While costing methods have developed over time, they are often static in nature and ill-suited to the dynamic nature of production lines. Static costing systems are often developed for long-term analysis. Due to this, they lack the ability to aid short-term decision-making. In addition, the use of averaged data prohibits a static costing system from accurately tracing the cost effects of changing system behavior like random downtime events. A dynamic costing system, however, can capture the cost effects of changing system behavior in a manner that can aid short-term operational management. The proposed methodology is a dynamic activity-based costing method that relies on real-time production line data to track costs, specifically the added costs of unused capacity and downtime events. The methodology aims to trace these costs to responsible cost centers on the production line to give a better representation of the total cost of production, specifically in regards to normal production costs, added downtime costs, and added costs from unused capacity. In addition to monetary costs, the methodology provides a framework for tracking environmental costs, such as energy use, in order to aid plant managers with determining the environmental impact of their operations. The methodology addresses a gap between activity-based costing and downtime costing by combining the two under a single methodology. It traces both monetary and environmental costs to cost centers on the manufacturing line to aid continuous improvement efforts and the allocation of resources. By using real-time data, the methodology alerts management to changing system performance in a shorter time frame than static costing systems. The methodology will be shown in a case study of an automotive assembly plant. The case study will model the resource use of an automotive paint shop and trace this resource use to line segments in order to highlight areas of possible improvement.

Much research regarding efficiency in manufacturing industry has historically been focused on the material activities of the shop floor. However, companies that merely focus on material activities when trying to improve lead times, risk losing potential for improvements within immaterial activities such as planning, engineering, design, and purchasing, which often constitute the most time consuming parts of the order fulfillment processes. Engineer to order (ETO) products are particularly time consuming regarding their immaterial activities, and the customer is waiting for the products from the very beginning of the order fulfillment process. Shortening the lead time to customer for ETO products is therefore important for customer satisfaction. The aim of this study is to adapt an existing lead time tree model currently focused on material activities to also include immaterial activities, enabling a full visualization of all activities contained in order fulfillment processes. The lead time tree model would thereby be able to use as a tool when working on shortening the lead time to customer. A further aim of the study is to investigate how the adapted lead time tree model can be used in further areas as well, in addition to visualizing immaterial activities. The adaption of the lead time tree model has been based on the original literary source of the lead time tree model. The original lead time tree model has been analyzed towards theoretical data from a literature study, and towards empirical data about immaterial activities in order fulfillment processes for ETO products, from the case company Kongsberg Maritime Sweden AB (previously Rolls-Royce AB). The result of this has been an adapted lead time tree model that can visualize immaterial activities. Several adaptions of the original lead time tree model have been made for it to be able to visualize immaterial activities, while still keeping the basics of the original model. The adapted lead time tree model comprises information that is normally kept separated and that is important when planning and improving a process. Additional information that is needed for each specific case can also easily be included in the lead time tree. The adapted lead time tree model has proven to have additional areas of use within project planning, improvement work regarding lead time reduction and root-cause analysis, and as a boundary object for communication between internal actors and between internal and external actors. The adapted lead time tree model is presumably able to map and visualize immaterial activities in other fields of business as well, other than manufacturing, as the nature of immaterial activities remains the same across business environments.

