The purpose of the analysis was to realise potential areas for improvement within the Production Services department. Sources of inefficiency within the Reporting System were identified to support recommendations for the rationalisation, streamlining and alignment of processes. Lean philosophies and Total Quality Management techniques were reviewed to gain an understanding of applicability to Production Services. Evaluation through Value Stream Mapping determined a reporting process efficiency of 71% and two supplementary waste types were recognised in addition to the standard seven wastes of lean processes. The root cause of inefficiency and waste was investigated further with the 5 Whys Technique. A benchmark was established through reviewing industry based literature and conducting comparative studies of both like and unlike departments. Participant and non-participant naturalistic observation techniques were employed to collect a balanced data set for value stream analysis. Variable environmental factors were recognised to moderate results from direct analysis of the reporting system. Dissimilar political, economic, sociocultural, technological and legal factors were considered during comparison and benchmark. The findings in this report provide evidence of issues that should be addressed for the continuous improvement of both the reporting system, and the department. These have been provided for the consideration of Shell Todd Oil Services Limited Production Services and Logistics Manager.

Problems in healthcare are difficult to comprehend due to complexity, involvement of multiple stakeholders in decision making and fragmented structure of delivery systems. Major Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) have been used to aid problem understanding which, in principle, can provide greater clarity to strategic problems and engage diverse decision makers using transparent representation that capture differing perceptions of problems. In reality, PSMs can be difficult in accurately representing problems, limited in highlighting improvement opportunities due to non-intuitive visual representations and requirements for facilitators and stakeholders to be experts in tools used. This research aims to address this gap by developing a framework, taking into account characteristics of healthcare delivery systems, advantages and limitations of PSMs with an aim of providing accurate and holistic representation of delivery workflow, so as to promote problem understanding in a rapid manner. The framework, termed CARE, first establishes nature of problem and a commonly agreed problem statement along with an understanding of stakeholder involvement and operating regulations. It then sets specific guidelines for data collection, representation, verification and validation from stakeholders and provides methodology for data analysis which allows facilitator insight into possible flaws in workflow. A case study approach is used to test effectiveness of CARE across two different healthcare settings, each involving a different nature of problem. Implementation of CARE leads to improved participation and ownership amongst stakeholders, ease of facilitation during individual or multidisciplinary meetings, intuitive and informative representation of workflow, minimized time and effort for implementation and minimized dependencies on learning new tools and terminologies. A post mortem indicates the positive impact of CARE on services rendered to the patients, leading to an increase in patient satisfaction and workflow efficiencies. The research concludes by noting the contributions and lessons learnt from this research for healthcare practitioners and possible future work.

Regenerative medicine is an emerging technology and with hundreds of cell therapies currently in clinical trials there is a need to expand the limited knowledge related to their storage, shipment and preservation. The most widely used medium for human cell cryopreservation is 10%wt dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in serum. However given its potential toxicity, DMSO usage is a key issue in cryopreservation. Methods specify the need to reduce cell exposure time to DMSO above 0°C as much as possible but the maximum amount of time cells can be exposed to DMSO to prevent a detrimental effect needs to be clarified. There are also regulatory issues and concerns with the xenotoxicity, ethics and supply of the other core component in the standard cryomedia formulation: Foetal Bovine Serum (FBS). Developing a viable alternative to FBS is crucial. In cryobiology literature thawing appears poorly understood. A stable process is as vital as freezing to prevent injury to cells. Protocols are currently too vague for cell therapy regulation and need improvement. The time dependent DMSO cytotoxicity was evaluated by overexposing cells to DMSO during and/or after cryopreservation. A broad investigation found that after 1 hour overexposure post thaw viability of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) was reduced from 96.3±0.6% to 74.1±4.0% and the co-expression of five key hMSC markers was changed from 97.9±1.3% to 68.3±2.6%. This significant change could cause indicate a change in product efficacy and affect patient health, to prevent this, DMSO exposure must be kept to below 1 hour. A range of alternative vehicle solutions were screened and human platelet lysate (hPL) investigated as an alternative. In depth experimentation with hPL as a cryopreservation vehicle solution and culture supplement (in place of FBS) found it to be a worthy, statistically similar alternative. With no xenological or ethical concerns, lower costs than other serum-free alternatives hPL could allow for a move away from xenological components. A heat transfer model was developed and determined that 720J is required to thaw a vial. Using the heat transfer model and additional factors such as pre-thaw stabilisation and on thaw dilution, a two-stage experiment found that the current standard process (warming in a 37°C waterbath) within the current paradigm of a 1.8mL cryovial is optimal but further work is required to define the process for scaled-up product.

