Use of Quality Management Methods and Tools - a Systematic Review of the Literature

Bakalářská práce se skládá ze dvou částí: teoretické a praktické. V teoretické části práce popisujeme a charakterizujeme metody a nástroje managementu kvality. V praktické části jsme se zaměřili na shromáždění a analýzu publikací zabývajících se možnostmi využívání metod a nástrojů managementu kvality v různých ekonomických a sociálních oblastech. Pro rychlejší vyhledávání sledovaných publikací jsme využili dvě databáze: (www.webofscience.com) a IEE Xplore (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org).The Bachelor thesis consists of two parts: theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part of the work, we describe and characterize the methods and tools of quality management. In the practical part, we focused on gathering and analysing publications dealing with the possibilities of using quality management methods and tools in various economic and social areas. We used two databases for faster searches of monitored publications: (www.webofscience.com) and IEE Xplore(https://ieeexplore.ieee.org).639 - Katedra managementu kvalitydobř

The effect of technology-organization-environment on adoption decision of big data technology in Thailand

Big data technology (BDT) is being actively adopted by world-leading organizations due to its expected benefits. However, most of the organizations in Thailand are still in the decision or planning stage to adopt BDT. Many challenges exist in encouraging the BDT diffusion in businesses. Thus, this study develops a research model that investigates the determinants of BDT adoption in the Thai context based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. Data were collected through an online questionnaire. Three hundred IT employees in different organizations in Thailand were used as a sample group. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test the hypotheses. The result indicated that the research model was fitted with the empirical data with the statistics: Normed Chi-Square=1.651, GFI=0.895, AFGI=0.863, NFI=0.930, TLI=0.964, CFI=0.971, SRMR=0.0392, and RMSEA=0.046. The research model could, at 52%, explain decision to adopt BDT. Relative advantage, top management support, competitive pressure, and trading partner pressure show significant positive relation with BDT adoption, while security negatively influences BDT adoption

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF BURSTINESS ON THE SERVICE PROCESS AT THE CASH REGISTER

The service process is the key phase in any queue system applied to business and industry operations. The service process in shops is defined as the payment process at the cash register. The service process consists of two elements or sub-processes: the waiting in the queue to the cash register as well as the payment processing (scanning the goods, giving receipts to customers, etc). Analysis of burstiness as the indicator of the service process has been well-established. Against this background on burstiness as the indicator of the service process, burstiness is also defined as a factor that influences the service process. However, burstiness as a factor in the service process has not attracted a lot of research attention. The aim of this paper is to analyse burstiness as a factor in the service process underpinning the elaboration of scenarios of the service process for the queue management purposes. The present work mostly employs theoretical methods: scientific literature analysis, synthesis, modelling, comparison, and systematization. The theoretical research results in the outline of the conceptual framework for exploring the impact of burstiness on the service process. The key concepts have been identified, namely binary customer behaviour, buyers’ burstiness, bottlenecks’ emergence at the server, and queue management. The logical chain of the development has been emphasized: binary customer behaviour → buyers’ burstiness → bottlenecks’ emergence at the check-out station or cash register (server) → queue management. The presented logical chain allows finding out that buyers’ burstiness leads to the queue appearance in the service process. In turn, queue appearance requires queue management measures. Hence, buyers’ burstiness influences on the decisions in regard to queue management within the service process. Further on, two functions of buyers’ burstiness are defined: the indicators of the service process, and the factor that influences the service process. This bi-modal role of buyers’ burstiness in the service process highlights the complex nature of the queue management. Five scenarios of the service process will allow using a combination of queue management measures in each scenario or even between scenarios. The findings of the comparative study propose the structure of the service process as the unity of the waiting in the queue to the cash register and the payment processing at the cash register, i.e. scanning of the goods and the payment. The present research has some limitations. Further research tends to validate the model of five scenarios of the service process for the queue management purposes. Comparative studies on buyers’ burstiness in the service process will be continued, too.

How to use configuration software in “Less Routine Design” situations? Some modelling propositions

This paper considers the configuration of physical systems in a business to business environment (machine tool, aerospace equipment, cranes ...). In this kind of business, knowledge-based configuration software are frequently used when dealing with “infinitely routine design” situations where the entire customer’s requirements can be fulfilled with standard systems. However, in “less routine design” situations where non-standard systems must be designed in order to fulfill the entire customers’requirements, existing knowledge-based configuration software cannot be used. In fact, the configuration hypothesis state that all configured systems are assembled from standard sub-systems and components. The aim of this paper is therefore to investigate how the existing products/systems configuration hypothesis, problems’ definitions, and models can be modified or adapted in order to allow the use of configuration software in “less routine design” situations. In this purpose, first, the main differences between standard and non-standards systems are analyzed. Then, six cases of systems configuration that differentiate “less routine design” from “infinitely routine design” are identified and discussed. Finally, some Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) based modeling extensions are proposed to allow the use of configuration software in these situations

