New optical sensing system applied to taut wire based straightness measurement

In modern manufacturing industry, precision components are typically produced on Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machine tools which translate their accuracy onto machined parts. This accuracy is affected by a set of different motion errors caused by inherent imperfections in the design and build of the machine, variations in the local environment such as temperature, the cutting process itself and human factors. The reduction of these effects is achieved primarily through design improvements and error compensation techniques. The latter requires detailed knowledge about the existing errors in order to deal with them effectively. This thesis describes a novel sensor system for measurement of errors caused by deviation in the straightness of Cartesian axes present in the structural loop of most machine tools. Currently there are very few methods available to measure straightness directly, each having advantages and disadvantages when considering simplicity, accuracy and affordability. The proposed system uses a taut wire reference with a novel sensor, a two-point technique for reference error cancellation and software to enable fast and accurate measurement of straightness between any two points of the measured machine’s working volume. The standout features of the sensing system include ultra-low cost and high performance when compared with existing state-of-the-art systems. It is capable of measuring a straightness error as low as 3μm and takes only 2s of dwell time between readings, while laser interferometer requires 4s to perform averaging when measuring the same error. Existing taut wire microscopy is limited by 10-20μm of measured error depending on optics quality and manual reading takes at least 5s to minimise the human error. Setup time is also different – the new system saves 15 minutes time on 2m axis and more on longer lengths compared the laser due to simpler reference alignment procedure. Theoretical analysis and practical implementation are followed by detailed performance evaluation experiments carried out under typical manufacturing conditions comprising different machine tools, different axes, measured errors, environmental effects and alternative measuring equipment. Tests cover aspects of accuracy, repeatability and overall system stability providing a complete picture of the system’s capability and the method’s potential which is also supported by uncertainty analysis. In addition to defining setup and measuring procedures, a user-friendly software interface is described and its main units are explained with respect to overall measurement efficiency and setup fault detection

Managing performance in quality management: A two level study of employee-perceptions and workplace-performance

Purpose: This paper addresses potential effects of the control element in Quality Management. First, behavioural theories on how elements of performance management can affect organisational performance are examined. Secondly, theoretical models on how perceptions of work conditions may impact wellbeing and performance are considered. Direct and indirect pathways from performance management to productivity/quality are inferred. Methodology: Matched employee-workplace data from an economy-wide survey in Britain and two-level structural equation models are used to test the hypothesised associations. Findings: The use of practices in workplaces is inconsistent with a unified performance management approach. Distinct outcomes are expected from separate components in performance management and some may be contingent on workplace size. For example, within Quality-planning, strategy dissemination is positively associated with workplace-productivity; targets are negatively associated with perceptions of job demands and positively correlated with job satisfaction, which in turn can increase workplace-productivity. With respect to Information & Analysis: keeping and analysing records, or monitoring employee-performance via appraisals that assess training needs, are positively associated with workplace-productivity and quality. Originality: This paper illustrates how control in Quality Management can be effective. Although the merits of performance management are subject to ongoing debate, arguments in the literature have tended to focus on performance appraisal. Analyses of economy-wide data linking performance management practices, within Quality Management, to employee perceptions of work conditions, wellbeing and aggregate performance are rare

Understanding the effect of IS change: A social capital perspective

This paper argues that by adopting a social capital perspective of the effects of Information Systems (IS) implementation we are able to provide insights into both human and technological aspects of change interventions. This theoretical paper is firmly embedded within socio-technical approaches and aims to conceptualise and address concerns relating to organisational issues of systems and technology management. IS implementation inevitably impacts upon the existing work and social relationships within organisations where there is the potential experience of reduced system effectiveness through a periodic lack of coordination and control. It is evident, in this respect, that the adoption of IS produces challenges to human collaboration which clearly add a social dimension to systems management. The paper broadly outlines how a social capital perspective may determine the areas of focus from IS-driven organisational change and provide indications about potential ways to improve system and technology adoption. This may support more appropriate designs for change interventions that enable organisations to accrue more value from IS

The Role of Kansei Engineering in Influencing Overall Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention in Service Encounters

Customers today concern themselves more on fulfilling their emotional needs rather than rationales and functionalities. In dealing with customer emotions in products/services, Kansei Engineering (KE) is applied. A comprehensive case study in luxury hotels was conducted. Eighty one Indonesian, 75 Singaporean, and 74 Japanese tourists participated in this survey. It aims to investigate the relationships among constructs during service encounter process. The finding shows that emotions (affective process) play a significant role as a complement to cognitive process in influencing customer satisfaction. Among 3 populations, Japanese was found to be more Kansei-oriented customer. Keywords: Kansei Engineering, emotional needs, customer satisfactio

Corporate Social Performance of Indonesian State-Owned and Private Companies

The objectives of this study are to analyze the difference of corporate social performance between State-owned and private companies in Indonesia, and also to analyze the correlation between the corporate social performance (CSP) and the corporate financial performance by using company size, and institutional ownership as control variables. The population of this study is Indonesian state owned and private companies in the year of 2001-2004. Purposive sampling was used in this study, and final samples are 461 companies. The CSP or CSR (Corporate social responsibility) score is measured by content analysis of corporate annual report using seven item developed by Michael Research Jantzi Research Associate, Inc. The data is tested by independent t-test to determine the mean difference and by using partial correlation test to know the correlation between the corporate social performance and financial performance. The results of this study are that there is no significant difference mean of corporate social performance between state-owned and private owned companies in Indonesia. In addition, the correlation test indicates that there is no association between corporation social performance and financial performance both in SOCs and POCs

Quality management and profitability linkage: Does the length of QM adoption act as the moderating variable?

