A nivel mundial se sabe que, con el transcurrir de los años la industria del sector plástico se mueve en un nivel de crecimiento que está relacionado principalmente a su amplia capacidad de transformación, combinación, durabilidad y otras aplicaciones que si son correctamente empleados contribuyen a mejorar la capacidad de competitividad de las organizaciones haciendo frente a otros convertidores. Sin embargo, esta situación creciente genera que los procesos productivos se encuentren más saturado generando mayores registros de pérdidas en tiempo que impacta en el incumplimiento de la demanda, y ya que las fábricas de producción plástica venden tiempo de máquina esta situación afecta la rentabilidad de la misma. Para poder mitigar estas situaciones se han realizado diversos esfuerzos surgiendo filosofías y metodologías que permitan encontrar la solución a estos problemas, debido a la gran importancia que tiene para las empresas trabajar con la mayor eficiencia en sus procesos y con ello buscar incrementar su disponibilidad productiva para incrementar el volumen de ventas. En tal sentido, se aborda la implementación de la metodología Lean Manufacturing aplicada bajo el soporte del ciclo Deming y cuyo objetivo principal será desarrollar una estrategia en base al ciclo PHVA que permitirá incrementar la eficiencia de máquina de manera sostenida. Su aporte se desarrolla en torno a la aplicación exitosa de la combinación de las herramientas Lean seleccionadas bajo el esquema Deming y desarrolladas bajo un cronograma de Gantt para la solución del caso y que se desarrollan en este artículo pudiendo servir de guía inicial a otros técnicos que buscan incrementar la productividad de sus procesos en otras fábricas del sector. / Worldwide, it is known that, over the years, the industry of the plastic sector is moving at a level of growth that is mainly related to its broad capacity for transformation, combination, durability and other applications that, if correctly used, contribute to improving the capacity of competitiveness of organizations facing other converters. However, this growing situation means that production processes are more saturated, generating higher losses in time that impact on non-compliance with demand, and since plastic production plants sell machine time, this situation affects the profitability of the same In order to mitigate these situations, various efforts have been made to come up with philosophies and methodologies that allow finding the solution to these problems, due to the great importance for companies to work with the highest efficiency in their processes and thus seek to increase their productive availability to increase sales volume In this regard, the implementation of the Lean Manufacturing methodology applied under the support of the Deming cycle whose main objective will be to develop a strategy based on the PHVA cycle that will increase machine efficiency in a sustained manner is approached. Its contribution is developed around the successful application of the combination of the Lean tools selected under the Deming scheme and developed under a Gantt timetable for the solution of the case and that are developed in this article, being able to serve as an initial guide to other technicians who They seek to increase the productivity of their processes in other factories in the sector. / Trabajo de investigaciòn

Businesses with failed quality initiatives lose revenue, experience high expenses, and have fewer market opportunities. Researchers attribute failed quality initiatives to human and social factors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of employees in companies that received an Arkansas Governor's Quality Award between 2010 and 2015. No one knows how employees' experiences contribute to successful quality initiatives, or how their stories about their experiences influence quality management and continuous improvement. The conceptual framework consisted of Weick's theory of sense-making and Deming's system of profound knowledge. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with 11 participants across 8 organizations. Participants checked the member experience summary created from verbatim interview transcriptions analyzed per van Manen's whole-part-whole model. The analysis of the transcripts showed that participants' most meaningful experiences were those with people, followed by materials, feelings, time, and space. The study findings also showed that people transferred proven problem-solving methods from the workplace to their home and out into the community. The results of this study could contribute to positive social change by helping managers increase the potential for a successful quality initiative when they consider people's needs and contributions before adopting a set of quality management tools and practices.

