M.Ing. / The principles of lean were understood to be relevant to the operations of a manufacturing enterprise meaning processes associated with material supply, component production and delivery of products and services to the customer. It was identified there was growing awareness that lean principles could be transferred readily to other functions and sectors. The purpose of the study was to investigate the application of lean principles to knowledgebased activities such as engineering design and product development. The organization under study was Olifant Manufacturing Company (OMC), a division of British Aerospace Systems, Land Systems South Africa. Lean product developments (LPD) was identified as one of the leading approaches currently adopted by organizations attempting to maximize value, increase quality, shorten lead times, and lower the costs for product development (PD) processes. The justification for the research was due to and in response to current adverse market trends. There would be the adoption of processes that would radically reduce the product development lead time, product introduction lead time to market, increase process efficiency and product quality and reduce development costs at OMC. The problem statement was formulated as: “Would the researched Lean principles enable OMC to improve its traditional PD to LPD?” The Life Cycle Management (LCM) framework was the mandated organizational framework that guided the execution of projects at BAE Systems The development of the research literature was guided by research questions that sought to identify the relevant framework that would be tailored within the overarching (LCM) framework to enable process improvements. The main findings were that Lean transformation is an organizational journey that would begin with a top down philosophy or strategy approach. Aspects of Lean Product Development were identified and were found to be integrated into a system framework that integrated the transformation of people, processes and tools and technologies.

M.A. / The adoption of cost-recovery policies by local government in South Africa is an effort to recover costs from the investments made in infrastructure expansion and to ensure efficient delivery of services. This study came about from the need to understand the paradox of continued adoption of cost-recovery policies in a country that faces high poverty and unemployment rates. The focus of this study is to find out what are the social impacts of the water cost-recovery policy on the livelihood of female-headed households. The first chapter is the background to the study. The main concepts of cost-recovery, female-headed households and livelihoods are defined. In addition, the demographic, social and economic description of Ward 77 in City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality which is the focus of this study is provided. The second chapter is a review of literature behind the rationale of cost-recovery and its implication in South Africa. In addition, the livelihoods framework is explored. The third chapter addresses the methodological approach used to undertake this study. Qualitative methods were used, in the form of in-depth interviews with stakeholders, documentary reviews as well as a focus group and interviews with female-headed households. The fourth chapter is the discussion of findings arising from the consolidation of data. We find out about the livelihoods of the households before and after the implementation of cost-recovery and the effects this has had on the household. The final chapter is an analysis of these findings along the themes of the study namely the social impact of water cost-recovery on the wellbeing of the household, the impact on household financial security, the impact on social networks and the impact on educational spending. The study concludes by pointing out that, although there has been advancement in infrastructure development and service provided, the poor in urban townships continue to be negatively impacted by cost-recovery policies. Policy makers should consult communities in formulating approaches that tackle the issues of rights and affordability of basic services such as water. With the country’s high poverty and unemployment levels, cost-recovery would only be effective if the incomes of households are increased. Thus policy makers must take into account the socio-economic situation of a population to ensure the inclusion of all in the formulation of policies.

The thesis addresses the points of interest related to establishing the euro currency in the Czech Republic by 2020. What are the connected costs and benefits? Is euro going to be a contribution to the Czech economy? The theoretical part describes the creation process of European monetary union. The paper then works with advantages and risks associated with euro. The main cost of membership in the eurozone being the loss of independent monetary policy and the loss of the exchange rate mechanism is estimated in range of 0.59 to 2.34 % of GDP. Comparing the direct costs and benefits then leads to a net loss for the Czech Republic. Mutual comparison is conducted between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is shown that the difference in economic progress between these two countries is statistically insignificant. Thus the thesis concludes that establishing the euro in the Czech Republic by 2020 would be of no benefit.

This research study addresses the problem of whether local government can afford free basic water in rural areas. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed, which included: · Lessons in water sector approaches from international experience and how these experiences compare with the South African situation. 1.The current basic water supply legislation in South Africa and how this legislation affects the subsidy arrangements and the financing of free basic water. 2.The operation and maintenance cost and the benefits of effective operation and maintenance of water supply schemes. A model was developed that could estimate the cost of rural water supply per household per month from the operation and maintenance data that was collected over a period of twenty-two months from a water supply scheme. As part of the provision of free basic water, a nine-step flow chart was developed to determine rural water operation and maintenance subsidy and a free basic water policy to help local government make informed decisions. The model was tested on different water supply schemes to verify the accuracy of the models estimation of the cost of rural water supply per household per month. The information obtained from the literature and from the test of the model resulted in various recommendations and conclusions.

No description available.