Processing Production Centre Lund (PPCL) är en affärsenhet inom Tetra Pak-koncernen som tillverkar processutrustning, förpacknings- och fyllningsmaskiner för livsmedel. I denna produktion är materialbrister vanligt förekommande vilket leder till kostsamma expressleveranser och icke värdeskapande arbete. Studiens mål är att identifiera problemkällor samt presentera förbättringsförslag för att minska antalet materialbrister i syfte att öka PPCLs leveransprecision, minska förekomsten av icke värdeskapande arbete samt reducera användandet av expressfrakt. Med hjälp av observationer, intervjuer och litteraturstudier har företagets arbetsprocesser kartlagts. Genom att jämföra de observerade arbetsprocesserna med de föreskrivna har de föreskrivna arbetsprocesserna konstaterats vara alltför generellt beskrivna, och ibland föråldrade, för att vara direkt tillämpbara för de anställda. Med flödesanalysmetoder har icke värdeskapande arbete belysts, problemkällor för delprocesser har påvisats och alternativa arbetsprocesser har föreslagits. Denna studie föreslår processutbildning för företagets anställda och bättre informationsdelning vid processuppdateringar. Detta skulle medföra en större insikt om hur egna handlingar påverkar andra samt leda till mer standardiserade arbetssätt. Vidare rekommenderas att de anställda tas med i arbetet med att ta fram detaljerade arbetsprocesser, bland annat för att utnyttja fördelarna med etablerade workarounds. Denna studie föreslår en ny process att följa vid ändringar i materialbehov, vilken skulle leda till bättre informerade materialval i tidigare skede. Dessutom rekommenderas striktare riktlinjer för när ändringar i materialval ska accepteras av PPCL utan förbehåll. Vidare klarlägger studien problem med de data som finns tillgängliga i Tetra Paks affärssystem. Felaktiga parametrar gällande ledtider på material från leverantörer och outnyttjade hjälpmedel vad gäller material som avbeställs eller ersätts leder ofta till materialbrister i produktionen. Studien lyfter fram standardiserade arbetsmetoder samt jämnare fördelning av arbetsbelastning för dem anställda som möjliga åtgärder till dessa problem. Stora materialgrupper som innefattar material med lång leveranstid leder ofta till materialbrist när behovet specificeras i ett sent skede. Denna studie föreslår artikelstandardisering och ett bättre informationsflöde mellan inköp och den som specificerar materialbehovet. Detta skulle minska uppkomsten av materialbrister. Ett annat problemområde som tas upp i studien är uppdelningen av de två affärsenheterna som är inblandade i orderflödet. Underutvecklade processer, dubbelarbete och få kommunikationskanaler är några av de problem som tas upp. Tvärorganisatoriska förbättringsprojekt förespråkas i studien för att förbättra och effektivisera detta samarbete för att i förlängningen minska antalet materialbrister. Slutligen rekommenderas att de ledtider som utlovas till slutkunderna ses över för att spegla verkliga ledtider på ett mer korrekt sätt. Felaktiga ledtider dömer produktionen till ett arbete under tidspress vilket innebär att det kontinuerliga förbättringsarbetet försakas.

[pt] A realização de um bom planejamento de TI é essencial para viabilizar e potencializar a melhoria contínua do desempenho organizacional. O Plano Diretor de Tecnologia da Informação (PDTI) é um instrumento de planejamento que define as estratégias e o plano de ação da TI. Uma parte essencial em um PDTI é a construção de uma Arquitetura Empresarial (AE), que integre os processos de negócios, as tecnologias e os sistemas de informação de uma organização, visando apoiar seus objetivos de negócio. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o papel da AE no contexto de um PDTI através de um método que apoia a identificação de sugestões a um Processo de Arquitetura da Informação (AI) já utilizado pelo Laboratório de Engenharia de Software (LES) da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC/Rio). Foi realizada uma avaliação. Esta forneceu resultados encorajadores quanto à eficácia do método. / [en] Good IT planning is essential to enable and leverage the organizational performance. The Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP) is a planning tool that defines the IT strategies and action plans. An essential part of the ITSP is the construction of an Enterprise Architecture, which integrates business processes, technologies and information systems of an organization, to support their business goals. The goal of this work is to analyze the role of Enterprise Architecture in the context of an ITSP using a method that supports the identification of suggestions to an Information Architecture Process in use by the Software Engineering Laboratory (LES) of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC/Rio). An assessment was performed. The results were encouraging.

