Relationship of TQM and business performance with mediator of SPC, Lean Production and TPM

In today s highly competitive market, the demand for quality is the single most critical factor for companies to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) has been developed as a result of intense global competition. Most of the previous works show that TQM has significant relationship with business performance. However, the examining of moderators is less given in previous work, which mediators are known generally as general tools and techniques without specific focus on types of improvement. The purpose of this paper is to propose relationship between TQM practices and business performance with mediators of Statistical Process Control (SPC), Lean Production (LP) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) based on extensive review of the literature. Study on TQM, Lean Production, TPM and SPC generally investigate the practices and business performance in isolation. The main contribution of this paper is to identify the relationships among TQM, TPM, SPC and Lean Production practices as a conceptual model. This proposed conceptual model will help the academicians and industry players to have better understanding on the relationship between the practices and step by step implementation to improve business performance. The structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques are used to examine the relationships of the practices.©2012 the Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Characterization of Palm Oil Ashes (POA) under Impulse

The characteristics of soils as used in earth electrode systems were investigated. In this project, the material proposed is palm oil ashes. The work involved particle size distribution, moisture holding capacity, compactness and also breakdown voltage under impulse. For particle size distribution, moisture holding capacity and compactness tests, it had been conducted in Geotechnic Lab, Faculty of Civil Engineering, UTM. The size chosen for every test in this project was 600μm and below. Meanwhile, for a breakdown under impulse test, it had been conducted in IVAT building, FKE. The particle chosen were 600μm because after the particle size distribution test, it is found, it covered 74% from the total of 300g POA. As for moisture holding capacity, it is found, that it can absorb 150% water referring to its dry mass. In the compaction test, the result shows that the optimum compacted are at 25% water added. As for the breakdown voltage impulse, it is found that the breakdown voltage of wet soils is always lower than the dry soils

Employers’ perception on important employability skills in the manufacturing industry

Employability skills are among the important soft skills that should be acquired by employees in the industrial sector today. Unfortunately, Malaysian graduates do face obstacles when looking for employment upon graduation due to the absence of employability skills among them. The main aim of this study is to identify employers’ perceptions of the most important employability skills in the manufacturing industry. The study is also aimed to determine the differences between the important employability skills from the perspective of employers based on their gender, their company’s size, and types of companies in the manufacturing industry. In this study, a total of 182 employers from the manufacturing industry in Batu Pahat were chosen randomly. Questionnaires were administered to the employers. The data generated were statistically analysed using descriptive and inferential analyses. The analysis shows that employers’ perception of the most important employability skills in manufacturing industry is communication skills. The independent variables chosen are gender, company size, and types of manufacturing sector, while the dependent variable is the perceptions of important employability skills in the manufacturing industry. Results show that the perceptions of important employability skills in the manufacturing industry have no significant difference according to employers’ gender and type of manufacturing sector, but there is a significant difference for company size. This quantitative study provides key insights that enable future employees to have more understanding of the employment demand in the manufacturing industry nowadays and for employees to develop their employability skills before getting ready to enter the labour market

Moderating effect of asean free trade agreement between total quality management and business performance

The unprecedented pace of globalisation, trade liberalisation, and capital movement in the later years profoundly changed to pose serious challenges for Malaysian companies to compete in an open market. In today's highly competitive market, the demand for quality is important factor for companies to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) has been developed as a result of intense global competition. ASEAN trade liberalisation through the elimination of intraregional tariffs contributed to improving manufacturing in ASEAN countries to be more efficient and competitive in world markets. However, Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) is a good news for foreign companies as they have competitive advantages, but not for local companies. The examining of AFTA as a moderator is less done in previous work. The purpose of this paper is to propose relationship between TQM practices and business performance with moderator effects of AFTA. The main contribution of this paper is to examine whether AFTA has the effect as a moderator. This proposed conceptual model will help the academicians and industry players to have better understanding on the effect of AFTA in TQM implementation in improving their business performance. The structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques are used to examine the relationships of the practices.©2014 the Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Objective functions modification of GA optimized PID controller for brushed DC motor

PID Optimization by Genetic Algorithm or any intelligent optimization method is widely being used recently. The main issue is to select a suitable objective function based on error criteria. Original error criteria that is widely being used such as ITAE, ISE, ITSE and IAE is insufficient in enhancing some of the performance parameter. Parameter such as settling time, rise time, percentage of overshoot, and steady state error is included in the objective function. Weightage is added into these parameters based on users’ performance requirement. Based on the results, modified error criteria show improvement in all performance parameter after being modified. All of the error criteria produce 0% overshoot, 29.51%-39.44% shorter rise time, 21.11%-42.98% better settling time, 10% to 53.76% reduction in steady state error. The performance of modified objective function in minimizing the error signal is reduced. It can be concluded that modification of objective function by adding performance parameter into consideration could improve the performance of rise time, settling time, overshoot percentage, and steady state erro

Comparative Study of Product Quality Perception between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian Electrical Appliance among Tertiary Students

The high quality of a product is much demanded by consumers today. However, it is difficult to understand the perceptions of consumers towards product quality. Thus, this study intends to identify the relationships between brand and nine product quality dimensions as well as to compare the difference in quality perception between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian electrical appliances amongst Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia students. This is a quantitative study. Nine research hypotheses were examined while considering the nine dimensions of product quality (performance, features, conformance, durability, reliability, serviceability, aesthetics, perceived quality, and environmentally friendly) which were believed to affect the consumers' perceptions of product quality. In this study, the respondents were students from the Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. The data were analysed by using SPSS software. The result reveals that only two quality dimensions, i.e. feature and serviceability were significantly correlated with the brand. Besides that, four quality dimensions, i.e. performance, features, aesthetics, and perceived quality had a significant difference in quality perceptions between Malaysian and Non-Malaysian electrical appliances. The result of this study will help to provide guidance and information for future research in the field of electronics

Effect of Penalty Function Parameter in Objective Function of System Identification

The evaluation of an objective function for a particular model allows one to determine the optimality of a model structure with the aim of selecting an adequate model in system identification. Recently, an objective function was introduced that, besides evaluating predictive accuracy, includes a logarithmic penalty function to achieve a suitable balance between the former model’s characteristics and model parsimony. However, the parameter value in the penalty function was made arbitrarily. This paper presents a study on the effect of the penalty function parameter in model structure selection in system identification on a number of simulated models. The search was done using genetic algorithms. A representation of the sensitivity of the penalty function parameter value in model structure selection is given, along with a proposed mathematical function that defines it. A recommendation is made regarding how a suitable penalty function parameter value can be determined