El estudio que a continuación se presenta, corresponde a una empresa dedicada al servicio de transporte de mercaderías e insumos del sector minero y en general. Durante el desarrollo de la investigación, se presentó el diagnóstico actual de la empresa y una propuesta de solución al problema general que presenta, en lo que concierne a su proceso de mantenimiento preventivo. El objetivo principal de este trabajo estará orientado a la reducción de los costos operativos y de oportunidad del proceso de mantenimiento preventivo. Los resultados de la investigación se han desarrollado atreves de una base de lineamiento para el análisis de la información. Se trabajó con una data real obtenida de medición de tiempos y costos del proceso que fue brindada por la empresa en estudio y de diferente información recabada mediante la observación y entrevistas a los colaboradores de dicha empresa. La reducción de los costos del mantenimiento se logró con la propuesta de creación un área de mantenimiento preventivo, dentro de las instalaciones de la empresa. Se realizó la restructuración del proceso de mantenimiento logrando la optimización del proceso, aprovechando los recursos físicos de la empresa. Se presenta una evaluación técnica de los recursos necesarios de la solución y una evaluación económica que ayudo a visualizar mejor sus resultados. Finalmente se podrá encontrar conclusiones y recomendaciones que complementan al estudio realizado. The study presented below corresponds to a company dedicated to the transportation of goods and supplies in the mining sector and in general. During the development work, the diagnosis of the company and a proposed solution to the problem that afflicts him, as it concerns their maintenance service arose. The main objective of this work will reduce costs and time of preventive maintenance process. The results of research have developed a guideline based on information analysis. We worked with real data obtained by measuring the time and cost of the process that was provided by the company under study. The reduction of costs and maintenance times are achieved with the implementation of a preventive maintenance garage, within the premises of the company. The restructuring of the maintenance process will take place, using the physical resources of the company. Technical and economic evaluation to help better visualize the improvement of the process and also serve analysis for decision-making occurs. Finally, conclusions and recommendations can be found to complement the study.

La presente investigación tiene un enfoque cuantitativo que resuelve el problema de la productividad en la fabricación de estructuras metálicas que influye en los costos de la empresa Servicios Metálicos Especializados S.A.C., y para resolver este problema se trazó mejorar la productividad en la fabricación de estructuras metálicas para minimizar los costos de la empresa, aplicando la herramienta del Lookahead, que es de la metodología del Last Planner System que viene de la filosofía Lean Construction. Obteniendo una mejor planificación en el proyecto “Nuevo Almacén – Unitrade S.A.C.”, logrando un ahorro del 11.97% en los costos directos de mano de obra de fabricación de estructuras metálicas de la etapa casco, ya que se logró reducir el tiempo en un 40% comparado con el cronograma elaborado por la empresa, lo que nos dio un ahorro del 6.00% del costo directo total del proyecto. This research is a quantitative approach that solves the problem of productivity in the manufacture of metal structures influencing costs Servicios Metálicos Especializados S.A.C., and to solve this problem was traced improve productivity in manufacturing steel structures for minimize the costs of the company, Lookahead applying tool, which is the methodology of the Last Planner System next Lean Construction philosophy. It getting better planning in the “Nuevo Almacén – Unitrade S.A.C.” project, achieving a saving of 11.97% on the direct costs of labor manufacturing metal structures of town stage, since it is possible to reduce time by 40% compared with the schedule prepared by the company, which gave a saving of 6.00% of the total direct cost of the project.

L’objectif des travaux de thèse est l’amélioration du coût de revient industriel du décortidiène, intermédiaire clé dans la préparation de plusieurs principes actifs produits au sein de l’usine de production de SANOFI Vertolaye. Après une revue de l’état de l’art sur la synthèse du décortidiène et en fonction du cahier des charges défini, deux voies ont été explorées. La première voie de synthèse étudiée a permis de préparer le décortidiène en deux étapes, alors que la synthèse industrielle est effectuée en quatre étapes. Cependant, le rendement encourageant obtenu est inférieur à l’objectif fixé. Une étude de modélisation moléculaire a permis de proposer un mécanisme réactionnel concernant cette voie. Nous avons pu mettre en évidence lors de cette synthèse la formation d’un nouveau coricostéroïde, présentant une activité anti inflammatoire comparable à celle de la prénidsolone. La deuxième voie de synthèse permet de réduire le nombre d’étapes de la synthèse du décortidiène de 25% et conduit à un rendement acceptable par rapport à celui défini dans le cahier des charges. Le procédé a fait l’objet de plusieurs séries par une approche « plan d’expériences » pour atteindre les objectifs. / The aim of this doctoral works is the reduction of the production costs of decortidiene made by SANOFI Vertolaye. Decortidiene is a key intermediate for the synthesis of several active principles. After checking the iterature, two ways were explored. The first one reduces by half the synthetic steps buthe yield is lower than the target. A molecular modeling allowed us to propose a reaction mechanism. Several optimizations and experimental design of experiments enabled the second studied pathway to reduce by 25% the industrial process and to reach the targeted yield.

