Thesis (MTech (Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / The objective of this project was to measure the performance of high-strength aluminium alloys as injection mould material compared against conventionally used tool steel.

Abstract This dissertation aims to provide an extensive picture of management accounting systems and explore the relationships between management accounting systems, strategy, information technology, manufacturing technology and organizational performance. The dissertation consists of four essays. The first essay focuses on the adoption and benefits of management accounting practices, whereas the second essay studies the relations between customer-focused strategy, performance measurement techniques, information technology and their link to customer performance. The third essay studies the relations between manufacturing technology, information technology, strategy and organizational performance. The fourth essay, in turn, studies the management accounting systems and their relations to strategy and information technology. The first three essays employ the survey method while the last essay employs the case method. The framework used in this dissertation is the contingency theory. The results indicate that financial performance measures will be important in the future and that greater emphasis will be placed on contemporary management accounting practices such as customer satisfaction surveys and employee attitudes. Also, the relative benefits from the previous three years and the future emphasis in the next three years are generally greater when the size of the firm increases. The results show that there is a significant association between customer performance and the three-way interaction involving customer-focused strategy, contemporary performance measures and advanced information technology. The proposed three-way interaction between financial performance measures, customer-focused strategy and advanced information technology is not supported at conventional levels of statistical significance indicating that financial measures are not important in the model. The results also indicate that contemporary performance measures do not help highly customer-focused firms to achieve customer performance. For firms with a low customer-focus, emphasizing contemporary performance measures and advanced information technology assists in enhancing customer performance. The results also suggest that manufacturing technology and information technology together help firms to improve their organizational performance regardless of their emphasis on differentiation strategy.

Firms which adapt new manufacturing technologies, such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) or computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) and concepts such as just-in-time (JIT), can expect to exert a significant influence on various stakeholder groups. Additionally, innovative accounting systems which are currently being developed to monitor and evaluate the performance of manufacturing systems will have a direct impact on certain stakeholder constituencies. Uses stakeholder theory as a basis for explaining the complex relationships among the firm and various constituencies or stakeholders. Major stakeholder groups include educators, auditors, trainers, line managers, human resource managers, suppliers, customers, stockholders, labour unions, the financial community, government, local community organizations, environmentalists, employees, directors, management and bondholders. The needs of the various groups are placed in the context of the new global competitive environment.

