In a 1994 survey, on incidence rates of musculoskeletal injuries among private industries within the U.S, nurses ranked first nationally. Patient handling tasks are considered to be a precipitating factor in the development of many musculoskeletal injuries. For many decades personnel training has been an intervention widely used for the nursing back problem. Inconsistency regarding the effectiveness of many personnel training programs, lack of controlled research among existing studies, and a primary focus only on long term reduction of injury rates makes the interpretation of the success of personnel training programs a difficult one. This study is based on the assumption that, if a training program is to be effective as a means of reducing musculoskeletal injuries, it must first modify worker behaviors and biomechanical stresses to a measurable degree. This research investigated the effects of training (Video and Lecture/Practice) on modifying working behaviors and biomechanical stress. Two tasks were examined (wheelchair to bed and lift up in bed) with two types of assistance (one-person or two-person) and two levels of patient's dependence (semi-dependent or dependent). Changes in behaviors were examined immediately following training (1-2 days delay) and after a short period of time (4-6 weeks) and evaluated using the criteria of subjective ratings of exertion, and postural and biomechanical measures. Results indicated that training led to several significant changes in the knee, hip, elbow and torso angles, whole body, shoulders and low back RPE, shear forces and shoulder moments. No differences were observed in these measures after a short period of time, suggesting retention of the information presented during the training programs. Results as a whole suggest that training can positively affect the working postures and biomechanical stress during common patient handling tasks. All the postural changes and biomechanical measures were advantageous in terms of reducing musculoskeletal stress. It was also found that after a short period of time (4-6 weeks) still retained the information presented during the training programs. Training using a combination of lecture and practice in some cases achieved better results than Video-based training. / Master of Science

Rapid increases in poultry litter production in concentrated areas has caused litter to be overapplied to nearby cropland at higher rates than the agronomic requirements of crops. Surface and ground water pollution has resulted due to leaching and runoff of nutrients in the litter. One solution to this litter disposal problem is to move litter from areas of concentrated poultry production (litter-surplus areas) to adjoining areas that have the capacity to absorb more litter for fertilizer and animal feed (litter-deficit areas). A linear programming feed cost minimization model was used to estimate the value of litter as a feed for beef stockers and beef cows. The value of litter in beef and stocker rations were estimated by determining the value of alternative feeds replaced by litter. The value of litter for use as fertilizer was estimated by determining the value of commercial fertilizer replaced by litter in selected crop rotations. The services and costs required to make litter available for fertilizer and feed were estimated. A linear programming cost minimization model was used to estimate the costs of moving varying amounts of litter from surplus to deficit counties in Virginia for use as fertilizer. Results indicated that it is economically feasible to establish a poultry litter handling industry. Results indicated more profit potential in moving litter for fertilizer than for feed. The profit potential to a litter handling firm is affected by several factors including the price of commercial fertilizer, waste management requirements, and litter storage subsidies. In order to increase the use of poultry litter for use as fertilizer and feed, it is necessary to educate farmers and the public about the nutritive and economic value of litter as a fertilizer and animal feed. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / Ground handling is a key component of the air transport logistics supply chain as it facilitates the mobility of cargo and people from one destination to another. Ground handling facilitates international trade hence its existence is critical to the competitiveness of a nation. Airline businesses usually overshadow ground handling due to the historical dominance of airlines in the aviation industry. The importance and effectiveness of the ground handling function as part of the air transport business is fast becoming a global issue as the industry is slowly emerging. The following tenets of ground handling are fast becoming key issues in the air transport business: passenger handling, cargo handling, handling ramp handling, baggage handling, equipment, safety, security, and human resources. Ground handling players are mainly concerned with productivity, profitability and maximising returns on investment. Dwindling revenue, unsustainable profit margins, low productivity and low customer satisfaction and loyalty are terms no shareholder or business leader wants to hear. This research will give insight into ground handling best practices that are a panacea for the industry. The ground handling business is time sensitive and requires massive investment. Therefore, sustainable best practices are the right ingredient for customer loyalty and business success. The focus on ground handling in South Africa and Zimbabwe will help in assessing the level of development in each country. This will aid in recommending best practices for the industry taking into account different country-specific risks and operational conditions. There are few studies in the field of ground handling and it is an industry not many individuals know about. Many ground-handling executives admit that the industry absorbed them by accident and not by design. They only realise the importance of the industry when they are in it. This research is a practical study meant to bring out solutions to the industry.

The name of the thesis is: Seizing costs of non-conformities in the business of projectingThe thesis is a compulsory part of the master programme: Master of Science in Industrial Engineering with a specialisation in Quality. The master’s programme is worth 300 ECTS credits.Eka Engineering is in the business of projecting and is in need of a system to seize and measure costs of non-conformities. As of today, Eka Engineering can only estimate roughly how large or small the costs are related to non-conformances.The purpose of the thesis is:- To search for means that can be used to, foremost, seize non-conformities and, secondly, seize the costs of the non-conformities in the business of projecting.The theory used to gather information is mainly studies on TQM. Methods used to answer and fulfil the purpose includes: Benchmarking, survey and interviews.A survey distributed within Eka Engineering proved that employees did not have enough motivation or information to use non-conformity reporting as means of improving the business. This was perceived to work functionally as projects were carried out. Part of the results must therefore include motivation and information to why documentation is futile for successful business improvement.Furthermore, a benchmarking was conducted in order to improve Eka Engineering’s way of handling non-conformities. This benchmarking was conducted at SAAB Space in Gothenburg.Interviews were conducted within Eka Engineering to find solutions for problems that arose during the survey, and also to shape a tool proposal for handling non-conformities that was influenced by SAAB Space.The result of the thesis presents Eka Engineering with a concept labelled Knowledge base, this concept includes:• A tool for documenting non-conformities and derived improvements• A work-process for the handling of non-conformities and derived improvements• A tool to involve employees in improvement work / Uppsatsnivå: D

Thesis. 1979. Ocean E.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Ocean Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 375-376. / Ocean E.

Atualmente, a utilização de suspensão traseira do tipo twist beam é muito difundida em veículos de pequeno porte e alto volume de produção, por apresentar um bom compromisso entre custo e desempenho. No entanto este conceito possui limitações no que diz respeito à absorção de vibrações de ride (conforto) secundário e impactos, e possui um compromisso com as características de handling (estabilidade) do veículo. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo de influência da rigidez das buchas da suspensão twist beam nos eventos de impacto singular para ride e no regime permanente do handling. É utilizado no estudo um modelo de multicorpos com veículo completo construído no software ADAMS. Para o estudo de ride é utilizada uma abordagem semi-analítica, através dos dados de medição em pista utilizando transdutores de força nas rodas (WFT). A partir do uso de tais carregamentos é possível simular os fenômenos de ride sem necessitar de um modelo específico de pneu. Para o estudo de handling é utilizado modelo pneu correlacionado com medição de curva em uma bancada chamada Flat-Trac. Utilizando os modelos construídos para ride e handling, são apresentados os dados de correlação dos modelos com veículo protótipo e um estudo da influência da rigidez de bucha nas métricas de impacto singular para ride e gradiente de esterçamento para handling. / Currently, the use of rear suspension twist beam is widespread in small vehicles and high-volume production, because it presents a good compromise between cost and performance. However, this concept has limitations regards the absorption of secondary ride vibrations and impacts, and has a commitment with handling characteristics of the vehicle. This dissertation presents a study of the stiffness influence of the twist beam suspension bushings in impact singular events to the ride and the steady state handling behavior. A multibody model of vehicle complete built in ADAMS software has been used for the study. For the ride study is using a semi-analytical approach, through the track measurement data using wheel force transducers (WFT). From the use of such road loads is possible to simulate the ride phenomena without needing a specific model of tire. For the handling study a tire model used is correlated with measurement curve on a workbench called Flat-Trac. Using models built for ride and handling are shown the correlation data models with prototype vehicle and a study of the influence of the bushing stiffness for the singular impact event metrics for ride and the steering gradient metric for handling.

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This thesis proposes a computationally effective analytical approach to automated material handling system (AMHS) performance modeling for a simple closed loop AMHS, such as is typical in supporting a 300mm wafer fab bay. Discrete-event simulation can produce accurate assessments of the production performance, including the contribution by the AMHS. However, the corresponding simulation models are both expensive and time-consuming to construct, and require long execution times to produce statistically valid estimates. These attributes render simulation ineffective as a decision support tool in the early phase of system design, where requirements and configurations are likely to change often. We propose an alternative model that estimates the AMHS performance considering the possibility of vehicle-blocking. A probabilistic model is developed, based on a detailed description of AMHS operations, and the system is analyzed as an extended Markov chain. The model tracks the operations of all the vehicles on the closed-loop considering the possibility of vehicle-blocking. The resulting large-scale model provided reasonably accurate performance estimates; however, it presented some computational challenges. These computational challenges motivated the development of a second model that also analyzes the system as an extended Markov chain but with a much reduced state space because the model tracks the movement of a single vehicle in the system with additional assumptions on vehicle-blocking. Neither model is a conventional Markov Chain because they combine the conventional Markov Chain analysis of the AMHS operations with additional constraints on AMHS stability and vehicle-blocking that are necessary to provide a unique solution to the steady-state behavior of the AMHS. Based on the throughput capacity model, an approach is developed to approximate the expected response time of the AMHS to move requests. The expected response times are important to measure the performance of the AMHS and for estimating the required queue capacity at each pick-up station. The derivation is not straightforward and especially complicated for multi-vehicle systems. The approximation relies on the assumption that the response time is a function of the distribution of the vehicles along the tracks and the expected length of the path from every possible location to the move request location.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 101-103).