9,950 research outputs found

    The study of quality assurance system in Hong Kong construction industry

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    Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-88).published_or_final_versio

    A framework for flexible integration in robotics and its applications for calibration and error compensation

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    Robotics has been considered as a viable automation solution for the aerospace industry to address manufacturing cost. Many of the existing robot systems augmented with guidance from a large volume metrology system have proved to meet the high dimensional accuracy requirements in aero-structure assembly. However, they have been mainly deployed as costly and dedicated systems, which might not be ideal for aerospace manufacturing having low production rate and long cycle time. The work described in this thesis is to provide technical solutions to improve the flexibility and cost-efficiency of such metrology-integrated robot systems. To address the flexibility, a software framework that supports reconfigurable system integration is developed. The framework provides a design methodology to compose distributed software components which can be integrated dynamically at runtime. This provides the potential for the automation devices (robots, metrology, actuators etc.) controlled by these software components to be assembled on demand for various assembly applications. To reduce the cost of deployment, this thesis proposes a two-stage error compensation scheme for industrial robots that requires only intermittent metrology input, thus allowing for one expensive metrology system to be used by a number of robots. Robot calibration is employed in the first stage to reduce the majority of robot inaccuracy then the metrology will correct the residual errors. In this work, a new calibration model for serial robots having a parallelogram linkage is developed that takes into account both geometric errors and joint deflections induced by link masses and weight of the end-effectors. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the two pieces of work presented above. The proposed framework is adopted to create a distributed control system that implements calibration and error compensation for a large industrial robot having a parallelogram linkage. The control system is formed by hot-plugging the control applications of the robot and metrology used together. Experimental results show that the developed error model was able to improve the 3 positional accuracy of the loaded robot from several millimetres to less than one millimetre and reduce half of the time previously required to correct the errors by using only the metrology. The experiments also demonstrate the capability of sharing one metrology system to more than one robot

    Relatório de estágio curricular na Novartis Farma Portugal

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    Included in this report are accounts of an internship undertaken at Novartis Pharma Portugal in the fulfilment of the Master of Clinical Research Management degree. During the training period, the intern performed multidisciplinary tasks covering the different functions performed by the members of the trial monitoring team. Additionally, the intern selected performance and risk indicators to not only reflect but also assess the operational quality of national sites through the creation of a site card. In face of the current state of clinical research in Portugal, the site card supported by the commitment of all stakeholders could contribute to further clinical trial development in Portugal.O presente relatório destina-se a reportar as atividades realizadas durante o estágio curricular na Novartis Farma Portugal, no âmbito do Mestrado de Gestão em Investigação Clínica, realizado entre outubro de 2020 e maio de 2021. Durante o período de formação, a estagiária desempenhou funções multidisciplinares inerentes às diferentes funções da equipa de monitorização de estudos clínicos. Para além disso, a estagiária elaborou um site card com base na seleção de indicadores de risco e desempenho, visando não só avaliar, mas também traduzir a qualidade operacional dos centros. Face ao atual estado da investigação clínica em Portugal, este documento aliado ao empenho e compromisso de todos os intervenientes poderá contribuir para o desenvolvimento da investigação clínica em Portugal.Mestrado em Gestão da Investigação Clínic

