Operations Management

Global competition has caused fundamental changes in the competitive environment of the manufacturing and service industries. Firms should develop strategic objectives that, upon achievement, result in a competitive advantage in the market place. The forces of globalization on one hand and rapidly growing marketing opportunities overseas, especially in emerging economies on the other, have led to the expansion of operations on a global scale. The book aims to cover the main topics characterizing operations management including both strategic issues and practical applications. A global environmental business including both manufacturing and services is analyzed. The book contains original research and application chapters from different perspectives. It is enriched through the analyses of case studies

AN OFFER THEY CANNOT REFUSE: A Behavioural Approach to Stimulating Consumer Demand for Innovations in the Telecommunications Sector

Mobile advertising (m-advertising) is one of the most exciting new research areas in the marketing field. The personal, always-on and always-at-hand nature of a mobile phone, its interactive features, combined with its near universal ubiquity give the mobile device unrivalled potential as an advertising platform. In addition, mobile phone operators are uniquely positioned to further enhance its potential- their real-time access to customers’ demographic, geographic and historical data enables them not only to help retailers establish a strong electronic presence but also to allow them to customise advertising content to target specific people in specific situations. With the growing awareness of these advantages, retailers are increasingly looking to integrate m-advertising into their marketing communications. However, turning a mobile phone into an effective advertising medium poses a formidable challenge as prior consumer permission is a legal prerequisite for m-advertising practices. It is apparent that to fully embrace the potential of m-advertising, retailers need to identify the precise factors that influence consumer opt-in choice. This thesis is unique in investigating factors influencing consumer opt-in choice with the ultimate purpose of developing an effective solution to reliably stimulate opt-ins. To this end, it adopts a radical behaviourist perspective, applying a Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM) in order to explore the influence of both contextual and consumer-related factors, account for their interactive effects and, most importantly, focus on the actual opt-in choice rather than the pre-behavioural variables of “willingness” and “intention” commonly used in previous m-advertising studies. Additionally, accounting for the fact that m-advertising is a relatively new service, this thesis integrates consumer innovativeness variable into the BPM and explores its respective influence on the opt-in choice. The thesis builds upon three consecutive empirical projects, each having its own objective: Project One conducts a preliminary exploratory investigation of the opt-in phenomenon; Project Two measures the factors identified systematically; and Project Three experimentally tests the instrument developed. Overall, the results of this investigation suggest that consumer opt-in choice is largely contingency-shaped and is affected by numerous contextual variables. In particular, among the BPM components, consumers’ past experience with m-advertising and/or m-advertisers, utilitarian benefits associated with m-advertising and its content characteristics are the three most important opt-in choice determinants. Of particular significance is the consumer situation, which has been proven to greatly affect opt-in likelihood. The importance of the newly incorporated innovativeness factor is two-fold. First, it functions as one of the strongest direct predictors of the opt-in choice. Second, it serves in a moderating capacity, further amplifying the positive effects of other choice antecedents in the BPM. On this basis, it is concluded that the opt-in choice is amenable to the behaviourist explanation and that in new service contexts the innovativeness factor further contributes to the BPM’s predictive capacity

Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Production Systems and Logistics (CPSL 2021)

Proceedings of the CPSL 202

Smart Manufacturing

This book is a collection of 11 articles that are published in the corresponding Machines Special Issue “Smart Manufacturing”. It represents the quality, breadth and depth of the most updated study in smart manufacturing (SM); in particular, digital technologies are deployed to enhance system smartness by (1) empowering physical resources in production, (2) utilizing virtual and dynamic assets over the Internet to expand system capabilities, (3) supporting data-driven decision-making activities at various domains and levels of businesses, or (4) reconfiguring systems to adapt to changes and uncertainties. System smartness can be evaluated by one or a combination of performance metrics such as degree of automation, cost-effectiveness, leanness, robustness, flexibility, adaptability, sustainability, and resilience. This book features, firstly, the concepts digital triad (DT-II) and Internet of digital triad things (IoDTT), proposed to deal with the complexity, dynamics, and scalability of complex systems simultaneously. This book also features a comprehensive survey of the applications of digital technologies in space instruments; a systematic literature search method is used to investigate the impact of product design and innovation on the development of space instruments. In addition, the survey provides important information and critical considerations for using cutting edge digital technologies in designing and manufacturing space instruments

Cornerstones towards a successful implementation of AM technology : A qualitative phenomena-based study of the early-stage AM implementation process