Background: South Korea is one of the countries currently enforcing more strict emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, as a result of the global push to restrict pollution. In addition, there has been recent scandals involving several well-established automotive companies manipulating emissions tests and not fulfilling regulations. This has resulted in the government increasing the pressure for companies to apply the correct certifications even further. For companies to sell vehicles on the South Korean market, the vehicles must be certified and approved by the government, known as homologation. This process partly involves self-certification, meaning that companies are responsible for applying the correct certification themselves. It is therefore of great importance to have structured and clear processes to mitigate risks of error-making, in order to avoid financial and legal repercussions. Purpose: The study aims to identify and analyze the risks in error-making. Therefore, the purpose is to understand and propose improvement actions to the current homologation processes at Scania Korea Group. Method: The thesis utilized a case study strategy with a descriptive approach to illustrate the process. An exploratory approach was used in combination to identify risks and provide improvement actions. Qualitative data in conjunction with theory around business process improvement were utilized to fulfill the purpose. Firstly, interviews and focus groups were conducted to map the process. Thereafter, a failure mode and effect criticality analysis(FMECA) was used to analyze the process. Lastly, improvement actions were decided based on best practices and benchmarking. Findings and recommendations: The homologation process contain many high severity risks such as certifying the incorrect truck specifications or not complying with regulations, due to not updating the certifications when product changes occur. Furthermore, government approvals incorporate a substantial part of the process lead-time. As such, it is concluded that quality is of utmost importance, both to decrease lead-time and minimize risks with detrimental consequences. The analysis showed evidence of lacking controls/gates in the process, which enables errors and incorrect applications to move through. Improvements regarding increased project structure, planning and communication within SKG were suggested. Further improvement points were an increased number of controls and more clear delegation of responsibility. Recommendations for future studies: We propose to further investigate the root-causes of the inherent risks in the process. Future studies should also look to gather additional data from other heavy-duty automotive companies in South Korea, since it could provide deeper and more generalizable results. Lastly, we recommend future research to utilize a quantitative research approach, providing more statistical evidence.

Background. It is significant to constantly change and improve the software process to thrive in the software market with rapidly changing requirement and situation. However, very small entities(VSEs) have difficulties to adopt software process improvement that have played an important role in software market, because they usually have some unique characteristics, such as informal and fewer documents, tight budget, and less human resources. Therefore, we believe it is necessary to study factors that are crucial to successful conducting SPI, to help inexperienced VSEs with limited resource implement SPI with reasonable cost. Objectives. The overall aim of our research is to analyse critical success factors about successfully conduct software process improvement for Very Small Entities. The objectives are based on the aim as following: 1) Identifying the special characteristics of VSEs which related to conducting SPI, 2) Identifying the state-of-the-art critical success factors when VSEs conducting SPI both in literature and practice: verifying and prioritizing the factors, and 3) Investigating the strategies that VSEs can take in order to successfully implement SPI. Methods. In order to investigate the critical factors and barriers need to focus and avoid during the improvement, we implemented a systematic literature review as the first phase. Then a survey questionnaire as the second phase to validate the results gained from the systematic literature review through consulting industrial software engineers. Results. The final result includes 80 success factors which have been mentioned at least once in the primary studies, a few characteristics of VSEs and strategies for SPI in VSEs. Among the 80 factors, we chose 29 factors as CSFs that were mentioned more than three times, then selected the first 15 CSFs as survey questions material. Through the survey, we gathered the evaluation of all factors from two areas and some suggestion or opinion of SPI in VSEs, explained the 29 CSFs and two ranking tables about top factors from the SLR and the survey, discussed 14 CSFs from both ranking tables, then provided specific strategies for each of the common 8 factors. Conclusions. For helping VSEs that intend to conduct SPI with limited resources, we answered our research questions through SLR and Survey, found 29 state-of-the-art success factors of SPI in VSEs, ranked 15 of them and provided a description, discussion, and strategies. Selected and prioritised success factors would be supportive for VSEs to ration their budget. Furthermore, we hope we can inspire VSEs who are having trouble to implement SPI by providing strategies.

