Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Industrial and Systems Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-84).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: quality construction documents; computers. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Monitoring and diagnosis of the control system, though widely used in the chemical processing industry, is currently lacking in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. This work provides methods for performance assessment of the most commonly used control system in this industry, namely, run-to-run process control. First, an iterative solution method for the calculation of best achievable performance of the widely used run-to-run Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) controller is derived. A normalized performance index is then defined based on the best achievable performance. The effect of model mismatch in the process gain and disturbance model parameter, delays, bias changes and nonlinearity in the process is then studied. The utility of the method under manufacturing conditions is tested by analyzing three processes from the semiconductor industry. Missing measurements due to delay are estimated using the disturbance model for the process. A minimum norm estimation method coupled with Tikhonov regularization is developed. Simulations are then carried out to investigate disturbance model mismatch, gain mismatch and different sampling rates. Next, the forward and backward Kalman filter are applied to obtain the missing values and compared with previous examples. Manufacturing data from three processes is then analyzed for different sampling rates. Existing methods are compared with a new method for state estimation in high-mix manufacturing. The new method is based on a random walk model for the context states. This approach is also combined with the recursive equations of the Kalman filter. The method is applied to an industrial exposure process by extending the random walk model into an integrated moving average model and weights used to give preference to the context that is more frequent. Finally, a performance metric is derived for PID controllers, when they are used to control nonlinear processes. Techniques to identify nonlinearity in a process are introduced and polynomial NARX models are proposed to represent a nonlinear process. A performance monitoring technique used for MIMO processes is then applied. Finally, the method is applied to an EWMA control case used before, a P/PI control case from literature and two cases from the semiconductor industry. / text

Hong Kong's aging population has, increased demand for vascular services. Currently, vascular surgery is subsumed under general surgery. The workload on both general surgery and vascular surgery is demanding and hence, not conductive to the development of vascular surgery. The volume of surgery, particularly emergency surgery provided by the Hospital Authority units varies significantly. The collaboration and differentiation of labor at present is not well defined in many centers. This may lead to unnecessary competition and duplication of resources in the long run. This project examined if there is room for improvement in the present situation and provides evidence for relevant service reconfiguration and discusses how Hong Kong can learn from some overseas examples to enhance quality of services delivered to patients. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

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This thesis is an investigation into the use of simulation for the study of quality economics within a cell-based manufacturing environment. Quality is, for the purposes of this report, considered to mean conformance to specification. This research identified two distinct areas of study that could be considered part of quality economics. The economic design of quality control procedures is concerned with the "micro" side of quality economics, focusing on single processes, whilst quality costing systems represent the "macro" side, focusing on entire production lines, departments or organisations. A critical analysis of these areas suggested a number of deficiencies. In addition, a number of economic quality models were considered. These were found to focus on the "macro" side of quality economics, with no consideration of the effect of specific changes to specific processes - the "micro" side. It was suggested that simulation would be a suitable approach for overcoming some of these deficiencies. The precedent for the use of simulation to investigate quality economics is considered, with the conclusion that none of the existing approaches reviewed were able to model the manufacturing systems under consideration in sufficient detail. Therefore, a new approach is outlined, and the thesis then describes the development and validation of this approach. A number of examples are given that are intended to both illustrate the simulation approach and, hopefully, provide certain generic information that can be applied to any similar manufacturing process. Conclusions are drawn regarding the success of the project relative to the initial aims, and the contribution to our understanding of quality economics. Finally, a number of recommendations for further work are given.