published_or_final_version / abstract / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Whole oysters were processed under a series of pressures from 30,000 to 45,000 psi at different holding times (0, 1, and 2 min) and then stored at <4°C, for 27 d. During the shelf-life study, the quality of oysters was determined by measuring pH, moisture content, and microbial counts including aerobic, anaerobic bacteria and coliform. Descriptive testing was also performed by a trained panel. The pH of high pressure process (HPP) samples decreased slightly from 6.3 to 5.7 during storage while the control dropped to pH 4.4. Moisture content of the control decreased slightly while HPP samples increased slightly. Pressure treatment did not significantly inhibit lipase activity during the shelf-life study. HPP reduced initial microbial load by approximately 2-3 logs and counts remained at a reduced level through the storage study. Descriptive tests showed that HPP treated oysters received higher quality scores than the control during the storage trial. Whole oysters were shucked under pressure of 35,000 psi, 2 min. After shucking, oyster meats were water packed in plastic containers and repressureized. Tests were performed at 45,000 psi, 30 s and 50,000 psi (0 holding time, 10 s). All samples were stored at <40C for 25 d. During the shelf-life study, oyster quality was determined by measuring pH, moisture content, protease, and microbial counts including aerobic, anaerobic bacteria and coliform. The pH of HPP samples decreased slightly from 6.5 to 5.7 during storage while the control I, hand-shucked oysters, dropped to pH 4.3. Pressure treatment seemed to increase protease activity during the shelf-life study. HPP reduced initial microbial load by approximately 2-3 logs and inhibited microbial growth during storage. / Graduation date: 2001

A study has been carried out to investigate the use of "real-time" radiography as a method of automated inspection of through-hole electronic circuit board solder joints. By evaluating five major solder defects it has been found that film radiography employing high contrast film results in a definite distinction between a good solder joint and a defective solder joint. The same five defects were also found to be distinguishable from a good solder joint when evaluated by a real-time radiographic inspection unit using digital image processing. Although the type of defect being investigated was not discernible, the ability to distinguish a good solder joint from a defective solder joint is a major step in the implementation of automated solder joint inspection for military electronics.

This study utilizes a Monte Carlo simulation to examine the performance of multivariate geometric moving average control chart schemes for controlling the mean of a multivariate normal process. The study compares the performance of the proposed method with a multivariate Shewhart chart, a multiple univariate cumulative sum (CUSUM) control chart, a multivariate CUSUM control chart and a multiple univariate geometric moving average control chart.

No description available.

Objective. Analyze quality improvement (QI) education across US pharmacy programs. Methods. This was a two stage cross-sectional study that inspected each accredited school website for published QI curriculum or related content, and e-mailed a questionnaire to each school asking about QI curriculum or content. T-test and chi square were used for analysis with an alpha a priori set at .05. Results. Sixty responses (47% response rate) revealed the least-covered QI topics: quality dashboards /sentinel systems (30%); six-sigma or other QI methodologies (45%); safety and quality measures (57%); Medicare Star measures and payment incentives (58%); and how to implement changes to improve quality (60%). More private institutions covered Adverse Drug Events than public institutions and required a dedicated QI class; however, required QI projects were more often reported by public institutions. Conclusion. Despite the need for pharmacists to understand QI, it is not covered well in school curricula.

This thesis is about the formulation of a structured sequence of events using a multimethodology approach to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management, of key factors contributing to the failure of management information system development projects undertaken in the financial services industry1. Furthermore, a clear distinction is made between information system development projects undertaken within the ambit of the broader development context of ‘information technology’, as opposed to information system development projects undertaken within the ambit of the financial services industry, the latter, the focus of this thesis. The formulation of the structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors, was mooted specifically as a result of known failure factors of management information systems development projects undertaken in the financial services industry. In terms of this research, these factors fall into two mainstream categories2, namely: Ø The quality of business requirement functional specifications. Ø Change to business requirement functional specifications, while the latter is still in the process of being developed. From the field research undertaken for this thesis both locally and abroad, the analogy was drawn that the above two factors are normally juxtaposed, contributing to multi-faceted impacts to information system development project lifecycles. Key impacts point to not only the escalation of previously approved budgets, but also to extended timelines and already mapped processes. The research shows that these two entities would typically lead to an executive call for rework of not only the business case, but also of the processes supporting the whole development. This could invariable culminate in the termination of the project or culminate in extensive recoding and process changes, which in turn would lead to the requirement for extensive change management initiatives. Alternatively, the additional rework could result in benefits harvesting from the initiative to be delayed or severely impacted. This statement is made with the clear caveat, that should the rework result in end user effectiveness being significantly boosted as a result of the required rework, to the extent that the ratio of operating profit over the benefit life span of the system to total development cost be raised, it would undoubtedly quantify such rework. The structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management of key factors contributing to the failure of management information system development projects are formulated from selected key elements of the following system methodologies namely: Ø The ‘Capability Maturity Model’, which Herbsleb et al.5 defines as ‘a reference model for appraising software process maturity and a normative model for helping software organizations progress along an evolutionary path from ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature disciplined software’. Ø The ‘Balanced Scorecard’, which Kaplan & Norton6 defines as ‘a management system that can motivate breakthrough improvements in such critical areas as product, process, customer, and market development’. A multimethodology approach will be deployed in the formulation of the mitigating factors from the above listed systems methodologies, underpinned by the concept ‘system’. This then would be further enhanced by the author’s own contributions gleaned from experience spanning some 34 years in systems development for the financial services industry, both locally and abroad. These mitigating factors will come into play at two specific levels of a typical information technology project lifecycle namely: Ø At the formulation of business requirement functional specifications. Ø During the development and testing stages, which are typically associated with change in the systems development lifecycle. Using a multimethodology approach, the interrelationship of the various core entities, gleaned from the above listed system methodologies, ultimately supporting the structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors are graphically depicted below. In addition, the mitigating factors are positioned to reflect their potential position in a typical systems development life cycle 7, commonly associated with information system development for the financial services industry. The purpose of this thesis is then to determine if a set of mitigating factors can be developed from a structured sequence of events using a multimethodology approach to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management of key factors contributing to the failure of management information systems development undertaken in the financial services industry. Furthermore, the thesis proposes that the structured set of mitigating factors be incorporated as an alternative methodology within the ambit of the greater information technology project management life cycle for all project initiatives in the financial services industry. / Prof. N. Lessing

M.Ing. / The management of quality in companies has become more and more strategically important over recent years. The emphasis on quality is vital to managing projects and achieving excellence in today’s global economy. Modern petrochemical construction project management has incorporated quality management principles and initiatives in their activities. The Quality Management System is used to ensure that the project will satisfy the requirements for which it was undertaken. Improving project quality in construction requires consideration of culture within the project environment that is often associated with miscommunication and fragmentation. The focus of the thesis is to examine how quality culture can improve the quality in organisation and influence the implementation of Quality Management System in construction industry. The dissertation will comprise of extensive survey of the local academic literature and South African press reports concerning state of construction industry. A questionnaire conducted amongst professionals working in petrochemical industry is aimed to determine the impact of organisational culture on the successful implementation of quality management systems. The objective of this dissertation is to identify inefficiencies and possible improvements that can be achieved in current quality management systems. The dissertation concluded that an improvement in the quality management and quality of construction can only be achieved if quality is embedded in the entire operational and managerial processes of its organizations. The thesis recommends that the South African construction industry would benefit from the development of quality culture that fosters deeper human relationships to improve quality management.

M.Comm. / Selde in die geskiedenis van die mens was daar so 'n ingrypende mate van verandering soos wat tans plaasvind. Nuwe dinge word daagliks beproef, verbeterde metodes word ontwikkel, bestaande rekords word gebreek en hoer hoogtes word bereik. Die besigheidswereld is insgelyk aan verandering onderhewig. Veranderinge van die afgelope agtien maande behels eerder 'n totale omwenteling vir Suid-Afrikaanse besighede. Skielik is Suid-Afrika weer deel van die internasionale sakegemeenskap. Dit impliseer dat Suid-Afrikaanse besighede met buitelandse maatskappye op die wereldmark op gelyke voet moet meeding. Die voldoening aan IS09000 blyk deel van die internasionale spel te wees. IS09000 is `n internasionale kwaliteitstandaard wat modelle vir kwaliteitstelsels voorstel. Indien Suid-Afrikaanse besighede internasionaal wil meeding, is hierdie 'n belangrike aspek om in gedagte te hou. Hierdie skripsie handel juis oor hierdie eksternse bedreigings (of geleenthede) vir Suid- Afrikaanse besighede. Dit is veral die toepaslikheid van die IS09000-standaard op die ouditprofessie wat onder die loep geneem word. `n Verdere oefening is die ondersoek van die vereistes waaraan voldoen moet word ten einde IS09000-sertifisering te verkry. Die redes en voordele van sertifisering word aangespreek asook literatuur oor die kwaliteitsbestuur. Die huidige mate van voldoening aan die IS09000-standaard by Onderneming A is gemeet. Hierde proses het verskeie gestruktueerde onderhoude met sleutel bestuurspersoneel ingesluit. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe gekom word, is dat Onderneming A tans the aan die IS09000-kwaliteitstandaard voldoen the. Dit is egter the 'n negatiewe weerspieling van die Onderneming of sy mense the, maar eerder te wyte aan die eiesoortige standaard van die vereistes van IS09000. Klem word op die formele dokumentasie geplaas en dit beInvloed die resultaat van die studie. Dit het verder geblyk dat opvattings en persepsies oor die bestuur van kwaliteit van mens to mens, asook oor verskillende posvlalcke heen, verskil. 'n Aksieplan word voorgestel wat Onderneming A in staat behoort te stel om aan die standaardvereistes te voldoen.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / Increasing competitive pressure from global markets and technological developments has resulted in the continual demand for business improvement philosophies and methodologies to address this challenge. The LSS approach to business improvement has emerged in both the practitioner and academic literature as having a significant role in this area. In 2006, The Valspar Corporation embarked on a LSS initiative as a way to improve the business globally, to achieve sustained profitable growth and to enhance customer value. Valspar (SA) found the implementation of LSS a challenge because the organisation could not afford the appointment of a full-time Black Belt to manage the programme locally. Green Belts were appointed to lead LSS projects part-time. Management wanted to know if they have applied the LSS methodology correctly within the scope of the business, especially since not all organisations were successful in the implementation of LSS. The objective of this study was to determine the critical factors that affect the successful implementation of LSS at Valspar (SA) and to assess the degree to which these critical factors exist at Valspar (SA). In a census, the researcher used the questionnaire to gain information about the current views of employees on the LSS programme at Valspar (SA). The research highlighted the critical success factors for LSS implementation and the results of the evaluation revealed both the positive and negative aspects of the LSS programme at Valspar (SA). / Valspar Corporation / M