Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985. / Also available in print.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1963 S86 / Master of Science

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree Doctor of Technology: Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Quality management remains one of the top ranking strategic issues in all major organisations. However, at present, there is a sentiment that business priorities and quality management priorities have become non-aligned over the last two decades. It is believed that quality management is still predominately understood and practiced using the framework and direction provided historically by quality leaders such as Deming, Juran, Crosby and others. Thus, this study motivated that quality is at a crossroads and in order for it to be aligned with business priorities, once again it needs to evolve its role. This study commenced with the review on related literature on the history of quality management. From this review, it was evident that the various evolutions of quality management were directed to meet the changing business challenges and market needs that were linked to prevailing demand and supply, customer focus, competitive advantage and profitable growth outputs. The literature review thereafter demonstrated the potential opportunities wherein quality management could be utilised to re-establish its previous relevance by supporting organisations in the management of emerging trends. This study identified globalisation, customer power and sophistication, social responsibility and environmental sustainability consciousness as emerging trends that could be the most leveraged with the use of quality management concepts, techniques and tools. Furthermore, the topics of stewardship, leadership, change management and strategy were discussed as enablers to the proposed new evolution of quality management, which should become known as “quality stewardship”. As a guideline to the “quality stewardship” strategy, a Quality Stewardship and Leadership (QSAL) framework was developed in this study. The QSAL framework incorporated Total Quality Management (TQM), systems thinking and business excellence as the underlying theoretical grounding. This framework, displaying a process approach, encapsulated the following components: inputs (risk, revenue and reputation), processes (productivity Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), technical governance, and environmental and social sustainability) and outputs (maximise value) for the proposed new scope for quality management. Abstract iii The primary source of information used in this study was obtained from qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The research instruments in this study included surveys in the form of questionnaires and an organisational assessment which was undertaken by utilising a Viable Systems Model (VSM). The organisational assessment that was part of the preliminary study was undertaken in two beverage multi-national organisations in South Africa. The pilot and principal studies consisted of surveys in the form of questionnaires. The objective of the survey was to gain an understanding of current quality management practices, current quality management thinking and acceptability of the proposed QSAL framework across selected manufacturing organisations in South Africa. Both the preliminary and principal studies displayed variable levels of responses in quality management practices and a high level of agreement or awareness to the questions on the current thinking of quality management and acceptability of the proposed QSAL framework in the quantitative studies. Thus, based on the review of related literature and empirical studies, the motivation for this research, that quality management was ready for the next evolution in order to support current business challenges and market demands, was validated.

The requirements on the products and production processes within the manufacturing industry are continuously increasing according to environmental standards. The new requirements are coming from a growing awareness of what our planet can provide for example by the global challenge of climate change. The industry needs to reduce energy consumption and waste to meet the upcoming requirements. One of the processes with high environmental impact in a discrete manufacturing industry is the paint shop. Surface treatment is also of great importance to maintain a high quality product. In scientific literature, technological risk is one of the barriers in implementing environmental conscious manufacturing. Therefore the area of sustainable operations management needs building bridges with other functions and disciplines such as economics, strategies and behavioral sciences in order to manage the transitions. The supply of competence around paint shops today is usually provided by suppliers and other sources within the industry and to make the collaboration to work is essential. In this process of collaboration with external sources, substantial measurements are required to maintain the desirable quality. In order to ensure the competence of testing the quality eventuate when switching technology at a pre-treatment line, this report sets out to explore what the challenges to be taken into consideration are when to assure the product- and- process quality. To respond to this question, a multiple case study is conducted during spring 2016 where the phenomenon to study is the change process and the unit of analysis is the challenges that can be faced during the verification process. The case studied is automotive companies located in Sweden which are producing components for heavy duty vehicles. Data collection is performed by studying documents, participatory observations and semi-structured interviews. The results will give insights to academia on what challenges that are occurring during the verification process of implementing new and cleaner technologies. The conclusions are drawn upon the literature and the empirical results. The managerial implications are to increase the awareness of any potential barriers in the verification process in order to be prepared for managing the technological change process.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: World Class Manufacturing (WCM) was first introduced into Nampak in 1990, and since then, there have been three attempts by the organisation to re-implement WCM in the organisation. In the last 23 years, 1990-2013, no formal assessment has been done with regard to evaluating whether the introduction of WCM was effective or not in the organisation, according to the goals and objectives set when the projects were initially implemented. The aim of this research report was to evaluate whether the implementation of WCM was effective in the Nampak Plastic Rigids (PRs) clusters and the study focused on only three operations namely; Nampak Tubes, Closures and Megapak. Secondly, the research aimed to establish what elements were required to successfully implement and sustain WCM in an organisation. Through the research it was established that in order to implement and sustain WCM successfully the following elements are required; strategy alignment, strategy implementation or execution, benchmarking, employee involvement, change management and the correct selection of continuous improvement tools and tactics. The three operations selected in the study were then evaluated against these elements through a survey, in order to gauge their alignment against each element. The research found that none of the three operations met the ideal state of 85 per cent in aligning themselves to the six elements. Nampak Tubes was the only operation that came close to the required ideal level of 85 per cent, as the operation had re-implemented WCM in 2011 and as a result, the operations performance in terms of the selected KPIs was better than that of the other two. However, on average none of the three operations reached the 85 per cent ideal range. This was an indication that the PRs were not aligned to the required six elements in their attempt to implement WCM, and despite the three previous attempts, success had not been achieved. The elements could prove complex as regards their comprehension and implementation as guided by the literature review and research, thus leadership should take careful note of the relationship between all of them. The organisational leadership is responsible for ensuring that the WCM strategy is driven centrally and adopted by all the stakeholders in the organisation, as all the elements require a leadership intervention. World Class Manufacturing is more than a concept or a project; it is a philosophy which should be treated as a way of life, if organisations are to be successful in being competitive.

