No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Dr. David M. Goldsman, Committee Co-Chair ; Dr. James R. Wilson, Committee Co-Chair ; Dr. Hayriye Ayhan, Committee Co-Chair ; Dr. Christos Alexopoulos, Committee Member ; Dr. Kwok Tsui, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (Diploma (Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Technikon, 1988. / The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of characteristics, to adapt the system for a number of applications Stellenbosch developed the need for an intelligent controller for their well-equipped laboratories. The system had to be dedicated only to their mechanical laboratories, but with universal on various experiments. The system had to be: 1. Universal to fit most experiments. 2. Programmable. 3. Fast control system. 4. Dedicated to one experiment at a time. 5. Long control time intervals. 6. Reliable system which can withstand harsh electrical interference. The microprocessor, with its ability to perform a wide variety of different functions and being programmable was the answer. It could be obtained at low cost and coupled via suitable interface circuits to a wide variety of external devices.

M.Com. (Computer Science) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The term Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) was created in 1990 by Advanced Manufacturing Research (AMR) to describe the suite of software products which enables the execution of manufacturing through the integration of planning and control systems. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine the current status of MES and to investigate the possible role of the Industrial Engineer in the development, implementation and use of MES. To achieve this objective, the most commonly accepted, recent and relevant definitions, business models, functions and developments of MES are investigated. Based on these, a new MES Function Matrix is developed and validated by a case study. Finally, Industrial Engineering is related to MES and the role of the Industrial Engineer promoted. The emergence of MES is a result of the evolution of three interrelated elements, namely manufacturing strategies, manufacturing planning and control systems and information technology. The development of global markets and the requirement for agile manufacturing led to the need for MES. The evolution of various aspects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and more specifically Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) systems, is discussed as part of the investigation of the development of MES. The Three-Layer-model and REPAC-¬model by AMR Research, as well as variations of these models compiled by MESA ("International MES Association"), are investigated. Manufacturing execution is absent in traditional MPC models. Modern models, such as the Three-Layer-model, suggest an execution layer to be inserted between the planning and control layers. The investigation of the function models of McClellan and MESA International indicates that discrepancies exist between these models with regard to the functions of MES. A new MES Function Matrix is developed to address such shortcomings and is applied to a case study of DIAMES, a software product used by Aberdare Cables and promoted as an MES product. As an MES developer, the Industrial Engineer can act as designer, planner and innovator. The greatest value can, however, be added by the Industrial Engineer as integrator to ensure that horizontal plant-wide execution takes place, and not only vertical "islands of automation" integrated with planning systems. In order to accomplish this, the Industrial Engineer needs to fulfill the roles of boundary-spanner, facilitator, coordinator, analyst, chairperson, decision-maker, as well as trainer or educator. MES can also be used by the Industrial Engineer as a tool, for example as part of a program of continuous improvement. The identification of the relationship between the expertise of the Industrial Engineer and the roles to be played within the MES arena gave birth to the establishment of an MES research initiative at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of the University of Pretoria. / Dissertation (MEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

This study is intended as a guideline for enterprise designers in developing a conceptual design for an enterprise. It follows a system engineering approach and promotes top down design of enterprises viewed as systems. Enterprises are examined as systems and their functioning analysed within their own boundaries, as well as within their operating and resource environments. The capability responsible for designing the enterprise is also considered. The reader gets an overview of a generic development process to place conceptual design in context with the enterprise life cycle. Strategic design is shown to be the conceptual design of an enterprise. The bulk of the dissertation addresses the process of establishing the conceptual design commencing with the charter for enterprise engineering i.e. the causes, expected results and impacts. Requirements for the enterprise are established from the enterprise leaders in terms of the strategic intent for the enterprise, which include the strategic drivers and its vision, mission and driving force. The current enterprise is analysed to establish constraints arising from the existing enterprise. Various positioning options are discussed as sources of strategic alternatives. Approaches to analyse market opportunities, organisational capabilities and constraints are given as input to establish the scenarios for which the enterprise design must cater. The development of a single alternative high-level enterprise implementation is covered in terms of the value delivered, capabilities required in the enterprise and resource requirements. Alternative development approaches and the selection of one is discussed. Finally, the design of a competency concept, the synthesis of design in a grand strategy, structural architecture, cultural architecture and plan to align resources with the design is discussed. In conclusion some proposals for the extension and enhancement of this guide are made. / Dissertation (MIng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

