Orientador: Olimpio José Pinheiro / Banca: José Carlos Placido da Silva / Banca: Tomas Queiroz Ferreira Barata / Banca: Ana Thudichum Vasconcelos / Banca: Rita Assoreira Almendra / Resumo: A pesquisa propõe-se a desenvolver um estudo de análise interpretativa que focaliza predominantemente as necessidades e possibilidades do design de produto contemporâneo, inserido no contexto de uma possível sociedade sustentável que se posiciona além da atual cultura material baseada no consumismo. Deste modo, leva-se em conta a inter-relação do trinômio arte-design-espiritualidade em paralelo com o fenômeno, em sentido amplo, da globalização. A análise do corpus de pesquisa incide sobre o estudo de caso da obra de design (teórico-prática) do Professor Stuart Walker, PhD, atualmente pela University of Lancaster, Reino Unido. O foco primordial do design walkeriano visa a "resignificação" de objetos funcionais de uso cotidiano através de proposições formais (tangíveis) que vão desde abordagens incrementais de "desmascaramento" e reaproveitamento de materiais, até concepções filosóficas complexas. Utilizando-se de uma metodologia radical, que prevê um distanciamento entre academia e economia em prol de um processo criativo cíclico ("thinking-and-doing"), focaliza a associação entre ética, estética, sustentabilidade e espiritualidade, a partir do resgate e apropriação simbólica de elementos advindos de tradições religiosas milenares. Com esta referência procuramos contribuir não apenas com a percepção/conscientização ecológica, mas principalmente com a reflexão de projetos em design de produto, nos quais se articulem harmoniosamente a função estética à função prática e à função ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The research proposes to develop an interpretive case study that focuses predominantly on the needs and possibilities of contemporary product design, inserted in the context of a possible sustainable society that positions itself beyond the current material culture based on consumerism. In this way, we take into account the interrelationship of the trinomial art-design-spirituality in parallel with the phenomenon, in a broad sense, of globalization. As a case study, the analysis of the research corpus focuses on the design work (theoreticalpractical) of Professor Stuart Walker, PhD, currently of the University of Lancaster, UK. The primary focus of walkerian design is the "re-signification" of everyday functional objects through formal (tangible) propositions ranging from incremental approaches of "unmasking" and reusing materials to complex philosophical conceptualizations. Using a radical methodology that distances itself from academia and economics in favour of a cyclical creative process (thinking-and-doing), it focuses on the association between ethics, aesthetics, sustainability and spirituality, from the rescue and symbolic appropriation of elements derived from religious traditions of millennia. With this reference, we seek to contribute not only to ecological perception/awareness, but also mainly to a new product design, in which the aesthetic function is harmoniously inter-related to the practical function and the symbolic function, in order to focus and favour a "S... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

A review of the normative literature, in the field of Information Technology (IT)/ Information System (IS) justification, examines how organisations evaluate their investments in Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII). This is achieved through investigating the issues surrounding capital budgeting, with a particular focus on investment appraisal. In doing so, a novel taxonomy of generic appraisal techniques is proposed. This taxonomy identifies a number of methods for appraising MRPII investments, and through describing these techniques, a classification is offered that identifies their respective characteristics and limitations. In doing so, it becomes clear that although many of the benefits and savings resulting from MRPII are suitable for inclusion within traditional accountancy frameworks, it is their intangible and non-financial nature, together with a range of indirect project costs that confuse the justification process. These factors, together with a range of human and organisational implications, that further complicate the decision making process are also identified. Hence, it appears through a critical review of the literature that many companies are unable to assess the implications of their MRPII investments, thus amounting to a myopic appraisal process that focuses on the analysis of those benefits and costs that are financially quantifiable. In acknowledging the limitations of traditional appraisal techniques, a conceptual model for IT/IS investment evaluation is proposed, which is underpinned by research hypotheses. To test the validity of the proposed hypotheses, a robust novel research methodology is then developed. In doing so, an interpretivist stance is adopted, which favours the use of qualitative research methods during a multiple case enquiry. Whilst conducting the empirical research, it soon emerged that the hypotheses represented significant factors for consideration within the presented model. As a result, such constructs now establish themselves as integral parts within a structured evaluation process. However, during the empirical research, complementary evaluation criteria also emerged, which resulted in modifications being made to the previously presented conceptual model. In doing so, culminating in the development of descriptive MRPII evaluation criteria and a model, which provides investment decision makers with novel frames of reference during the evaluation of MRPII investment proposals.