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Computerised Manufacturing Planning and Control, (MPC), systems are used by many manufacturing organisations and there has been a significant amount of research into the implementation and use of these systems. It is apparent that these systems, once implemented, require continuous development to meet changing business requirements. What is not well understood is the optimal approach for this development process. This thesis presents the findings of a collaborative industrial research project that addresses this issue. The collaborative partner was Ferodo Ltd., Chapel-en-le-Frith, a leading automotive friction product manufacturer. The project was conducted under the Total Technology scheme. A review of the development of MPC systems is presented. This review considers three approaches to MPC; Manufacturing Resource Planning, (MRPII), Just in Time, (JIT) and Optimised Production Technology, (OPT). It is shown that whilst there is diversity between these approaches and their application in industry, there is convergence between their data structure requirements. The work presented in this thesis is based around the MRPII package used within Ferodo. The research concentrated on defining methodologies for structured systems development, with two main themes:- 1. The development of a multi-stage methodology to assist in the appropriate choice of systems development technique for creation of an effective manufacturing database. 2. Following on from the above, the thesis identifies the need for structured, hierarchical documentation to accompany a manufacturing database. A methodology for creation of this documentation is presented which is based on a pre-defined, top level, template. The methodology uses modelling techniques and defines four levels of documentation to help system developers derive comprehensive documentation from this template. Intranet technology is proposed as a mechanism for providing general access to this documentation. Proposals for further work are presented which include additional testing of the systems development methodology and creation of templates for different industrial scenarios.

D.Comm. / The point of departure of this study is that South African manufacturing organisations are far from being competitive in world-class terms, and that lean thinking has become a strategic necessity for many South African manufacturing organisations that want to compete successfully in today’s globalised economy which is characterised by fierce competition. However, even amongst the pioneers and advocates of lean thinking there is uncertainty as to the reasons why lean sometimes fail or do not achieve the same results as is the case at Toyota, the organisation that pioneered lean thinking as a business management strategy. Given the former stated problem the primary objective of this study is to identify the critical success factors for the successful implementation of lean thinking in South African manufacturing organisations. The literature study conducted identified the theoretical critical success factors, the independent variables in this study, as mindset and attitude; leadership; ordinary employees; strategic driver; basic stability; promotion office; lean tools and techniques; and integration. The indicators of lean thinking success, the dependent variables of this study, were identified as cost reduction and customer satisfaction. A convenient sample was used to collect primary data by means of a self developed questionnaire or measuring instrument. A factor analysis of the data yielded 5 critical success factors, which were labelled as philosophy and principles; people or soft issues; basic stability; strategic driver; and promotion office. The research further revealed that lean thinking has a very low success rate in South African manufacturing organisations (thereby justifying the reason for this study); that senior leadership has the biggest impact or influence on the sustainable success of lean thinking; and that trade unions are considered to have a limited positive impact on successful lean implementation. The emerged factors were interpreted and operationalised, and translated into practical recommendations for the successful implementation of lean thinking in South African manufacturing organisations. The most important recommendations relate to the role of people and leadership in a lean transformation; finding of an experienced facilitator; and lean thinking as a strategic driver. Recommendations for further research include the role of, and skills required by the human resources function and practitioners in a lean thinking organisation; and lean thinking training on tertiary level in South Africa. The study thus has theoretical, practical and methodological value for successful lean thinking implementation in South African manufacturing organisations.

Thesis. 1978. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Bibliography: leaves 73-74. / M.S.