Modelling business processes with links to ISO 9001

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/795 on 14.02.2017 by CS (TIS)This work in the domain of quality management and business process design looks at how the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard for quality management systems are designed and implemented in business. It is the aim of the research reported in this thesis to support manufacturing companies when modelling a Fulfil Order Process by identifying the links to the ISO 9001 quality standard and highlighting potential impact from any changes in the process or the standard during a redesign project. It does so by presenting a modelling technique, named IDEF9000, which will enable companies to take a systemic perspective of a Fulfil Order Process identifying all relevant links to ISO 9001. A research strategy based around the experiences of companies when designing business processes with links to ISO 9001 was adopted. In-depth case studies carried out by the author showed that simply documenting what an organisation does to satisfy the various elements of ISO 9001 is still one of the most common approaches adopted. This results in a process-oriented character only at the documentation stage. It is the result of limited guidance on how to integrate the requirements of ISO 900 I in business processes. The work proceeded by exploring the domains of business processes, the use of systems thinking to explain business processes and the relevance of ISO 9001 requirements from a process-based viewpoint. A set of criteria was developed to identify activities, information and other flows controlled by ISO 9001 to design a Fulfil Order Process in a manufacturing company. This provided the context for the development of the modelling technique IDEF9000, which is an enhanced version of IDEFo, and its validation by review and by use in two manufacturing companies. The originality of this work lies in the identification and emphasis by the author of the need to take a systemic view of business processes when designing or redesigning a process-based ISO 9001 quality management system. Also, criteria for a technique to address the modelling of a Fulfil Order Process were identified. Furthermore this contribution to knowledge includes the identification of links between ISO 9001 requirements and a holistic Fulfil Order Process. This led to the development of further criteria for modelling such a business process showing the links to ISO 9001. IDEF9000 represents an improved modelling approach that fulfils the identified criteria and permits the systemic design or redesign of a Fulfil Order Process while establishing the links controlled by the ISO 9001 quality standard

Vapour liquid equilibrium measurements for process design

In recent years it has become increasingly important to develop new oxygenate and isooctane technologies and processes that meet the continuously stricter environmental requirements. Some of the new process schemes use renewable raw materials in order to meet the European Union biofuel requirements. One of the most important requirements for the design of such separation processes includes the knowledge of vapour liquid equilibrium (VLE) behaviour. There are methods to estimate VLE but for the final design and with new systems VLE needs to be determined experimentally. Unfortunately, the existing equipment used for the VLE measurements suffer from labour intensiveness. The application of automation to VLE measurement apparatuses provides increasing accuracy and speed, thus reducing the cost for VLE measurements. In the present work three different apparatuses were developed. Using the constructed apparatuses, VLE was measured for relevant systems in the modelling and design of oxygenate and isooctane technologies. Firstly, a static apparatus for VLE measurements was built, which allowed the analysis of samples from the liquid and vapour phases, by means of an automated sampling system. Measurements were made on ethanenitrile + 2-methylpropane and ethanenitrile + 2-methylpropene systems. No VLE measurements were not found in the current literature for the systems measured with the static apparatus in this work. The systems measured disclosed a positive deviation from Raoult's law. In addition, azeotropic behaviour was observed for the ethanenitrile + 2-methylpropane system. Secondly, a circulation still was made. The still was used to obtain isobaric and isothermal VLE data for nine alkane + alcohol and alkene + alcohol binary systems. An on-line system with circulation of the samples was tested with two analysis methods, mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. The on-line system was then applied to the ethanol + 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene and 2-propanol + 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene systems at atmospheric pressure and vapour pressure was determined for 2-methoxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentane. VLE measurements were made for the methanol + 2-methoxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentane system. Again, no VLE measurements were found in existing for most of the systems measured with the recirculation still. The results exhibited positive deviation from Raoult's law. All the systems measured exhibited azeotropic behaviour, with the exception of the methanol + 2-methoxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentane system. Thirdly, a static total pressure apparatus was constructed. With the manual version of the apparatus 12 binary systems consisting of alkanes + 2-butanol and alkenes + alcohols were measured. The static total pressure apparatus was upgraded to one of a computer-controlled level, which requires substantially less labour than the manual version of the apparatus. Using the computer-controlled version, measurements were made for five binary systems consisting of 2-methylpropene + alcohols. Most of the measurements made with the static total pressure apparatus were for systems for which measurements have not been available earlier. The systems measured exhibited positive deviation from Raoult's law and some of the systems exhibited azeotropic behaviour. The gamma-phi approach was used for modelling the systems measured. The vapour phase was calculated with the Soave modification of the Redlich-Kwong-equation and the Wilson activity coefficient model was used for modelling the liquid phase behaviour. Legendre-polynomials were used in the Barker's method for the data reduction of the static total pressure measurements. In addition to the Wilson equation parameters, NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient model parameters were also determined for the C4-alkene + alcohol systems measured with the static total pressure apparatus. The Wilson equation provided the best fit of the measurements, compared to NRTL and UNIQUAC models. The Antoine-equation was used for describing the vapour pressures of the pure components with the exception of the static total pressure measurements, for which the actual measured vapour pressure values were used.reviewe

