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The internal logistics system includes all activities connected with managing the flow of materials within the physical limits of a facility. This system is an important part of operations in need of increased focus and continuous improvements. Automation is one possible tool with a previously confirmed great potential to improve internal logistics. Despite this great potential and a growing trend of using automation in the area, internal logistics activities are still not automated to the same extent as other parts of operations. The overall aim of this research is therefore to develop knowledge that supports the successful use of automation in internal logistics systems. The automation development process has been identified as critical for the success of the use of automation. With the overall aim of the research in mind, the objective of this thesis is to develop a framework facilitating the automation development process in internal logistics systems. To help fulfil the objective, empirical data have been collected through five case studies and a survey study. During the empirical studies, the process of improving the internal logistics system and the automation development process have been analysed and the focus has been on identifying challenges and facilitators for the successful use and development of automation in internal logistics systems. The findings indicate a poor awareness of both current and desired performance of the internal logistics system at the companies studied. In addition, automation development is often conducted in an unstructured and poorly supported manner and there is often insecurity regarding what steps and actions to take. Foremost, the findings indicate a poor base for proper evaluation and decisions during automation development in internal logistics systems. This is analysed and concluded as a cause of unclear goals and requirements and the lack of a strategic view with regard to both internal logistics operations and the use and development of automation. A framework, including proposed guidelines to overcome the observed challenges by including identified factors facilitating successful automation development in internal logistics systems has been developed. The core of the framework is a proposed process model for automation development in an internal logistics context. Due to the identified importance and the lack of a strategy linked to and supporting the automation development process, the framework also includes a proposed model for an internal logistics strategy as well as a proposed model for an automation strategy. / LEAD - Lean Automation Development

The development of e-government systems in South Africa has raised major concerns when coming to the systems development methodology used. Through the literature review conducted and the data collected, the study has indicated that there is lack of uniformity, isolated cost, models for choosing project teams and the overall control of the whole process of e-government systems development. As a result, this research investigates the use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems. The study followed the qualitative research method; interviews were conducted in four case studies involved in the development of e-government systems. The collected data were then analysed using a software analytical tool called Atlas ti. 6.1. Subsequently a cross-case analysis was performed on the four case studies. The research findings of this study indicated that the appropriate use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems helps improve the quality of e-government systems, reduces development costs, and also makes the development process effective and efficient. Based on the information gathered from the four case studies, developers in government find it difficult to select a suitable systems development methodology to use when developing e-government systems. Therefore the study proposes a conceptual framework that can be used to select the appropriate systems development methodology when developing e-government systems. This framework is made up of characteristics of e-government systems and different types of systems development methodologies. / MSc (Computer Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The development of e-government systems in South Africa has raised major concerns when coming to the systems development methodology used. Through the literature review conducted and the data collected, the study has indicated that there is lack of uniformity, isolated cost, models for choosing project teams and the overall control of the whole process of e-government systems development. As a result, this research investigates the use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems. The study followed the qualitative research method; interviews were conducted in four case studies involved in the development of e-government systems. The collected data were then analysed using a software analytical tool called Atlas ti. 6.1. Subsequently a cross-case analysis was performed on the four case studies. The research findings of this study indicated that the appropriate use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems helps improve the quality of e-government systems, reduces development costs, and also makes the development process effective and efficient. Based on the information gathered from the four case studies, developers in government find it difficult to select a suitable systems development methodology to use when developing e-government systems. Therefore the study proposes a conceptual framework that can be used to select the appropriate systems development methodology when developing e-government systems. This framework is made up of characteristics of e-government systems and different types of systems development methodologies. / MSc (Computer Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Software specification by scenarios has grown with the popularity of object-oriented software engineering. Scenarios such as use cases provide a bridge from the informal descriptions gathered from user interviews toward the more formal software model. Yet, practitioners still request more explicit methodological guidance and more adequate tool support for authoring quality scenarios. Researchers have been seeking a means to overcome the limitations of use cases such as partialness and incompleteness. One of such research streams is an extension of scenarios with more formal representation schemes. This approach may reduce incompleteness of scenarios; however, applicability of the approach to practice remains open to discussion, considering that the current usage of formal scenario representations is very low. This research takes software reuse approach to assist scenario-building process. In the proposed approach, a software analyst defines an initial description of a scenario. An automated tool support then presents a set of similar use cases retrieved from a database of use cases. The analyst adapts a retrieved use case to the current purpose. This dissertation research is expected to have unique contributions to research and practice. The proposed automated scenario reuse provides a viable solution to guide scenario-authoring process without imposing an additional burden of adding formal annotations to system specifications on system analysts. By adopting a machinelearning algorithm based on relational structure matching, the scenario reuse places more focus on UML semantics, relational information among UML elements rather than syntactic attributes of scenarios or natural language descriptions. In addition, the proposed scenario reuse can be augmented with other approaches and design artifacts, depending on customized needs in a given context of problem domains. In terms of research methodology, this dissertation research takes four steps. First, I develop prototype software for the automated tool support. It can be incorporated into a CASE tool as an add-in program. Second, preliminary case studies are taken to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Third, expert opinions are collected regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the tool support. Finally, a lab experiment and a free simulation experiment are conducted for more rigorous empirical validation.

