The Phillips Machine (MONIAC)

The Phillips Machine, or Monetary National Income Analogue Computer (MONIAC), is a hydraulic representation of cash flow within the UK economy in the early 20th century. It represents the circular flow of income (New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 2015), shown by the economic equation Aggregate Demand = Consumer Expenditure + Investment + Government Spending + (Exports – Imports), or Y = C + I + G + (X – M), which is an important equation in determining the national output of an economy (Pettinger, 2008). Though no longer in use, of the 14 that were built, the majority were originally restricted to military and government use owing to their effectiveness in determining economic policy. This paper describes an implementation of an emulation of this machine that satisfies, or mostly satisfies, almost all of the requirements specified in the ISO/IEC 25010 software quality assurance standard and would be suitable for deployment to support A-Level Economics teaching. With further work it would also become suitable as part of a museum display of a Phillips Machine

Australian software developers embrace quality Assurance Certification

[Abstract]: This paper details a research project undertaken to assess the extent of adoption of quality assurance (QA) certification by Australian software developers. A brief history of government QA policy, the catalyst in the sudden interest in certification, is included. Primary data for the study were gathered from a survey of 1,000 Australian software developers, and were used to determine the extent of adoption of QA certification by Australian developers, their organisational characteristics, capability maturity and perceptions regarding the value of QA certification. Secondary data from the JAS-ANZ register of certified organisations enabled validation of survey responses and extrapolation of QA certification adoption. Major findings of the study revealed that 11 percent of respondents are certified to ISO 9001 or AS 3563, seven percent are in progress and 21 percent plan to adopt QA certification. It also revealed that specialist developers are adopting QA certification at twice the rate of in-house developers. Other factors found to be associated with adoption of QA certification are large development groups, developers with government or overseas clients, organisations with whole- or part-foreign ownership, and organisations undertaking corporate TQM initiatives. From the findings, detailed implications are drawn for managers and policy analysts

Software-Engineering Process Simulation (SEPS) model

The Software Engineering Process Simulation (SEPS) model is described which was developed at JPL. SEPS is a dynamic simulation model of the software project development process. It uses the feedback principles of system dynamics to simulate the dynamic interactions among various software life cycle development activities and management decision making processes. The model is designed to be a planning tool to examine tradeoffs of cost, schedule, and functionality, and to test the implications of different managerial policies on a project's outcome. Furthermore, SEPS will enable software managers to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of software project development and perform postmodern assessments

SISTEM PENGENDALIAN MUTU PADA INDUSTI PAKAIAN DENGAN METODE STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

Di era globalisasi saat ini, usaha kecil dan menengah harus dapat berkompetisi untuk menghasilkan sebuah produk yang dapat diterima dalam upaya meningkatkan mutu bisnis. Oleh karena itu, jumlah kerusakan pada proses produksi harus dikurangi, terlebih dalam industri pakaian. Pada proses desain pakaian terdapat beberapa fase yang terjadi seperti pemilihan kain, pemotongan, penjahitan, hingga pengepakan dan inspeksi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk membangun sebuah sistem pengendalian mutu pada usaha kecil menengah industri pakaian di daerah Kudus, Indonesia. Cara pertama yang digunakan untuk melakukan pengendalian mutu ialah dengan menggunakan aplikasi mobile yang digunakan oleh auditor untuk melakukan pengecekan proses produksi dan mengirim data defect ke database. Sedangkan cara kedua dengan menggunakan website untuk mengelola data produksi yang dilakukan oleh administrator. Perhitungan p-chart bulan Januari sampai Maret menunjukkan proses produksi cukup terkendali, karena proporsi yang ditemukan masih berada dalam rentang UCL dan LCL. Namun, untuk kemampuan proses dikatakan belum mampu untuk memenuhi kebutuhan produksi, karena salah satu dari nilai Cp 1,84 dan Cpk 0,85 tidak melebihi standar yaitu kedua nilai tersebut harus lebih atau sama dengan satu. Sedangkan level six sigma dengan nilai 4.987 berada pada yield (persentase barang yang dapat diterima) yang berkisar antara 99,38% sampai dengan 99,977%. Pengujian sistem menggunakan dua pendekatan, yaitu black box dan white box. Dari kedua pengujian tersebut menunjukkan bahwa sistem yang dibangun dapat diterima dan beroperasi dengan benar. Kata kunci: Aplikasi Mobile, Pengendalian Proses Statistika, Sistem Pengendalian Mutu, Usaha Kecil dan Menengah, Website In the era of globalization, Small and Medium Enterprises should process the competence to produce an acceptable product to stimulate enhance of business. Therefore, defective rates product should reducing, more over in the process of apparel production. The process design of apparel consist of various phase with the base fabric component, cutting, tailoring until finishing and inspecting. The research aims to develop a quality control system on Small and Medium Enterprises in apparel production as the case study in Kudus, Indonesia. The first way that used to perform quality control is by using a mobile application that is used by auditors to do the checking of the production process and transmit data defects to the database. While the second way by using websites to manage production data is done by an administrator. Calculation of the p-chart in January through March showed the production process was quite restrained, because the proportions were found to still be in range of UCL and LCL. However, the process ability not able to meet production needs, because one of the values of Cp (1,84) and Cpk (0,85) does not exceed the standard value that both of Cp and Cpk should be more or equal to one. While, the value level of six sigma at 4,987, so yield (the percentage of goods that can be accepted) that ranged between 99.38% up to 99.977%. Testing system using two approaches, namely the black box and white box. From both of these tests showed that the system was built to be accepted and operating properly. Keywords: Mobile Application, Quality Control Systems, Small and Medium Enterprises, Statistical Process Control, Websit