Manufacturing industries used to develop their operation strategies focusing on the cost of manufacturing, high volume production, and stabilizing the customer demand. But due to advancements in technology and evolving customer needs, the market demand became highly volatile, dynamic and customers expected customization, low volume products, and faster deliveries. This evolution in customer needs has pushed the companies to improve their operating systems to be more flexible, agile, and adaptable to the market’s dynamic character. In order to effectively evolves themselves and achieve more flexibility, manufacturing companies had to implement effective manufacturing, planning, and control systems.  The first breakthrough in planning systems came in the year 1975 where a systemic approach called material requirements planning was introduced by Orlicky. MRP has become the global for production planning and inventory management in manufacturing industries. Later, over the years, research on the planning systems has brought modifications in MRP and it was evolved into closed-loop MRP. Further into the late 1980’s availability of technology led to an introduction of a newly evolved system called the Manufacturing resource planning which resulted in a holistic approach in material planning involving, financial and accounting functions which improved the planning efficiency. Further advancement in technology resulted in advanced planning systems like Enterprise resource planning and Advanced planning and scheduling.  On the contrary, though there has been a lot of advancement in technology and effective production planning methods, there are still discrepancies in obtained results when compared to theory. This is because the existing systems were based either solely on push production or pull production strategy. There is a lack of a hybrid system that includes the positives of both production strategies and negates the MRP conflict. However, in the year 2011, a new concept called demand-driven material requirements planning was introduced by Ptak & Smith, which was a fusion of the core MRP, theory of constraints, and Lean principles. Since the introduction DDMRP has seen an increase in implementation across industries which claimed a significant improvement in performance, on-time delivery, reduction in inventory, and reduced stock-outs. DDMRP has received very little attention in academia due to a lack of awareness among researchers and industries. A literature review approach was used to collect and analyze the data on DDMRP and its advantages. The objective of this thesis was to shed light on the process of DDMRP, its pros, and cons in implementing the new material planning system.

No description available.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration, Durban Institute of Technology, 2008. / The aim of this research is to analyze the introduction of lean manufacturing in a selected South African organization viz. Smiths Manufacturing. The research, together with its conclusions, may identify problematic areas which, once addressed, will improve the implementation in other areas and identify the benefits, if any, of lean manufacturing. Three research objectives exist and two methods of research were used to solve the research questions. The first and second research objectives (i.e. to analyze the manner in which lean manufacturing was introduced in Smiths Manufacturing and its benefit on the company's competitive position and future existence) were analyzed qualitatively with the aid of personal interviews. The third research objective (i.e. to determine the financial benefit of lean manufacturing introduction on the respective assembly line) was analyzed quantitatively. This research revealed three pertinent findings: Firstly, Smiths Manufacturing has adhered to eight of Liker's 13 Step Implementation Procedure with two areas of non-conformance being identified and insufficient information present to comment on the remaining three steps. Secondly, improvements in the manufacturing process have enabled the company to be more price competitive. Areas of improvement were in labour, raw materials and finished goods. These improvements will assist in ensuring the company's future existence. Thirdly, there has been a substantial amount of savings by the introduction of lean manufacturing. This research has identified that communication involving lean manufacturing is vital to introducing a system into a company. This communication enables people at all levels to understand the roll out procedure and the corresponding actions of the company. In addition, the research revealed that the / M

Memory assembly and testing OEM as the IC semiconductor backend process by Taiwan conducts 30% manufacturing output globally. Mainly 50% of the output focused on DRAM. The quality and shipping were headed as the key factor all over the world. The manufacturing process improved in South Korea and mainland China accompanied with the raw material price rising after the 311 earthquake in Japan, enterprises encountering enormous challenge so their OEM manufacturing needs to incorporate the copper wiring process and lower the cost to enhance the competitiveness. The rush orders exhausted the DRAM on-hand parts after economic recovery during the first half of 2011. The shortage mainly came from raw materials, human resources and equipments. Precise planning with elastic resource and information system control became the top priority. Therefore as Elpida, the DRAM manufacturer in Japan, filed the bankruptcy protection, memory assembly and testing OEM manufacturers should be paced in tuning the policy of enterprise, organization, production elements and information system to face the rapid global economic environments change. We propose architecture-oriented memory assembly and testing OEM factory manufacturing resource planning management model (AOMATOEMFMRPMM) in this study. AOMATOEMFMRPMM is an enterprise architecture which uses structure-behavior coalescence to define the components, operations and task forces during the planning of the manufacturing resources. AOMATOEMFMRPMM lets corporation supervisors understand and manipulate effectively the manufacturing resources, lessen the risk of re-organization, improve the quality of maintenance and efficiency of communication of the information system.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Urban Planning and Environmental Management / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purposes of this dissertation were to define enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, assess the varying performance benefits flowing from different ERP system implementation statuses, and investigate the impact of critical success factors (CSFs) on the ERP system deployment process. A conceptual model was developed and a survey instrument constructed to gather data for testing the hypothesized model relationships. Data were collected through a cross-sectional field study of Indian production firms considered pioneers in understanding and implementing ERP systems. The sample data were drawn from a target population of 900 firms belonging to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The production firms in the CII member directory represent a well-balanced mix of firms of different sizes, production processes, and industries. The conceptual model was tested using factor analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and univariate Anova. The results indicate that the contributions of different ERP system modules vary with different measures of changes in performance and that a holistic ERP system contributes to performance changes. The results further indicate that the contributions of CSFs vary with different measures of changes in performance and that CSFs and the holistic ERP system influences the success achieved from deployments. Also, firms that emphasize CSFs throughout the ERP implementation process achieve greater performance benefits as compared to those that focus on CSFs during the initial ERP system deployment. Overall, the results of the study support the relationships hypothesized in the conceptual model.