Os processos de gestão de requisitos têm influência direta na concepção do produto final e estão diretamente relacionados com a satisfação do cliente, pois é neles que se define o que o cliente espera do software. Seus produtos servem de base para os processos executados posteriormente e, portanto, a probabilidade de ocorrer falhas é maior caso haja falhas durante a elaboração dos requisitos do software. No entanto, tem-se observado que esses processos são uma das maiores fontes de problemas encontrados no desenvolvimento de software. Com o intuito de sistematizar os processos de desenvolvimento de software, a fim de se evitar prejuízos para as organizações desenvolvedoras e insatisfação para os adquirentes dos produtos desenvolvidos, surgiram os modelos para a melhoria de processo de desenvolvimento de software, tais como o Capability Matutity Model Integration - Development (CMMI-Dev). Esses modelos atuam como guias para a melhoria contínua dos processos de desenvolvimento das organizações. Entretanto, o nível de abstração dos modelos nem sempre é suficientemente específico para orientar colaboradores de organizações não familiarizados com o corpo de conhecimento da engenharia de software. Outro aspecto que dificulta a utilização de tais modelos é o financeiro, pois a implantação de tais melhorias apresenta alto custo, podendo ser inviável para organizações de pequeno e médio porte. Este trabalho apresenta um guia, denominado PROREQ, cujo objetivo é facilitar a implantação de melhorias nos processos de requisitos de pequenas organizações. É composto por um conjunto de boas práticas classificadas segundo a estrutura de organização das áreas de processo Desenvolvimento e Gerenciamento de requisitos do CMMI-Dev; uma estratégia de implantação, baseada na estratégia da norma ISO/IEC 15504 e em um conjunto de práticas retiradas de trabalhos empíricos relacionados à melhoria de processos de software; e um modelo de avaliação, baseado na norma ISO/IEC 15504 e no método de avaliação do modelo de melhoria de processo de software brasileiro (MPS.BR). Ao final é descrito um estudo de caso que apresenta os resultados da aplicação do guia PROREQ em uma pequena organização desenvolvedora de software / Requirements management processes have a great impact on the final product conception and are directly related to customers\' satisfaction, as the expected behavior of the software is defined during them. Their products serve as a basis for the processes executed subsequently and, thus, the probability of failure is higher when faults occur during the elaboration of the software requirements. However, it has been observed that these processes are one of the richest sources of problems found during software development. This motivated the appearance of models for improving software development processes, such as the Capability Matutity Model Integration - Development (CMMI-Dev), which act as guides for continuously improving the organization development processes. Nevertheless, the abstraction level of the models is not always specific enough to guide the organization collaborators that are not familiar with the software engineering body of knowledge. Financial aspects also make the utilization of these models more difficult, because to deploy these improvements is often expensive and can be unfeasible for small and medium organizations. This work presents a guide, named PROREQ, whose main goal is to ease the deployment of improvements in the requirements processes of small organizations. It is composed of: a set of good practices classified according to the organization structure of CMMI-Dev process areas Requirements Development and Management; a deployment strategy, based on ISO/IEC 15504 strategy and on a set of practices coming from empirical works related to software process improvement; and an evaluation model based on ISO/IEC 15504 and on the evaluation method of the Brazilian software process improvement method (MPS.BR). A case study is described to present the results of applying the PROREQ guide in a small software development organization

A participação do segmento de serviços na economia mundial tem crescido a cada ano, superando a marca de 50% em diversos países. As dificuldades das empresas em oferecer e manter a qualidade de seus serviços ao longo deste crescimento gera uma preocupação global em promover e desenvolver pesquisas relacionadas ao tema. Neste contexto, o trabalho apresentado nesta dissertação tem por objetivo criar um modelo de ciclo de vida de projetos de melhoria de processos voltado para o setor de retaguarda (back-office) dos serviços. O trabalho é conduzido em campo através de uma pesquisa-ação que envolve uma instituição financeira multinacional. As pesquisas e as investigações focam os temas de gestão da qualidade, melhoria de processos e gerenciamento de projetos. No quesito metodológico, revisam-se os métodos de pesquisa comumente aplicados à Engenharia de Produção com especial ênfase ao método da pesquisa-ação, adotado neste trabalho. Após as revisões o foco é direcionado para a pesquisa de campo, os aprendizados e o processo de criação do modelo de ciclo de vida de projetos, detalhando suas fases, escopo, ferramentas e modelos de suporte. Além disso, destaca-se como os projetos desenvolvidos em campo contribuíram no referido modelo. Conclui-se argumentando como a opção pela pesquisa-ação dinamizou o trabalho desenvolvido proporcionando um ótimo equilíbrio entre contribuição cientifica e aplicação prática dos conceitos revisados. / The importance of the services sector on the global economy is growing bigger every year, exceeding 50% in many countries. The difficulties to sustain this growth along with quality and process improvement are currently an academic and organizational concern. This research focused on this topic through the development of a process improvement project life cycle to the back-office sector. The investigations went from process improvement, total quality management and project management to operations management research techniques, especially actionresearch, applied in this master\'s thesis. The evolution of an initial process improvement model through the action research performed at a multinational financial institution is shown, leading to the final model. Moreover the model is explored to the level of scope, duration, templates and tools. At the end, the conclusions, successes and limitations are presented along with the highlights of the chosen research method benefits and suggestions of futures researches on the proposed model and on related topics.

