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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1950 Z54 / Master of Science

MSc (Enginnering), Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / In recent years companies have made increased use of Lean Manufacturing audits to measure the degree of Lean Manufacturing implementation within their organizations. Thereafter, a gap analysis highlights areas for improvement, which leads to increased Operational Performance. This approach may be flawed. The audit may measure Lean Manufacturing characteristics that are not beneficial or the Lean Manufacturing audit may be inaccurate due to auditor bias or inadequate scope. The result is frustration and a lack of belief in the effectiveness of Lean Manufacturing as a competitive strategy. This study tests the hypothesis that “Lean Manufacturing audits drive improvements in Operational Performance.” A sample company comprising sixty four organizations operating in a job shop and Batch operations management environment is used as a case study. The organizations manufacture and service high value added products for heavy industry. The Lean Manufacturing audit developed to assess the effectiveness of Lean Manufacturing audits in driving Operational Performance uses Lean Manufacturing characteristics commonly used in previous research. These characteristics include policy deployment, standardized work, visual management and housekeeping, quick changeover techniques, total preventative maintenance, continuous improvement, error proofing, cultural awareness, material control and level production. Commonly used Operational Performance measures such as On-Time-Delivery, Inventory turns and Direct Labour Utilization are used to assess Operational Performance. A range of independent auditors were used to gather data on the extent of implementation of Lean Manufacturing and Operational Performance measures. Structural Equation Modelling is used to relate the results of the Lean Manufacturing audits to Operational Performance. This is the first known paper to use Structural Equation Modelling in measuring the extent of implementation of Lean Manufacturing to Operational Performance. Lean Manufacturing audit results have a significant correlation to Operational Performance but with a high degree of variation in Operational Performance not accounted for by the results of the Lean Manufacturing audit. This variation is caused by the inadequate scope of the audit relative to Operational Performance measures as well as auditor bias. Lean Manufacturing audits are effective in driving improvements in Operational Performance provided that the scope of the audit is expanded to include office functions, supplier networks and customer and branch distribution networks. A recommended audit framework is suggested in this research. A large scale study of a number of different companies should be conducted to verify the results of this research using the audit framework developed.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering , University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 1998. / This project explores the use of the Internet to supply and support software products within a quality management system. The Software Engineering Applications Laboratory (SEAL) at the University of the Witwatersrand is in the process of developing various software products that will be commercially distributed in the near future. The SEAL has chosen to use the Internet to supply and support these products. A system has been developed for this task and has been named the Internet System for the Supply and Support of Software (IS4). The SEAL is committed to developing and supplying software within a quality management system. Consequently an investigation was undertaken into the quality characteristics and requirements based on the ISO 9001 standard for quality assurance and the ISO/lEC JTG1/SC7 software engineering standards. The investigation focused on quality requirements for processes related to supplying and supporting software as well as on the quality characteristics of the IS4 and the IS4 development process. These quality concerns have been incorporated into the SEAL's quality management system, the design and development of the IS4 and the development process for SEAL products. Major technical issues that have influenced the design of the IS4 have been the control of the supply and licensing of the supplied products and the transaction processing of the on-line sales. To control the supply and licenSing of the supplied products, various issues such as unlock keys, Internet based registration, controlled access and hardware control have been investigated. The advantages and disadvantages of each have been investigated and a suitable lmplernentat'on has been used in the IS4. To process the on-line transactions the IS4 will be developed to be compliant with the recently released 'Secure Electronic Transactions' (SET) standard. The project has been managed in accordance with the SEAL's Quality Management System (QMS) which is ISO 9001 compliant. The system contains a Shopper Interface for purchasing of SEAL products and a Manager Interface for administration of the system. The Microsoft BackOffice® set of software has formed the foundation on which the system has been developed. One of the focuses of the project was maintainability of the IS4. Documentation and procedures have been developed to aid in administration and perfective maintenance in the future.