Paperiteollisuuden tiekuljetusten seuranta ja jäljitys

The purpose of this thesis was to find out what is the most suitable track & trace solution for road cargo in paper industry. The research objective was to propose a solution or technology that provides the data and information according to the requirements. Both theoretical and empirical research was conducted to reach the research objectives. The research was conducted as a pragmatic, mono method qualitative study. The theoretical research was a literature review which focused on track & trace solutions. Existing track & trace solutions were researched, and their features, advantages and disadvantages were listed. In addition, supply chain and supply chain management were studied. Empirical research was conducted through semi-structured interviews. Three persons from the customer organization participated in the interviews. The main discussion topics were the information needs of the customer organization, and the benefits they expected the solution to bring. Analysis of the interviews was conducted inductively, and results grouped on the high level by research question themes. The themes were identified and findings from the theoretical and empirical researches were compared and combined. Based on the findings, conclusions were made, and the research questions were answered. The customer organization’s requirements for the track & trace solution were solved, as well as the existing solutions on the market today. It was found that the most suitable solution for the customer organization would be a cloud-based mobile app that provides real-time location data, and that that can keep them up with the digitalization. The solution’s technology should be based on GPS & GSM. Other communication technologies are also possible, but GSM has been proved to be very reliable. This kind of solution could be later on developed to an Internet of Things solution. Later they could add other data collection technologies to the service, and as the technology develops other analyzing methods could be taken into use as well. The solution should also be custom-made according to the customer organization’s needs and preferences. It is a lot easier to develop the solution if it is made according to their needs, and the integration to their existing systems will be easier. Also, they are not tied to certain carriers if they develop a solution that carriers just take into use, rather than integrating into certain carriers’ fleet management systems. A custom-made solution might be more expensive than integrating into an existing one, but the benefits are greater