Degree Project Advanced Level - Business Administration, Linnaeus Business School at Linnaeus University, Business Process and Supply Chain Management, 4FE02E, Spring 2010.   Authors: Muhammad Rizwan ul Haque, Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh, Kamonmarn Jaenglom, Zaheer Tariq Tutor: Petra Andersson   Title: Supplier Selection Process Improvement through Six-Sigma DMAIC (A case of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited)   Background: Cement industry is considered to be an intensive supplier base industry. Cement manufacturing involves several types of suppliers ranging from general utilities to large plant equipments. Also, supply chain performance is significant topic in many cement organisations. The supply chain department at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) wants to inspect and improve their supplier selection process. The intended objective of this inspection is two folded. First, LPCL wants to develop a competitive supplier base out of bulk suppliers available in the market that would result in competitive advantage over its competitors. Second, they want to improve their supplier selection process so that there would be low variance and exclusion of unnecessary activities that would ultimately help in achieving the cost, quality and service enhancement objectives.   Research question: How can the existing supplier selection process at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) be improved by applying Six-Sigma DMAIC?   Methodology: This thesis is a descriptive case study and was conducted with a deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaire. The scientific credibility of this thesis was secured by using many sources, avoidance of assumptions, studying a common process and following standardized steps of supplier selection. Conclusion: The existing process of supplier selection at LPCL was defined and mapped to understand the process characteristics and capabilities. The existing process was then analysed to identify problem areas, variations and unnecessary activities. Corrective actions were recommended to deal with problem areas and an improved supplier selection process for LPCL was suggested with process coordination and control measures. Suggestions for future research: Based on the findings of this thesis, we suggest that the further research for LPCL could be done in the area of sourcing and suppliers relationship management. Sourcing; a study could examine the sourcing policy at LPCL on purchasing practises of products. It would also be interesting to focus more on this area which leads to excellent cost reduction. Using scenario method could compare and analyse regional, national and worldwide sourcing. Supplier Relationship Management; a study could investigate supplier relationship management that leads to creating a competitive advantage for LPCL through the development of supplier performance monitoring and supplier development programme. More details could continuously move towards cost reduction, increased reliability and risk mitigation, transparency of supplier costs and quality, and enhanced efficiency of sourcing process.

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In any organisation processes can be seen evolving throughout their lifecycle and play a deciding role in the efficiency of organisational activities. Tender processes are no different and with growing competitiveness and globalisation it has become the responsibility of managerial staff to ensure continuous improvement is applied to processes so organisational goals are consistently met and knowledge, talents and other success factors are institutionalised therein. The objective of this study was to perform an iteration of process re-engineering on the tender process within Tubular Track, so that a tender could be performed more efficiently and more competitively, and be more manageable. The investigation was carried out by means of a literature review and interviews. This was done to establish an accurate baseline from the current process and then re-engineer the system in its entirety. Verification of the investigation method was done through application of the PMBOK proven project management methods, while validation was done by comparison of processes through process improvement methodology principles as relationship. Process improvement and its management is a continuous procedure but because this study only focuses on the design of a new tender process for Tubular Track the conclusion that was made through literature application and comparison was that the newly designed process is expected to improve efficiency, manageability and time to complete. In the final conclusion stage recommendations were also made that re-engineering phases be planned and followed with corresponding risk and change management plans. Training needed for personnel so that implementation would be optimally applied and continuous improvement institutionalised would also need inspecting. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The extensive use of fossil fuels coupled with its decreasing availability has ignited many countries to enact policies on energy usage. Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) all over the world are implementing initiatives to save energy. The South African ESCO industry must still overcome many barriers for it to be as effective as other global ESCOs. One of the stakeholders of an energy-savings intervention is the measurement and verification (M&V) team. The M&V team aims to provide objective and independent quantification of energy savings realised during an intervention. Despite the importance of the M&V function, the M&V process was shown to be inefficient, lacking in standardisation and research. The focus of this dissertation is to identify opportunities for improvement within the M&V process and to determine methods for the easy management thereof. The first two research aims are met by evaluating the process and determining the requirements for improving the process with regard to the critical areas that were identified. It is realised that the management of the M&V process could be simplified by using an information management system. This leads to the design of an information management system for the M&V process using the knowledge obtained during the evaluation. A case study is performed on one of South Africa’s largest ESCOs. The findings of the case study underline improvements regarding certain performance indicators. Moreover, the findings suggest that an information management system can support all the desired process requirements. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In any organisation processes can be seen evolving throughout their lifecycle and play a deciding role in the efficiency of organisational activities. Tender processes are no different and with growing competitiveness and globalisation it has become the responsibility of managerial staff to ensure continuous improvement is applied to processes so organisational goals are consistently met and knowledge, talents and other success factors are institutionalised therein. The objective of this study was to perform an iteration of process re-engineering on the tender process within Tubular Track, so that a tender could be performed more efficiently and more competitively, and be more manageable. The investigation was carried out by means of a literature review and interviews. This was done to establish an accurate baseline from the current process and then re-engineer the system in its entirety. Verification of the investigation method was done through application of the PMBOK proven project management methods, while validation was done by comparison of processes through process improvement methodology principles as relationship. Process improvement and its management is a continuous procedure but because this study only focuses on the design of a new tender process for Tubular Track the conclusion that was made through literature application and comparison was that the newly designed process is expected to improve efficiency, manageability and time to complete. In the final conclusion stage recommendations were also made that re-engineering phases be planned and followed with corresponding risk and change management plans. Training needed for personnel so that implementation would be optimally applied and continuous improvement institutionalised would also need inspecting. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The constant changes in governmental and customer requirements are forcing organizations to adapt in today’s dynamic market. Challenges such as international competition, increased cost pressure and efficient resource allocation are just a few examples of what organizations currently are facing. The need of managing business processes has become evident, as processes describes how well the organization is operating. Processes are no longer seen as just a tool, but as a way to visualize and standardize the organization in order to decrease variation and waste. With limited resources, ABB HVC has been working with business processes for over 20 years without any major influence since the competition has not required it. During the last three years the focus has shifted and business processes are now a hot topic. A stance has been taken and ABB HVC is now aiming to become a process-oriented organization. To become a process-oriented organization, ABB HVC needs a solid foundation built around processes. This project aims to satisfy a part of that foundation by designing a process for the technology department. As the technology department currently lacks a defined process, they cannot in a clear and visual way describe how they operate. Most of the time spent during this project, was focused on designing a functional process and to identify options for development. The research type of this project is a change focused research with an action research strategy. The selected approach is a design research methodology with qualitative data collection. In order to gather all the required information to complete the task, a literature review and an empirical analysis of ABB HVC were conducted. The result of this project was a process map describing the workflow and interactions of the technology department. An implementation plan, tools and suggested improvements have also been included in the report to provide the technology department with a strategy in how to continue the process work. / Ständiga förändringar och krav från myndigheter och kunder tvingar organisationer att anpassa sig till dagens dynamiska marknad. Utmaningar som internationell konkurrens, ökat kostnadstryckt och en effektiv resursfördelning är bara några exempel på vad organisationer för närvarande står inför. Behovet av att hantera affärsprocesser har blivit uppenbart eftersom processerna beskriver hur väl organisationen fungerar. Processer ses inte längre som bara ett verktyg, utan som ett sätt att visualisera och standardisera organisationen för att minska variation och slöseri. Med begränsade resurser har ABB HVC arbetat med affärsprocesser i över 20 år utan någon större påverkan för att konkurrensen inte har krävt det. Under de senaste tre åren har fokus skiftat och affärsprocesser är nu ett hett samtalsämne. En ställning har tagits och ABB HVC siktar nu på att bli en processorienterad organisation. För att bli en processorienterad organisation behöver ABB HVC en stabil grund uppbyggd kring processer. Detta projekt syftar till att tillfredsställa en del av denna grund genom att utforma en process för teknikavdelningen. Eftersom teknikavdelningen idag saknar en definierad process kan de inte tydligt beskriva hur de arbetar. Merparten av tiden spenderat under detta projekt var inriktad på att utforma en fungerande process och att identifiera alternativ för utveckling. Forskningstypen för detta projekt är en förändringsfokuserad forskning med en aktionsforskningsstrategi. Det valda tillvägagångssättet är att använda design research metodiken med kvalitativ datainsamling. För att samla in all den information som krävts för att slutföra uppgiften, har en litteraturstudie och en empirisk analys av ABB HVC utförts. Resultatet av detta projekt var en processkarta som beskriver arbetsflödet och interaktionerna för teknikavdelningen. En genomförandeplan, verktyg och förslag på förbättringar har också tagits med i rapporten för att ge teknikavdelningen en strategi för hur man ska fortsätta processarbetet.