<p>This work concerns ethics applied to computer technology, emphasizing the use of this technology within organizations. Computer technology has created the possibility to do things not possible before, for good and bad. Ethical reasoning can be used as a tool to provide guidance, in order to create Computerized Information Systems (CIS) that are sustainable with respect to the ethical demands that can be put upon them.</p><p>If one wants to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS, it is reasonable that ethical issues should be taken account of in systems development. As a general methodology for developing a CIS, the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) will be examined. The SDLC is the place and moment when it is possible to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS.</p><p>This work will focus on, and try to explain, what characteristics are necessary in order to be able to apply ethical considerations to a methodology. This is done by examining five methodologies adopting the SDLC. It will also be examined how the three major ethical theories utilitarianism, deontologism and rights ethics will affect the SDLC, and thus eventually a CIS being implemented.</p><p>The outcome of this work are that there are limited possibilities of integrating ethical considerations into methodologies adopting a hard system approach, compared to those adopting a soft one. The ethical standards of a CIS must be established early on in the SDLC. Integration of ethical issues requires a system approach to be applied in the SDLC. Participation becomes an important feature of systems development in order to adopt ethical reasoning. The different ethical theories will put different emphasis on the group or the individual in systems development.</p>

No description available.

This work concerns ethics applied to computer technology, emphasizing the use of this technology within organizations. Computer technology has created the possibility to do things not possible before, for good and bad. Ethical reasoning can be used as a tool to provide guidance, in order to create Computerized Information Systems (CIS) that are sustainable with respect to the ethical demands that can be put upon them. If one wants to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS, it is reasonable that ethical issues should be taken account of in systems development. As a general methodology for developing a CIS, the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) will be examined. The SDLC is the place and moment when it is possible to integrate ethical considerations into a CIS. This work will focus on, and try to explain, what characteristics are necessary in order to be able to apply ethical considerations to a methodology. This is done by examining five methodologies adopting the SDLC. It will also be examined how the three major ethical theories utilitarianism, deontologism and rights ethics will affect the SDLC, and thus eventually a CIS being implemented. The outcome of this work are that there are limited possibilities of integrating ethical considerations into methodologies adopting a hard system approach, compared to those adopting a soft one. The ethical standards of a CIS must be established early on in the SDLC. Integration of ethical issues requires a system approach to be applied in the SDLC. Participation becomes an important feature of systems development in order to adopt ethical reasoning. The different ethical theories will put different emphasis on the group or the individual in systems development.

Improvement work in manufacturing industry usually focuses on the utilisation of equipment. System dynamics simulation is a potential tool for increasing the utilisation of systems. By using group model building and simulation it facilitates a common view and better informed decisions for change. However, a gap between theory and practice of how to implement these projects is identified, consequently the major question for this thesis. The approach for solving this problem used industrial case studies with action research character; including modelling and interviews affecting the actors in the studied systems. Together with literature studies these efforts contribute with identifying how system dynamics projects can be performed for manufacturing systems development. It is shown that the support for how to implement system dynamics projects is unsatisfying and general. During the research progress a framework of guidelines has crystallised in order to bridge the presented gap of this thesis. Finally, the results are considered to make it easier to support manufacturing systems development using system dynamics.

Most contemporary organizations make use of computer-based information systems to support their management activities. There is considerable evidence that many of these systems experience problems during the development phases and a large proportion of these systems may, using specific criteria, be classed as failures. The reported high level of such failure in the development of computer-based information systems is not a new phenomenon for business, having been present almost from the inception of these systems. The frameworks that guide developers through the process can be labelled as information systems development methodologies, or ISDMs.For an educator involved with the teaching of some or all aspects of the development process this perceived high level of failure of systems development and implementation in practice raises some significant concerns. If there is a 'silver bullet' approach that students need to be equipped with to become successful systems developers we need to identify it and ensure that they are proficient with it. If there is no silver bullet we need to acknowledge this in our teaching and equip the students with the critical thinking skills to help them appreciate this in their later practice.This thesis takes as its central theme the view that there is currently no 'silver bullet' and one may never be found to fit all development projects and environments. Under such a constraint our students, as would-be practitioners, need to be helped to approach practice unfettered by a naïve belief that there is a single approach that offers guaranteed success in the development of information systems. Flexible, contingent and possibly creative approaches need to be fostered so that students can both work in the field and can contribute to both the overall understanding of that field and to their own personal development. The thesis considers the role of multiple perspectives, constructivism, language, communication and reflection as vehicles to allow the building and sharing of accessible understanding of information systems development methodologies in a tertiary education setting. The issues are explored through the design and development of a Masters course titled 'Information Systems Development Methodologies' that was designed and implemented at the University of South Australia in the period 1999 to 2008. The course was initially designed within an interpretivist paradigm and rather than following a traditional systems analysis and design path could be viewed more as a liberal arts course. However, as the course moved towards the end of its life it began to take on a more positivistic flavour.The story of the course emerged from a series of action learning cycles and is told from the perspective of the author who was both the researcher and the subject of the research.