2,089 research outputs found
The establishment of the time interval between inspections for a cold standby system with component repair
The time interval between inspections of cold standby systems is a crucial decision to ensure the appropriated system reliability and the lowest costs possible. This paper presents a model developed to establish the optimal time interval between inspections for a two-unit cold standby system with component repair and subject to periodic inspection, considering reliability and costs. A Markov chain is used to define possible states, their transition probabilities and the mean time to system failure, as a function of the time interval between inspections. Given the mean time to system failure, the steady state availability is determined. Finally, the costs related to the system maintenance are established and a cost function is developed and optimized for the time interval between inspections. Numerical examples are presented and results for different system parameters are compared. Besides optimizing the time interval between inspections, the analyses also reveal the effect of repair time on system availability and mean time to system failure
A proposal of a reference model for the pharmaceutical PDP management
This paper presents a reference model for pharmaceutical Product Development Process. The model was created founded on renowned methods as Concurrent Engineering, Stage Gates and Product Based Business. It was developed using legislation and information from interviews with professionals of Brazilian pharmaceutical companies. The developed model contemplates three macro stages and seven phases, embracing from business opportunity recognition to product market launching. The purpose of this article is to introduce the reference model for the pharmaceutical body, since it represents an improvement compared to the general product development models presented in the literature. The reference model is also important in the pharmaceutical academic field, as a didactic tool
Un juego para enseñar y aplicar el design thinking en la innovación
Objective: Develop and apply a game to facilitate the use of design thinking for innovation. Method: The construction of the game was based upon the Constructivism Theory. The game was developed following the steps of: (i) understanding the target audience and the context; (ii) defining learning objectives; (iii) structuring the experience; (iv) identifying resources and applying gamification elements; (v) evaluation. Originality/Relevance: Design Thinking emerges as an alternative to improve the innovation process in companies. To facilitate this innovation process, this paper presents a game, through its development and application, based on the principles and stages of Design Thinking, focusing on difficulties of its implementation. Results: The game provides an iterative passage through all stages of the design thinking, giving a holistic view of the process, starting with a deep understanding of the problem, and coming to a design solution. Social / management contributions: The results of the game application have shown its potential to: (i) ease teamwork, avoiding negative discussions and providing active participation from all students; (ii) lead to insight generation in a comprehensible way, making clear the difference between insights and ideas; (iii) simplify the use of inspiring methods and techniques (such as Persona, Empathy Map and Napkin Pitch); (iv) develop creative confidence; (v) provide a pleasant and motivating learning environment for collaborative multidisciplinary work. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: The game provides a method for building serious games and the game as a method of applying Design Thinking for Innovation.Objetivo: Desenvolver e aplicar um jogo para facilitar o uso do design thinking para inovação. Método: A construção do jogo foi baseada na Teoria do Construtivismo. O jogo foi desenvolvido seguindo as etapas de: (i) compreensão do público-alvo e do contexto; (ii) definir objetivos de aprendizagem; (iii) estruturação da experiência; (iv) identificar recursos e aplicar elementos de gamificação; (v) avaliação. Originalidade / Relevância: O Design Thinking surge como alternativa para melhorar o processo de inovação nas empresas. Para facilitar esse processo de inovação, este artigo apresenta um jogo, por meio de seu desenvolvimento e aplicação, baseado nos princípios e etapas do Design Thinking, com foco nas dificuldades de sua implementação. Resultados: O jogo fornece uma passagem iterativa por todas as fases do design thinking, dando uma visão holística do processo, começando com uma compreensão profunda do problema e chegando a uma solução de design. Contribuições sociais / gerenciais: Os resultados da aplicação do jogo mostraram seu potencial para: (i) facilitar o trabalho em equipe, evitando discussões negativas e proporcionando a participação ativa de todos os alunos; (ii) levar à geração de insights de forma compreensível, deixando clara a diferença entre insights e ideias; (iii) simplificar o uso de métodos e técnicas inspiradoras (como Persona, Empathy Map e Guardanapo); (iv) desenvolver confiança criativa; (v) proporcionar um ambiente de aprendizagem agradável e motivador para o trabalho multidisciplinar colaborativo. Contribuições teórico-metodológicas: O jogo fornece um método para a construção de serious games e o jogo como método de aplicação do Design Thinking para a inovação.Objetivo: Desarrollar y aplicar un juego para facilitar el uso del Design Thinking para la innovación. Método: La construcción del juego se basó en la Teoría del Constructivismo. El juego se desarrolló siguiendo los pasos de: (i) comprender al público objetivo y el contexto; (ii) definición de objetivos de aprendizaje; (iii) estructurar la experiencia; (iv) identificación de recursos y aplicación de elementos de gamificación; (v) evaluación. Originalidad / Relevancia: El Design Thinking surge como una alternativa para mejorar el proceso de innovación en las empresas. Para facilitar este proceso de innovación, este trabajo presenta un juego, a través de su desarrollo y aplicación, basado en los principios y etapas del Design Thinking, enfocándose en las dificultades de su implementación. Resultados: el juego proporciona un pasaje iterativo a través de todas las etapas del Design Thinking, brindando una visión holística del proceso, comenzando con una comprensión profunda del problema y llegando a una solución de Design. Contribuciones sociales / de gestión: Los resultados de la aplicación del juego han demostrado su potencial para: (i) facilitar el trabajo en equipo, evitar discusiones negativas y proporcionar una participación activa de todos los estudiantes; (ii) conducir a la generación de conocimientos de una manera comprensible, dejando clara la diferencia entre conocimientos e ideas; (iii) simplificar el uso de métodos y técnicas inspiradoras (como Persona, Empathy Map y Napkin Pitch); (iv) desarrollar la confianza creativa; (v) proporcionar un entorno de aprendizaje agradable y motivador para el trabajo multidisciplinario colaborativo. Contribuciones teóricas / metodológicas: El juego proporciona un método para construir juegos serios y el juego como método de aplicación del Design Thinking para la innovación
Consumer behaviour towards suboptimal food products : a strategy for food waste reduction
Purpose: Food waste has received attention during the last decade, especially due to its environmental and social impacts. An important contributor to food waste is consumers’ low preference for purchase fruits and vegetables with unusual appearance, products with damaged package and products close to the expiration date, technically called suboptimal food products. Researches show that consumers tend to reject these products when buying food, increasing avoidable food waste. However, consumer considerations when deciding to buy or not to buy suboptimal food are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to use two different approaches to investigate consumers’ perceptions towards suboptimal food and how they impact their acceptance. Design/methodology/approach: The first part of the study involved a qualitative analysis of participants’ open-ended responses (282 answers), where participants were asked to write down the impressions they had about three suboptimal food images. The second phase explored consumers acceptance of suboptimal food through a focus group discussion. Findings: Results reveal that considerations about suboptimal food are divergent, with some participants rejecting them because they are impelled to search for perfection when buying food products. However, some individuals are disposed to accept suboptimal products, mainly because they have concern with the environment and cook abilities. Originality/value: As a whole, this study contributes for food waste reduction strategies and has implications for marketing action
A relationship model for factors influencing knowledge transfer between NPD teams
Paper aims: To define a model that describes the relationship among the main factors influencing knowledge transfer (KT) between new product development (NPD) teams. Originality: We offer a systemic vision of the relationship between the KT factors. All main KT factors are analyzed together considering the interdependence among them. Research method: KT factors from the literature were used for the model development, which was accomplished through a quantitative evaluation of scholars and practitioners. To test the model, a practical assessment was conducted in five firms using regression analysis. Main findings: The model describes the relationships of 15 main factors and it can be used for practical assessments or for future theoretical studies. Implications for theory and practice: The model can help practitioners to use knowledge of their teams for continuous innovation in NPD. It allows to perform diagnoses of the KT factors in the specific context of a given firm
An analysis of buyer-supplier integration for servitization strategies
AbstractThe Business Model (BM) transformation process, changing from a traditional manufacturing BM to BM focused on servitization (servitized BM), may increase the management complexity, which is also reflected in a need of superior levels of organizational knowledge. Therefore, one alternative to deal with this challenge is by acquiring knowledge from suppliers. However, there is still a lack of studies analyzing the collaboration intensity and knowledge transfer with suppliers to be successful in the BM transformation for servitization. Thus, this paper aims to understand how companies deal with suppliers’ knowledge integration aiming for servitization and to understand the knowledge transfer dynamics in this integration. Aiming this, we adapted to the context of servitized solutions development, the framework proposed by Le Dain and Merminod (2014) for supplier integration in collaborative new product development (NPD), which combines three typical supplier involvement configurations (black, grey and white box integration) with the three knowledge sharing levels proposed by Carlile (2004) (transfer, translation and transformation). By means of a multiple-case study analysis of seven multinational companies, we first reinterpreted the three classical supplier integration configuration, showing how they can happen in servitization; then, we analyzed the levels of knowledge sharing that are present in each one of the three suppliers’ involvement configurations. Our results show differences of the framework when compared to the original one for supplier involvement. We also discuss causes of such a difference between purely product development and servitized product development
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