A melhoria de processos é um tema abordado em diversos setores. Este trabalho concentrou-se na melhoria do processo de produção de tecidos metálicos usados como material de reforço na fabricação de pneus radiais. O estudo foi realizado em uma indústria fabricante de pneus, em uma calandra de configuração Z e teve como objetivo aprofundar os conhecimentos a respeito deste processo identificando oportunidades de melhorias para reduzir perdas causadas por problemas qualitativos. Além disso, buscou melhorar a qualidade percebida pelo cliente interno sem afetar a qualidade do produto final, percebida pelo cliente externo. Para tanto, foi realizado um mapeamento do processo produtivo em questão, seguido de um estudo do efeito das temperaturas neste processo. O mapeamento mostrou que muitas etapas possuem influência direta na qualidade dos tecidos, as oportunidades de melhoria foram destacadas durante e após o mapeamento e estão relacionadas principalmente ao controle das temperaturas da calandra e dos moinhos, à automatização do processo, aos procedimentos operacionais e à instalação de dispositivos de controle e alerta. Uma vez que o controle das temperaturas de toda a linha da calandra resultou ser um fator crítico para o processo, realizou-se um estudo do efeito das temperaturas usadas durante a produção, a partir do uso da metodologia de Projeto de Experimentos com a aplicação de um Projeto Fatorial 25-1 sem repetição Quatro variáveis de resposta foram estudadas: quantidade de grumos pré-vulcanizados, aderência tecido-tecido, reversão de enxofre e adesão borracha-metal. Os fatores controláveis usados foram: temperatura dos moinhos alimentadores, temperatura dos cilindros 1 e 4, temperatura dos cilindros 2 e 3, temperatura dos tambores de resfriamento e temperatura do aquecimento das cordas metálicas. Pela otimização das variáveis de resposta, chegou-se aos valores ótimos para o processo, sendo todos eles no seu nível alto, com exceção da temperatura dos cilindros 2 e 3 que apresentou o melhor valor no nível baixo. Os resultados deste trabalho aprofundaram os conhecimentos num processo que, apesar de muito antigo, ainda possui poucos textos publicados a respeito. Adicionalmente, forneceu uma otimização experimental para as afirmações encontradas na literatura sobre a importância do controle de temperaturas no processo de fabricação de tecidos metálicos. / The process improvement is a topic widely used in several sectors. In this work this topic deals with improving the production process of metallic fabrics used as reinforcement material for radial tires. The study was carried out in a tire industry in a Z configuration calender and aims to deepen the knowledge about this process by identifying improvement opportunities to reduce losses caused by quality problems in metallic fabrics. It also seeks to improve the quality perceived by internal costumer without affecting the quality of the final product, perceived by the external customer. Thus, a mapping of the production process in question was made, followed by a study of the effect of temperature in this manufacturing process. The mapping shown that many steps have direct influence on fabric quality, the opportunities for improvement were highlighted during and after the mapping and are related mainly to control the temperature of the calender and mills, to process automation, operational procedures and the installation of devices for control and alert. Since the temperature control of whole calender line proved to be a critical factor in the process, a study of the effect of the temperatures used during the production was performed from the use of the design of experiments methodology with the application of a factorial design 25-1, without replication Four response variables were studied: number of pre vulcanized lumps, tack, sulfur reversion and steel-rubber adhesion. The controllable factors chosen were: feeder mills temperature, temperature of rolls 1 and 4 of the calender, temperature of rolls 2 and 3 of the calender, temperature of cooling drums and heating temperature of steel cords. By the optimization of the response variables, it was reached the optimum values for the process, all of which are in its high level except for the temperature of the rolls 2 and 3 which showed the best value in the low level. These results obtained deepened knowledge in a process which, though very old, still has a few articles published. Additionally, it provided quantitative data to the statements found in the literature about the importance of temperature control in the manufacturing process of metallic fabrics.