Flextronics Design i Linköping tillverkar prototypskretskort till telekomindus-trin. Examensarbetet tog de fram eftersom de upplever att de har problem medolika områden inom den funktion där själva tillverkningen sker, SMA (SurfaceMount Assembly). De var inte säkra på exakt vilka problemen var men de vis-ste att de rör rutiner, kommunikation, samt materialtillförsel. Genom att i ettexamensarbete definiera och lyfta fram problemen samt ta fram åtgärdsförslag,hoppades företaget att vissa av problem skulle kunna uppmärksammas ochlösas och på det sättet skulle kvaliteten i processerna öka. Genom att förbättravissa områden hoppades de även kunna bli effektivare i sitt arbetssätt vilketi sin tur skulle kunna frigöra värdefull kapacitet, något som är mycket viktigtför Flextronics i Linköping, eftersom de har hög beläggning.Syftet med examensarbetet var att genom en kartläggning tydligt definieraproblemen och ta fram förbättringsområden. Fokus lades sedan på det om-råde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i. Målet var att ta fram ett konkret åtgärds-förslag, som löser de mest angelägna problemen, och som kan implementeraspå företaget.Kartläggningen bygger främst på ett stort antal intervjuer som gjordes med oli-ka personer som är involverade i SMA och dess stödprocesser. Det visade sigatt det var inom områdena strategier, kommunikation och informationssprid-ning, ansvarsområden, materialrutiner samt personalfrågor som problemenfrämst finns. Inom dessa områden definierades ett stort antal problempunkter,som var och en kategoriserades efter vilket ursprungligt problem de härstam-mar ur, alltså vad som skulle behöva förbättras för att få respektive problem-punkt åtgärdad. Det resulterade i åtta olika förbättringsområden, nämligenåterrapportering, kommunikation, spårbarhet, spill, sårbarhet, plock check, SMA-fel och ansvarsfördelning.Det förbättringsområde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i var återrapportering.För att kunna förbättra den, och lösa de problem som fanns knutna till detproblemområdet, låg fokus under andra halvan av examensarbetet på att tafram ett informationssystem. Först togs strategier för både utveckling och im-plementering fram och därefter utvecklades systemet med hjälp av program-varan Microsoft SharePoint. Resultatet av arbetet blev informationssystemetReFlex som kommer att implementeras och börja användas på företaget.Med hjälp av ReFlex finns nu möjligheten att effektivisera arbetet på en radpunkter. Tack vare en effektiv återanvändning av informationen kan de frånoch med nu på ett bra sätt utnyttja tidigare erfarenheter, vilket gör att misstaginte behöver upprepas. Problem kommer inte behöva lösas flera gånger, vilketsparar mycket värdefull tid och frigör kapacitet. Kvaliteten i processerna kanöka, då problem kan uppmärksammas på ett smidigare sätt och därmed åtgär-das snabbare. / Flextronics Design in Linköping is an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS)company and manufactures printed circuit boards assemblies (PCBAs) for thetelecommunication industry. The site in Linköping is focused on prototypingPCBAs. They have problems regarding their SMA (Surface Mount Assembly)line, where the PCBAs are manufactured. The problems were not clearly de-fined in the beginning, but regarded routines, communication and materialsupply. By defining exactly where the major problems were and by solvingsome of these, they hoped that both the quality of their processes and the effi-ciency regarding their methods of working could improve. That could increasetheir capacity, something that would be valuable to Flextronics, since they areoften working above their capacity level.The purpose of this master thesis was to clearly define the problems through asurvey and suggest different ideas about which areas that should be improved.The area considered most important was then chosen for further work. Theobjective was to create a solution that solves as many problems as possible, asolution that could be implemented at Flextronics.The survey that was carried out is based on interviews with people involvedin the processes concerning SMA. The problems showed to involve strategies,communication and information sharing, management of responsibilities, rou-tines regarding material supply, and human resource issues. Within these ar-eas a large number of problem matters were defined. Each of these were cate-gorised based on what type of action that could solve that particular problem.The result was eight different action areas, that each could be the solution todifferent kinds of problems. The areas were; improving possibilities for report-ing and giving feedback, improving communication, improving traceability,decrease waste, decrease the vulnerability, improve routines for plock check,reduce the number of defect PCBAs due to SMA-problems and make the re-sponsibiliies more clear.The action area that was considered most important was increasing the possi-bilities for giving feedback. To make that happen, an information system wasdeveloped. First strategies for development and implementation was formu-lated and after that, the system was developed in Microsoft SharePoint. Thework resulted in the system ReFlex, that will be implemented at Flextronics.ReFlex will give the possibility to make work more efficient in many ways.Thanks to improved feedback possibilities they can now reuse information andtake advantage of prior experiences when starting a new build. The risk ofmaking the same mistake twice will decrease, which will save a lot of timeand thereby increase their capacity. The quality of the processes can also beincreased, since mistakes are more likely to be paid attention to and can therebybe solved faster.

