What is the new paradigm in product quality?

The current product quality paradigm is founded upon a customer-focused product development process, in which the functionality and behaviour of a product are designed to fulfil the needs of customers, and technological innovation is used to expand the capability and enhance the performance of the product. However, this view of product quality does not reflect the current practices of today's leading manufacturers, who now offer "total solutions" based upon an integrated package of products and services with well defined characteristics tailored to individual needs. Concepts such as globalisation, mass customisation, product branding, e-commerce, and sustainability suggest that a new product quality paradigm is evolving. This paper will discuss our current understanding of product quality issues and outline our vision of the new quality paradigm for product developers

What is the new paradigm in product quality?

The current product quality paradigm is founded upon a customer-focused product development process, in which the functionality and behaviour of a product are designed to fulfil the needs of customers, and technological innovation is used to expand the capability and enhance the performance of the product. However, this view of product quality does not reflect the current practices of today's leading manufacturers, who now offer "total solutions" based upon an integrated package of products and services with well defined characteristics tailored to individual needs. Concepts such as globalisation, mass customisation, product branding, e-commerce, and sustainability suggest that a new product quality paradigm is evolving. This paper will discuss our current understanding of product quality issues and outline our vision of the new quality paradigm for product developers

Nuclear Molecular Imaging Strategies in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICT) is a new treatment strategy developed for the treatment of cancer. ICT inhibits pathways known to downregulate the innate immune response to cancer cells. These drugs have been shown to be effective in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including metastatic melanoma and lung cancer. Challenges in response evaluation of patients in ICT have risen as immune related side effects and immune cell infiltration may be confused with progressive disease. Furthermore, the timing of the evaluation scan may be challenged by relatively slow responses. To overcome this, new response criteria for evaluating these patients with morphologic imaging have been proposed. The aim of this paper is to review and discuss the current evidence for the use of molecular imaging, e.g., PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/Computer Tomography) with 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucoes (FDG) as an alternative imaging method for monitoring patients undergoing ICT. Following the currently available evidence, this review will primarily focus on patients with malignant melanoma

Lagrangian Measurements of Orbital Velocities in the Surf Zone

Eulerian and Lagrangian measurements of orbital velocities in waves approaching a beach are analyzed with the goal of understanding the relative influence of wave-by-wave variations in mean-water level, wave height and incipient wave breaking on mass transport properties of waves in the surf zone. It is shown quantitatively that elevated local mean-water level correlates positively with increased Lagrangian mass transport at the free surface. Eulerian ADV measurements in the fluid column suggest that the depth-integrated wave-by-wave mass transport also correlates positively with the local mean-water level, and is only weakly linked to wave height and wave-breaking events.publishedVersio

How companies embed non-quantifiable product qualities through their product development process

Many consumer products have reached a high level of technical product quality. Rapid adoption of new technologies and access to a global market means that markets are getting saturated. This means that technical differentiation is often not enough to sell a product and products compete more and more on intangible product qualities - these are meant to delight, bring pleasure, be easy to use and to create an experience. These qualities are often difficult to measure in the product using scientific descriptions and numerical measures. This research studies these Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities and the thesis presents research into how companies embed these Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities into their products in an attempt to satisfy their customers. The aim of this research was to gain insight into how large manufacturing companies embed product qualities that are difficult to quantify, by studying their product development process. This was done in two stages, firstly an exploratory study into five case organisations, secondly an in-depth study into three of the original five companies. Fifty interviews with designers, engineers and marketers formed the main source of data, supplemented with observations and document analysis. In the exploratory stage nine initial themes emerged out of data analysis, which then informed the data collection in the descriptive stage. The final output is seven confirmed themes, with 43 major findings and three conceptual models, that describe how companies embed Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities through their product development process. The research has found that the researched companies have some common strategies for embedding Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities. One example is that they will typically seek to translate an emotional response in the customer into measurable product qualities that will evoke such response. It is also common to seek out customer reaction to products during development to ensure successful embedding of Non-Quantifiable Product Qualities.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Solution oriented partnerships - A new business model for integrating global-production efficiencies with sustainability

A business model for integrating global-production efficiencies with sustainability is discussed. Two trends that emulate some of the aspects of the wealthy are the increasing willingness of many to pay extra for customization such as clothes, of kitchens and the increasing acceptance of purchasing a service as a product substitute. Two final trends that are also based in the attitudes of people is an increased awareness of the value of local culture and an increased concern with issues of sustainability. The results show that the goal congruence between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations puts emphasis on value and belief of the organization

NMR-Based Metabolomic Study on Isatis tinctoria: Comparison of Different Accessions, Harvesting Dates, and the Effect of Repeated Harvesting

Isatis tinctoria is an ancient dye and medicinal plant with potent anti-inflammatory and antiallergic properties. Metabolic differences were investigated by NMR spectroscopy of accessions from different origins that were grown under identical conditions on experimental plots. For these accessions, metabolite profiles at different harvesting dates were analyzed, and single and repeatedly harvested plants were compared. Leaf samples were shock-frozen in liquid N2 immediately after being harvested, freeze-dried, and cryomilled prior to extraction. Extracts were prepared by pressurized liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and 70% aqueous methanol. NMR spectra were analyzed using a combination of different methods of multivariate data analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA), canonical analysis (CA), and k-nearest neighbor concept (k-NN). Accessions and harvesting dates were well separated in the PCA/CA/k-NN analysis in both extracts. Pairwise statistical total correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY) revealed unsaturated fatty acids, porphyrins, carbohydrates, indole derivatives, isoprenoids, phenylpropanoids, and minor aromatic compounds as the cause of these differences. In addition, the metabolite profile was affected by the repeated harvest regime, causing a decrease of 1,5-anhydroglucitol, sucrose, unsaturated fatty acids, porphyrins, isoprenoids, and a flavonoid. © 2015 The American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy