This project was carried out in order to complete the requirements of the Master of Engineering Management degree at the University of Canterbury. The project objective was to examine the reasons for Attainment to Plan (ATP) misses at the Meadow Fresh Christchurch plant, specifically the Fresh Beverages division. ATP is a measure of how closely the production team follows the daily packing plan, and is a site Key Performance Indicator (KPI). This report describes the action plans that were developed to decrease the number of misses to the target value, an analysis of the success of these plans, and recommendations which were made around the purchase of plant equipment in order to further improve the ATP results.

The product integration is a particularly critical phase of the software product development process as many problems originating from earlier phases become visible in this phase. Problems in product integration result in delays and rework. One of the measures to decrease the late discovery of problems is the use of development standards and guidelines that define practices to ensure correctness of the product integration. However, even if such standards and reference models exist, they are in not used consistently. One of the reasons is a lack of a proof that they indeed improve the integration process, and even more important, that they are sufficient for performing efficient and correct product integration. The conclusion of the presented research is that the available descriptions in standards and reference models taken one by one are insufficient and must be consolidated to help development organizations improve the product integration process. The research has resulted in a proposed combination of the activities included in the different reference models. This combination has been based on a number of case studies. Through the case studies performed in seven different product development organizations, a relationship between problems that are observed and the failure to follow the recommendations in reference models is identified. The analysis has indicated which practices are necessary, and how other practices support these. The goal with the research is to provide product development organizations with guidelines for how to perform software product integration. One additional finding of the research is the existence of relation between software architecture and the development process. A method for identifying dependencies between evolvement of software architectures and adaptation of integration practices has been demonstrated.

Research report (M.Com. (Information Systems))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2013. / Using the resource based view of the firm theory, a research model is proposed that explains how IT governance capability results in improved firm performance by improving a firm’s IT Infrastructure capabilities and business processes. The research model is explored by means of case study where a survey is undertaken with the key stakeholders of a global Corporate and Investment Bank. Data was collected and analysed from 140 respondents using an online survey. The model hypotheses were not tested. The respondents’ characteristics (role, region, business area and length of experience) were explored providing greater insight and confirmation of the general relationship between the variables. The case study confirmed the general relationships of the model except the training capability - firm performance relationship. The IT governance process formality moderator provided results that were in contradiction to expectations. The IT intensity moderator confirmed the general relationship. The strength or weaknesses of the relationships when analysing the respondent characteristics are insightful and would not normally have been available if a multi-site survey had been performed.

O mercado de varejo é reconhecidamente competitivo e dinâmico, exigindo excelência na operação para se obterem bons resultados. É necessário às empresas varejistas adaptar a gestão do negócio à realidade vivenciada, aperfeiçoando o desempenho de processos, com a finalidade de torná-los mais eficazes, eficientes e integrados. O campo acadêmico, por sua vez, vem apresentando número crescente de artigos publicados, relacionados à pesquisa empírica de gestão por processos, como melhoria contínua ou por ruptura, o que revela aumento no interesse pelo tema. Na literatura, há exemplos de melhoria de processos em diferentes setores econômicos como indústria, serviços, educação, saúde, finanças e governo. No entanto, poucos relatos do gênero existem aplicados a empresas de varejo, no Brasil, usando-se abordagem de processos. Nesse sentido, este trabalho procura contribuir para o desenvolvimento da teoria, podendo servir de base para futuras pesquisas em à melhoria de processos no varejo. A presente pesquisa estuda grandes empresas varejistas brasileiras que possuem área dedicada à melhoria de seus processos, e conseguiu identificar como aquelas organizações definem processos, efetuam seu mapeamento e selecionam aqueles destinados ao aprimoramento. Ademais, este estudo descreve como funciona o planejamento e a organização de atividades para que se efetue melhoria de processos; analisa como aquelas empresas atuam na implementação das melhorias, apontando dificuldades e fatores críticos de sucesso. Por fim, examina-se a maneira pela qual são empregados indicadores que permitam constatar a melhoria dos processos. A partir de estudo de casos, este trabalho propõe análise qualitativa de três das maiores empresas do varejo brasileiro, no que toca à implementação de melhoria de processos. Foram utilizados métodos de natureza qualitativa na coleta e na análise de dados, a partir de múltiplas fontes de evidência: entrevistas semi-estruturadas com gestores e consultores das áreas concernidas, análise de documentos da empresa além de observação direta e participante da evolução do trabalho ao longo do período estudado. Dentro de suas limitações, este trabalho revela que, se as grandes empresas de varejo estudadas possuem área dedicada à melhoria contínua de processos, a cultura de processos é, entretanto, recente, seus conceitos sendo aplicados conforme a maturidade da empresa em conhecimentos de qualidade. São processos administrativos e de suporte aqueles geralmente selecionados para melhoria, não estando necessariamente alinhados a objetivos estratégicos da empresa, nem ainda relacionados diretamente ao modelo de negócio da organização ou ao cliente final, uma vez que a escolha depende do interesse da área patrocinadora do projeto de melhoria de processos. A área de Processos é reconhecida como responsável por estruturar processos, atuando de forma coordenada e disciplinada, valorizando planejamento antes de execução, sem perder foco no resultado final desejado, promovendo parcerias entre as áreas e sentimento de participação conjunta na implementação do novo processo. As empresas não possuem metodologia comum para melhoria de processos, sendo que cada qual faz adapta metodologias segundo a cultura e a realidade da empresa, somando-se ainda boas práticas de mercado e experiência da equipe. Dentro dos projetos de melhoria, os processos possuem donos formalmente atribuídos, responsáveis por sua execução, podendo ou não ser divulgados para todos os níveis hierárquicos da empresa. Além disso, as empresas vivenciam, cada uma a sua maneira, dificuldades (humanas; tempo e recursos financeiros; técnica, de tecnologia e metodologia; política e gestão) e fatores críticos de sucesso (apoio da alta gestão; alinhamento estratégico; avaliação de desempenho e efeito de demonstração; presença de liderança; uso efetivo de tecnologia de informação; comunicação e transferência de conhecimento; rigor na implementação de melhorias; gestão da mudança em recursos humanos; seleção criteriosa de colaboradores; e concorrência de mercado). Por fim, o uso de indicadores, quando acontece, tem por objetivo criar histórico de dados que permita analisar e avaliar o potencial de melhoria contínua daquele processo, não estando, uma vez mais, formalmente alinhado à perspectiva estratégica da empresa nem o cliente final. Apesar de relativamente bem encaminhadas, as empresas ainda possuem um caminho a percorrer para atingir maturidade na gestão por processos e buscar melhorar aqueles que agregam valor direto ao cliente final. / Retail market is said to be highly competitive and dynamic, demanding excellence in the operation in order to obtain good results. Companies from that sector need to adapt the business management to the reality experienced by improving process performance in order to make them more effective, efficient and integrated. As far as the academic production goes, the growing number of published articles related to empirical research of processes management, either continuous or radical improvement, shows an increasing interest in the field research on this subject. The literature provides examples of process improvement in various economic sectors such as manufacturing, services, education, health, finance and government. However, there are few reports on process improvement in Brazilian retail companies using process approach. In this sense, this paper seeks to contribute to the theory evolution, and it could be a basis for future research related to process improvement and retail. The object of this study are large companies in the Brazilian retail sector that have an area dedicated to the improvement of their processes. This work reached the following objectives: to identify how these companies define processes, how they map their processes and which of these processes are selected to be improved; to describe how they plan and organize activities to make process improvement; to analyze how these companies operate to implement processes improvement, identifying difficulties and critical success factors; in addition, to examine how companies use indicators to put in evidence processes improvement. From case studies, this paper develops a qualitative analysis of the way three of the largest Brazilian retail companies tackle with process improvement. Qualitative methods to collect and analyze data from multiple sources of evidence were employed: semi-structured interviews with managers and consultants in the concerned areas, analysis of official documents as well as direct and participant observation in the work evolution during the studied period. Within its limitations, this study reveals that if large retail companies have an area dedicated to processes continuous improvement, the process culture is nonetheless recent and its concepts are applied as maturity of the company in quality.knowledge emerges. It is usually administrative and support processes that are selected for improvement, not necessarily aligned with corporate strategic goals, neither directly related to the business model of the organization or the end customer, since the choice depends on the sponsor area interest of that process improvement project. The Process area is recognized as the responsible for structuring processes, acting in a coordinated and disciplined way, highlighting planning before execution, without losing focus on the desired end result, promoting partnerships among other areas and a sense of joint participation in the implementation of new process. The studied companies have no common methodology for improving processes, each of them adapts existing methodologies to the local culture and reality, taking into consideration benchmarking and team experience. Among the improvement projects, processes have formally assigned owners responsible for their implementation, and they may (or not) be disseminated to all hierarchical levels of the company. In addition, companies experience in an idiosincratic way difficulties (human; time and financial resources; technique, technology and methodology; policy and management) and critical success factors (top management support; strategic alignment; performance evaluation and demonstration effect, the presence of leadership; effective use of information technology; communication and knowledge transfer; rigorous on implementation of improvements; change management in human resources; careful selection of employees; and market competition). The use of indicators, if any, aims at creating historical data to analyze and evaluate potential for continuous improvement of that process and they are not, once more, formally aligned neither with the strategic perspective of the company nor related to the final customer. Although relatively well under way, companies still have some time to reach maturity in process management and to improve processes that add value directly to the final customer.

A área de melhoria de processos de software (MPS) tem sido investigada sistematicamente, dadas as evidências de que a qualidade do processo pode influenciar significativamente na qualidade do produto final. Modelos e guias com boas práticas para a MPS têm sido sintetizados. Ainda assim, a literatura carece de trabalhos que estabeleçam estratégias de como implementar as boas práticas sugeridas por tais modelos e guias na indústria. Em paralelo, o desenvolvimento distribuído de software (DDS) tornou-se uma realidade, aumentando a complexidade e a importância do processo de desenvolvimento de software e demandando estratégias que permitam uma MPS também distribuída. O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar estratégias e mecanismos que possam promover uma MPS distribuída e colaborativa. A ColabSPI, uma estratégia colaborativa e distribuída para MPS, é proposta para apoiar a evolução estruturada do processo; o tratamento de propostas de melhorias de processo; e a comunicação e participação dos desenvolvedores na MPS. Durante a investigação, fatores que podem influenciar a MPS foram identificados e a relação entre eles foi mapeada, tanto a partir da literatura quanto a partir de um estudo em campo. Dois contextos foram explorados durante a investigação: (i) a MPS em uma organização de grande porte, com unidades distribuídas; e (ii) a MPS no desenvolvimento de software livre (SL). Contribuições para a MPS no desenvolvimento de SL foram geradas no contexto do projeto internacional Qualipso, com a co-autoria do Qualipso Open Source Maturity Model (OMM) e a adequação de ColabSPI para evoluir o OMM. Em ambiente industrial, estudos experimentais foram conduzidos para validar a aplicação de ColabSPI e revelaram que algumas práticas do desenvolvimento de software, inclusive do DDS e do desenvolvimento de SL, podem ser aplicadas com sucesso à MPS, trazendo ganhos de eficácia e eficiência para a melhoria de um processo de desenvolvimento de software. A estratégia proposta está sendo base também para a definição do ambiente de MPS do processo Demoiselle, um processo livre para desenvolvimento de software / Software Process Improvement (SPI) has become an active research field, given the evidences that the quality of software processes can significantly influence the final product quality. Therefore, SPI models and guides have been disclosed. Still, there is a lack of studies establishing strategies on how to implement SPI models\' best practices. Meanwhile, distributed software development (DSD) is becoming widespread, increasing the complexity and importance of software processes and demanding distributed SPI strategies. This study aims to investigate strategies and mechanisms to promote a distributed and collaborative SPI. ColabSPI, a collaborative and distributed approach to SPI is proposed to supporting process evolution, handling process improvement proposals, and promoting the developers participation in SPI and communication. Accordingly, during the investigation possible influences to SPI programs were explored and the relationship between them has been mapped, both from the literature and from a field study. SPI was investigated in two contexts: (i) a large organization, counting on distributed development units; and (ii) the FLOSS development environment. Contributions to SPI in the FLOSS development environment took place in the international project Qualipso resulting on a ColabSPI customization to evolve the Qualipso Open Source Maturity Model (OMM) and in the co-authoring of the model. In industrial environment, experimental studies were conducted to validate ColabSPI, revealing that some of the software development practices, including DSD and FLOSS practices, can be successfully applied to SPI and yield a more efficient and effective improvement of the software development process. ColabSPI features are also being considered to the definition of a SPI environment to the Demoiselle process, an open process for software development

Se propone en este trabajo el Tablero de Mando Integral (con sus indicadores) y la mejora de procesos del Macroproceso de Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de una filial universitaria ubicada en la ciudad de Arequipa (por temas de confidencialidad hemos tenido que cambiar el nombre de ésta a Universidad AQP). El rápido y desordenado crecimiento de esta filial hacia urgente contar con una herramienta integrada de control al menos para el principal proceso de negocio (Enseñanza-Aprendizaje). Igualmente era importante eliminar reprocesos e ineficiencias dentro de este macroproceso. Producto del análisis interno y externo realizado se ha elaborado la propuesta de Tablero de Mando Integral y sus indicadores como una herramienta de control y gestión de la estrategia de esta filial tomada en este trabajo como una unidad de negocio. Para la mejora de sus procesos se ha sugerido reforzar la autonomía de la sede Arequipa de la Universidad AQP para aportar flexibilidad y eficiencia a sus operaciones. Otra importante mejora sugerida es la implementación de una plataforma tecnológica (software) para el soporte administrativo vinculado al macroproceso de Enseñanza-Aprendizaje (Planificación automatizada de cursos, horarios, aulas, docentes y evaluaciones, entre otros). / The Balanced Scorecard (with its indicators) and the process optimization of the Teaching-Learning Macroprocess of a university subsidiary located in the city of Arequipa are proposed in this work (for confidentiality reasons we have had to change the name of this AQP University). The rapid and messy growth of this subsidiary made it urgent need for an integrated control tool at least for the main business process (Teaching-Learning). It was also important to eliminate reprocesses and inefficiencies within this macroprocess. As a result of the internal and external analysis carried out, the proposal of the Balanced Scorecard and its indicators has been prepared as a tool for controlling and managing the strategy of this subsidiary taken in this work as a business unit. For the improvement of its processes it has been suggested to strengthen the autonomy of the Arequipa headquarters of the AQP University to provide flexibility and efficiency to its operations. Another important improvement suggested is the implementation of a technological platform (software) for administrative support linked to the Teaching-Learning macroprocess (automated planning of courses, schedules, classrooms, teachers and evaluations, among others). / Tesis

<p>The product integration is a particularly critical phase of the software product development process as many problems originating from earlier phases become visible in this phase. Problems in product integration result in delays and rework. One of the measures to decrease the late discovery of problems is the use of development standards and guidelines that define practices to ensure correctness of the product integration. However, even if such standards and reference models exist, they are in not used consistently. One of the reasons is a lack of a proof that they indeed improve the integration process, and even more important, that they are sufficient for performing efficient and correct product integration.</p><p>The conclusion of the presented research is that the available descriptions in standards and reference models taken one by one are insufficient and must be consolidated to help development organizations improve the product integration process. The research has resulted in a proposed combination of the activities included in the different reference models. This combination has been based on a number of case studies. Through the case studies performed in seven different product development organizations, a relationship between problems that are observed and the failure to follow the recommendations in reference models is identified. The analysis has indicated which practices are necessary, and how other practices support these. The goal with the research is to provide product development organizations with guidelines for how to perform software product integration.</p><p>One additional finding of the research is the existence of relation between software architecture and the development process. A method for identifying dependencies between evolvement of software architectures and adaptation of integration practices has been demonstrated.</p>

This PhD thesis is divided into two parts. Part one dealswith the development of the material and the mechanicalproperties of Steel Fibrous Cement Based Composites (SFCBC) forimproving bridge design and construction. It familiarizes thehydration mechanisms of the high performance concrete with thehelp of Powers´ and Jensen´s models. Concretes withdifferent water-cement ratio were compared with each other withrespect to degree of hydration and hydration products. Thisanalysis showed that high performance concrete has higherstrengths not because it has more gel solid, but due to ithaving less porosity and higher filler content compared toordinary concrete. A number of experiments were performed to achieve a mixdesign method for a SFCBC, which has good workability, highearly and long-term strength and good durabilitycharacteristics. A Self-compacting and self-leveling fibrouscomposite, which has ultra high strengths (Compressive strengthfc= 180 ~ 220MPa and flexural tensile strengthfföi= 14 ~ 32MPa depending on the volumefraction of fibers) was produced. This composite was alsotested under different curing conditions in order toinvestigate the effect of curing on hydration andself-desiccation shrinkage. These tests showed that SFCBCshould not be water-cured under a long period andself-desiccation influences the compressive strengthnegatively. Test of scaling at freezing showed that SFCBC hasvery good durability characteristics. Part two deals with the behavior of SFCBC in the anchoragezones of prestressed bridges. The prismatic composite specimenswere tested for different volume fractions of fibers underdifferent concentrations ratios of strip loading. The resultsof these tests showed that the ultimate strength of the SFCBCspecimens was approximately twice that of ordinary concretewith the same size (fc= 60MPa reinforced with stirrups). Therefore,SFCBC has good possibility to replace the traditional rebars inthe anchorage zones of prestressed bridges. This composite has different behavior than the traditionalconcrete e.g. crack formation, failure criteria, effectivestrength and angle of friction. A vertical crack on thecenterline was occurred while wedge developed under the loadingplate. In contrast to ordinary concrete, the cracks could notreach to the bottom of the blocks. The tests results gave the ideas of that this material actslike metals or plastics in the high fiber content. Thismaterial is neither very brittle as concrete nor very ductileas metals but it is somewhere between them. Upper-bound plasticity solutions were utilized for modelingthe bearing capacity of SFCBC. Predictions of this method aregood enough to estimate the bearing capacity of SFCBC in theanchorage zones of prestressed bridges. <b>Keywords:</b>Process improvement of bridges, Prestressedconcrete, High performance concrete, Ultra high performanceconcrete, Hydration, Cement based composites, Fibers,Self-compacting concrete, Bearing capacity, Anchorage zones,Tests

This Master Studies Thesis of Quality in Process Technology deals with Process Improvement. The ventilation system of University building is dealt as a Process and is looked for improvements. The ventialtion system for two computer rooms is studied and analyzed for the variaitons in the operating conditions.

This thesis presents a software engineering process improvement study. The literature on software process improvement is reviewed. Then the current design verification process at one of the Software Engineering Departments of the X Company, Ankara, T&uuml / rkiye (SED) is analyzed. Static software development process metrics have been calculated for the SED based on a recently proposed approach. Some improvement suggestions have been made based on the metric values calculated according to the proposals of that study. Besides, the author&#039 / s improvement suggestions have been discussed with the senior staff at the department and then final version of the improvements has been gathered. Then, a discussion has been made comparing these two approaches. Finally, a new software design verification process model has been proposed. Some of the suggestions have already been applied and preliminary results have been obtained.