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The grocery retail industry is growing rapidly while becoming increasingly competitive. At the same time, customers are demanding higher product availability and lower prices. In this business environment, competitive advantage can be built on effective demand forecasting, which not only increases company revenue, but also improves customer satisfaction and sustainability. In this thesis I use a design science approach to develop a new solution for grocery demand forecasting. The new solution, which is a method of automatic daily forecasting using TBATS modeling, is evaluated for both fast moving and intermittent demand based on real data obtained from a forecasting solution provider (case company). The new solution comprises two main approaches to tackle different weekly demand profiles, and a modified approach for intermittent demand. For fast moving products, the new solution showed better performance, especially in the reduction of extreme biases (over 50% better than the current solution). For intermittent demand, the current solution showed better performance on several measures, however, the new solution gave comparable/ better performance on the two most practically useful measures. While the new solution’s modified approach performed better than the current solution for intermittent demand, its applicability in the industry needs to be further researched. The increased complexity of the new solution was deemed a justifiable tradeoff when considering the improvement in forecasting performance and efficiency due to automatic daily forecasting. Daily forecasting methods are still uncommon in grocery retail. This thesis shows that TBATS modeling is feasible when moving towards daily forecasting. It also utilizes the concepts of design science, which is a comparatively new field of research. This thesis introduces extreme biases as a forecast performance measure and presents a method of aggregating forecast errors as well. The new solution provides a starting po

[EN] This study explores how a game-based approach supports students’ learning in a graduate course on industrial service operations management. Aalto Manufacturing Game (AMG) has been played for several years as a part of an Industrial Management course to provide students with a realistic view of industrial services and asset management. The game illustrates supply chain dynamics and asset management challenges, with a focus on the quality deterioration problem in service provision (Oliva & Sterman, 2001). In this paper, we evaluate the effect of AMG on participants’ learning based on game session feedback and written exam answers. We also evaluate the game as a learning experience trough feedback, observations, and interviews. The findings suggest that the gamified version of teaching provides students with the opportunity to learn by doing while having fun in the class. The game enables participants to socially construct knowledge, raising the effectiveness of teaching supply chain challenges by simulating real world problems from different perspectives of actors involved in operations. Based on our research we argue that the game enhances the learning experience through emotionally engaging students in the activity. To this end, the learning objectives should be embedded in the game dramaturgy.

Exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) is a major concern in mechanized forestay work because its adverse effects may become exacerbated by repetitive hand and arm movements, and non neutral body postures. Moreover, shock-type vibrations have recently been suggested as a possible agent behind pains in the neck and shoulders of forest machine operators. Shocks have been identified in forwarders during loading, but the effects of crane work in forwarders have, to the best of our knowledge, not been studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess contributions of crane work elements, and potential effects of the use of three grapple and brake-link combinations, to vibration exposure levels in a small forwarder. Repeated measurements of cabin WBV were acquired, and work elements timed, as a single experienced operator forwarded wood piles on a standardized track in northern Sweden, using the same forwarder and work procedures with each grapple and brake-link combination. The studied crane equipment was found to have little or no effect on the daily WBV exposure. Furthermore, exposure to shock-type vibrations while loading appears to be due to driving rather than crane work. However, there were fewer collisions with remaining trees while using the tilt grapple with brake link, suggesting its use provides a more relaxed and comfortable work environment for forwarder operators and financial benefits for the forest owner by reducing damage in the remaining stand.

Condition based maintenance distinguishes itself from traditional preventive maintenance in that, it prevents faults before it occurs and effectively reduces some of the ineffective preventive maintenance activities and thus is increasingly favored by industrial practitioners. However, despite potential benefits, CBM itself also bears risks and implementing it exists varieties of challenges. The current scholar flourishes in study on technical challenges, mathematical- or technical-oriented, while the operative and organizational aspects are scarcely explored. Few literatures demonstrate empirical practices that have been taken to facilitate implementation and overcome challenges. Thus, more empirical-oriented studies are needed to identify the real world practices and explain the factors that affecting these choices by practitioners. This thesis contributes to knowledge sharing and diffusion among industries through the synthesized results by applying the CIMO model. The research consists of a literature review and five cases benchmarking. The benchmarking emphasizes operational and organizational perspective, and technical and economic aspects are included in comparison on general level. A benchmark framework was developed, consisting of seven primary categories and thirty-five dimensions, from an iterative process between literature review and empirical data. The seven primary categories are CBM adoption, CBM infrastructure, analytic capabilities, organizational capabilities, operative capabilities, outcome and value realizing. The findings reveal versatile practices that enable adoption and implementation of CBM and ten contextual factors that affect choices of these practices are identified and recommended to evaluate when considering transfer practices across industry. These contextual factors are, regulation, equipment deterioration mechanism, equipment and system complexity and criticality, technology competence, equipment value, business impact (financial i

