Supply Chain Management Best Practices In Project Based Business Environment

The ever-growing competition in industrialized world has driven organizations to evaluate properly the possibilities to response the competition and seeking ways to differ from the other actors. Noting the high influence of supply chain management activities to the overall performance of the enterprise, has led to the re-structuring of procurement organizations and aiming towards more strategic approach to reach competitive advantage. This thesis-research was done as an assignment for Ruukki Building Systems Oy, by focusing to investigate best practices of supply chain management in four different sub-areas called; organization design, supply base management, make or buy and performance measurement. The aim is to benchmark best-in-class organizations and their actions in defined sub-areas. The research was conducted by using a qualitative method. The data was gathered by interviewing nine best-in-class organizations originated in Sweden and Finland. The empirical part was conducted as a benchmarking analysis based on the data gathered from the interviews. Due to the nature of the analysis, some assumptions and suppositions were made to be able to conduct conclusion. All terms and frameworks used in the research have been noted earlier in literature. Results prove that enterprises have been focusing highly to find balance internally in organizations to serve peer functions with strong effort, by achieving cost savings and thereby profitability. The strategic viewpoint of studied actions in field of supply chain management has noted significantly and driven to build up a framework to reach efficient and effective supply base which is measurable in terms of strategic alignment of corporate targets.Alati kiristyvä kilpailu teollistuneessa maailmassa on ajanut organisaatiot etsimään ja arvioimaan tarkasti mahdollisia keinoja vastata kilpailuun sekä erottautumaan muista toimijoista markkinoilla. Toimitusketjun hallintaan liittyvien tekijöiden vaikutus yrityksen kokonaisvaltaiseen tehokkuuteen, on ajanut yritykset järjestämään organisaatiota uudelleen ja tavoittelemaan strategisempaa lähestymistapaa hankintatoimien suorittamiseen kilpailukyvyn näkökulmasta. Tämä tutkimus tehtiin toimeksiantona Ruukki Building Systems Oy:lle. Työn tavoitteena oli vertailla menestyvien yritysten toimitusketjunhallintaan liittyviä käytänteitä, neljällä eri osa-alueella: hankinnan organisoituminen, toimittajapohjanhallinta, ulkoistaminen sekä mittaaminen ja raportointi. Työ toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena. Empiirinen aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla yhdeksää valittujen yritysten hankintajohtajaa Suomessa sekä Ruotsissa. Empiirinen osio suoritettiin vertailuanalyysina, jonka avulla pyrittiin löytämään parhaita käytänteitä toimitusketjunhallintaa projektiympäristössä. Joitain oletuksia ja tulkintoja tehtiin analyysin toteuttamiseksi. Kaikki termit ja mallit, joita tutkimuksessa käsitellään, on esitetty aiemmissa tutkimuksissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että yritykset ovat pyrkineet tasapainottamaan organisaation ja sen rakenteen palvellakseen tehokkaasti rinnakkaisfunktioita, saavuttaakseen kustannussäästöjä ja siten kannattavuutta. Strateginen näkökulma tutkituilla osa-alueilla on nähty kriittisenä tekijänä, jotta pystyttäisiin rakentamaan viitekehys, jota pystytään johtamaan tehokkaasti sekä mittaamaan organisaation strategisten tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi

AAV2-VEGF-B gene therapy failed to induce angiogenesis in ischemic porcine myocardium due to inflammatory responses

Therapeutic angiogenesis induced by gene therapy is a promising approach to treat patients suffering from severe coronary artery disease. In small experimental animals, adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have shown good transduction efficacy and long-term transgene expression in heart muscle and other tissues. However, it has been difficult to achieve cardiac-specific angiogenic effects with AAV vectors. We tested the hypothesis whether AAV2 gene transfer (1 x 10(13) vg) of vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B186) together with immunosuppressive corticosteroid treatment can induce long-term cardiac-specific therapeutic effects in the porcine ischemic heart. Gene transfers were delivered percutaneously using direct intramyocardial injections, improving targeting and avoiding direct contact with blood, thus reducing the likelihood of immediate immune reactions. After 1- and 6-month time points, the capillary area was analyzed, myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) was measured with radiowater positron emission tomography ([O-15]H2O-PET), and fluorodeoxyglucose ([F-18]FDG) uptake was used to evaluate myocardial viability. Clinical chemistry and immune responses were analyzed using standard methods. After 1- and 6-month follow-up, AAV2-VEGF-B186 gene transfer failed to induce angiogenesis and improve myocardial perfusion and viability. Here, we show that inflammatory responses attenuated the therapeutic effect of AAV2 gene transfer by significantly reducing successful transduction and long-term gene expression despite the efforts to reduce the likelihood of immune reactions and the use of targeted local gene transfer methods.</p