<p>Flextronics Design i Linköping tillverkar prototypskretskort till telekomindus-trin. Examensarbetet tog de fram eftersom de upplever att de har problem medolika områden inom den funktion där själva tillverkningen sker, SMA (SurfaceMount Assembly). De var inte säkra på exakt vilka problemen var men de vis-ste att de rör rutiner, kommunikation, samt materialtillförsel. Genom att i ettexamensarbete definiera och lyfta fram problemen samt ta fram åtgärdsförslag,hoppades företaget att vissa av problem skulle kunna uppmärksammas ochlösas och på det sättet skulle kvaliteten i processerna öka. Genom att förbättravissa områden hoppades de även kunna bli effektivare i sitt arbetssätt vilketi sin tur skulle kunna frigöra värdefull kapacitet, något som är mycket viktigtför Flextronics i Linköping, eftersom de har hög beläggning.Syftet med examensarbetet var att genom en kartläggning tydligt definieraproblemen och ta fram förbättringsområden. Fokus lades sedan på det om-råde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i. Målet var att ta fram ett konkret åtgärds-förslag, som löser de mest angelägna problemen, och som kan implementeraspå företaget.Kartläggningen bygger främst på ett stort antal intervjuer som gjordes med oli-ka personer som är involverade i SMA och dess stödprocesser. Det visade sigatt det var inom områdena strategier, kommunikation och informationssprid-ning, ansvarsområden, materialrutiner samt personalfrågor som problemenfrämst finns. Inom dessa områden definierades ett stort antal problempunkter,som var och en kategoriserades efter vilket ursprungligt problem de härstam-mar ur, alltså vad som skulle behöva förbättras för att få respektive problem-punkt åtgärdad. Det resulterade i åtta olika förbättringsområden, nämligenåterrapportering, kommunikation, spårbarhet, spill, sårbarhet, plock check, SMA-fel och ansvarsfördelning.Det förbättringsområde som ansågs viktigast att ta tag i var återrapportering.För att kunna förbättra den, och lösa de problem som fanns knutna till detproblemområdet, låg fokus under andra halvan av examensarbetet på att tafram ett informationssystem. Först togs strategier för både utveckling och im-plementering fram och därefter utvecklades systemet med hjälp av program-varan Microsoft SharePoint. Resultatet av arbetet blev informationssystemetReFlex som kommer att implementeras och börja användas på företaget.Med hjälp av ReFlex finns nu möjligheten att effektivisera arbetet på en radpunkter. Tack vare en effektiv återanvändning av informationen kan de frånoch med nu på ett bra sätt utnyttja tidigare erfarenheter, vilket gör att misstaginte behöver upprepas. Problem kommer inte behöva lösas flera gånger, vilketsparar mycket värdefull tid och frigör kapacitet. Kvaliteten i processerna kanöka, då problem kan uppmärksammas på ett smidigare sätt och därmed åtgär-das snabbare.</p> / <p>Flextronics Design in Linköping is an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS)company and manufactures printed circuit boards assemblies (PCBAs) for thetelecommunication industry. The site in Linköping is focused on prototypingPCBAs. They have problems regarding their SMA (Surface Mount Assembly)line, where the PCBAs are manufactured. The problems were not clearly de-fined in the beginning, but regarded routines, communication and materialsupply. By defining exactly where the major problems were and by solvingsome of these, they hoped that both the quality of their processes and the effi-ciency regarding their methods of working could improve. That could increasetheir capacity, something that would be valuable to Flextronics, since they areoften working above their capacity level.The purpose of this master thesis was to clearly define the problems through asurvey and suggest different ideas about which areas that should be improved.The area considered most important was then chosen for further work. Theobjective was to create a solution that solves as many problems as possible, asolution that could be implemented at Flextronics.The survey that was carried out is based on interviews with people involvedin the processes concerning SMA. The problems showed to involve strategies,communication and information sharing, management of responsibilities, rou-tines regarding material supply, and human resource issues. Within these ar-eas a large number of problem matters were defined. Each of these were cate-gorised based on what type of action that could solve that particular problem.The result was eight different action areas, that each could be the solution todifferent kinds of problems. The areas were; improving possibilities for report-ing and giving feedback, improving communication, improving traceability,decrease waste, decrease the vulnerability, improve routines for plock check,reduce the number of defect PCBAs due to SMA-problems and make the re-sponsibiliies more clear.The action area that was considered most important was increasing the possi-bilities for giving feedback. To make that happen, an information system wasdeveloped. First strategies for development and implementation was formu-lated and after that, the system was developed in Microsoft SharePoint. Thework resulted in the system ReFlex, that will be implemented at Flextronics.ReFlex will give the possibility to make work more efficient in many ways.Thanks to improved feedback possibilities they can now reuse information andtake advantage of prior experiences when starting a new build. The risk ofmaking the same mistake twice will decrease, which will save a lot of timeand thereby increase their capacity. The quality of the processes can also beincreased, since mistakes are more likely to be paid attention to and can therebybe solved faster.</p>

The diploma work is aimed to a the solution of a complete manufactoring technology of an unit in the conditions of a small company which is specialized in the LASER technology use. The introductory part of the work cantains the division of LASER method according to the different categories. There is mentioned in which fields laser is used and especially which kinds of lasers are used in the industry. The main part of the work is aimed to the scheme of the manufacturing technology of an unit which is focused on a concrete device (TRUMATIC L 4030). Further part of the work contains a safety of work from the standpoint of notions, machine operation and dangers review. In the conclusion of the work there is performed a technical and economical evaluation of the manufactured unit according to the machining times and the cutting length.