This paper describes a systematic literature review conducted to determine how installed base information (IBI) is utilised in developing and operating industrial services. We found that the reviewed literature considers IBI useful and relevant for industrial service operations, and that it is mainly used to improve service quality and efficiency. However, it is evident that there is a shortage of empirical studies and further investigations that show concrete applications of IBI in different service activities. The existing research concentrates on particular contexts, such as preventive maintenance and asset management. The asset owner perspective is emphasised in the literature, but the use of IBI for service offerings, service contracts and service sales is rarely discussed. The literature indicates that many companies lack a holistic approach to IBI management, in general, and utilisation as a part of it. It is not uncommon for companies to build large databases, but fail to do accurate analyses based on the collected data.

Tavoitteet Tutkimuksessa pyritään analysoimaan suomalaista koulutuspolitiikkaa ohjaavaa suunnitelmallista järkeä ja erityisesti niitä periaatteita, johon peruskoulun uudistushankkeet pohjaavat. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa on osoitettu, että koulun ja koulutusjärjestelmän kehittämistä ohjaavat tekstit käsittelevät yhä vähemmän varsinaista koulua joukkomuotoisena laitoksena, ja valtiollisessa kouludiskurssissa puhutaan sen sijaan abstraktista yksilöstä, oppimisesta ja idealistisista tavoitteista kontekstistaan irrotettuna. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, minkälaiseen rationaliteettiin eli suunnitelmalliseen järkeen koulun kehittäminen perustuu toisaalta sen kontekstin eli maailman, ja toisaalta koulun päämäärän eli ihmisen näkökulmasta. Menetelmät Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin foucault’laiseen hallinnan teoretisointiin perustuvaa rationaliteetin diskursiivista analyysiä, joka jakautuu diskurssin eli tässä tapauksessa eduskunnan tulevaisuusvaliokunnan julkaisun Uusi oppiminen analyysiin episteemisellä eli tiedollisella, retorisella ja moraalisella tasolla. Aineistoksi rajattiin julkaisun johdanto ja ensimmäisen luvun ensimmäinen osa. Analysoitua tekstiä tuli tällä rajauksella 11 sivua. Tulokset Analyysin tuloksena havaittiin, että koulun kehittämistyötä ohjaa näkemys maailmasta kiihtyvän muutoksen läpäisemänä paikkana, johon sopeutuakseen koulua on uudistettava viipymättä. Tuottaakseen muuttuvaan maailmaan sopeutuvia, joustavia, uudelleenkoulutukselle alttiita ja tietotekniikan taidot hallitsevia ihmisiä koulua on uudistettava niin, että se mahdollistaa oppilaiden itseohjautuvuuden, oma-aloitteisuuden ja johtajuuden kehittymisen. Opettajan rooli muuttuu ohjaajaksi ja koulutyöskentelyn aktiiviseen keskiöön nousee oppilas. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa havaitut valtiollisen kouludiskurssin yksilöllistyvät ja dekontekstualisoituvat piirteet kävivät myös tässä analysoidussa tekstissä ilmi., Goals Goal of this study is to analyze the rationality guiding the Finnish educational policy, especially the reformation programs of basic education. In previous studies it has been shown, that the texts guiding these reformations are less and less about school as an institution, and that the national educational discourse is more about the abstract individual subject, learning and idealistic goals detached from the everyday context of school life. In this study the goal was to find out what kind of rationality lies underneath the basic education reforms from the viewpoint of the context – the world – and the goal of education – the man. Method The method of this study is based on the foucauldian analysis of governmentality, which is a form of discourse analysis. Rationality was divided in three different levels of analysis – epistemic, rhetoric and moral analysis. Research material, altogether 11 pages, was chosen from a publication of the Future Affairs Committee of Finnish Parliament called Uusi oppiminen “The New Learning” and it included the publications’ introductory chapter and the first part of chapter 1. Results As a result of the analysis it was shown, that the rationality guiding the Finnish basic education reforms is based on a view of a rapidly changing world, to which school reforms must react without delay. In order to produce compatible, flexible, eagerly educable people with required ITC-skills the school must be reformed in a way that makes pupils’ development possible in the areas of autonomy, self-guidance and leadership. The role of the teacher becomes an instructor, and in the active center of the scool work is the pupil. Similar principles as in the previous studies is shown – individualization and decontextualization – was also found.

This thesis explores how the flow of information should be improved in a preventive maintenance field service process. Its motivation stems from the growing pressure on capital goods manufacturers to servitize, and the difficulties experienced when servitizing. Due to the heterogeneity of customer inputs, which is inherent to services, efficient operations can only be achieved through improving the flow of information. Realized as a prescriptive single case study, the thesis provides a tool for analysing the flow of information, along with a performance measurement method for identifying under-and over-maintenance in the preventive maintenance context. The primary purpose of the developed tool is to tie information to value in order to facilitate investments in improving the flow of information. The tool was realized through building a literature framework, consisting of five constructs; information, decision, action, outcome and value. The literature framework was applied in the case analysis, where it revealed a set of challenges related to the flow of information. The most significant improvement potential was found in the way the preventive maintenance plans were created, as there were no subsequent attempts to evaluate the performance of these plans. The analysis resulted in eight design propositions, of which the first was intended to reach the untapped potential mentioned above, through introducing a learning mechanism to the process. The first design proposition was further analysed in an attempt to quantify the effect of its implementation. The proposed learning mechanism consists of two measures, which indicate whether the equipment specific maintenance plan in question should be adjusted. The two measures were tested using case company service data, which confirmed that the case company is on average over-maintaining its service base. Additionally the analysis indicated room for improvement where frequently failing equipment was subjected to less maintena, Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on analysoida ja kehittää kohdeyrityksen ennakoivan huollon kenttäpalveluprosessin asennetun laitekantatiedon hyödyntämistä. Tavoite kumpuaa investointihyödykkeitä valmistavien yritysten palvelullistumisesta, joka lisää palveluliiketoiminnan osuutta koko liiketoiminnasta. Palvelujen toiminnanohjaus eroaa tuotannon toiminnanohjauksesta pääasiallisesti siten, että tehokkuuden kannalta olennaista asiakassyötteen vaihtelua ei voida poistaa, vaan sitä on hallittava lisäämällä tiedonkulkua. Tässä case-tutkimuksessa kehiteltiin tiedonkulun analysointia helpottava työkalu, sekä ennakoivan huollon käyttöön tarkoitettu yli- ja alihuoltamisen mittaristo. Tiedonkulun analysointiin tarkoitettu työkalu kehitettiin tiedonkulkua parantavien investointien tueksi. Työkalu toteutettiin kirjallisuuteen perustuvana viitekehyksenä, jossa on viisi keskeistä käsitettä; tieto, päätöksenteko, toiminta, seuraukset ja arvo. Työkalun avulla kohdeyrityksen ennakoivan huollon prosessi analysoitiin, jonka seurauksena tunnistettiin joukko tiedonkulkuun liittyviä haasteita. Suurin parannuspotentiaali löytyi tavasta jolla ennakoivan huollon suunnitelmat luotiin, jossa haaste perustui siihen että luodun suunnitelman suorituskykyä ei luomisen jälkeen arvioitu. Analyysin perusteella kehiteltiin kahdeksan parannusehdotusta, joista ensimmäinen vastasi yllä mainittuun haasteeseen ehdottamalla prosessiin oppimisominaisuutta. Ensimmäisen parannusehdotuksen perusteella tehtiin jatko-analyysi, jonka tavoitteena oli parannusehdotuksen toteuttamisen vaikutusten tarkempi arviointi. Oppimisominaisuus pohjautuu kahteen mittariin, joiden perusteella ennakoivan huollon suunnitelmaa säädetään. Mittareita kokeiltiin kohdeyrityksen toimittamien huollon tietokantaotteiden avulla, joiden perusteella pystyttiin toteamaan että kohdeyritys keskimääräisesti ylihuoltaa huoltokantaansa. Lisäksi havaittiin että jatkuvasti vikaantuvia laitteita huollettiin joissain tapauksissa vähemmän kuin nollavika

