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

Total Quality Management Practices and Technology Transfer in Malaysian Public University

It is widely accepted that the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) as a management philosophy has significantly contributed to good management practice in business organization particularly in the manufacturing and service sectors. The applications of that concepts, techniques and tools have been successfully tailored to non-profit service or government-based organization. In the context of higher education institution, it has been seriously debated by the TQM scholars and academicians on the issue of to what extent TQM can be applied and how relevant its practices are to higher education\u27s core business i.e. teaching and research. Despite having sufficient knowledge and research on TQM implementation in the scope of manufacturing practices and administration-related services, it is hard to find a research on TQM, which focuses on the scope of R&D at a university. This gap has to be filled because the management of research is a critical topic for universities worldwide. For developing countries such as Malaysia the need to have good management practice in R&D is even greater. Without effective research management, the task of becoming significant players in the global knowledge market will become harder. Thus, the first part of this paper will discuss the applicability of TQM and propose a theoretical framework or model of TQM to suit the need of R&D context. The constructs for the TQM framework are based on previous empirical studies and the evaluation criteria of world standard criteria such as MBNQA, EFQM, and QMS ISO 9000. The TQM constructs that will be proposed are leadership, strategic planning, student/stakeholder & industry focus, data & information management, staff management, process & system approach, partnership & resource and continuous improvement. The second part of the paper will discuss the performance indicators of R&D activities particularly in the context of public university. The review of International literatures stressed that the performance of R&D activities have to be measured. The current issue related to research performance at university is the level the research output that can be transferred to the stakeholders. Therefore, this study will use technology transfer framework to measure research performance such as publication, patents, royalty and Spin-off Company. Finally, this paper will conceptually develop a model that would show the relationship between the TQM practices in the area of research and the level of technology transfer

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

Study on Effect of Human Metabolic Rate on Skin Temperature in Office Environment

The motivation of this study is to get better understanding about the real thermal sensation of people in office environment who undertake moderate activities. All measurements were conducted in a climate chamber. In total, fifteen subjects were participated in three kinds of activities, their skin temperatures and thermal sensation were measured. Skin temperatures (eleven locations) were measured using thermocouple sensors. The results showed that the temperature is the one of factors which affect metabolic rate. There is a strong linear relationship between these three tasks of metabolic rate with skin temperature. Furthermore, the results indicate that there was a greater increase thermal sensation when the metabolic rate 1.6

Effect of operating temperature on direct recycling aluminium chips (AA6061) in hot press forging process

A method of solid-state recycling aluminum alloy using hot press forging process was studied as well as the possibility of the recycled chip to be used as secondary resources. This paper presents the results of recycled AA6061 aluminium alloy chip using different operating temperature for hot press forging process. Mechanical properties and microstructure of the recycled specimens and as-received (reference) specimen were investigated. The recycled specimens exhibit a good potential in the strength properties. The result for yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at the minimum temperature 430˚C is 25.8 MPa and 27.13 MPa. For the maximum operating temperature 520˚C YS and UTS are 107.0MPa and 117.53 MPa. Analysis for different operating temperatures shows that the higher temperatures giving better result on mechanical properties and finer microstructure. The strength of recycled specimen increases due to the grain refinement strengthening whereas particle dispersion strengthening has minor effects. In this study, the recycled AA6061 chip shows the good potential in strengthening as the comparison of using only 17.5% of suggested pressure (70.0/400.0) MPa, the UTS exhibit 35.8% (117.58/327.69) MPa. This shows a remarkable potential of direct recycling by using hot press forging process

A novel green antenna phase-shift system with data acquisition boards

A novel green phase shifter system is proposed in this research. The system is developed by a combination of reconfigurable beam steering antennas and data acquisition (DAQ) boards. A combination of two reconfigurable beam steering antennas, located side-by-side, forms a spatial configuration structure with a fabricated ‘green’ element plank of rice husk placed in between. The concept of a spatial configuration technique has been ‘mutated’ by shifting the structure of spiral feed line and aperture slots of first beam steering antenna by as much as 45 ◦ . The PIN diode switches connected to the DAQ boards enable the intelligent capability of the spatial antennas. The activation of certain degree radiation patterns of either the first beam steering antenna or the second beam steering antenna depends on the memory of the DAQ boards — Beam Manager. When an intruder comes from the cardinal angles of 0◦/ 360◦, 90◦, 180◦, or 270◦, its range and angles’ location will be automatically detected by the first antenna through the output ports of the 1st DAQ: P1.0, P1.1, P1.2, and P1.3. The second antenna is then activated by the output ports of the 2nd DAQ: P2.0 up to P2.3, to adaptively maneuver the beam towards four different ordinal directions of 45◦, 135◦, 225◦, and 315◦

A Patternless Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Ultra Low Frequency Applications

This paper presents a pattern less piezoelectric harvester for ultra low power energy applications. Usually patterned cantilevers are used as vibration energy harvester which results additional fabrication process. Hence, to reduce the process, a four layer cantilever configuration is used to design the harvester with Aluminum, Silicon and Zinc Oxide. The device dimension is settled to 12×10×≈0.5009 mm3 with ≈300 nm deposition thickness for each layer. The modeling and fabrication processes are demonstrated in detail. The induced voltage by the cantilever is obtained through the analytical and practical measurements. From the measurements, it is found that, the maximum induced voltage is 91.2 mV from practical measurement with voltage density of 1.517 mV/mm3. It is evident from the results that, this pattern less model can be useful for next generation vibration energy harvester with simpler technology

A simulation model of reinforced concrete beam containing expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) and palm oil fueled ash (POFA) using finite element method

In this study, Expanded Polystyrene bead (EPS) and Palm Oil Fuelled Ash (POFA) will be used to replace several percents of cement and aggregate in reinforced concrete beam construction. EPS can produce lightweight concrete, and the use of POFA can produce high strength concrete and can also reduce waste disposal. The reinforced concrete beams were analysed using computer software called ABAQUS. The main reason Abaqus software is used as analytics software for this project is that the software is designed specifically for analyzing advanced structural and heat transfer. It is designed for both linear and nonlinear pressure analyses for both tiny and huge structures. This software can also be used to analyze the proposed reinforced concrete beam failure pattern of EPS and POFA. The percentage of EPS and POFA were 40% to 60% in concrete as replacement material. The information obtained from Abaqus is then used to verify the experimental results. The data also contains the appropriate percentage of EPS and POFA in the reinforced concrete beam where performance in terms of bending, pressure, and failure pattern is at maximum. The result shows decrease performance of RC beam containing 40-60% EPS and POFA

Rock bearing resistance of bored piles socketed into rock

In view of the large movement required to mobilise the base resistance of bored piles and difficulty in base cleaning, the end bearing resistance often ignored in current design practice that will result in excessive rock socket length. Many attempts have been made to correlate the end bearing resistance with the uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock and the RQD but it is uncertain how applicable they are to rock type in Malaysia. This paper attempts to review the applicability of the formulas from previous studies to rock type in Malaysia. A program of field tests for 13 bored piles with diameter varying from 1000 mm to 1500 mm constructed in granite was conducted to measure the axial response of bored piles, tested using static load test and high strain load dynamic test to verify its integrity and performance. The results were evaluated and compared to the predicted rock bearing resistance. Based on the result obtained, the method by AASHTO gives the best prediction of rock bearing resistance for granite in Malaysia. However the relationship between compressive strength and rock discontinuities with the rock bearing resistance showed scattered results