Manufacturing companies in Malaysia have never had it so tough. They are now confronting increasing prices of oil and raw materials, high advancement in innovation and technology, as well as high customer expectation on the quality of products and services. In addition, managers of these companies are well aware of the increasing competitive pressures in the world market. It is clear today that these pressures are due largely to the increased performance of those firms that have successfully implemented quality improvement.This paper presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia. It is said that QM has the potential to not only enhance production efficiency and effectiveness, but also improves bottom-line results. Much has been written about the relationship between QM and performance. However, the link of QM practices to profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. To address this issue, this paper investigates the impact of QM practices on profitability in the Malaysian electronics and electrical industry using correlation, multiple regression,and hierarchical regression analyses. The findings revealed that quality measurement, supplier relations, and benchmarking in particular, appear to be of primary importance and exhibit significant impact on profitability. Findings of the study provided a striking demonstration of the importance of implementing effective QM practices for the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia in enhancing its profitability. However, the study failed to provide the statistical evidence of the existence of the moderating effect of the length of QM adoption on the QM and profitability linkage

Effects of innovation types on firm performance

Innovation is broadly seen as an essential component of competitiveness, embedded in the organizational structures, processes, products, and services within a firm. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of the organizational, process, product, and marketing innovations on the different aspects of firm performance, including innovative, production, market, and financial performances, based on an empirical study covering 184 manufacturing firms in Turkey. A theoretical framework is empirically tested identifying the relationships amid innovations and firm performance through an integrated innovation-performance analysis. The results reveal the positive effects of innovations on firm performance in manufacturing industries

Effects of innovation types on firm performance

Innovation is broadly seen as an essential component of competitiveness, embedded in the organizational structures, processes, products, and services within a firm. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of the organizational, process, product, and marketing innovations on the different aspects of firm performance, including innovative, production, market, and financial performances, based on an empirical study covering 184 manufacturing firms in Turkey. A theoretical framework is empirically tested identifying the relationships amid innovations and firm performance through an integrated innovation-performance analysis. The results reveal the positive effects of innovations on firm performance in manufacturing industries

Resources and competitive strategies to improve the performance of diving tourism business in Indonesia

Purpose: This research provides solutions to improve the performance of the diving tourism business in Indonesia by increasing competitive strategies and resource-based uniqueness. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted using quantitative methods. The unit of analysis is dive operators in Indonesia where data are collected from 50 random samples taken from 284 dive operators. Then the observations in this study use a time horizon that is cross section one shoot taking. Findings: The results of the study show that the uniqueness of resources and competitive strategies have a significant effect on business performance. Competitive strategies have dominant influence in improving the performance of dive service operators in Indonesia. Practical Implications: The results can be used in an effort to improve the performance of the dive tourism business in Indonesia through the development of competitive strategies based on cost-based approaches, and the development of resource uniqueness based on the development of human resources. Originality/Value: This study acts as a reference for the diving tourism business people and all parties involved in this kind of business to understand the uniqueness of resources and competitive strategies in improving the business performance.peer-reviewe

The Neural Representation Benchmark and its Evaluation on Brain and Machine

A key requirement for the development of effective learning representations is their evaluation and comparison to representations we know to be effective. In natural sensory domains, the community has viewed the brain as a source of inspiration and as an implicit benchmark for success. However, it has not been possible to directly test representational learning algorithms directly against the representations contained in neural systems. Here, we propose a new benchmark for visual representations on which we have directly tested the neural representation in multiple visual cortical areas in macaque (utilizing data from [Majaj et al., 2012]), and on which any computer vision algorithm that produces a feature space can be tested. The benchmark measures the effectiveness of the neural or machine representation by computing the classification loss on the ordered eigendecomposition of a kernel matrix [Montavon et al., 2011]. In our analysis we find that the neural representation in visual area IT is superior to visual area V4. In our analysis of representational learning algorithms, we find that three-layer models approach the representational performance of V4 and the algorithm in [Le et al., 2012] surpasses the performance of V4. Impressively, we find that a recent supervised algorithm [Krizhevsky et al., 2012] achieves performance comparable to that of IT for an intermediate level of image variation difficulty, and surpasses IT at a higher difficulty level. We believe this result represents a major milestone: it is the first learning algorithm we have found that exceeds our current estimate of IT representation performance. We hope that this benchmark will assist the community in matching the representational performance of visual cortex and will serve as an initial rallying point for further correspondence between representations derived in brains and machines.Comment: The v1 version contained incorrectly computed kernel analysis curves and KA-AUC values for V4, IT, and the HT-L3 models. They have been corrected in this versio