Bakgrund: Idag är kvalitet ett viktigt konkurrensmedel i många företag. Koncept som Total Quality Management har utvecklats för att förbättra produkt- eller servicekvalitet och har haft stor påverkan på hur många företag arbetar med kvalitet. Därutöver ser företag olika på kvalitet och vissa lyckas tillämpa en effektiv kvalitetsstyrning medan andra har svårigheter med det. Därmed är det intressant att studera hur dagens kvalitetsstyrning bedrivs och fungerar för att skapa förändringar och ständiga förbättringar. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ur ett ledningsperspektiv beskriva och förklara hur kvalitetsstyrning kan leda till ständiga förbättringar. Vidare syftar studien till att jämföra kvalitetsstyrning mellan tillverknings- och tjänsteföretag och att utveckla en generell processmodell för effektivt kvalitetsarbete. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en fallstudieinriktad ansats där Posten AB och SKF Mekan AB har studerats och jämförts. Studien har en kvalitativ karaktär där den empiriska datan är hämtad från totalt fyra djupgående intervjuer med anställda på Posten AB och SKF Mekan AB. Därutöver har litteratur och forskningsartiklar inom det studerade området konsulterats. Resultat: Studien har lett fram till en processmodell för effektivt kvalitetsarbete där företagsledning, system och individ är huvudkomponenterna. För att dessa ska kunna samverka effektivt ska företagsledningen agera på ett sätt som skapar medarbetarengagemang så att ständiga förbättringar och bra kvalitet kan uppnås. Företagsledningen ska vara engagerad, stöttande samt initiativtagande. Dessutom är en viktig förutsättning att ledningen delegerar kvalitetsansvaret ut i organisationen. Kvalitetssystemet ska bestå av verktyg och metoder som är anpassade efter organisationen samt kan med fördel vara integrerat och i elektronisk form. Individerna, som bygger upp organisationen, måste vara kvalitetsmedvetna, vara utbildade, ansvara för mätning och uppföljning, organiseras i förbättringsgrupper samt forma kvalitetskulturen i företaget. Studien har visat att det inte finns någon större skillnad mellan hur kvalitetsarbetet bedrivs och ska bedrivas i ett tillverknings- och tjänsteföretag.

Ethics as a subject is investigated in this paper and in particular how ethics can be analyzed in different organizations. The paper investigates how the generic ethical performance (EPE) evaluation model can help organizations to evaluate their ethical performance. The base for the empirical material is collected through qualitative interviews with staff on four different international organizations. The results proclaim that the EPE model can help organizations to narrow down focus and to categorize results, which help organizations to analyze ethical behavior. If the EPE model is complemented with an improvement model (the Deming cycle) an ethical improvement model is created. Conclusions are that evaluating ethical performance is not simple and the results can be ambiguous. The EPE model should be seen as a tool in generic cases and not as the only way of evaluating ethics. If ethics is processed according to the Deming cycle small steps of continuous improvement should help organizations to improve ethical performance. The more you study something the more you realize the complexity of it. Opening doors to new knowledge is like finding yourself in a labyrinth. Some ways are leading to dead ends and sometime you get lost. But when you have been walking in the labyrinth for a while you tend to recognize how the different paths are connected and a web is revealed. This study reveals a gap between theoretical knowledge and knowledge about how to implement and use theories of ethics in “real life” situations. The paper ends with ideas for future possible research, the Ethical Improvement Model (EIM) created in this paper is brought forward as a suggestion.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Planning of resources is a powerful tool in the field of supply chain management and control and in general. Global large-scale companies and enterprises have this implemented in their planning processes. Today, experts in the subject have found issues regarding the implementation of such tools in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, this paper aims to develop an application for the methodology of continual improvement of processes, referred to as the Deming cycle or Plan–Do–Check–Act (PDCA), which adapts to continuous improvements of processes and products in SMEs. The methodology was modeled in a SME dedicated to manufacture and distribution of wine and products (wine and Pisco). The model was simulated through a simulation software, obtaining results of improvement regarding problems like break of stock, taking into account the satisfaction of the client, productivity in the delivery, and shipment time.

Uppsatsnivå: C

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Tech University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-205).

