Tommi Ylinen

Country Manager, UK

Tommi Ylinen is from Espoo just west across the bay from Helsinki. He joined RELEX from Helsinki University of Technology where took a Master’s degree from its Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. He specialised in productions and logistics with a secondary focus on software, earning a distinction in the process. He worked with RELEX as a graduate student while writing his thesis; The Applicability of Theoretical Inventory Control Models on Retail and Wholesale Logistics Chain.

It was a natural step for Tommi to join us when he completed his studies and during the next two years he was a Project Manager working closely with many of our customers to look after installation projects, to customise RELEX’s products to meet their needs, and to run simulations using our software and their data.

Tommi spent most of 2011 as a Development Manager with Kesko Food where he played a key role in developing and implementing processes for forecasting and automated replenishment. A fluent English speaker, he rejoined RELEX late in 2011 with a brief to take our software to the UK and win over one of Europe’s most competitive markets to ground-breaking Finnish technology.

When he’s not working hard Tommi is relaxing with equal enthusiasm. He keeps fit and enjoys floorball (a form of indoor hockey popular in Scandinavia and central Europe) and golf. He plays the piano, saxophone and even does an occasional spot of conducting.

Mikko Kärkkäinen

Managing Director, D.Sc. (Tech.)

Mikko Kärkkäinen is RELEX’s Managing Director and was the driving force behind the company’s inception.  He grew up in Kärkölä  and, like his co-founders Johanna and Michael, attended Helsinki University of Technology where he took a Masters and later a PhD in logistics. His early research focused on warehouse processes and logistics for e-commerce. Later, as a project manager at the University’s BIT Research Centre, he oversaw the department’s collaboration with partner private enterprises.

He helped found RELEX in 2005 and, as its MD, is responsible for its day-to day operations and relationships with clients. He has lead projects to help more than 20 RELEX customers to develop their forecasting and replenishment processes. He is the author of more than thirty papers on logistics and supply chain issues delivered at conferences or published in leading magazines.

Mikko is a fluent English and Swedish speaker. He relaxes playing sports and is a keen cyclist and tennis player. However his consuming pastime is cross-country skiing. He covered around 1700km last year and completed the gruelling 440km ’Border to Border’ race across northern Finland.

Michael Falck

COO

Michael Falck co-founded RELEX with Mikko and Johanna and oversees the company’s finances and its product development as well as technical teams. Growing up in Turku he took a Masters in Technology from Helsinki University of Technology with his major in industrial engineering and management. He graduated ‘excellent with distinction’. Michael then joined the university’s BIT Research Centre where he specialised in retail logistics and store replenishment before going to the Netherlands for a spell with the Technische Universiteit in Eindhoven. There his research was focused on developing different models for forecasting promotional demand in grocery retail. Michael’s development work with RELEX has led to major steps forward in demand forecasting and planning systems.

He speaks Finnish, Swedish and English and when he’s not working all hours in the office Michael enjoys downhill skiing and relaxing over good food and a nice bottle of wine.

Johanna Småros

Director, Scandinavian Operations, D.Sc. (Tech.)

Johanna is RELEX’s Chairman, Sales Director and head of our Stockholm office. She was born in Kirkkonummi west of Helsinki and took her MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Helsinki University of Technology, graduating with a distinction. She stayed to do her PhD, writing her thesis on “Information Sharing of Collaborative Forecasting in Retail Supply Chains”. During her time at university Johanna worked with BIT Research Centre, collaborating closely with Finnish retail and consumer goods companies. She’s been responsible for groundbreaking work in planning and forecasting collaboration (CPFR) between retailers and suppliers, sharing and utilization of point of sale (POS) data in supply chains, and automated store ordering.

Together with Mikko and Michael, Johanna founded RELEX in 2005 coding RELEX’s first simulator. As the leader of our sales and business development team Johanna has driven our international expansion and opened up new markets across Scandinavia and the Baltic region. Nevertheless she remains actively involved in our research and development.

Johanna is a bilingual native Swedish and Finnish speaker, is fluent in English and reads for pleasure in several languages. She keeps fit, taught kickboxing and fought to competition standard. She’s a fan of contemporary dance and, though she doesn’t expect anyone else to get it, of Swedish and Finnish hip-hop.

Tuomo Pesonen

Director, Project Delivery

Tuomo Pesonen is responsible for software project delivery, consulting engagements and sales support.  He works with our clients to ensure that RELEX software is implemented and configured to best meet our clients’ needs. During his time at RELEX Tuomo has led a number of major software projects and more than a dozen consulting assignments.