The development of information systems consumes an increasing share of economic resources. Over a trillion dollars worldwide is invested in information technology annually, and this investment is growing over $100 billion a year. This investment occurs despite failure rates for large information system development projects that are estimated as high as 75%. The large investment and high failure rates combine to create the potential for significant impact from information system development practices that are able to address these failure rates. Researchers, over the past thirty years, have studied factors that drive these high failure rates. One of the factors repeatedly mentioned in practitioner surveys is the importance of accurate communication in the "upstream" analysis and planning stage of a project. System development professionals are aided in their upstream planning through the use of information system development methods (ISDM's). ISDM's are modeling tools and techniques that are capable of representing information about an information system. Many alternative system analysis modeling techniques have been developed, yet few empirical comparisons of the alternative techniques have been completed. The lack of comparative empirical data has contributed to a proliferation of modeling methods and increased the confusion surrounding the adoption of system analysis methods by system development professionals and teachers. This study addresses the issue of empirical comparison of system analysis modeling techniques. A new instrument and empirical method is proposed for developing a comparison of the level of "understanding" that a participant is able to create by viewing a description of a particular domain. The level of "understanding" is addressed using three measures: comprehension, problem solving, and text reconstruction. The new measures of "problem solving", suggested by Mayer in the field of Education Psychology, and "text reconstruction" or "Cloze", suggested by Taylor in the field of Communications, extend empirical instruments previously used by system analysis researchers. To test the efficacy of the proposed instrument and method, two empirical studies were developed in this thesis. The first study used the new instrument to compare three development methods "grammars: Text descriptions; Structured Analysis (using Data Flow Diagrams and Entity Relationship Diagrams); and Object Oriented Diagrams. The study was labeled an "Intergrammar" comparison, as three grammars representing three fundamental approaches to developing an analysis model were compared. Two propositions, in regards to the intergrammar study, were tested. The first suggested that viewing descriptions created with diagrams would lead to a higher level of understanding than viewing a description based solely on text. This hypothesis was confirmed. The second hypothesis suggested that viewing a domain description created using an object oriented grammar would lead to a higher level of "understanding" than viewing a description created using the "Structured Analysis" approach. The results confirmed the hypothesis that the group of participants using the Object-Oriented grammar scored higher in "understanding" than participants using the Structured Analysis grammar. A follow-up protocol analysis was undertaken to illuminate why the participants using object methods scored. The analysis of these protocols indicated two things. First, participants using Structured Analysis made little use of the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD). Second, participants seemed to favor the "object" concept when answering questions. These findings provide some empirical evidence that objects may be more "natural" cognitive constructs than those used in Structured Analysis. The second study revisited a study Bodart and Weber's study regarding alternative grammars for the Entity Relationship Diagram. A grammar using mandatory attributes and relationships with sub types, the other using optional attributes and relationships, were compared. The grammars shared a common primary grammar, therefore, the second study was labeled an "Intragrammar" comparison. The new instrument was again used in this study. The ontological constructs proposed in the Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) model were used to suggest the theoretical advantage of the grammar using mandatory attributes and relationships with subtypes. The results supported the theoretical advantage associated with mandatory attributes and relationships with subtypes. This intragammar study provided further evidence of the utility of the empirical instrument proposed in this thesis. This study has implications for future empirical research in system analysis. The empirical instrument described in this thesis extends previous empirical research instruments with the introduction of the problem solving and the Cloze task. In two studies, the new instrument has displayed the sensitivity to differentiate between treatment groups. The results from the two empirical studies suggest that object-oriented analysis may hold advantages over traditional structured analysis, and that mandatory attributes and relationships may be preferred to optional attributes and relationships in the entity relationship grammar. / Business, Sauder School of / Management Information Systems, Division of / Graduate