Aircraft Maintenance Routing Problem – A Literature Survey

The airline industry has shown significant growth in the last decade according to some indicators such as annual average growth in global air traffic passenger demand and growth rate in the global air transport fleet. This inevitable progress makes the airline industry challenging and forces airline companies to produce a range of solutions that increase consumer loyalty to the brand. These solutions to reduce the high costs encountered in airline operations, prevent delays in planned departure times, improve service quality, or reduce environmental impacts can be diversified according to the need. Although one can refer to past surveys, it is not sufficient to cover the rich literature of airline scheduling, especially for the last decade. This study aims to fill this gap by reviewing the airline operations related papers published between 2009 and 2019, and focus on the ones especially in the aircraft maintenance routing area which seems a promising branch

Improving the performance of a SME in the cutlery sector using lean thinking and digital transformation

The main purpose of this paper is to show that if three specific contextual factors are present in a company, it is possible to achieve great performance improvements with a lean and industry 4.0 implementation. In terms of research methods, a case study was carried out of a project to implement digitalization and Lean practices in a cutlery company, which in fact encompassed a project of master’s degree in engineering and industrial management. Thus, the research question is: “It is possible to achieve major improvements in a lean and industry 4.0 implementation if three specific contextual factors are present in the company, namely (i) commitment of top management, (ii) knowledge on digitalization and lean, and (iii) very low Value-Added Ratio?”. Regarding the company project, action-research was adopted, and the project team began by mapping and diagnosing the production processes of the two product families (knives and spoons/forks). High levels of work in process, long throughput times, poor flow planning and control, and high stocks of finished products, quickly stood out in both families. Improvement proposals were developed and implemented, namely: (i) creation of a production scheduling and control system, (ii) improvement of the warehouse stock management system, and (iii) adoption of new routines, management tools, visual management, and kaizen meetings. The results achieved were excellent (e.g., throughput time reduced by 27.6% and productivity increased by 36.5%) and aligned with Sustainable Development Goals SDG 9 and 12. The findings of this study corroborate that exceptional results in the company performance can be achieved through a lean and industry 4.0 intervention, if the three referred contextual factors occur.This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

A fog computing based cyber-physical system for the automation of pipe-related tasks in the Industry 4.0 shipyard

[Abstract] Pipes are one of the key elements in the construction of ships, which usually contain between 15,000 and 40,000 of them. This huge number, as well as the variety of processes that may be performed on a pipe, require rigorous identification, quality assessment and traceability. Traditionally, such tasks have been carried out by using manual procedures and following documentation on paper, which slows down the production processes and reduces the output of a pipe workshop. This article presents a system that allows for identifying and tracking the pipes of a ship through their construction cycle. For such a purpose, a fog computing architecture is proposed to extend cloud computing to the edge of the shipyard network. The system has been developed jointly by Navantia, one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, and the University of A Coruña (Spain), through a project that makes use of some of the latest Industry 4.0 technologies. Specifically, a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is described, which uses active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to track pipes and detect relevant events. Furthermore, the CPS has been integrated and tested in conjunction with Siemens’ Manufacturing Execution System (MES) (Simatic IT). The experiments performed on the CPS show that, in the selected real-world scenarios, fog gateways respond faster than the tested cloud server, being such gateways are also able to process successfully more samples under high-load situations. In addition, under regular loads, fog gateways react between five and 481 times faster than the alternative cloud approach

Towards Forklift Safety in a Warehouse: An Approach Based on the Automatic Analysis of Resource Flows

Warehouse management is a discipline that has gained importance in recent decades. In the era of the Digital Revolution and Industry 5.0, to enable a company to attain a competitive advantage, it is necessary to identify smart improvement tools that help search for warehouse problems and solutions. A good tool to highlight issues related to layout and resource flows is the spaghetti chart which, besides being used to minimize waste according to lean philosophy, can also be used to assess warehouse safety and reliability and improve the plant sustainability. This article shows how to exploit “smart spaghetti” (spaghetti chart automatically generated by smart tracking devices) to conceive improvements in the layout and work organization of a warehouse, reducing the risk of collision between forklifts and improving the operators’ safety. The methodology involves automatically mapping the spaghetti charts (searching for critical areas where the risk of collision is high) and identifying interventions to be carried out to avoid near misses. “Smart spaghetti” constitutes a valuable decision support tool to identify potential improvements in the system through changes in the layout or in the way activities are performed. This work shows an application of the proposed technique in a pharmaceutical warehouse