiminnansuunnittelun ja ongelmista tiedottamisen puutteen, melko pitkät toimitusajat sekä hitaat varaston täytöt. Hankintatoimen ongelmakohdiksi ostajien haastatteluissa nousivat koulutuksen ja yhteisen toiminnansuunnittelun puute sekä pienten ostotilausten ja pienten toimittajien suuri määrä. Nämä tekijät huomioitiin tietyiltä osin myös mittarivalinnoissa. Materiaalihallintoon rakennettu Balanced Scorecard sopii osaston tämän hetkiseen tilanteeseen. Mittariston viidessä näkökulmassa mittareita on lukumäärältään kattavasti; Balanced Scorecard toimii enemmänkin seurantajärjestelmänä. Ajan kuluessa todennäköisesti keskitytään vain tärkeimpiin mittareihin jolloin järjestelmän ohjaavampi vaikutus korostuu. Kun mittareissa on saavutettu jatkuvaa parantumista, kannattaa harkita uusien mittareiden ja näkökulmien valintaa. Materiaalihallintoon luotiin myös yleinen Excel- tiedosto, johon merkitään kunkin mittarin sen hetkiset arvot ja josta niiden kehitystä seurataan säännöllisesti. Tutkimustyyppi työssä on konstruktiivinen. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin sisäisten asiakkaiden ja ostajien teemahaastattelulla käyttäen kvalitatiivisia tutkimusmenetelmiä. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin esimerkkiyrityksen materiaalihallinnon kaksi ostajaa sekä 21 sisäistä asiakasta, jotka ovat työnsä puolesta yhteydessä materiaalihallintoon.

Problems of the architecture design in the system integration

This thesis studies the problems and their reasons a software architect faces in his work. The purpose of the study is to search and identify potential factors causing problens in system integration and software engineering. Under a special interest are non-technical factors causing different kinds of problems. Thesis was executed by interviewing professionals that took part in e-commerce project in some corporation. Interviewed professionals consisted of architects from technical implementation projects, corporation's architect team leader, different kind of project managers and CRM manager. A specific theme list was used as an guidance of the interviews. Recorded interviews were transcribed and then classified using ATLAS.ti software. Basics of e-commerce, software engineering and system integration is described too. Differences between e-commerce and e-business as well as traditional business are represented as are basic types of e-commerce. Software's life span, general problems of software engineering and software design are covered concerning software engineering. In addition, general problems of the system integration and the special requirements set by e-commerce are described in the thesis. In the ending there is a part where the problems founded in study are described and some areas of software engineering where some development could be done so that same kind of problems could be avoided in the future.

Poka-yoke for mass customization

Producing high quality products and services is one of the key concerns in order to keep up with the competition in the global markets. Companies are putting a great effort on preventing customers having faulty products and services by any means. However, the total elimination of mistakes in manufacturing processes has always been a great challenge for quality management. In this thesis the applicability of poka-yoke methodology in reducing the number of quality failures in the case company has been studied. Poka-yoke stands for the mistake-proofing and is mainly developed for the purpose of eliminating human errors in manufacturing processes. Inspection techniques; judgment, informative and source inspection are in the core of this methodology. Mass customization and large configurability of products leads to situation where the root causes of quality problems may vary a lot. To study the effects of these factors extensive analysis of quality failures was conducted. Recommendations and proposals for further actions regarding problem solving processes and utilization of mistake-proofing methods were provided on the basis of the analysis.

Précarité et problèmes cutanés [Skin problems associated with poor living conditions].

Les personnes vivant dans une situation de précarité sont susceptibles de développer un large éventail de problèmes médicaux et les atteintes cutanées sont très fréquentes. Nous présentons quatre situations cliniques de problèmes cutanés fréquemment retrouvés au sein des populations précaires. Leurs diagnostic et prise en charge précoces sont essentiels pour en prévenir l'ultérieure dissémination dans des contextes de promiscuité. People living in poor conditions are at high risk of developing different medical diseases of which dermatological diseases are very common. We present 4 clinical cases of skin diseases, which are the most prevalent amongst the majority of socially and economically vulnerable patients. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are of paramount importance, in order to avoid their spread in close- knit communities where these patients often live.

Delirium in the elderly: Current problems with increasing geriatric age.

Delirium is an acute disorder of attention and cognition seen relatively commonly in people aged 65 yr or older. The prevalence is estimated to be between 11 and 42 per cent for elderly patients on medical wards. The prevalence is also high in nursing homes and long term care (LTC) facilities. The consequences of delirium could be significant such as an increase in mortality in the hospital, long-term cognitive decline, loss of autonomy and increased risk to be institutionalized. Despite being a common condition, it remains under-recognised, poorly understood and not adequately managed. Advanced age and dementia are the most important risk factors. Pain, dehydration, infections, stroke and metabolic disturbances, and surgery are the most common triggering factors. Delirium is preventable in a large proportion of cases and therefore, it is also important from a public health perspective for interventions to reduce further complications and the substantial costs associated with these. Since the aetiology is, in most cases, multfactorial, it is important to consider a multi-component approach to management, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Detection and treatment of triggering causes must have high priority in case of delirium. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of delirium in the elderly population, given the increasing numbers of ageing people as well as increasing geriatric age.

Latent Class Analysis of Gambling Activities in a Sample of Young Swiss Men : Association with Gambling Problems, Substance Use Outcomes, Personality Traits and Coping Strategies.