Additive manufacturing (AM) can be described as potentially a disruptive technology that is studied mostly from the technological point of view eclipsing the people and managerial aspects. The lack of papers describing frameworks and ways to implement AM technology foreshadows the identified complexity of the process, however, makes it an intriguing and rewarding but also challenging research subject. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the void of papers studying AM implementation from the organizational viewpoint and to create an implementation framework picturing the cornerstones of a successful AM implementation to shed light on this complex process, especially for practitioners entering the field of AM. AM or more popularly 3D is a general term for technologies adding material together layer-upon- layer (SFS-EN ISO/ASTM 52900/2021). As a technology AM is not new, but it has continuously developed since the late 1980s and can be defined today as one of the Industry 4.0 technologies enabling e.g., high-added value through on-site and on-demand manufacturing of customized parts. AM can offer multiple benefits for an organization, but the implementation of AM includes also multiple challenges and questions to tackle before successful implementation, e.g., high investment costs and lack of competent workforce. Lack of AM knowledge together with the scarcity of AM implementation frameworks may result in false conclusions about the technology, its benefits, and challenges. The thesis is performed as a qualitative phenomenon-based study in which the data is gathered through seven semistructured interviews of Finnish AM experts and analyzed through a thematic approach. As a result, the AM implementation is divided into the early- and later-stage implementation which the first is covered in this thesis. Consequently, the early-stage implementation is divided into three sub-phases: opportunity recognition, knowledge acquisition, and learn-by-doing. An AM champion, managerial support, and collaboration can be seen as building blocks of the early-stage implementation process of AM. Together, the three identified sub-phases and building blocks generate an accumulation of knowledge. The created framework aims to emphasize the essentiality of knowledge, especially during the early-stage implementation, and picture a complex process in which all parts are in continuous iteration between each other. The data is gathered as a part of the Center for Collaborative Research ́s (CCR) output at the University of Turku regarding the DREAMS (Database for Radically Enhancing Additive Manufacturing and Standardization) project funded by the members of the DREAMS consortium and Business Finland.Lisääntyvää valmistusta (additive manufacturing, AM) voidaan kuvailla potentiaalisesti disruptiivikseksi teknologiaksi, jota on tutkittu pääasiassa teknisestä näkökulmasta sivuuttaen ihmis- ja johtamisnäkökulmat. AM-teknologian käyttöönoton viitekehysten vähäisyys enteilee tutkielmassa tunnistettua kompleksisuuden haastetta tehden aiheesta mielenkiintoisen ja palkitsevan, mutta myös haastavan tutkimuskohteen. Tämän lopputyön tavoitteena on avata monimutkaista prosessia alalle tuleville luoden käyttöönoton viitekehyksen, joka kuvaa tarvittavia kulmakiviä onnistuneeseen AM-teknologian käyttöönottoon. Tutkielma pyrkii vastaamaan tunnistettuun tutkimusaukkoon tarkastelemalla AM-teknologian käyttöönottoa organisaatiotasolla. AM tai yleisesti ottaen 3D on yleiskäsite teknologioille, jotka lisäävät materiaalia yhteen kerros kerrokselta (SFS-EN ISO/ASTM 52900/2021). Teknologiana AM ei ole uusi, mutta se on kehittynyt 1980-luvun lopulta lähtien ja voidaan määritellä nykyään yhdeksi Teollisuus 4.0 teknologiosta mahdollistaen, esimerkiksi korkean lisäarvon kustomoitujen osien valmistuksen paikallisesti ja tarpeen mukaan. AM-teknologia voi tarjota organisaatiolle monia etuja, mutta sen käyttöönotto sisältää myös useita haasteita ja kysymyksiä, jotka on ratkaistava ennen onnistunutta käyttöönottoa. Tällaisia ovat esimerkiksi korkeat investointikustannukset ja puute osaavasta työvoimasta. Puutteellinen tietämys AM-teknologiasta yhdessä käyttöönoton viitekehysten vähäisuuden kanssa voi johtaa virheellisiin johtopäätöksiin teknologiasta sekä sen hyödyistä ja haasteista. Tutkielma on suoritettu laadullisena ilmiöpohjaisena tutkimuksena, jossa aineisto on kerätty puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla seitsemältä suomalaiselta AM-teknologian asiantuntijalta. Aineisto on analysoitu käyttäen temaattista analyysimenetelmää, jonka tuloksena AM- teknologian käyttöönotto on jaettu varhaiseen ja myöhempään vaiheeseen, joista ensimmäiseen keskitytään tässä tutkielmassa. V arhaisen käyttöönoton vaihe voidaan jakaa kolmeen osavaiheeseen: mahdollisuuksien tunnistaminen, tiedon hankinta ja tekemällä oppiminen. AM- champion, johdon tuki ja yhteistyö voidaan nähdä AM-teknologian varhaisen vaiheen käyttöönoton rakennuspalikoina. Yhdessä nämä kolme tunnistettua osavaihetta sekä rakennuspalikat saavat aikaan tiedon kumuloitumisen. Tässä tutkielmassa luotu viitekehys pyrkii korostamaan tiedon tärkeyttä erityisesti varhaisen vaiheen käyttöönoton aikana ja kuvaamaan monimutkaista prosessia, jossa kaikki osat ovat jatkuvassa vuorovaikutuksessa toistensa kanssa. Aineisto on kerätty osana Turun yliopiston Center for Collaborative Research (CCR) - tutkimusyksikön tuotosta liittyen DREAMS-projektiin (Database for Radically Enhancing Additive Manufacturing and Standardization), jonka rahoittajina toimivat DREAMS-konsortion jäsenet ja Business Finland