Monitoring of process performance by means of financial indicators

The paper deals with problematic nature of measuring of process performance. It includes a designed procedure of process performance monitoring, evaluation of logistic processes quality, and also measuring of the impact of marketing activities on the profitability of process output, i.e. a product, by means of appropriate indicator.There are several performance indicators that companies use to monitor the performance of their processes and business strategies with respect to their objectives. To monitor these indicators, enterprises rely on dashboards that present one or more indicators along with contextual information to help decision makers identify deviations and their root causes. Associated benefits related to the process performance measurement system can be seen, for example, in better decision-making, flexible human resource management and process management structures. By using rolled steel sheets in a large metallurgical plant as an example, there will be shown how the performance of the rolling process can be improved by monitoring the tangible financial indicator. Subsequently, the experience was from case management companies presented to further incorporate a practical view of implementation and related issues. Finally, the reasons why the organization prefers the observed indicator during implementation of the process performance of measurement system is explored in order to understand the causes and consequences

Risk Assessment Using the PFDA-FMEA Integrated Method

Purpose: The paper aims to introduce risk assessment in new product development as an important activity for a successful new product launch. A practical example is presented to demonstrate the integration of tools Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Pythagorean Fuzzy Dimensional Analysis (PFDA) at new product development process, which is a machined component. Methodology/Approach: Individual steps for creating a case study were carried out: create a Subject Matter Expert (SME) team, identify product failure modes, use linguistic values to assess the FMEA, compute and obtain the PFDA-FMEA and determine the product failure modes ranking. Findings: Minimized uncertainty in the final evaluation of the FMEA and improvement in the decision-making process based on the risks already identified in the new product development process. Research Limitation/Implication: The PFDA-FMEA method was based on the risk assessment of a machined part development process. Nevertheless, this method can be used for application in many other areas of industry that require high precision in risk analysis. Originality/Value of paper: The aim of this paper is to reveal a new integrated method in which FMEA, Pythagorean Fuzzy Sets (PFS) and Dimensional Analysis (DA) are coherent in one model

Measuring temperature of the atmosphere in the steelmaking furnace

The paper presents a measurement of temperature in a steelmaking furnace with an oxygen refining process, specifically in a tandem furnace. Knowledge of the temperature is important for optimizing the manufacturing process and extending of the life cycle of the inner furnace lining. Conditions in the furnace are very demanding; the temperature may temporarily exceed 2000 °C and exhibits changes of 60 °C s−1. The atmosphere in the furnace is mainly oxidizing and its chemical composition is very variable. In the atmosphere there are also present liquid and solid compounds which act chemically and abrasively on the lining and on the sensor. These conditions make it impossible to use a suction pyrometer, contactless optical or acoustic measurement methods. It was decided to use a thermocouple in a protective tube. The sensor was inserted into the furnace through a steel bushing with water cooling. For the first measurement the type B thermocouple in Al2O3 protective tube inside an outer shielding tube made from SiC was used. The second sensor used the type C thermocouple in a special thick-walled protective tube made from sintered SiC. The sensor does not measure the temperature of the gas itself, since it is affected by radiation of the surrounding areas. Conditions for heat transport from the furnace to the sensor are variable and difficult to determine; therefore, the accurate identification of the atmosphere temperature is not possible. Limit values of the temperature interval of the atmosphere were determined, for hypothetical cases of athermanous and ideally diathermic atmospheres.Web of Science751039