The extensive use of fossil fuels coupled with its decreasing availability has ignited many countries to enact policies on energy usage. Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) all over the world are implementing initiatives to save energy. The South African ESCO industry must still overcome many barriers for it to be as effective as other global ESCOs. One of the stakeholders of an energy-savings intervention is the measurement and verification (M&V) team. The M&V team aims to provide objective and independent quantification of energy savings realised during an intervention. Despite the importance of the M&V function, the M&V process was shown to be inefficient, lacking in standardisation and research. The focus of this dissertation is to identify opportunities for improvement within the M&V process and to determine methods for the easy management thereof. The first two research aims are met by evaluating the process and determining the requirements for improving the process with regard to the critical areas that were identified. It is realised that the management of the M&V process could be simplified by using an information management system. This leads to the design of an information management system for the M&V process using the knowledge obtained during the evaluation. A case study is performed on one of South Africa’s largest ESCOs. The findings of the case study underline improvements regarding certain performance indicators. Moreover, the findings suggest that an information management system can support all the desired process requirements. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

High variety and low volume manufacturing environment always been a challenge for organisations to maintain their overall performance especially because of the high level of variability induced by ever changing customer demand, high product variety, cycle times, routings and machine failures. All these factors consequences poor flow and degrade the overall organisational performance. For most of the organisations, therefore, process improvement has evidently become the core component for long term survival. The aim of this research here is to develop a methodology for automating operations in process improvement as a part of lean creative problem solving process. To achieve the stated aim, research here has investigated the job sequence and buffer management problem in high variety/low volume manufacturing environment, where lead time and total inventory holding cost are used as operational performance measures. The research here has introduced a novel approach through integration of genetic algorithms based multi-objective combinatorial optimisation and discrete event simulation modelling tool to investigate the effect of variability in high variety/low volume manufacturing by considering the effect of improvement of selected performance measures on each other. Also, proposed methodology works in an iterative manner and allows incorporating changes in different levels of variability. The proposed framework improves over exiting buffer management methodologies, for instance, overcoming the failure modes of drum-buffer-rope system and bringing in the aspect of automation. Also, integration of multi-objective combinatorial optimisation with discrete event simulation allows problem solvers and decision makers to select the solution according to the trade-off between selected performance measures.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The increasing complexity and volume of the information needed to support flight test missions has led to a need to expand the capability of current test data management systems. While the abilities currently exist to collect and manage calibration and telemetry information in an automated fashion, new requirements have emerged to link this data with other systems and to expand the functions and devices supported. Coordinating and directing the overall flow of information required for a successful flight test is a very big task. It calls for a view into flight test planning and scheduling activities, test objectives and methods, and the requirements for viewing and processing the test data in real-time and postflight. To meet this challenge, the Automated Test Data Management System (ATDMS) is being developed at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC), Edwards AFB, California. This paper describes the critical information and interfaces that the ATDMS will manage to bring cohesion to the management of flight test support data.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 23-26, 2000 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) developed by the Software Engineering Institute is widely promoted as a method to help decrease the volume of error riddled and late software projects. Because of the projected benefits, the 96th Communications Group/SC (SC) at Eglin Air Force Base began an intensive software process improvement effort in late 1997. This effort was rewarded in September 1999 when the group achieved a CMM Level 2 software rating on its first attempt. As of December 1999, 68% of assessed organizations remained at Level 1 on their first or second assessment. The SC success was not only obtained on its first attempt, but also 11 months ahead of the industry standard. The Level 2 rating was accomplished in the volatile environment needed to support the test and evaluation mission. This environment includes frequent requirement changes, short notice modifications, and externally driven schedules. One reason this milestone was possible is close and direct involvement by management. This paper will present additional factors to implementing a successful software process improvement effort.