Nils-Erik “Neo” Ohlson, who is an externally employed doctoral student within Smart Industry Sweden, was approved at his licentiate seminar at the School of Engineering at Jönköping University on 14 December. “It’s great to have come this far, but I have set a doctorate as my goal, so I will continue as an externally employed doctoral student within Smart Industry Sweden for another 2.5 years,” says Nils-Erik Ohlson.
Nils-Erik Ohlson is an externally employed doctoral student at Siemens Energy in Finspång, where he works with sales and operations planning (S&OP), which aims to balance supply and demand. His research is also about investigating whether you can implement “machine learning” as decision support in sales and business planning and ETO (Engineer-to-Order). The title of his licentiate thesis is: “Towards Enhanced Sales and Operations Planning – Using Machine Learning for Decision Support in an Engineer-To-Order Context”.
Low volumes and complex products
“My research can be used in any business process really, but here we focus on sales and business planning and ETO (Engineer to Order), which often involves low volumes and complex products. Machine learning is a research area within AI that is advancing rapidly. I think everyone agrees that we cannot close that door, and Siemens Energy wants to find out how they can use machine learning in their operations. It is also a goal for me, that as an externally employed doctoral student I want to contribute something back to my employer,” says Nils-Erik Ohlson.
He thinks it was fun to discuss his research with the opponent in the licentiate seminar, PhD Hafez Shurrab from Penn State University in the USA.
“That was partly what I was looking forward to with the licentiate seminar. After all, you sit a lot by yourself and write what you have come up with, so this was a good opportunity and extremely valuable for me to talk about and get feedback on my research from someone who looks at this with new eyes. He asked relevant questions and it was a good conversation,” says Nils-Erik Ohlson.
“A new world”
He describes it as a new world to be an externally employed doctoral student within Smart Industry Sweden and that enables networking with other externally employed doctoral student.
“I think this network provides a lot, we exchange experiences with each other and gain insight into what can be done with different smart solutions. I can really recommend others to join Smart Industry Sweden as externally employed doctoral students. It is an opportunity to enter the academy, which has been triggering and developing for me. If it doesn’t go as planned, you have your job to fall back on”
“I have learned a lot”
He is now halfway to his doctorate. He describes it as a milestone to have been approved for his licentiate seminar and thinks that the first 2.5 years have passed quickly.
“I have learned a lot now I know more what is expected from me and I believe that my remaining 2.5 years will go just as quickly,” he says.
