Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes
This case study introduces an innovation and development concept for agile software tools for the improvement of the productivity and customer experience of forest services. This need was recognized in the context of the opening of forest data and the development of service platforms for a forest-ba...
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/6/781 |
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doaj-8a81878066aa4db0a0f8f7ff5c4dc43a2021-07-01T00:07:00ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-06-011278178110.3390/f12060781Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business ProcessesVille Kankaanhuhta0Tuula Packalen1Kari Väätäinen2Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 00790 Helsinki, FinlandNatural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 00790 Helsinki, FinlandNatural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 00790 Helsinki, FinlandThis case study introduces an innovation and development concept for agile software tools for the improvement of the productivity and customer experience of forest services. This need was recognized in the context of the opening of forest data and the development of service platforms for a forest-based bioeconomy in Finland. The forest services that were studied covered a continuum from a single type of work, e.g., soil preparation and young stand management through timber procurement, to comprehensive forest property management services. The study concentrated on the needs of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which provide either retail- or business to business (B2B) services as sub-contractors. In addition, the challenges and bottlenecks in service processes detected by other stakeholders were considered. The prevailing service processes were conceptually modelled in order to search for opportunities for improvements in business and ecosystem services, i.e., agile software concepts. For example, we examined whether it would be possible to create opportunities for flexible operational models for precision, resilience, and protection of valuable microsites in forests. These software concepts were developed and evaluated in co-operation with the stakeholders in a co-creative workshop. The technological feasibility and commercial viability of the concepts, as well as the desirability for the customer were considered. The results of this business development process—i.e., agile software concepts and their anticipated benefits—were provided for further evaluation. In addition to the practical implications of this kind of innovation process tested, the potential of these kinds of agile tools for the further development of knowledge-intensive service processes was further discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/6/781open forest dataLEAN thinkingservice processestimber procurementforest regenerationyoung stand management |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ville Kankaanhuhta Tuula Packalen Kari Väätäinen |
spellingShingle |
Ville Kankaanhuhta Tuula Packalen Kari Väätäinen Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes Forests open forest data LEAN thinking service processes timber procurement forest regeneration young stand management |
author_facet |
Ville Kankaanhuhta Tuula Packalen Kari Väätäinen |
author_sort |
Ville Kankaanhuhta |
title |
Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes |
title_short |
Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes |
title_full |
Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes |
title_fullStr |
Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Digital Transformation of Forest Services in Finland—A Case Study for Improving Business Processes |
title_sort |
digital transformation of forest services in finland—a case study for improving business processes |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
This case study introduces an innovation and development concept for agile software tools for the improvement of the productivity and customer experience of forest services. This need was recognized in the context of the opening of forest data and the development of service platforms for a forest-based bioeconomy in Finland. The forest services that were studied covered a continuum from a single type of work, e.g., soil preparation and young stand management through timber procurement, to comprehensive forest property management services. The study concentrated on the needs of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which provide either retail- or business to business (B2B) services as sub-contractors. In addition, the challenges and bottlenecks in service processes detected by other stakeholders were considered. The prevailing service processes were conceptually modelled in order to search for opportunities for improvements in business and ecosystem services, i.e., agile software concepts. For example, we examined whether it would be possible to create opportunities for flexible operational models for precision, resilience, and protection of valuable microsites in forests. These software concepts were developed and evaluated in co-operation with the stakeholders in a co-creative workshop. The technological feasibility and commercial viability of the concepts, as well as the desirability for the customer were considered. The results of this business development process—i.e., agile software concepts and their anticipated benefits—were provided for further evaluation. In addition to the practical implications of this kind of innovation process tested, the potential of these kinds of agile tools for the further development of knowledge-intensive service processes was further discussed. |
topic |
open forest data LEAN thinking service processes timber procurement forest regeneration young stand management |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/6/781 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT villekankaanhuhta digitaltransformationofforestservicesinfinlandacasestudyforimprovingbusinessprocesses AT tuulapackalen digitaltransformationofforestservicesinfinlandacasestudyforimprovingbusinessprocesses AT karivaatainen digitaltransformationofforestservicesinfinlandacasestudyforimprovingbusinessprocesses |
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