Management

Mikko Kärkkäinen

D.Sc. (Tech.) Mikko Kärkkäinen received his master’s degree from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Helsinki University of Technology in 2000. He finished his dissertation on forwarder-independent tracking systems and received his doctorate from HUT in 2005. Mikko joined the Logistics Research Group at HUT in 2000. Previously he had worked as a consultant at Sedecon Consulting and conducted research at VTT.

In the retail sector, Mikko has been involved in developing information management in fresh goods distribution, shelf availability measurement, and automated store replenishment of specialty goods. Mikko also has thorough experience of spare parts management and cost analysis of warehousing and distribution channels.

Johanna Småros

D.Sc. (Tech.) Johanna Småros received her master’s degree in 2000. She defended her dissertation on information sharing and collaborative forecasting in retail supply chains in 2005 and received her doctorate from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Helsinki University of Technology. Johanna has worked in close co-operation with the Finnish retail sector and both national and international consumer goods suppliers for several years. She has also participated in international projects and managed an extensive research project examining the logistics processes of leading European grocery retailers.

Johanna has participated in developing and implementing several new practices in the FMCG sector: 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.

Michael Falck

M.Sc. (Tech.) Michael Falck is a graduate from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Helsinki University of Technology. Before founding RELEX, Michael was with the Logistics Research Group at HUT. He has also participated in international research collaboration, for example with the Technical University of Eindhoven.

In his work, Michael has focused on automation of the replenishment processes or retail stores, with special emphasis on challenging products (e.g. perishable goods) and situations of changing and unpredictable demand (e.g. promotions and seasons). Michael is also en expert on statistical analysis and quantitative forecasting methods.