Approach For Autonomous Control Of Intralogistics Considering Deterministic And Probabilistic Material Demand Information In Flexible Production Systems

In today's dynamic production landscape, flexible and resilient production systems are essential to meet the constant changes in internal product and production requirements as well as external market and customer demands. To meet these challenges, various flexible and resilient production system approaches offer the necessary structural, process-related and technological flexibility and resilience. However, the intralogistics material provision within these complex production systems is challenging due to increasing degrees of freedom and uncertainties caused by emerging turbulence, which has even risen very sharply in recent years due to global instability. This makes it difficult to coordinate material demands and material provision in the production system precisely regarding location and quantity. This paper presents a comprehensive approach for determining the material requirements and autonomously executing the corresponding material provision processes in a complex production system, which considers both deterministic and probabilistic information about the material demand’s location, quantity, and time. Utilizing autonomous control in intralogistics decentralizes complexity management in flexible production systems by transferring decision-making and process execution tasks to the system elements. For the development and verification of the comprehensive approach, an experimental research study was pursued based on a flexible production system, including simulation and practical experiments. Defining the deterministic and probabilistic material demands is based on the Monte Carlo method for carrying out simulation experiments with parameter variation. The autonomously controlled, target size-optimized execution of material provision to fulfil the determined material demands is based on an agent-based modelling and control approach for manual and automated intralogistics transport resources. The study showed that improved logistics performance (throughput time and adherence to schedules) can be achieved in flexible production systems in the event of turbulences by considering deterministic and probabilistic material demand information together with autonomous control of material provision

Obtaining Formal Models through Non-Monotonic Refinement

When designing a model for formal verification, we want to\ud be certain that what we proved about the model also holds for the system we modelled. This raises the question of whether our model represents the system, and what makes us confident about this. By performing so called, non-monotonic refinement in the modelling process, we make the steps and decisions explicit. This helps us to (1) increase the confidence that the model represents the system, (2) structure and organize the communication with domain experts and the problem owner, and (3) identify rational steps made while modelling. We focus on embedded control systems

Combining goal-oriented and model-driven approaches to solve the Payment Problem Scenario

Motivated by the objective to provide an improved participation of business domain experts in the design of service-oriented integration solutions, we extend our previous work on using the COSMO methodology for service mediation by introducing a goal-oriented approach to requirements engineering. With this approach, business requirements including the motivations behind the mediation solution are better understood, specified, and aligned with their technical implementations. We use the Payment Problem Scenario of the SWS Challenge to illustrate the extension

Capturing Assumptions while Designing a Verification Model for Embedded Systems

A formal proof of a system correctness typically holds under a number of assumptions. Leaving them implicit raises the chance of using the system in a context that violates some assumptions, which in return may invalidate the correctness proof. The goal of this paper is to show how combining informal and formal techniques in the process of modelling and formal verification helps capturing these assumptions. As we focus on embedded systems, the assumptions are about the control software, the system on which the software is running and the system’s environment. We present them as a list written in natural language that supplements the formally verified embedded system model. These two together are a better argument for system correctness than each of these given separately