O segmento de Consultoria em Engenharia, ao lado das Universidades e Centros de Pesquisas, é um dos pilares do desenvolvimento científico-tecnológico do país e é considerado um dos responsáveis pela otimização de investimentos, redução dos prazos e dos custos de implantação de empreendimentos públicos e privados, industrial ou de infra-estrutura. Atualmente, esses empreendimentos vêm passando por modificações significativas, exigindo cada vez um melhor desempenho de seus contratados, tanto nos aspectos de qualidade, desempenho, prazo e custos, quanto nos aspectos associados aos riscos contratuais, pois tornaram -se freqüentes contratações nas modalidades EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) e \"turn-key\". Neste novo cenário, as organizações precisam ser mais competitivas para sobreviverem às condições impostas pelo mercado, e, neste novo contexto, o gerenciamento de prazos tem-se tornado um fator crítico de sucesso. Esta dissertação desenvolve uma extensa revisão das técnicas de gerenciamento de prazos, com ênfase na etapa de programação, e uma análise comparativa das principais técnicas utilizadas no gerenciamento de projetos. Para isto, tomou-se como referência o caso de um projeto real, contratado mediante a modalidade EPC, em desenvolvimento por uma Empresa de Consultoria em Engenharia. Foi realizada a comparação entre os Métodos do Caminho Crítico, Corrente Crítica, Análises Probabilísticas e de Monte Carlo, abordando a aplicabilidade dessas técnicas neste caso. Ao final é feita uma síntese dos principais resultados alcançados, bem como dos requisitos demandados na aplicação de cada uma destas técnicas. / The segment of Consultancy in Engineering, as well as the Universities and the Research Centers are some of the pillars of the scientific -technological development in the country and they have been responsible for optimizing the investments, reducing the deadlines and the costs of project implementation in the public and private sectors, along with the industrial and infra-structure sectors. Nowadays, these projects have been going through major changes, which have demanded better performances from those who are contracted, in areas such as the quality control, performa nces, time and costs, as well as the contract risks, which more often than ever, have fallen into the EPC category (engineering, procurement, and construction) and the \'turn-key\' category. In this new scenario, companies need to be more competitive to live through the conditions imposed by the market, and, in this new context, time management has turned into a critical success factor. This dissertation develops an extensive review of the time management techniques focusing on scheduling and also a comparative analysis of the most important techniques used in Project Management. To do that, a real project was created as reference case in which the EPC category was defined and was developed by an Engineering Consultancy. A comparison among The Critical Path Method and The Critical Chain, Probability Analysis Method and The Monte Carlo Method was made, and it approached the applicability of these techniques in this case. At the end, there is a summary of the most important outcomes, as well as the necessary conditions to apply each of these techniques.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de NÃvel Superior / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Neste trabalho propomos dois modelos para a geraÃÃo de fraturas em substratos regulares. No primeiro modelo, empregamos iterativamente o conceito de caminho crÃtico para determinar sistematicamente o elemento de menor âcondutividadeâ da rede. Estes elementos sÃo entÃo identificados como âfalhasâ e removidos permanentemente da estrutura atà que uma fratura macroscÃpica destrua a conectividade global da rede. Uma vez detectada, esta fratura à caracterizada topologicamente como uma estrutura auto-similar de dimensÃo fractal Dp ≈ 1.21. No segundo modelo, empregamos iterativamente o algoritmo de Dijkstra para determinar o caminho mÃnimo em uma paisagem aleatÃria, retirando sistematicamente desta estrutura o elemento de maior energia. Como no modelo anterior, estes elementos sÃo identificados como âfalhasâ atà que um conjunto conecto deles resulte em uma fratura macroscÃpica. A mÃdia realizada sobre vÃrias amostras de fraturas em diferentes tamanhos de substratos revela a presenÃa de uma estrutura auto-similar de dimensÃo fractal Df ≈ 1.21. A semelhanÃa numÃrica entre os expoentes Dp e Df sugere que os dois modelos pertencem à mesma classe de universalidade. / In this work we propose two models for fracture generation in regular substrates. In the first model, we iteratively apply the concept of critical path to systematically determine the lower âconductivityâ element in the connected spanning network. At each iteration, once these elements are identified as local âcracks ́ ́, they are permanently removed from the structure up to the point in which a macroscopic fracture can destroy the global network connectivity. This fracture is then topologically characterized as self-similar with fractal dimension Dp ≈ 1.21. In the second model, we employ the algorithm of Dijkstra to determine the minimal path in a random energy landscape and remove its highest energy element. As in the previous model, these elements are considered to be local âcracks ́ ́ till a subset of them can be identified as a macroscopic fracture. The average over many samples of fractures calculated for different system sizes reveals the presence of a self-similar structure with fractal dimension Df ≈ 1.21. The resemblance between the two exponents Dp e Df suggests that the two models belong to the same universality class.

This research endeavor investigated the possibility to combine the visual advantages of both graphical schedule visualization methods, the Linked Gantt Charts (LGC) and Flowline graphs (FLG), derived from the activity-based and location-based scheduling systems, to help resolve some of their shortcomings by capitalizing on their combined strengths. In order to accomplish the goal of the research, a graphical representation system that combines these two scheduling visualization methods, LGC and FLG, is developed. Afterwards, the research attempted to empirically validate the ability of the proposed tool to visually communicate and combine logical and spatial relationships between scheduled activities. This is compared to comprehending the same information by looking at a stand-alone LGC or FLG. The accuracy and time, of deciphering various details of a sample project schedule, are used as parameters to evaluate the proposed scheduling visualization tool, and compare it to the existing LGC and FLG systems. The Hybrid Graphical Representation (HGR) is the tool developed by this research to combine Linked Gantt Chart bars from the activity-based scheduling approach, and flow-lines from the location-based scheduling approach. The HGR concept is founded on the basic idea that both LGC and FLG share a common X-axis, Time. The only difference is in a LGC the Activities are listed on the Y-axis, while the FLG shows Locations on the Y-axis. This research proposed adding a third dimension to the FLG, listing the project Activities on a Z-axis. Viewing the HGR 3D graph from the top, the user will observe the Gantt bars with Time on the X-axis and the Activities listed on the Z-axis. Observing the schedule from the front view, the user will see the flow-lines developed from the location-based scheduling approach with Locations on the Y-axis and Time on the X-axis. After conducting a series of online surveys measuring the time and accuracy of using a prototype HGR schedule, it was found that the users were able to reap the benefits of both scheduling approaches (LGC and FLG), and visually link and communicate information concerning the activities' logical relationships and spatial relationships. However, it took the participants a relatively longer time to achieve that higher accuracy utilizing the HGR tool.

