Successfulness of logistics and mobility piloting and innovation in Finland

Abstract. This thesis is a representation on how piloting in the field of mobility and logistics is done in Finland in rural and urban areas. The piloting is done vastly around the world and in Finland, and therefore the examination of pilot projects and innovations is going to take place in this thesis. With piloting there is a clear path to innovation. While piloting and innovation do differ, the resemblance is present. This thesis begins with literature review of innovation and the categorization of innovation which continues to empirical study about pilot projects in Finland and finally to conclusion. The main goal in this thesis was to find the criteria which ensure or help the successfulness of pilots and innovation in the field of mobility and logistic. The goal of this thesis is to understand the nature of piloting and innovation especially, piloting and innovation in Finland. This thesis consists of definition of innovation, definition of successfulness and the possibility of defining successfulness and continuity for innovations and pilots. Main observations were the vast spread of pilots in Finland and how the amount of data was available in those pilots. The focus was to find critical success factors and key performance indicators to firstly discover if the pilot was indeed successful and then what were the factors that were done well and helped the pilot to be successful. The conclusion of this thesis was that it can be possible to estimate successfulness of pilots and innovations with KPIs and it could be possible to have a clear view with CSFs what are the subjects that can ensure projects and pilots to succeed.Liikkumisen ja logistiikan pilottien ja innovaatioiden onnistuneisuus Suomessa. Tiivistelmä. Tämä työ on esitys siitä, miten pilotointi hoidetaan Suomessa, varsinkin harvaan asutuilla alueilla sekä kaupunkiympäristössä. Pilotointia tehdään laajasti ympäri maailmaa sekä myös suomessa, jonka vuoksi pilottiprojektien ja innovaatioiden tutkiminen on läsnä tässä työssä. Pilotoinnilla on suora yhteys innovaatiotoimintaan. Vaikkakin innovaatio ja pilotointi eroavat toisistaan, yhteneväisyyksiä on silti läsnä. Tämä työ alkaa kirjallisuuskatsauksella innovaatioihin sekä niiden kategorisointiin, josta seuraa empiirinen tutkimus Suomen pilottiprojekteista ja lopuksi johtopäätökset. Tässä työssä tavoitteena oli löytää kriteerit niille tekijöille, jotka varmistavat tai auttavat pilottien ja innovaatioiden onnistumista liikkumisen ja logistiikan alalla. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli oppia ymmärtämään pilotoinnin ja innovoinnin luonnetta erityisesti Suomessa. Työ käsittelee myös innovaation ja onnistuneisuuden määritelmää sekä onko mahdollista määrittää onnistuneisuutta ja jatkuvuutta innovaatiolle ja piloteille. Tärkeimpiä havaintoja oli huomata pilottien laaja jakautuminen Suomessa sekä niistä kerätyn datan saatavuus. Pääpainona oli kriittiset onnistuneisuustekijät sekä suorituskyvyn mittarit, joilla ensin määriteltiin pilotin onnistuneisuus sekä mitkä tekijät edesauttoivat onnistumisessa. Lopputulemana pidettäköön sitä, että pilottien ja innovaatioiden onnistuneisuutta on mahdollista määrittää suorituskyvyn mittareilla sekä on mahdollista löytää ne kriittiset onnistuneisuustekijät, jotka mahdollistavat projektien ja pilottien onnistumisen

Thermopower Oscillation Symmetries in a Double-Loop Andreev Interferrometer

Andreev interferometers, normal metal wires coupled to superconducting loops, display phase coherent changes as the magnetic flux through the superconducting loops is altered. Properties such as the electronic and thermal conductance of these devices have been shown to oscillate symmetrically about zero with a period equal to one superconducting flux quantum, $\Phi_o = h/2e$. However, the thermopower of these devices can oscillate symmetrically or antisymmetrically depending on the geometry of the sample, a phenomenon not well understood theoretically. Here we report on thermopower measurements of a double-loop Andreev interferometer where two Josephson currents in the normal metal wire may be controlled independently. The amplitude and symmetries of the observed thermopower oscillations may help to illuminate the unexplained dependence of oscillation symmetry on sample geometry.Comment: 6 Pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physica

Thermal conductance of a proximity superconductor

We study heat transport in hybrid normal metal - superconductor - normal metal (NSN) structures. We find the thermal conductance of a short superconducting wire to be strongly enhanced beyond the BCS value due to inverse proximity effect. The measurements agree with a model based on the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity in the diffusive limit. We determine a crossover temperature below which quasiparticle heat conduction dominates over the electron-phonon relaxation.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure

Splitting times of doubly quantized vortices in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates

Recently, the splitting of a topologically created doubly quantized vortex into two singly quantized vortices was experimentally investigated in dilute atomic cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates [Y. Shin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160406 (2004)]. In particular, the dependency of the splitting time on the peak particle density was studied. We present results of theoretical simulations which closely mimic the experimental set-up. Contrary to previous theoretical studies, claiming that thermal excitations are the essential mechanism in initiating the splitting, we show that the combination of gravitational sag and time dependency of the trapping potential alone suffices to split the doubly quantized vortex in time scales which are in good agreement with the experiments. We also study the dynamics of the resulting singly quantized vortices which typically intertwine--especially, a peculiar vortex chain structure appears for certain parameter values.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Modelling competences and anticipating the future competence needs in the forest sector

This explorative study examined practices of competence modelling in the forest sector organisations and how organisations anticipate changes in competence needs in the future. Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=10) were conducted amongst forest sector experts in Finland and data was analysed by thematic analysis. The findings showed that the practices of modelling competences were diverse, most frequently used ones being superior-subordinate review discussions and quantitative competence surveys. In addition to these formal systems, informal modelling, especially on the team level and in smaller companies was also frequent. Organisations used competence modelling for several human resources functions, such as appraisal, motivation and promotion of employees. Surprisingly hiring and compensation functions were not mentioned. Perceptions related to competence modelling were generally speaking positive. The most important challenges were the lack of further actions and sometimes the extraordinary burden to the employees. When anticipating the future, the experts interviewed mentioned several commonly recognised trends, e.g., development of information technology, fragmentation of working life and structural changes in labour markets. All these require more generic competences related to information processing and personal self-management, especially respondents highlighted the importance of self-awareness skills. It is concluded that several useful practices for competence modelling already exist and that present study provides a basis for further quantitative further study.Peer reviewe

Comparison of mean-field theories for vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

We compute structures of vortex configurations in a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensed atom gas within three different gapless self-consistent mean-field theories. Outside the vortex core region, the density profiles for the condensate and the thermal gas are found to differ only by a few percent between the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov theory and two of its recently proposed gapless extensions. In the core region, however, the differences in the density profiles are substantial. The structural differences are reflected in the energies of the quasiparticle states localized near the vortex core. Especially, the predictions for the energy of the lowest quasiparticle excitation differ considerably between the theoretical models investigated.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure