We analyze issues arising from demand management in decentralized decision-making environments. We consider logistics systems and supply chains, where companies' operations are handled with independent entities whose decisions affect the performance of the overall system. In the first study, we focus on a logistics system in the sea cargo industry, where demand is booked by independent sales agents, and the agents' capacity limits and sales incentives are determined by a central headquarters. We develop models for the central headquarters to analyze and optimize capacity allocation and sales incentives to improve the performance of the decentralized system. We use network flow problems to incorporate agent behavior in our models, and we link these individual problems through an overall optimization problem that determines the capacity limits. We prove a worst-case bound on the decentralized system performance and show that the choice of sales incentive impacts the performance. In the second study, we focus on supply chains in the automotive industry, where decentralization occurs as a result of the non-direct sales channels of the auto manufacturers. Auto manufacturers can affect their demand through sales promotions. We use a game theoretical model to examine the impact of retailer incentive and customer rebate promotions on the manufacturer's pricing and the retailer's ordering/sales decisions. We consider several models with different demand characteristics and information asymmetry between the manufacturer and a price discriminating retailer. We characterize the subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium decisions and determine which promotion would benefit the manufacturer under which market conditions. We find that the retailer incentives are preferred when demand is known. On the other hand, when demand is highly uncertain the manufacturer is better off with customer rebates. We extend this research by analyzing a competitive setting with two manufacturers and two retailers, where the manufacturers' promotions vary between retailer incentives and customer rebates. We find an equilibrium outcome where customer rebates reduce the competitor's profits to zero. We observe in numerical examples that the manufacturers are able to increase their sales and profits with retailer incentives, although this can be at the expense of the retailers' profits under some situations.

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This study was designed to assess the role of secondary education in the employability of operators in the South African automotive industry. Five types of secondary education are referred to, namely, a secondary education including Mathematics and Science as subjects; a matriculation with Mathematics as a subject; a secondary education inclusive of Science as a subject; a technical type Grade 12 qualification and a general form of secondary education. A two-phase aptitude testing selection process, employing three sub-tests from the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT-K) and five from the Trade Aptitude Test (TRAT) batteries, was utilised to assess whether there were significant differences in aptitude test scores of applicants with different types of secondary education. These aptitude measures were administered to 2 463 preselected respondents. Descriptive statistics such as median, mode and frequency distribution graphs were used. Statistical analysis was also carried out, using the Chi-square test of independence, to determine the differences in aptitude test results obtained by the groups in the study. The study‟s findings revealed that the type of Grade 12 qualification held by applicants is an important criterion to be considered in the selection of automotive operators. The findings specifically indicated that a secondary education that included Mathematics and/or Science as subjects resulted in notable performance in the aptitude instruments employed in this study. The findings are broadly relevant to the South African automotive industry and are of value to human resource practitioners, educators, social scientists and other researchers.

No / This paper describes a study made into the application of PFMEA in a sample of suppliers to an automotive manufacturing company in the UK. The objectives of the research were to study the concerns and inhibitors that PFMEA users have, establish how the effectiveness could be determined, evaluate PFMEA use as a problem prevention technique and to recommend best practice. The research methodology included the use of interviews, workshops and questionnaires involving 150 quality approved suppliers. Conclusions were drawn to show that the PFMEA technique has its limitations, caused by a number of issues. Recommendations for overcoming these limitations of the PFMEA process are presented.

Organizational culture is a product of both internal and external factors. Leaders sometimes attempt to change culture using a variety of mechanisms, while the effects of external environment simultaneously exert influence. The external environment effects can be especially pronounced when comparing a traditional, Midwestern automotive firm (General Motors) with a Silicon Valley automotive startup (Tesla). A study was conducted to compare the social system of these two automakers and to identify some of the factors, both internal and external, shaping their culture. Data was collected on the employment history of engineers and managers using the social networking platform LinkedIn.com. Similarly, publicly-posted employee reviews were collected from the website Glassdoor.com and analyzed using a novel method for classifying and analyzing openorm written survey responses. Together, these records paint a picture of the employee perceptions of culture for both companies, the breadth of external experience represented in their workforces, and the tendency to fill management positions from internal candidates. The results suggest that external environment has broad effects on workforce experience, thereby creating certain cultural attributes such as loyalty or a drive to innovate. The results also suggest that promoting internal candidates more often does not necessarily lead to employee perception of better career opportunities. Taken together, the results reinforce but expand traditional views of organizational culture and call for further study on the matter across more industry groups.

The automotive industry has become a major user of magnesium components. However, use of magnesium sheet products is quite limited, due to difficulties in producing cost effective components. Any sheet currently produced is formed at elevated temperatures, making magnesium parts relatively expensive. Knowledge of the microstructural effects on magnesium formability will help reduce the cost of these products. In this thesis, the microstructural factors that affect the formability of rolled and extruded magnesium sheet were compared. It was found that the degree of dynamic recrystallization was the factor that controlled elongation. Dynamic recrystallization produced a finer grain size, which resulted in a transition in deformation mechanism from dislocation slip to grain boundary sliding. Digital image correlation was used to study local stresses during tensile deformation, and to determine if magnesium satisfies Considere's criterion before failure. The results indicated that local stresses developed during deformation satisfied Considere's criterion, although the global strains were lower than the theoretical predictions. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Orientador: Victor Orlando Gamarra Rosado / Banca: Mauro Hugo Mathias / Banca: Messias Borges Silva / Banca: Rosinei Batista Ribeiro / Banca: Luis Carlos Paschoarelli / Resumo: A utilização de autômatos tem se tornado um dos objetivos da indústria brasileira e, para tanto, faz-se necessário um estudo detalhado sobre a instalação e o uso dos robôs, considerando os aspectos ergonômicos e de segurança como parâmetros relevantes para as inserções desses equipamentos nas linhas de produção. Parte da região do Vale do Paraíba, delimitada pelos municípios de Porto Real, no estado do Rio de Janeiro e Taubaté, no estado de São Paulo, foi escolhida como alvo de estudo, por reunir considerável número de indústrias com características de produção e transformação automotiva. É mister comentar que o setor automotivo e de autopeças é reconhecido mundialmente como um dos principais na implantação de robôs em suas linhas de produção. Além do aspecto técnico, a região é relevante por sua localização geográfica e seu desenvolvimento econômico. O método empregado para conhecer a realidade da célula robótica foi a Apreciação Ergonômica do Sistema Homem-Tarefa-Máquina - SHTM, capaz de orientar os estudos. Para quantificar e qualificar os impactos sobre o componente humano foram utilizadas as seguintes ferramentas: Índice de Intensidade de Moore e Garg (1995) e a Avaliação Rápida dos Membros Superiores - RULA de McAtamney e Corlett (1993). O método e as ferramentas destacaram vários problemas explícitos de prejuízo aos operadores, como as: inadequações posturais, sobrecargas, freqüência e ritmos de execução de tarefas acima do limite adequado, excesso de deslocamentos, entre outros fatores. Tais constatações reforçam a suspeita sobre a ocorrência de falhas provenientes da ausência de estudos ergonômicos na instalação das células robóticas. O estudo também identificou problemas durante o processo de manutenção do autômato na célula robótica, momento em que, geralmente... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The automats has become an important Brazilian industry objective, in that way it is necessary do specific studies about the actual installation and use on industrial robots considering ergonomic and safe parameters that organize this equipment at the production lines. A part of the Vale do Paraíba region limited by two cities, Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro state and Taubaté, São Paulo state was chosen for this study for presents an automotive industry production favorable to receive automated machine like a robot. Economical development and good geographic position are main aspects to this region reinforce the proposal. Ergonomic Appreciation of the Man-Task-System-Machine - MTSM was the method used to study the choose system. To qualify and quantify the impact related to the man, during his work, was applied two different instruments: Index of Intensity - Moore and Garg (1995) and the Rapid Upper Limb Assessement - RULA - McAtamney and Corlett (1993). The results of Ergonomic Appreciation detach some inadequacies as: chemical contamination, postural deviation, over lift, rhythm and frequency above the limit, excess of movements and others disturbs may cause problems to the operators. The presence of such kind of ergonomic problems reinforces the suspicion about cells robotics installation that may be failing by the absence of ergonomic studies. This study also permitted to notice some industry easiness some accident aspects that occur specially with automat during a cell robot installation process, moment that a different professional teams works together creating a new relationship. It can be said that the human being valorization, the study of the real work and the harmonization between the ergonomics and the several sciences commonly used by the industries they are fundamental to control the risk characteristic... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Este estudo propõe um método de avaliação de desempenho de práticas típicas da produção enxuta em indústrias de manufatura. As práticas utilizadas no método proposto são práticas enxutas operacionais (por exemplo, gerenciamento visual e troca rápida de ferramentas), diferentemente de estudos anteriores que focavam principalmente em práticas enxutas gerenciais. O método foi desenvolvido e testado em um estudo de caso realizado em uma empresa fabricante de juntas homocinéticas. Essa empresa vem adotando a produção enxuta (PE) como estratégia de produção em nível corporativo desde 2002. O método é composto de oito etapas: (a) uma avaliação da sua aplicabilidade, a qual implica em verificar se os objetivos das estratégias de manufatura podem ser atingidos através da produção enxuta; (b) uma avaliação preliminar do quanto a cultura organizacional é consistente com os princípios da produção enxuta – essa avaliação é feita através da aplicação de um checklist baseado em requisitos estabelecidos pelas Normas SAE J4000 e J4001; (c) entrevistas com gerentes para verificar suas percepções sobre os pontos fortes e fracos na implementação da produção enxuta – nesse estudo de caso, sete gerentes foram entrevistados: (d) aplicação de um checklist para avaliar o desempenho de um grupo de práticas enxutas, baseado na percepção de gerentes – nesse estudo de caso, sete gerentes preencheram o checklist e a média de desempenho de cada prática enxuta foi calculada; (e) o desenvolvimento de um ranking para avaliar a importância de práticas enxutas, baseadas na percepção de alguns gerentes envolvidos na etapa anterior; (f) seleção de indicadores de desempenho que possam quantificar indiretamente o desempenho de práticas enxutas, considerando os indicadores utilizados na empresa e indicadores utilizados em estudos anteriores; (g) coleta de dados referentes aos indicadores selecionados na etapa anterior ; (h) seminário para discutir os resultados coletados em todas as etapas anteriores. Os passos (g) e (h) não foram aplicados nesse estudo de caso. De forma geral, os resultados demonstraram que práticas enxutas fortemente associadas com a estabilidade básica, tais como a padronização, apresentaram desempenho fraco. / This study presents a method for assessing the performance of typical lean production practices in manufacturing industry. The practices encompassed by the proposed method are related to operational lean practices (e.g. visual management and single minute exchange of dies and tools), differently from previous similar studies that focused mostly on managerial lean practices. The method was developed and tested in a case study undertaken in a manufacturer of automobile axiles. This company has been adopting lean production as its manufacturing strategy since 2002. The method involves eight stages: (a) an assessment of its applicability, which implies checking whether the manufacturing strategy targets might be achieved through lean production; (b) a preliminary assessment of the extent to which the organizational culture is consistent with lean production principles – this assessment is made through the application of a check-list based on the requirements established by SAE J4000 and J4001 standards; (c) interviews with managers to identify their perceptions on strenghts and weaknesses of lean production implementation – in the case study, seven managers were interviewed; (d) application of a check-list to assess the performance of a set of lean practices based on managers perceptions – in the case study, seven managers filled out the check-list and an average degree of performance for each lean practice was then calculated; (e) the development of a ranking to assess the importance of lean practices, based on the perceptions of some of the same managers involved in the previous stages; (f) selection of performance indicators that could indirectly quantify the performance of lean practices, considering both the existing indicators in the company and existing indicators proposed in previous studies; (g) data gathering concerning results of the selected indicators; (h) a seminar to discuss the data collected during all the previous stages. Stages (g) and (h) were not carried out in the case study. Overall, the results pointed out that lean practices that are closely associated with basic stability, such as standardization, performed poorly.

O processo de desenvolvimento de produto (PDP) é reconhecido por influenciar diretamente a competitividade das empresas. O sucesso do desenvolvimento pode contribuir, entre outros resultados, no aumento da participação de mercado, conquista de novos clientes, redução de custos e melhora da qualidade. O PDP realizado entre montadora de veículos e fornecedor requer atenção especial no que diz respeito à gestão do processo e à interação entre as empresas. Isso porque, em muitos casos, fornecedores detêm o conhecimento tecnológico do produto e processo de produção do mesmo e a montadora detém o conhecimento das necessidades de performance do projeto. Dentro destas duas instituições, montadora e fornecedor, ocorre um movimento que envolve competências, responsabilidades e a atuação de diversas áreas funcionais. Todo este processo requer integração, comunicação e estrutura, para que possa ocorrer de maneira organizada. Montadoras americanas desenvolveram uma metodologia que busca suprir algumas das necessidades de integração no PDP, o Planejamento Avançado da Qualidade do Produto (APQP). O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir esta metodologia, identificando condições em que o APQP contribui para a gestão do processo de desenvolvimento do produto. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido por meio de estudos de casos da indústria automotiva, entre os quais dois estudos com maior profundidade. Em um segundo momento, foi pesquisado um grupo maior, de 20 fornecedores de um mesmo projeto, para avaliar se as conclusões obtidas nos dois casos mais aprofundados eram representativas para um grupo amplo. Nos casos estudados, foi possível identificar que atrasos por parte da montadora dificultam a gestão do processo. O fornecedor, ao trabalhar próximo do cliente, obtém informações que possibilitam administrar atrasos e prazos comprimidos, muitas vezes antecipando-se a formalizações da montadora. Isso tem custos adicionais, mas revela que o APQP pode contribuir positivamente na interação, fornecendo subsídios para um alinhamento constante. Porém, não impede que falhas internas na montadora sejam evitadas. / The product development process (PDP) is recognized for having direct influence on companys competitiveness. The success of PDP can influence other objectives, some of them: market share increasing, new customers, cost reduction and quality improvement. The OEMs (Original Equipments Manufactures) and automotive parts manufacturers PDP require special attention on the process management and interaction between the companies. These because, in many cases, suppliers hold the technical knowledge of the product and production process and the OEMs hold the requirements and project performance knowledge. Inside those companies, OEMs and auto parts suppliers there is a process which involves competencies, responsibilities and work from several functional areas. The success of those projects requires integration, communication and a well organized structure to make it happen on an organized way. Auto makers have developed a methodology to supply some integration requirements between the players on the PDP and the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). The objective of this paper is to discuss the methodology, indentifying conditions which will contribute for new product development management. This paper was developed on case studies from automotive industry. First, two deep studies cases was made. In a second moment, a more extensive study was done with 20 suppliers of the same project, to evaluate if the conclusion on the primary study were representatives into a large group. On the two moments, it was possible to indentify that delays on car manufacturer make more difficult to manage the process. However, the supplier can work closely to client and make possible to have an easier communication process. This communication enables to track the delays and deadlines, and sometimes work in advanced. This have additional costs, but shows that the APQP can contribute on the interaction, giving assistance for supplies have a constant alignment, on the other hand cannot guarantee to avoid errors and internal failures on the car makers.