As the mobile electronic products development are more and more popular such as mobile phone, digital camera, PDA¡Ketc. Each of company releases variable kind of mobile products, and every portable machine has plenty of functions. A low power consumption design is a significant issue which academics and engineers concern. It would be a major progress if the approach which can drop off the power consumption successfully. The mobile electronic products have more application programs than before and the size of LCD increases continuously, so that the power consumption becomes large. Therefore, expanding the life of battery would be a significant issue. Besides, the process technology has improved day by day, and it would influence the supply voltage be declined. It represents the power management would influence the power consumption of circuit directly. Comparing to drop down the entire IC power consumption and not to influence the performance of IC, the thesis employs the algorithm that searches the Critical Path and embeds the Level Converter Logic into digital circuit. It can offer the proper supply voltage to circuits which do not want to bigger supply voltage for reduce power consumption. However, the process variation (Inter-Die or Intra-Die) may transform the original Critical Path, the Critical Path which searches through the static timing analysis would not correct. To conquer this problem, the thesis provides the statistical approach to analysis timing. It would search Path Sensitivity which is exactly equal to the probability that a path is critical. Finally, the logic gate which is designed by us would replace the UMC 90nm standard cell through Cell-Based.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

Statistical Activity Cost Theory (SACT) is an axiomatic and statistical theory of basic accounting measurement practice. The aim of the SACT analysis, among others, is to determine the statistical nature of both the physical production system of an accounting entity and its related costs, which can then be examined and applied to various decision-making problems. A central proposition of SACT is that the physical system of the entity, and the costs related to this system, are separate structures which can be modelled as such. To date, however, mini- mal progress has been made in describing production process structures within the SACT framework, and nor have there been any advances made in applying common statistical techniques to such an analysis. This thesis, therefore, moves to extend the basic theory that has already been developed, presenting a novel method for representing and examining the physical processes that make up an entity's production system. It also examines the costing of these physical models, such that transactional data can be examined and related back to the underlying production processes. The thesis concludes by giving an example of such an application in a case study. The analysis developed in this thesis has been applied in a larger project which aims to produce generic modelling and decision tools, based upon SACT, to support return and risk management.

From the knowledge gained by studying scientific publications and other resources on possibilities of applying stochastic approach in planning, directing and controlling the projects will be evaluated time analysis of the construction project. The project will be analyzed using simulation techniques. The subject of research, the project Modernization of the Czech Budejovice - Nemanice, which will be designed for appropriate recommendations.

O segmento de Consultoria em Engenharia, ao lado das Universidades e Centros de Pesquisas, é um dos pilares do desenvolvimento científico-tecnológico do país e é considerado um dos responsáveis pela otimização de investimentos, redução dos prazos e dos custos de implantação de empreendimentos públicos e privados, industrial ou de infra-estrutura. Atualmente, esses empreendimentos vêm passando por modificações significativas, exigindo cada vez um melhor desempenho de seus contratados, tanto nos aspectos de qualidade, desempenho, prazo e custos, quanto nos aspectos associados aos riscos contratuais, pois tornaram -se freqüentes contratações nas modalidades EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) e \"turn-key\". Neste novo cenário, as organizações precisam ser mais competitivas para sobreviverem às condições impostas pelo mercado, e, neste novo contexto, o gerenciamento de prazos tem-se tornado um fator crítico de sucesso. Esta dissertação desenvolve uma extensa revisão das técnicas de gerenciamento de prazos, com ênfase na etapa de programação, e uma análise comparativa das principais técnicas utilizadas no gerenciamento de projetos. Para isto, tomou-se como referência o caso de um projeto real, contratado mediante a modalidade EPC, em desenvolvimento por uma Empresa de Consultoria em Engenharia. Foi realizada a comparação entre os Métodos do Caminho Crítico, Corrente Crítica, Análises Probabilísticas e de Monte Carlo, abordando a aplicabilidade dessas técnicas neste caso. Ao final é feita uma síntese dos principais resultados alcançados, bem como dos requisitos demandados na aplicação de cada uma destas técnicas. / The segment of Consultancy in Engineering, as well as the Universities and the Research Centers are some of the pillars of the scientific -technological development in the country and they have been responsible for optimizing the investments, reducing the deadlines and the costs of project implementation in the public and private sectors, along with the industrial and infra-structure sectors. Nowadays, these projects have been going through major changes, which have demanded better performances from those who are contracted, in areas such as the quality control, performa nces, time and costs, as well as the contract risks, which more often than ever, have fallen into the EPC category (engineering, procurement, and construction) and the \'turn-key\' category. In this new scenario, companies need to be more competitive to live through the conditions imposed by the market, and, in this new context, time management has turned into a critical success factor. This dissertation develops an extensive review of the time management techniques focusing on scheduling and also a comparative analysis of the most important techniques used in Project Management. To do that, a real project was created as reference case in which the EPC category was defined and was developed by an Engineering Consultancy. A comparison among The Critical Path Method and The Critical Chain, Probability Analysis Method and The Monte Carlo Method was made, and it approached the applicability of these techniques in this case. At the end, there is a summary of the most important outcomes, as well as the necessary conditions to apply each of these techniques.