Browsing by Author "Hinkka, Ville"

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  • Logistiikkapalvelujen kehittäminen kansainvälisillä markkinoilla toimivien suomalaisyritysten tulevaisuuden tarpeita vastaavaksi
    (2004) Hinkka, Ville
     Helsinki University of Technology | Master's thesis
    The purpose of this study was to define changes in logistical needs of companies, to enable logistics operators to deliver needed services to their clients. Production strategies of industrial companies are changing rapidly. Product life cycles are becoming shorter. To reduce costs, production for simple products is moving to countries with cheap labour, known as the China-phenomenon. International subcontracters are also on the rise, as companies concentrate on core competences. The development of production strategies demands particular transport services. Electronics and pharmaceutical trades opt for speed and punctuality over cost, when choosing a transport model. In the future, even small batches will require quick and punctual delivery. Hence, these industries rely heavily on air and express transport. For the construction and heavy machinery industries, price is more important than speed, even though punctuality becomes more important as stock levels diminish. Environmental factors are not often taken into consideration in the choice for transportation. In the future, logistics service providers will need more powerful supply chain management and a better combination of information and material flows. Clients will pay more attention to organising and combining transport, as well as choosing the proper transportation mode for logistics operators. Transport is increasing viewed as the moving of stock. Companies often prefer to outsource warehousing. According to this thesis, the supply and cost of transportation have little or no impact on the location of a company. When expanding export geographically, the supply of transport services is not considered a problem. However, companies do have problems with transporting outside the current supplier network. Transporting between Asia and Eastern Europe can be problematic for Finnish companies, for example.
  • Humanitaarisen logistiikan haasteet ja ongelmat
    (2010) Patajoki, Ulla
     Informaatio- ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta | Bachelor's thesis
  • Humanitaarisen logistiikan toimitusketju
    (2010) Terho, Elisa
     Informaatio- ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta | Bachelor's thesis
  • Implementation of RFID Tracking across the Entire Supply Chain
    (2013) Hinkka, Ville
     School of Science | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)
    The use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking to improve the supply chain management (SCM) of today’s complex and geographically dispersed supply networks has been highlighted in the past 10 years. Even if the use of RFID technology to smooth certain supply chain operations has grown rapidly, the number of supply chain-wide tracking systems, which would be highly integrated with the operations across the whole supply chain, has remained low. The aim of this thesis is threefold. First, it aims to study the context in which companies operate to thus understand their tracking needs in ever-changing operational environments. Second, the thesis develops the means to define the most suitable coverage for the tracking system for particular supply chains, and third, the thesis proposes three different mechanisms to implement supply chain-wide RFID tracking systems. The material for this dissertation was obtained by six different case studies, all which analysed RFID tracking implementation in certain supply networks. The analysis focused on considering different supply chain actors’ viewpoints for common RFID tracking system adoptions to align the incentives of different actors. Mixed methods research, by combining quantitative analysis to multiple, different qualitative data collection methods, was used to research this complex and dynamic SCM phenomenon. The results of this thesis indicate that improved tracking would help companies develop their SCMs to better respond to the requirements of their operational environments. SCM concepts of postponement and speculation could be used to evaluate the trade-offs between the resources needed to implement wide-spanning tracking with benefits that the wider coverage would offer. Finally, this thesis proposes three different mechanisms to realise supply chainwide RFID tracking: “retailer as an initiator”, “wholesaler as an initiator”, and “tracking provided by a logistics service provider company”. The characteristics of the supply chain greatly inform the selection of the most suitable mechanism.
  • Management of product costs in research and development : exploring the frontiers of target costing
    (2007) Karjalainen, Jouko; Bescherer, Frank; Hinkka, Ville; Koskela, Maija
     D4 Julkaistu kehittämis- tai tutkimusraportti taikka -selvitys
    Although prior decisions constrain the freedom of further choices and commit the organization to subsequent incurrence of costs, they do not discard the need for continuous cost management. Our main proposition is that product cost management should start before the well-structured product development in order to ensure built-in cost capability of a product. This report is based on the findings of a two-year research project. Professionals from ten companies or divisions of a company cooperated with the researchers. The researchers used a literature research, interviews, and interventionist approach in gathering data. Streamlining the product development process transfers important cost-inflicting decisions from this process to the earlier development stages. The uncertainty related to these early stages makes the direct application of target costing difficult. For example, modular product structures support the target costing process because the design process can be separated into somewhat independent tasks. However, concepts based on new technologies may be created to challenge the prevailing product architecture, which complicates the process of calculating the product-level target cost to the component level. Modular designs, part commonality, and product platforms reflect design policies which individual product development teams must follow. Since design policies contain implicit assumptions of cost effectiveness, those who create these policies must be aware of cost behavior. Cost management should focus especially in those costs that are influenced by the decisions at hand. The underlying ideas of target costing can be adjusted to the earlier development stages. The studied organizations use versatile methods to manage costs. In the early stages, the methods are not purely cost management methods but innovation is managed as a whole. Building and maintaining cost databases for the various R&D purposes requires significant effort by management accounting and technology experts. The virtual price table tool is an example of such a database. Potential suppliers are asked to make quotes on specified cost drivers and to show a trajectory of future price developments for specifications, which reflect the future components. The tool is based on a detailed model of cost drivers, a database of old price quotations, and constant updating. Another approach is introduced to evaluate offerings of different suppliers concerning technologically challenging products. Because of technological challenges, there are gaps that can not be eliminated without extra development effort by the supplier. The approach seeks for a competitive price given to a supplier that can eliminate the gaps. In information-intensive products, the unit-level cost of a product becomes less significant compared to the costs incurred in product-sustaining and product-founding activities. The change in the life-cycle cost structure means that managing product costs requires more attention to the trade-offs between development effort and functionality. Equally, the target costing equation should be adjusted. Radical changes in a product may also mean changes in the value chain and in business models; thus, demanding a broader perspective of costs. Seeing the costs from customers' perspective is important for the product's success. The decisions made in development also affect the customer's costs of using the product.
  • RFID-teknologian käyttöönotto päivittäistavarakauppaketjussa
    (2011) Pennanen, Paula
     Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
  • RFID-teknologian mahdollisuudet lääketoimialalla
    (2010) Ranta, Erno
     Informaatio- ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta | Bachelor's thesis
  • RFID-teknologian soveltamisen strategiset hyödyt toimitusketjussa
    (2009) Hirvola, Taneli
     Informaatio- ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta | Bachelor's thesis
  • RFID-teknologian tuomat edut vähittäiskaupan logistiikkaan
    (2009) Paavola, Lauri
     Informaatio- ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta | Bachelor's thesis
  • RFID-teknologian vaikutukset materiaalivirtojen ohjaukseen tuotannossa osana toimitusketjua
    (2011) Salko, Kalle
     School of Science | Bachelor's thesis