The study aimed to identify different patterns of gambling activities (PGAs) and to investigate how PGAs differed in gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. A representative sample of 4989 young Swiss males completed a questionnaire assessing seven distinct gambling activities, gambling problems, substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies. PGAs were identified using latent class analysis (LCA). Differences between PGAs in gambling and substance use outcomes, personality traits and coping strategies were tested. LCA identified six different PGAs. With regard to gambling and substance use outcomes, the three most problematic PGAs were extensive gamblers, followed by private gamblers, and electronic lottery and casino gamblers, respectively. By contrast, the three least detrimental PGAs were rare or non-gamblers, lottery only gamblers and casino gamblers. With regard to personality traits, compared with rare or non-gamblers, private and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sensation seeking. Electronic lottery and casino gamblers, private gamblers and extensive gamblers had higher levels of aggression-hostility. Extensive and casino gamblers reported higher levels of sociability, whereas casino gamblers reported lower levels of anxiety-neuroticism. Extensive gamblers used more maladaptive and less adaptive coping strategies than other groups. Results suggest that gambling is not a homogeneous activity since different types of gamblers exist according to the PGA they are engaged in. Extensive gamblers, electronic and casino gamblers and private gamblers may have the most problematic PGAs. Personality traits and coping skills may predispose individuals to PGAs associated with more or less negative outcomes.

The First International Workshop on Warning Criteria for Active Slides: technical issues, problems and solutions for managing early warning systems

Early warning systems (EWSs) rely on the capacity to forecast a dangerous event with a certain amount of advance by defining warning criteria on which the safety of the population will depend. Monitoring of landslides is facilitated by new technologies, decreasing prices and easier data processing. At the same time, predicting the onset of a rapid failure or the sudden transition from slow to rapid failure and subsequent collapse, and its consequences is challenging for scientists that must deal with uncertainties and have limited tools to do so. Furthermore, EWS and warning criteria are becoming more and more a subject of concern between technical experts, researchers, stakeholders and decision makers responsible for the activation, enforcement and approval of civil protection actions. EWSs imply also a sharing of responsibilities which is often averted by technical staff, managers of technical offices and governing institutions. We organized the First International Workshop on Warning Criteria for Active Slides (IWWCAS) to promote sharing and networking among members from specialized institutions and relevant experts of EWS. In this paper, we summarize the event to stimulate discussion and collaboration between organizations dealing with the complex task of managing hazard and risk related to active slides.

Contribuições recentes da reação de hidroformilação na síntese de produtos farmacêuticos: parte II

The hydroformylation reaction represents one of the most important C1-chemistry area in the chemical industry. This catalytic process, which has been developed up to now mainly to the production of commodities chemicals, has shown a remarkable potential for the preparation of several categories of specialty chemicals and in particular pharmaceutical compounds. Arylpropanoic acids, various amines containing aryl groups, and intermediates for the preparation of vitamins, carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds and many other classes of organic molecules endowed with pharmacological activity are currently accessible in good-to-high yields through hydroformylation of selected olefinic substrates. The asymmetric hydroformylation is going to reach the stage of maturity and hence to contribute in solving many troublesome synthetic problems connected with the preparation of pharmacologically active compounds with very high enantiomeric purity. The present survey emphasizes the usefulness of synthesis gas as a starting material in fine chemistry, which is expected to be important for industry.

Métodos analíticos ultrasensíveis: lente térmica e técnicas correlatas

Among the emergent laser based spectrometric methods, thermal lensing and other photothermal techniques present a great potential for solving a variety of problems in the fields of chemistry, physics and biology. Their main advantages are high concentration sensitivity, sensibility to physical-chemical properties of the medium, excellent spatial resolution and noninvasive characteristics. In this article, theoretical principles, main applications and practical hints as well as fundamental limitations of these techniques will be carefully described. It is hoped that this will give the reader a clear picture of this field of investigation as well as provide to the ones who are not specialists in the area, the necessary background to understand, implement and use photothermal techniques. In the final sections the development frontiers of photothermal spectrometry will be discussed.

The Pursuit of Efficient Copyright Licensing : How Some Rights Reserved Attempts to Solve the Problems of All Rights Reserved

This dissertation analyses the growing pool of copyrighted works, which are offered to the public using Creative Commons licensing. The study consist of analysis of the novel licensing system, the licensors, and the changes of the "all rights reserved" —paradigm of copyright law. Copyright law reserves all rights to the creator until seventy years have passed since her demise. Many claim that this endangers communal interests. Quite often the creators are willing to release some rights. This, however, is very difficult to do and needs help of specialized lawyers. The study finds that the innovative Creative Commons licensing scheme is well suited for low value - high volume licensing. It helps to reduce transaction costs on several le¬vels. However, CC licensing is not a "silver bullet". Privacy, moral rights, the problems of license interpretation and license compatibility with other open licenses and collecting societies remain unsolved. The study consists of seven chapters. The first chapter introduces the research topic and research questions. The second and third chapters inspect the Creative Commons licensing scheme's technical, economic and legal aspects. The fourth and fifth chapters examine the incentives of the licensors who use open licenses and describe certain open business models. The sixth chapter studies the role of collecting societies and whether two institutions, Creative Commons and collecting societies can coexist. The final chapter summarizes the findings. The dissertation contributes to the existing literature in several ways. There is a wide range of prior research on open source licensing. However, there is an urgent need for an extensive study of the Creative Commons licensing and its actual and potential impact on the creative ecosystem.

Rationing problems with payoff thresholds

An extension of the standard rationing model is introduced. Agents are not only identi fied by their respective claims over some amount of a scarce resource, but also by some payoff thresholds. These thresholds introduce exogenous differences among agents (full or partial priority, past allocations, past debts, ...) that may influence the final distribution. Within this framework we provide generalizations of the constrained equal awards rule and the constrained equal losses rule. We show that these generalized rules are dual from each other. We characterize the generalization of the equal awards rule by using the properties of consistency, path-independence and compensated exemption. Finally, we use the duality between rules to characterize the generalization of the equal losses solution.