No / Due to significant challenges and increase in competition within the global environment, manufacturing companies need to focus on Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) systems in order to gain a competitive edge. This research paper describes a contribution towards the design and implementation of a bespoke MRP II system for a SME company dealing in tool reclamation. The paper covers the investigation of currently available MRP II systems and also investigates the present MPC system of the concerned SME company. On the basis of these investigations, a new/bespoke design has been proposed and developed for an MRP II system that is tailor-made for the aforementioned company. The newly designed MRP II system has been developed (using MS Access and Visual Basic for Application i.e. VBA) as a database planning tool of MPC system and contains the critical modules Demand Management (DM), Rough Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP), Master Production Scheduling (MPS), Material Requirements Planning (MRP), and Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP). The bespoke MRP II system has been tested within the real manufacturing environment existing in the SME company with positive results. The key outcome of the research has shown that even small SME’s can design and implement their own MRPII system, which is particular and relevant to their own special manufacturing environment, using a minimal of time, software and financial resources.

<p>The Small and Medium-size Enterprises are the key bone of the economy of many nations. The usual definition of SME’s, make up 99.8% of the approximately 19 million enterprises of the European Union (ISO, 2002) and Sweden is not an exception. That is why SME’s faces the strategic challenge of achieving sustained profitable growth. To meet this challenge, SME’s must develop capabilities to integrate their systems. Since ICT gives so many advantages to support the Supply Chain, and MRPII software’s have become a very popular tool in the last thirty years; Our purpose is to answer the following research question:</p><p>How can MRP II-type computer systems be used effectively to support the manufacturing and organizational integration?</p><p>The research started with on-site observations and interviews but the development of a model and a survey was needed. After, we linked the research with an already accepted model. The results show how important the human aspect and the accuracy are in the effective usage of an MRP II. It also demonstrates that the MRP II philosophy must be accepted to use the MRP II software profitably. Nevertheless, we modeled the vicious cycle that our case company might deal with, tried to find the root cause and give recommendations to break it.</p> / <p>Små och Mellan- stora företag är många nationers byggstenar. Den vanligaste definitionen av SME´s utgör 99,8% av de uppskattningsvis 19 miljoner företag inom Europeiska Unionen (ISO, 2002) och Sverige är inget undantag. Det är anledningen till att SME´s möter den strategiska utmaningen att uppnå ihållande och vinstgivande tillväxt. För att ta sig an denna utmaningen måste SME´s utveckla förmågor att integrera sina system. Eftersom ICT ger så många fördelar att stödja utbudskedjan, och eftersom MRP II mjukvaror har kommit att bli ett populärt verktyg de senaste trettio åren, kommer vårt syfte bli att svara på följande fråga:</p><p>Hur kan datasystem av typen MRP II användas för att på ett effektivt sätt underlätta integrering av tillverkning och organisation?</p><p>Undersökningen startade med observationer samt intervjuer på plats, men utförandet av en statistisk undersökning och en modell var nödvändig efter det att vi redan hade kopplat ihop arbetet med en redan accepterad modell. Reasultaten visar hur viktig den mänskliga faktorn samt exaktheten är i användandet av en MRP II. Den visar också att MRP II filosofin måste vara accepterad innan man kan använda MRP II mjukvaran på ett fördelaktigt sätt. Likväl har vi illustrerat den onda cirkeln som vårt företag måste försöka ta sig ur, försökt hitta den underliggande orsaken och slutligen att ge rekommendationer för att bryta den.</p>