Common possibility analysis on milling machine, analysis possibility for programming in workshop oriented milling in system Sinumerik 840D ShopMill. Project alternative manufacturing technology including creation NC programme and technical economic valuation for part of Suspension globular screw in axis X.

<p>  </p> <p>High-resolution enclosed channels/fibers are highly demanded by different disciplines such as microfluidic channels for chemical synthesis, bioreactors for drug metabolism, magnetic locomotor for drug delivery, and wearable devices for motion detection. However, the current fabrication techniques for enclosed channels/fibers are restricted to a few millimeters in size. Their manufacturing often involves time and energy-consuming multi-step processes with insufficient resolution. In this work, we demonstrate a novel co-flow-enabled fabrication method to resolve the technological restrictions in the fabrication of high-resolution enclosed channels/fibers with efficient production time, controllable morphologies, and high throughput manner.</p> <p>An epoxy-based enclosed microfluidic channel was first built. A non-reactive paraffin oil and a liquid resin were pumped into a 3D-printed co-flow generator and worked as core and shell fluids, respectively. The epoxy resin was cured by external heat stimulus. As a result, the reaction region was limited between the generator wall surface and the boundary of core flow, eliminating the need for precise control over the curing system. The experiment was successfully conducted to cure build resin channel inside copper and resin tubes with good shell thickness.</p> <p>Conductive hollow hydrogel microfibers were also fabricated by this method. Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride were chosen as the shell and core flows, respectively. The ionic crosslinking happens at the boundary of two flows and expands outwards across the radial direction. Thus, the diameter of the hollow channel can be easily adjusted by tuning the flow rate and the size of the core flow injection needle. PEDOT: PSS, a conductive polymer, was mixed with Sodium Alginate to impart fibers with excellent electrical conductivity. The synthesized hollow microfibers have shown their functionality in stretching movement detection by serving as a fundamental building element of motion sensors. </p>

Esta tese busca, de início, pesquisar comparativamente, com a abrangência possível, os métodos e processos pelos quais as empresas componentes do setor siderúrgico nacional avaliam - sob o ponto de vista da viabililidade - a tomada de suas decisões relativamente a seus peculiares e vultosos investimentos em equipamentos de tecnologia avançada de manufatura. Revisita primária e metodologicamente amplo repertório de métodos de avaliação consagrados pela prática e pela literatura, tendo como cenário o setor em referência representado pelas várias modalidades industriais que o suportam. A pesquisa é realizada com base no estudo de múltiplos casos realizados em grandes empresas siderúrgicas, a partir de visitas a suas instalações e entrevistas com seus especialistas de análise de viabilidade de projetos de investimento. Ao final, oferece modelo de avaliação a ser adotado complementarmente aos critérios utilizados pelo setor em referência, a partir das observações e discussões efetuadas em campo. / This thesis initially seeks to search, in a comparative basis and with the permissible largeness, the methods and procedures through which the companies comprising the national siderurgic sector appraise their decisions referring to their peculiar and huge investments in AMT equipments, under a feasibility point of view. A primary review is made, in a comparative way, of a large well known evaluation methods repertoire, in a background at which act the various concerned industrial modalities. The search is accomplished based on the study of multiple cases realized at big siderurgic companies, by visiting their installations and by interviewing their specialists in investment feasibility project analysis. Eventually offers an evaluation model to be adopted by this sector, based upon the observation and discussions made in the related field research.