The LIFE2 final project report

Executive summary: The first phase of LIFE (Lifecycle Information For E-Literature) made a major contribution to understanding the long-term costs of digital preservation; an essential step in helping institutions plan for the future. The LIFE work models the digital lifecycle and calculates the costs of preserving digital information for future years. Organisations can apply this process in order to understand costs and plan effectively for the preservation of their digital collections The second phase of the LIFE Project, LIFE2, has refined the LIFE Model adding three new exemplar Case Studies to further build upon LIFE1. LIFE2 is an 18-month JISC-funded project between UCL (University College London) and The British Library (BL), supported by the LIBER Access and Preservation Divisions. LIFE2 began in March 2007, and completed in August 2008. The LIFE approach has been validated by a full independent economic review and has successfully produced an updated lifecycle costing model (LIFE Model v2) and digital preservation costing model (GPM v1.1). The LIFE Model has been tested with three further Case Studies including institutional repositories (SHERPA-LEAP), digital preservation services (SHERPA DP) and a comparison of analogue and digital collections (British Library Newspapers). These Case Studies were useful for scenario building and have fed back into both the LIFE Model and the LIFE Methodology. The experiences of implementing the Case Studies indicated that enhancements made to the LIFE Methodology, Model and associated tools have simplified the costing process. Mapping a specific lifecycle to the LIFE Model isn’t always a straightforward process. The revised and more detailed Model has reduced ambiguity. The costing templates, which were refined throughout the process of developing the Case Studies, ensure clear articulation of both working and cost figures, and facilitate comparative analysis between different lifecycles. The LIFE work has been successfully disseminated throughout the digital preservation and HE communities. Early adopters of the work include the Royal Danish Library, State Archives and the State and University Library, Denmark as well as the LIFE2 Project partners. Furthermore, interest in the LIFE work has not been limited to these sectors, with interest in LIFE expressed by local government, records offices, and private industry. LIFE has also provided input into the LC-JISC Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Economic Sustainability of Digital Preservation. Moving forward our ability to cost the digital preservation lifecycle will require further investment in costing tools and models. Developments in estimative models will be needed to support planning activities, both at a collection management level and at a later preservation planning level once a collection has been acquired. In order to support these developments a greater volume of raw cost data will be required to inform and test new cost models. This volume of data cannot be supported via the Case Study approach, and the LIFE team would suggest that a software tool would provide the volume of costing data necessary to provide a truly accurate predictive model

On‐line student feedback: A pilot study

This paper reports on the outcomes of two experimental trials of the use of on‐line questionnaires to assess student satisfaction with courses at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In the first year, eighteen course modules were selected from three departments, surveying a total of 1,100 student places. Students on ten of the courses were invited to complete the ‘experimental’ on‐line survey and the remainder were invited to complete the paper‐based questionnaires which have been in use for several years. In the second year, the scale of the experiment was increased, to include forty‐six courses across seven departments. Response rates were compared and possible barriers to completion of the on‐line questionnaire were considered Whilst electronic monitoring indicated that 95 per cent (first trial) and 80 per cent (second trial) of those contacted for the on‐line survey opened the introductory email, only 23 per cent (first trial) and 27 per cent (second trial) completed the on‐line survey, compared with a 60 per cent response rate on the paper‐based survey. The on‐line response is also slightly lower than that achieved by postal surveys of LSE students (30–50 per cent response rates). Whilst some technical difficulties could have acted as a barrier, motivation appeared to be the main barrier. Initial results from the second trial, which included two reminder emails and some small incentives, show that it is possible to increase the response rate, but this may still be unacceptably low for staff whose promotion prospects may be affected by results. A third trial has been proposed, looking at ways in which the process as a whole could be amended, to overcome the problem of ‘survey fatigue’ that the current system faces