    Projektin kaupallinen johtaminen

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    There is a growing interest in commercial management in project execution. Research questions of the thesis are: how can commercial management activities be effectively organized to support project execution, and how the commercial manager role affects the success of projects. The research contributes to project management literature, particularly from commercial viewpoint. The research method is to empirically study with a mixed-method approach commercial management throughout the case firm’s project execution. The case firm is a mining and metallurgical technology company providing equipment and complex plant projects. The qualitative part includes five case projects with commercial manager and three reference projects without commercial manager. In the quantitative part, 42 projects are analyzed, part of which having an appointed commercial manager. The empirical study suggests that project characteristics, such as the client, country, and contract type, generate the need and the shape for the commercial manager role. Commercial manager acts as an integrator of commercial topics, while input and involvement is required from respective project roles and support functions. The core of the role incorporates financial, change, claim, and risk management. In addition, supportive actions are required in sales phase, client relationship and communication management, and procurement. Commercial manager enables project manager to concentrate on holistic management, reduces the need for commercial knowledge transfer from support functions, and fosters commercial expertise within the project team. The thesis provides a model for statistical analysis. Obtained results are, however, not statistically significant, due to insufficient sample size. Nevertheless, the related proposition for variables and metrics lays a foundation for further studies with sufficient population of project samples. New knowledge is provided on commercial manager’s activities and the involvement of the role in these activities, as well as on success metrics of effective commercial management. For the case firm, the generic role description, as well as success metrics, are proposed to support global role implementation. Individual bias of case projects, limited variation in project characteristics, and small sample size constrain the reliability and the applicability of the empirical study. Hence, results are generalizable for major and complex projects only. The thesis provides a fair basis for future research in project-specific factors’ impact on the commercial manager role, and financial implications of effective commercial management.Kaupallinen näkökulma on korostuvasti esillä nykypäivän projektijohtamisessa. Tämän diplomityön tutkimuskysymykset ovat: miten kaupallinen johtaminen tukee tehokkaasti projektin toteutusta, ja millainen vaikutus kaupallisen projektipäällikön roolilla on projektien menestykseen. Tutkielma edistää projektihallinnan ja projektien kaupallisen johtamisen tutkimusta. Aihetta tutkittiin empiirisesti kvalitatiivisin ja kvantitatiivisin menetelmin kohdeyrityksen projektitoteutuksen kautta. Kohdeyrityksen ydinliiketoiminta on laite- ja tehdasprojektien myynti, suunnittelu ja toteutus mineraalien ja metallien prosessointiin. Kvalitatiiviseen tutkimukseen valittiin viisi case-projektia, joissa kaupallisen projektipäällikön roolia sovellettiin sekä kolme vertailuprojektia ilman kyseistä roolia. Kvantitatiivinen tutkimus koostui 42 projektista, joista osassa rooli oli mukana. Empiirinen tutkimus osoitti projektimuuttujien, kuten asiakas, maa ja sopimustyyppi, vaikuttavan kaupallisen projektipäällikön tarpeeseen sekä hänen roolinsa sisältöön. Kaupallinen projektipäällikkö toimii kaupallisen johtamisen kokoonpanevana voimana varmistaen asianmukaisen panostuksen muilta projektirooleilta. Hänen vastuullaan on projektin talouden, muutosten ja riskien hallinta. Lisäksi projektin myyntivaiheessa, asiakassuhteiden ja -viestinnän hallinnassa sekä hankinnoissa roolitehtävänä on tukea muuta projektitiimiä. Kaupallisen projektipäällikön nimittäminen mahdollistaa projektipäällikön keskittymisen projektin kokonaisuuden hallintaan, vähentää tarvetta projektin ulkopuolisen tukitoiminto-osaamisen hyödyntämiseen sekä kasvattaa projektihenkilöstön kaupallista osaamista. Diplomityössä on esitetty malli tilastolliseen analyysiin, mutta tulokset eivät olleet tilastollisesti merkittäviä otoskoon vähäisyyden seurauksena. Ehdotus mallin muuttujista ja mittareista luo kuitenkin perustan tuleville tutkimuksille. Tutkielma luo uutta tietoa kaupallisen projektipäällikön tehtävistä ja niiden toteutuksesta sekä onnistuneen kaupallisen johtamisen mittareista. Ehdotettu roolikuvaus ja sovellettavat mittarit avustavat tutkimusyritystä roolin perustamisessa. Case-projektien vähäinen määrä ja tarkastelun rajaaminen vain yhteen toimittavaan liiketoimintayksikköön heikensivät tutkimuksen merkitsevyyttä ja tutkimustulosten käytettävyyttä. Tulokset ovat yleistettävissä pääasiassa suuriin ja monimutkaisiin projekteihin. Diplomityö tarjoaa pohjan tulevalle tutkimukselle projektiriippuvaisten tekijöiden vaikutuksista kaupallisen projektipäällikön rooliin sekä tehokkaan kaupallisen johtamisen vaikutuksista projektin taloudelliseen onnistumiseen

    Corruption risk factors: an analysis of public procurement in Nigeria

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    Nigeria has consistently ranked 6th amongst oil-producing nations of the world but despite the enormous revenues from the sale of petroleum resources in the past five decades, the country has made little advance in terms of infrastructure, quality of life and the human development index. This has been attributed to endemic levels of corruption through misappropriation of public funds for private use, most of which have been associated with public procurement. The public procurement process in Nigeria has long been associated with corruption which involves misappropriation of public funds for private use. For example, the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index reports for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 indicate that much of public sector corruption in Nigeria is associated with the public procurement process. Between 2010 and 2012, Nigeria’s position on the corruption perception index of 183 countries surveyed by the TI, declined by 9 places to 143, an indication that current initiatives aimed at solving the problem have not been effective. Efforts at improving the practice of public procurement in Nigeria and developing it into a reputable profession cannot be successful without considering the more fundamental question of the factors that may have made corruption in the process resistant to efforts aimed at curbing it. It is this gap that this study hopes to address in order to promote transparency in the process of public procurement in Nigeria. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted across four organisations. Findings from the interviews were further subjected to verification discussions at two other organisations. Drawing from the case study analysis; greed, lack of inbuilt checks and wide discretionary powers of procurement officers under the direction of management emerged as possible risk factors motivating corruption in the public procurement process thus offering an explanation of the vulnerability of the process to corruption. Building upon the theoretical debates, public procurement-related corruption in Nigeria is contextualised in a framework which proposes a corruption risk-factor vulnerability check-list for the management of public procurement in Nigeria to achieve verifiable transparency and accountability

