A contingency-based decision support instrument for selecting lean production tools and techniques

This study is about the development of decision support instrument for selecting lean tools and techniques based on the contingency factors to help Malaysian organizations to select the right lean tools and techniques based on their context. Most of the prior studies were found focusing on the selection lean tools but did not assess the critical contingency factors that may influence the selection of lean tools and techniques. Adding to that, there were no similar studies on the selection of lean tools and techniques within the Malaysian context. The right tools and techniques to be used may vary depending on several factors, therefore to keep away from unnecessary waste and dissatisfaction, it would be better for organization to choose the right lean tools and techniques that will fit with organization’s situation and give benefits to the organization. A mixed-methods study exclusively focused on the development, evaluation, and refinement of a decision support instrument or specifically known as “Decision Aid for Lean Tools and Techniques Selection” (DEALS) was used. The developed decision support instrument, which incorporates 10 most widely used lean tools and techniques was emphasises the use of holistic processes which start from diagnose their current state of waste until the guidance of selecting the appropriate lean tools and techniques. Additionally, contingency factors were employed to include multifaceted viewpoints and contexts in the development of DEALS, such as the adeptness to acquire the commitment and support from the top management and the advantages of implementing lean tools and techniques. The developed decision support instrument includes two selection methods, namely (1) simple additive weighting (SAW) for basic selection and (2) analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for more advanced selection. Based on the evaluation results, all respondents (100%) agreed on the usability, accuracy, and novelty of DEALS as well as the relevance and validity of the selection and the clarity of the purpose of DEALS. The final results of validation testing also shows less than 5% errors when comparing final results of DEALS with two established software which are Expert Choice 11 software and Super Decision Software. By having this DEALS, it expected significantly benefit to managers, practitioners, consultants, researchers, and academicians as a guidance instrument in the selection of lean tools and techniques and generally to organization to have knowledge workers

EFFECT OF THE INTERNAL FLUID FLOW IN THE GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED PLASTIC (GFRP) DYNAMIC

The petroleum produced by the offshore platforms is transported to processing plant through carbon steel pipelines. Usually, expectancy of maximum production capacity of pipelines is never meeting the prediction made in the early stage. Among the main reason for the declining of production capacity of pipelines over time is corrosion. This project aims to prove the dynamic of glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) pipe dynamic is better than steel pipes dynamic in oil pipelines. Whilst it is more common to see in Oil and Gas industry to utilize steel pipes in their pipelines, GFRP pipes show a promising future to reduce corrosion problems. When it comes to pipeline, corrosion had caused severe to production capacity of a line to replace the corroded pipelines will cost a lot of money. The industries are desperate to alternative for the steel pipes. With that in mind, this Final Year Project will be focused more on study of the dynamic behavior of glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) pipe fluid flow properties. A pipe modeling will be created to study the effect of the internal fluid flow in the GFRP pipe and compare it with the steel pipes dynamic. The model will be constructed using the ANSYS Workbench software and it will be analyzed using ANSYS FLUENT. The fluid flow model will be created using the k-epsilon model and all the calculation and iteration will be calculated using second order upwind. This project may lead to explore a better option than steel pipes to use in the oil and gas industry

Company Health Dashboard

Company Health Dashboard is a web application that serves as a tool to display information in dynamic grid-like modules. This application displays viewer-friendly information on the televisions around the company office using Raspberry Pi devices. In order to benefit different types of users, the application divides the screen into multiple customizable modules, with each module representing different information. Company employees, for example, can view information about company news, upcoming events, or even what’s on tap for that day. Visitors or clients, on the other hand, can see information about the company while waiting for their meeting. The design of the dashboard is made to the company’s own liking, having a centralized manager page that can customize each module type, name, title, description and background image. The manager has the ability to handle multiple screens, the admin can add multiple screen layouts and assign those layouts to specific televisions around the office. This lets the company have different screens for different floors or rooms depending on their use. This application has a lot of room for customization and will allow employees and visitors to understand the company’s overall status.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1161/thumbnail.jp

Decision support tools for selecting organisational improvement initiatives: a review

Decision support tools are used in many organisations to support organisational decision making activities. However, very limited studies have been found focussing on the decision support tools for selecting organisational improvement initiatives. Improvement initiatives are approaches, management systems, tools and/or techniques that can be used for managing and improving organisations, such as Lean, ISO9001 and Improvement Team. Four existing decision support tools were reviewed and compared. All four decision support tools consist of decision matrix, rating and ranking to assist in selecting appropriate improvement initiative. Finally, several potential future studies have been proposed

Pembinaan kaedah penyelidikan Islam menggunakan ilmu Qira'at

Dalam mengkaji Islam dan dan hal ehwal orang Islam, penggunaan Kaedah Penyelidikan Lazim dilihat tidak sesuai. Oleh yang demikian, banyak usaha dilakukan dalam ilmu Sains Kemasyarakatan Islam untuk membina Kaedah Penyelidikan Islam

A review on the selection of lean production tools and techniques

There has been numerous published literature related to lean production. However, very limited studies have been found focussing on the selection of lean production tools and techniques especially for Malaysian context. The review is based on the contemporary literature that published between year 2004 to 2014. The main databases used were Science Direct, Scopus and Emerald. The review gives general pictures of the selection and implementation of lean tools and techniques in various industries and the factors that affect the selection process. The analysis showed that there was no study yet on the selection of lean production tools and techniques specifically in Malaysia by using rational decision making process. Therefore, this gap requires further research on the selection of appropriate lean production tools and techniques by considering several critical decision criteria

Interpreting political discourse at the Pan African Parliament into Arabic

in partial fulfilment of Masters in Translation (Option: Interpreting) at the UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND August 2015This study analyses the interpreting of political discourse at the Pan African Parliament (PAP) into Arabic, with a special focus on conflict resolution in the context of PAP debates on conflict situations in Africa and with special reference to the Libyan conflict. The debate I examine was held within a broader context of international dominant discourses and competing narratives of conflicts and foreign interventions, dominated by the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) resolutions on the Libyan conflict. But its battleground includes a broader African context, characterized by a certain degree of resistance as reflected in the discourse of conflict resolution that is informed by the immediate context of the PAP – an organ of the African Union (AU) which seeks to assist in conflict resolution and promote democracy and human rights throughout the continent in actualization of its motto: One Africa, One Voice. My analysis focuses on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and I investigate in particular the conditions of reproduction of dominant discourses, narratives and framings in order to ascertain how they influence debates in the PAP and also what influence they have on interpreting strategies. The aim is to identify the degree to which these elements influence an interpreter’s role and performance and, in turn, how the interpreter then influences the course of a discussion. Based on this, the analysis seeks to determine certain variables, such as discursive and linguistic patterns, discursive moves, style, argumentation, ideologically and politically charged expressions, etc., so as to trace the influence of dominant discourses and competing narratives in the context of interpreting, and specifically how it relates to the political discourse on the Libyan conflict. In investigating interpreting strategies, the analysis also aims at pinpointing elements such as omissions, shifts, repetitions and the occurrence of certain discursive or linguistic elements that would demonstrate the scope of such influences. The analysis furthermore highlights some difficulties and recommends some points for future research. Key words: CDA, interpreter’s role, interpreting strategies, narratives, framing, cognitive load, structure of discourse, linguistic features, discursive strategies, conflict discourse, Africa, conflict resolutio