Skogen i Sverige brinner idag inte alls lika ofta som tidigare. Detta har lett till att många brand-gynnade och brandberoende arter riskerar att försvinna. För att motverka detta har naturvårdsbränningar på skogsmark blivit allt vanligare under 2000-talet. Hälften av all skog i Sverige är certifierad enligt Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) vilket innebär att många stora skogsägare har ett krav att bränna en areal som motsvarar fem procent av den årliga avverkningsarealen. Flera av de större skogsföretagen har idag svårt eller delvis svårt att nå upp till detta mål. Naturvårdsbränningar har genomförts sedan början av 1990 och arealen naturvårdsbränd skogsmark har sedan dess ökat kraftigt. Bra och beprövade metoder för utförandet av bränning har delvis funnits sedan långt tillbaka, då främst från femtiotalets omfattande hyggesbränningar. Men den långsiktiga planeringen inför naturvårdsbränningar är idag ofta dålig. Exempelvis sker planeringen inför naturvårdsbränning av ett hygge ofta först efter att trakten avverkats. Det finns många fördelar med att redan innan traktplanering inför t.ex. avverkning kunna förbereda och planera det kommande hygget eller beståndet för bränning. Genom att med framförhållning kunna selektera avdelningar som är lämpliga för bränning kan ytterligare planering och åtgärder göra framtida trakter ännu bättre för bränning, samtidigt som färre avdelningar missas eller planeras och behandlas på ett sådant sätt att bränning försvåras eller omöjliggörs. Kostnaden och tidsåtgången för bränningen minskas även genom tidig selektering. Säkerheten för bränningsmanskapet kan förbättras och risken för okontrollerad spridning av eld kan också minskas. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utveckla ett verktyg som med hjälp av GIS redan på planeringsstadiet innan ex. planering inför avverkning skulle kunna selektera avdelningar lämpliga för naturvårdsbränning. Verktyget byggdes i ModelBuilder i ArcMap 10. Efter att verktyget skapats provades det på företa, Wildfires in Sweden are not as common as they were in the past. As a result of this many fire-dependent and fire-favored spices in the forest is threatened. To be able to counteract this, an increasing number of controlled burnings has been executed in Sweden during the last decade. Today more than half of the forest area in Sweden is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and due to this many of the larger landowners in Sweden are compelled to burn an area corresponding to five percent of the annual harvest area. According to several of the biggest forest companies in Sweden today this goal is difficult or relatively difficult to achieve. The long-term planning of the controlled burnings executed today is often inferior. An example of this is the fact that the planning prior to the burning of some objects owned by big forest companies often is done after the object already has been harvested. There are several advantages knowing that the object is suitable for burning before starting to plan the harvest of the object. By knowing in advance that the object is suitable for burning the harvest can be carried out in a way that improves the object for future controlled burning even more, fewer suitable objects will also be missed. The time and cost to execute the burning will also be reduced by early selection, as will the risk for uncontrolled fire. The purpose of this thesis was to develop a planning tool that used Geographic Information System (GIS) to select desirable objects for controlled burning in a wery early stage in the planning of silviculture operations, for example before the planning of the harvest is carried out. The tool was built in ModelBuilder in ArcMap 10. When the tool was created it was tested on the company SCA-Forests planned objects for harvest-planning in their forest administration area named Medelpad. The tool scored every object individually based on several important parameters based on literature study and the experience from i

Sweden is a country with few native tree species. According to Govt. 2007/08: 108, exotic tree species may be seen as an opportunity to increase the growth of tree volume in Sweden. Potential areas where explored In this work for cultivation with Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm., Larix sukaczewii Dylis, Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., Populus × wettsteinii Hämet-Ahti (tremula x tremuloides) and Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton et.al. for increased volume growth per hectare in northern Sweden. Yield experiments indicated that these trees can outperform our native trees in volume growth on some locations. Those areas were found with the help of several maps and models. The models only took in account the abiotic factors that play a major role for the selected trees competitiveness in volume growth against our native tree species. The work resulted in several maps showing the potential area for each tree species and one in which all the five species were included. Where several species fits on the same area were primarily P. contorta var. latifolia chosen, and then L. sukaczewii, P. mariana, P. × wettsteinii and last A. lasiocarpa. The results show that cultivation with P. contorta var. latifolia to increase timber production can be possible on 6.45 million hectares, L. sukaczewii on 2.9 million hectares, A. lasiocarpa on 2.64 million hectares, P. × wettsteinii on about 40 500 hectares and P. mariana on 4 200 hectares. Overall 58 % or about 10 million hectares of the productive forest in north Sweden could be possible for cultivation to increase volume growth with P. contorta var. latifolia, L. sukaczewii, A. lasiocarpa, P. × wettsteinii and P. mariana. Additional 1.3 million hectares consisting of mainly mountain/montane areas and agricultural areas can be cultivated with Populus × wettsteinii and Abies lasiocarpa for increased yield. On forest land in northern Sweden the distribution in percent after merging was 43 % P. controta 42 % other indigenous species 12 % L