    An assessment of the formulation of permit conditions associated with environmental authorisations and implications for compliance monitoring

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    Environmental impact assessment is a widely accepted planning tool used in environmental management. Internationally it has been adopted as a formal permitting requirement for development projects in many jurisdictions. Historically the focus has been on the pre-decision making stages of environmental impact assessment. It has, however, been widely acknowledged that post-decision environmental impact assessment follow-up is an important component in confirming initial predictions, enabling responsible adaptive management of environmental impacts and ensuring compliance with permit conditions. It is this last function which is the focus of this study. Specifically, the role of permit conditions in enabling compliance and facilitating compliance monitoring is addressed. Permit conditions of twenty-one environmental authorisations were examined and tested for conformance with legislated requirements, and practicality of monitoring for compliance (monitorability). It was found that there are many contributors to achieving monitorable permit conditions. Amongst the most significant of these are conformity in interpretation of the regulations specifying permit content by officials, gaps in guidance on the part of the regulations themselves, and a tendency to focus on construction related impacts. The lack of clarity regarding the roles and functions of environmental control officer and environmental auditor further contribute to poor monitorability of permit conditions. Specific areas of shortcoming and best practice in the permit conditions analysed were identified and discussed. Finally, recommendations are made for the improvement of permit condition monitorability

    Integration of Cost andWork Breakdown Structures in the Management of Construction Projects

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    Scope management allows project managers to react when a project underperforms regarding schedule, budget, and/or quality at the execution stage. Scope management can also minimize project changes and budget omissions, as well as improve the accuracy of project cost estimates and risk responses. For scope management to be effective, though, it needs to rely on a robust work breakdown structure (WBS). A robust WBS hierarchically and faithfully reflects all project tasks and work packages so that projects are easier to manage. If done properly, the WBS also allows meeting the project objectives while delivering the project on time, on budget, and with the required quality. This paper analyzes whether the integration of a cost breakdown structure (CBS) can lead to the generation of more robust WBSs in construction projects. Over the last years, some international organizations have standardized and harmonized different cost classification systems (e.g., ISO 12006-2, ISO 81346-12, OmniClass, CoClass, UniClass). These cost databases have also been introduced into building information modeling (BIM) frameworks. We hypothesize that in BIM environments, if these CBSs are used to generate the project WBS, several advantages are gained such as sharper project definition. This enhanced project definition reduces project contradictions at both planning and execution stages, anticipates potential schedule and budget deviations, improves resource allocation, and overall it allows a better response to potential project risks. The hypothesis that the use of CBSs can generate more robust WBSs is tested by the response analysis of a questionnaire survey distributed among construction practitioners and project managers. By means of structural equation modeling (SEM), the correlation (agreement) and perception differences between two 250-respondent subsamples (technical project staff vs. project management staff) are also discussed. Results of this research support the use of CBSs by construction professionals as a basis to generate WBSs for enhanced project management (PM)

    A Decade of Helping Civil Society Fight Corruption in the Philippines: Results and Lessons

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    This Report details the results and lessons of a decade long (2003-2013) Partnership for Transparency Fund (www.ptfund.org) support to Filipino civil society organizations to fight corruption. It celebrates the successes and reflects on challenges faced as PTF enters a new phase in its partnership. In 2014 PTF established a regional affiliate called PTF Asia as a foundation headquartered in Manila. As efforts worldwide and in the Philippines have evolved during these ten years, the discussion in this Report offers lessons in going forward towards this new phase as well as initiatives beyond the Philippine

    Quality Management and Accreditation in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy

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    This open access book provides a concise yet comprehensive overview on how to build a quality management program for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and cellular therapy. The text reviews all the essential steps and elements necessary for establishing a quality management program and achieving accreditation in HSCT and cellular therapy. Specific areas of focus include document development and implementation, audits and validation, performance measurement, writing a quality management plan, the accreditation process, data management, and maintaining a quality management program. Written by experts in the field, Quality Management and Accreditation in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy: A Practical Guide is a valuable resource for physicians, healthcare professionals, and laboratory staff involved in the creation and maintenance of a state-of-the-art HSCT and cellular therapy program
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