It is arguably an important matter to track and eliminate poor quality. One way of doing this within software development is by applying the technical debt metaphor and using it as a basis when estimating the quality level. There was interest expressed in investigating whether this metaphor could be extended to the development of non-software products and use it as a starting point for developing features in a PLM (product lifecycle management) system able to track and help monitor technical debt throughout the lifecycle of a product. Thus, a case study based on a literature review and interviews analysed qualitatively were conducted. The result consists of the knowledge that similar notions as found in the technical debt research could successfully be applied to other development processes and phenomena as well, a framework consisting of types of technical debt and a “sketch” for how to measure it, and that in a technical debt-tracking feature it could be beneficial with functionality for implementing models for debt quantification, for allowing the organisation to set up rules, and for crawling through the product taxonomy in the PLM system, detecting deviances from aforementioned rules.

Federal Universities promote higher education, and for that receive funds to be administered by public managers. Especially in 2007 with the establishment of the Restructuring Program and Expansion of Federal Universities resources for investment grew, allowing universities to intensify the expansion of its physical space. To contract engineering services the public administrator must follow the rules established primarily by Federal Law 8.666/93. Following the legislation, from construction planning to conclusion, the hiring process goes through several stages. As regards the building costs, this appears mainly in three stages: in the standard budget to public competition, the ratification of the contracted company and the final stage of the building conclusion. This thesis aimed to study the behavior of the civil construction costs at the Federal University of Santa Maria from 2010 to 2014, in especially regarding the estimated costs, the granted costs and the final cost of the work. This study is justified due to the relevance of the subject, because it is the use of public resources, largely originated from taxes collected from society. The study was developed through qualitative and quantitative research, using as a way the document and literature research and a ending the descriptive research. The results show the variations between planned and executed time, with a percentage of 75.55% of the construction resulting in terms of time additives, among the main causes identifies the change or project adjustments. Regarding per m² cost variation, the contracts are separated into groups according to the characteristics of the works, showing that the group with precast construction sets has the highest percentage of bids accepted and executed that were made at lower costs than budgeted. The group of buildings is the one with the highest percentage of additives terms and due to this the greater variation between the budgeted and executed. In canceled contracts, all unilaterally by the federal government, the cause listed was the contract break on estabilished schedule. / As universidades federais promovem a educação de nível superior, e para isso recebem recursos que devem ser administrados pelos gestores públicos. Especialmente no ano de 2007 com a instituição do Programa de Restruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais os recursos destinados a investimentos cresceram, possibilitando às universidades intensificar a ampliação do seu espaço físico. Para a contratação de serviços de engenharia o administrador público tem o dever de seguir as normas estabelecidas principalmente pela Lei 8.666/93. Seguindo a legislação vigente, do planejamento até conclusão das obras, o processo de contratação perpassa por várias etapas. No que se refere ao custo das obras, este se apresenta principalmente em três momentos: no orçamento referência para a concorrência pública, na adjudicação da empresa contratada e a fase final de conclusão da obra. Essa dissertação teve como objetivo estudar o comportamento dos custos das obras de construção civil na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria do período de 2010 a 2014, em especial no que se refere aos custos orçados, o custo adjudicado e o custo final da obra. Justifica-se este trabalho devido à relevância do tema, pois se trata da aplicação dos recursos públicos, em grande parte, advindos dos tributos recolhidos da sociedade. O estudo desenvolveu-se através de pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, que utiliza como meio a pesquisa documental e bibliográfica e como fins a pesquisa descritiva. Os resultados mostram as variações entre o tempo planejado e executado, com um percentual de 75,55% de obras com termos aditivos de tempo, entre as principais causas se identifica a alteração ou ajustes de projetos. Em relação às variações de custo por m2, os contratos são separados por grupos conforme características das obras, mostrando que o grupo de pré-moldados tem o maior percentual de propostas aceitas e executadas que foram realizadas com custos menores que o orçado. O grupo dos prédios é o que apresenta o maior percentual de aditivos de quantidades e em função disto o maior valor de variação entre o orçado e o executado. Nos contratos rescindidos, todos de forma unilateral por parte da administração federal, a causa elencada foi o não cumprimento do contrato dentro do cronograma estabelecido.