Tuomo took a Master’s degree from Helsinki University of Technology with a major in Industrial Management.  Before joining RELEX in 2010, he was a Sales and Project Manager at Innofactor responsible for managing large-scale software projects.
In his free time Tuomo likes to keep fit by running, skiing cross-country and playing floorball. He is particularly proud of being the current RELEX record holder for the Cooper fitness test.

Marika Pirhonen

Marketing Director

Marika Pirhonen is a citizen of the world and responsible for spreading RELEX’s message around the globe. Growing up in Lahti, to the north of Helsinki, at the age of 17 she moved to the United States and spent a year at high school in Seattle. She took her first degree, in Business Administration at the Helsinki School of Economics (now Aalto University’s School of Economics), spending time at Bayreuth University in Germany as an Erasmus exchange student.

After graduating she worked for the fashion chain Esprit, the Paris based financial consultants Agio Lowendal and the IT services company Tieto before deciding to further develop her skills by taking an online & service marketing focused Master’s degree at the Hanken School of Economics.

Marika took a senior marketing and communications role with the mobile software developer Seven Networks before moving to mobile ID tech developer Valimo Wireless where she was Director, Marketing and Communications, staying with the company through its takeover by Gemalto and was appointed as VP of Marketing and Sales.

She joined RELEX in late 2011 where her international experience makes her an invaluable asset as the company starts its overseas expansion. She speaks English fluently, Swedish and German well. As you may have guessed she loves travelling to imbibe new cultures and discover new places. She keeps fit, skis, plays golf and even finds time to coax life into her garden.

Timo Ala-Risku

Country Manager, Germany

Timo joined RELEX in 2010 and heads our German operations. Born in Helsinki he grew up in Klaukkala outside the city and spent some years living near Frankfurt in Germany.

Timo took his MSc in Technology from the Helsinki University of Technology, majoring in logistics, and went on to take his PhD. He wrote his thesis on ‘Installed Base Information – Ensuring Customer Value and Profitability after the Sale.’ During his time at the university he had 16 papers published (as author or co-author) and presented a further 15 to international conferences. In 2008 he was appointed Research Director of Logistics Research Group at the university (by then renamed Aalto University) and led the Sourcing and Service Operations Concepts project which brought together more than a dozen researchers and eight companies. Timo is fluent in German and English and speaks Swedish well.

Most of us at RELEX like to keep in shape and Timo is no exception, being a keen cross country skier and cyclist. He enjoys photography, and playing the piano and guitar, more than making up for anything he lacks in technique with enthusiasm. However his greatest pleasures in life come from his family; playing with his two sons and exploring the world with them (on those rare occasions we un-chain him from his desk).

Tapio Pitkäranta

Director, Technical Solutions

When RELEX’s Solution Manager and Architect Tapio Pitkäranta completes his thesis (hopefully in 2013) he’ll become the company’s fifth PhD.
Born in Helsinki in 1978 Tapio spent his year of national service as a Second Lieutenant in the Marines before enrolling at the Helsinki University of Technology. Much of Tapio’s research has centred on semantics; by empowering database systems with structural metadata information they are given more ‘meaning’ and become more dynamic than “flat” database structures. His thesis for this MSc in technology ‘Software Agents in Semantic Web Environment’ and his doctoral thesis Semantic Service Matching in Context-Aware Environment both built on this theme.
At the Technical Research Centre of Finland Tapio worked closely with private sector partners to involve them in the design, funding and execution of research projects. He also spent three years designing data processing and reporting systems for the healthcare sector.
Aside from Finnish Tapio speaks English, German and Swedish. He balances life untangling software code with spending time in the great outdoors. He loves team sports, jogging and wilderness swimming – even in winter when he has to use a chainsaw to cut through the ice. His colleagues at RELEX know there’s no software project that can faze a man who can take on a frozen lake and win!

Markus Pettinen

Chief Financial Officer

Markus is from an old Helsinki family and, like many of his colleagues, he studied at Helsinki University of Technology where he gained a postgraduate degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
At the same time Markus was also studying at the University of Helsinki where he took a master’s degree in social sciences with an emphasis in economics. His unusual combination of disciplines makes him the perfect choice to take change of planning and finance at RELEX.
Prior to joining us, Markus gained strategic planning experience at the former Finnish Rail Administration, the former Finnish Rail Agency, and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. He speaks fluent Finnish and English, and he understands Swedish and German well.
Markus fits right in with the sporty RELEX crowd. He is a devotee of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, taking part in and occasionally winning competitions. He aims still be on the tatami 30 years from now, still learning the secrets of the marshal art and passing them onto the next generation. He also enjoys the outdoor life and regularly goes swimming and cycling with his wife and two young daughters.