Ce travail décrit la mise en oeuvre d’une démarche d’évaluation des pratiquesprofessionnelles mise en place dans le service d’odontologie du CHU de Clermont-Ferrandafin de définir la qualité et le résultat des traitements endodontiques. Un cycle de Deming, oucycle Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) a été appliqué dans l’objectif de rechercher les facteursinfluençant la qualité et le résultat des traitements endodontiques, et de proposer lesaméliorations susceptibles d’assurer un meilleur service au patient. La phase Plan d’un cyclePDCA est la phase d’évaluation des pratiques. Elle se déroule en 6 étapes. Au cours de l’étape1, la pratique idéale pour la procédure a été évaluée, en référence aux recommandationsacadémiques. L’étape 2 a consisté au choix d’indicateurs permettant d’évaluer la proportionde traitements endodontiques adéquats et le résultat du traitement endodontique. Au cours del’étape 3, la qualité et le résultat des traitements endodontiques réalisés dans le serviced’odontologie de Clermont-Ferrand ont été évalués à l’aide des indicateurs définis à l’étape 2.Les facteurs influençant la qualité et le résultat ont également été recherchés. Au terme del’évaluation, deux actions d’amélioration ont été proposées. Il s’agit d’une part de la mise enplace d’un arbre décisionnel des procédures du traitement, prenant en compte le type de dent,l’état pulpaire, et la difficulté prévisible du ou des canaux et d’autre part de l’organisation durappel systématique des patients et de la gestion des traitements en échec. Au CHU deClermont-Ferrand, la procédure d’amélioration des pratiques se poursuit par la mise en placede ces actions dans le contexte de la phase « Do » du cycle PDCA. / Objectives: Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles are a methodology used to improveprofessional practices. This study presents the Plan phase that identifies and analyses clinical practicesin endodontics in a university dental hospital service.Methods: The plan phase was divided into six steps. Step 1 identified the quality and the outcome ofEndodontic Treatment (RCT) as the targeted procedure for PDCA referring to academic guidelines. InStep 2, an evidence based approach indicated the use of the proportions of RCTs with adequate qualityand the proportions of RCTs that were effective in the PDCA approach. Step 3 evaluated RCTs duringthree consecutive years. Step 4 compared the results from Step 3 with data from the literature. Step 5identified the factors acting on the quality and the outcome of RCTs. Step 6 proposed actions supposedto improve RCTs. Steps 1 to 5 were conducted by three PDCA managers, and the staff of teachers inendodontics was enrolled for consensual decisions in Step 6.Results: Step 3 reported that the proportion of RCTs with adequate quality reached 57.1% and thisproportion was significantly decreased when specific indicators for treatment difficulties were present.The proportion of successful RCTs after one year was 65.6% and its variation was influenced by thepreoperative periapical status, but not by the quality of RCTs. The consensual meeting in Step 6proposed five procedures to be implemented for the further Do phase of PDCA cycle.Conclusion: This study encourages systematic evaluation of RCTs in private and hospital practices.

Supply chain management (SCM) and quality management (QM) share some common literature and have overlapping domains that reinforce each other in the supplier and customer relationship management areas. Despite the recognized importance of supplier and customer relationships toward achieving quality goals, limited prior research examines whether SCM represents a distinct construct within the prominent existing quality focused organizational frameworks such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). As a result of the absence of the SCM construct in the frameworks, the problem facing researchers is understanding the role of SCM in the implementation of QM practices within an organization. Such an understanding is key to QM theory development for the 21st century organizations. In order to conduct this investigation, we examine several well-studied quality focused organizational frameworks that are validated among the community of researchers, and, widely accepted among practitioners. However, which of these well-known quality management models serve as the best proxy for a quality focused organizational framework is an important area for research in order to better promote QM worldwide. This research involves three essays and uses a mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative research. Essay 1 compares well-known national quality award frameworks such as the MBNQA, the Deming Prize, and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Award through analysis of the extensive literature on each as well as examination of the government documents about the frameworks. Comparisons show the Baldrige framework most widely serves as basic model for national quality award frameworks to increase the awareness of quality and promote the best QM practices. After reviewing the categories and their weightings in the frameworks of MBNQA, the Deming Prize, and the EFQM Award, we identify opportunities to refine the frameworks and promote QM theory development. Essay 2 fills a critical research gap by assessing the effectiveness of the Baldrige framework within a government organization and by comparing the effectiveness of the categories of the Baldrige framework in government to the effectiveness of the categories in different industries. This study examines the relative effectiveness of each Baldrige category in the MBNQA 2013-2014 framework using data from a municipal government. It tests the hypothesized research model employing partial least squares - structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Drawing on contingency theory, it explores the commonalities and differences of the effectiveness of Baldrige categories across different industries by comparing our results with summarized prior research findings of interrelationships among the Baldrige categories. Essay 3 posits a restructured Baldrige framework after conducting a rigorous literature review on SCM and examining the Baldrige framework and categories associated with SCM. This work includes a longitudinal set of studies that test the hypothesized research model based upon the newly posited restructured theoretical framework using PLS-SEM on survey data from three different time periods over 20 years across a variety of organizations. The results support that the restructured framework provides a good model fit when the SCM construct is independently identified and included within the framework. The comparison from the longitudinal analysis provides significant insights for theory evolutions of leadership, SCM, and information systems constructs. Additionally, this longitudinal investigation over 20 years supports the evolution of the Baldrige framework as it was revised over time. Most importantly the work posits and supports the new theory development and shows the overarching importance of the SCM as a major organizational construct.

This diploma thesis examines various linear regression methods and their use to establish regression relationships between the compressive strength of concrete determined by the indirect method and by the crushing of the specimens in the press. It deals mainly with the uncertainty of values measured by the indirect method, which is neglected by the usually used ordinary least squares regression method. It also deals with the weighted least squares method, suitable for so-called heteroskedastic data. It compares different regression methods on several sets of previously measured data. The final part of the work examines the effect of removing too influential points identified by Cook's distance, which may skew the regression results.