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-03T13:21:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 31.pdf: 1544600 bytes, checksum: b5f309e37324900dbc54bfa8402417d6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-03T13:21:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 31.pdf: 1544600 bytes, checksum: b5f309e37324900dbc54bfa8402417d6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-26 / Nenhuma / Este estudo examina como a estratégia de manufatura e o planejamento da cadeia de suprimentos influenciam na antecipação de novas tecnologias e o efeito dessas no desempenho operacional. Foi considerado que a antecipação de tecnologia de manufatura pode ser uma fonte de diferencial competitivo, baseado nas proposições de Hayes e Wheelwrigth (1984). Os autores estabeleceram que a manufatura pode desenvolver pelo menos quatro papéis ou estágios na estratégia competitiva da empresa, e que no quarto e último estágio a empresa busca se antecipar a novas tecnologias de manufatura para os produtos que virão a ser produzidos. Para isso, é proposto um modelo teórico que liga a estratégia de manufatura à cadeia de suprimentos, incorporando nessa relação os conceitos de Parcerias com Fornecedores e de Integração Funcional. Para construir esse modelo, foram usados os construtos do projeto de pesquisa internacional chamado High Performance Manufacturing (HPM). A técnica de coleta de dados foi desenvolvida através de uma survey, e os dados foram analisados estatisticamente por meio de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Conforme indicado na literatura, a análise dos dados comprovou a relação positiva e significante entre a Estratégia de Manufatura e a Antecipação de Novas Tecnologias (ANT), sendo a Estratégia de Manufatura a variável de maior poder de explicação da variação da variável ANT entre todas as variáveis consideradas. Da mesma forma, as decisões de tecnologias relacionadas com custo e com os demais critérios diferenciadores não possuem o mesmo nível de influência de seus antecedentes. A relação entre o Planejamento da Cadeia de Suprimentos e a ANT também se confirmou como positiva, mas com menor poder de explicação para a variação da ANT. Os resultados mostraram a fraca influência direta da estratégia de manufatura e do planejamento da cadeia de suprimentos sobre o desempenho, sendo o planejamento da cadeia de suprimentos não significante na relação com o custo. Finalmente, o estudo traz uma contribuição para as discussões teóricas e práticas ao demonstrar que, para o direcionamento da ANT via estratégia de manufatura, as empresas podem avaliar qual impacto as tecnologias buscadas terão em relação às diferentes prioridades competitivas, aparecendo potencialmente os conceitos de trade-off. Esses resultados mostram a importância do estudo da ANT para a competitividade da empresa devido a sua influência no desempenho operacional e a importância clara da Estratégia de Manufatura nesse alinhamento para a competição da empresa, conforme indicado por Hayes e Wheelwright (1984). / This research paper examines how manufacturing strategy and supply chain planning (SCP) influence the anticipation of new technologies (ANT) and their effects on operational performance. We consider that manufacturing technology anticipation could be a source of competitive advantage based on the propositions of Hayes and Wheelwrigth (1984). The authors established that manufacturing can play at least four major roles in a firm’s competitive advantage, and in the last stage efforts are made to anticipate new manufacturing technologies for its future products. A theoretical model is proposed that links manufacturing strategy to supply chain planning. The model incorporates supplier partnership and function integration concepts in the relationship between manufacturing strategy and supply chain planning. In order to build the model, we used the constructs from the international research project High Performance Manufacturing (HPM). The data collection uses a survey methodology, and the data were analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling. As indicated in the literature, the data analysis show the positive and significant relationship between manufacturing strategy and ANT, with the manufacturing strategy the construct with the highest effect on the ANT among all the constructs considered. The findings indicate that the technological decisions related with cost and the rest of the competitive priorities do not share the same level of effect of their antecedents. The relationship between supply chain planning and ANT was found positive, but with less effect on ANT. The results show the weak direct effect from manufacturing strategy and SCP on performance, with SCP having a non significant effect on cost. Finally, the research contributes to operational management theory and practice showing that ANT are directed through manufacturing strategy and the firm’s could evaluate which impact the technologies will have on the competitive priorities, potentially bringing the trade-off concept. These findings demonstrate the importance of the ANT study for the competitive of the firm, especially because of its influence on operational performance and the clear importance of manufacturing strategy on this alignment, as stated by Hayes and Wheelwright (1984).