Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2018. / Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 92-95). / This thesis presents work that was done to improve the effectiveness of cleaning processes at an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing site that was in the phase of engineering trials and cleaning cycle development. Cleaning cycles executed on the site prior to the project were found to be inconsistent in cleaning the equipment to the desired specifications. Lack of repeatability of cleaning processes was hypothesized to be a resultant of inadequate process control and monitoring. Statistical Process Control (SPC) implemented using process automation was found to improve the success rate of cleaning processes significantly. SPC introduction required breaking down the cleaning operation into component steps, identifying critical process parameters (CPPs) and calculation of control limits using Shewhart Control Charts for these CPPs. Significant modifications were done to the automation controls for the recipe to ensure deviations from recipe are captured and appropriate actions are taken by the system or the operator to bring the process back in control. The success rate of cleaning processes improved from 38% to 72% post the implementation of Phase I of SPC with the newer non-conformances being associated to special external causes outside the control of the process. Real-time Multivariate Statistical Process Monitoring (RT-MSPM) was also introduced and piloted as a future opportunity for enhanced control and continuous quality improvement. Multivariate statistical process control eliminates the need to monitor multiple control charts (one for each variable) at the same time accounting for the correlations among process variables. / by Rajkumar aka Rahul Shankarlal Nechlani. / M.B.A. / S.M.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2018. / Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-88). / Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a concept that proposes to provide short-range transportation solutions that enable customers to travel point-to-point more quickly than they can today using cars or public transportation. The concept of Urban Air Mobility is not new, but there has been rapidly increasing interest in providing air transportation services within major metropolitan areas. The combination of increasing congestion and advancements in electric aircraft and automation makes the Urban Air Mobility market more attractive for vehicle manufactures and transportation companies. There are many potential applications for new aircraft. However, these applications cannot be based solely on what is technological feasible, but must consider the market, demand, and customer needs. This thesis investigates these factors in order to identify operational challenges that may develop during the implementation and operation of an Urban Air Mobility system. The study focuses on Dallas-Fort Worth to set the scope to one potential early adoption market. The objective is to understand the Dallas-Fort Worth environment better in two dimensions. The first is resident's current perceptions and values. The second is the operational challenges and constraints associated with operating a UAM system. In order to meet this objective, a survey of community members and potential early adopters is conducted to determine customer's perceptions of a UAM system and identify operational challenges that may develop based on customer needs. Next, a case study is completed using 10 reference missions in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The missions represented potential commuter trips, point-to-point trips like sporting events, and randomly generated missions. Through this case study, nineteen operational challenges are identified that may impact the development, implementation, and operation of an Urban Air Mobility system. After reviewing each reference mission, community acceptance of aircraft noise and take off and landing area availability were identified as the operational constraints likely to cause the greatest challenges for UAM operations in Dallas Fort Worth. / by Nicholas Dunn. / M.B.A. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2018. / Thesis: M.B.A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management 2018 In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "June 2018." / Includes bibliographical references (pages 108-111). / Engine Health Management (EHM) is a comprehensive maintenance service offered by engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) to its airline customers. In its current form, engine performance is monitored through recorded physical metrics, such as gas temperature, pressure, and altitude, taken as single snapshots at various phases of flight. The advent of the Enhanced Flight Data Acquisition, Storage and Transmission (eFASTTM) system, which allows for near-continuous recording of engine metrics, provides Full-Flight Data Analytics (FFDA) that may proactively alert and recommend maintenance activity to airlines. Adopting eFASTTM may help avoid Adverse Operational Events (AOE) caused by unexpected engine failures and the associated cost burdens. With respect to operating cost, airlines standardly report Cost Per Available Seat Mile (CASM) and Cost Per Block Hour (CBH). EHM services that prevent operational disruptions can help airlines reduce these unit-cost metrics, whose scrutiny by industry analysts affect investment guidance, stock performance, and overall business outlook. In this study, the value of FFDA services to airlines is investigated on the International Aero Engines V2500, a mature engine with customers' operational histories well-documented. Using a Poisson distribution to model the occurrence of six operational disruption types-Inflight Shutdown, Aircraft-On-Ground, Aborted Takeoff, Air Turn-Back, Ground Turn-Back, and Delay/Cancellation-the cost savings potential is quantified as a function of events avoided by a hypothetical FFDA service. Airline Form 41 financial data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics is then used to estimate the magnitude of savings on CASM and CBH retroactively for 2012-16. Results show that unit cost reductions of 0.5% to 1.5% are possible through engine event avoidance, representing savings up to $104M annually, but outcomes are highly dependent on assumptions about cost of operational disruptions for each individual carrier. Overall, a baseline model and procedure is developed for valuating FFDA and associated EHM services. Further collaboration between airlines and Pratt & Whitney on data availability and accuracy will help refine this model, which is the first to bridge publicly available airline costs with engine history data, helping stakeholders transition to an eFASTTM ecosystem that promises greater operational efficiency and safety. / by Henry H. T. Luu. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-95). / This thesis is based on the author's seven-month internship based in the gears machining module of the Saturn Powertrain, Transmission Manufacturing plant. This module has four primary functional areas with buffers between each. Variable setup times, complex part flow paths, and unpredictable equipment downtime have complicated gear production since its inception in 1990. Scheduling and material flow related issues were a large source of the relativity poor performance in gears machining as it was a leading cause of downtime in the Powertrain plant, which often translated to downtime to the powertrain customer, general assembly. This project aimed to eliminate scheduling deficiencies by implementing material and information flow improvements and beginning setup time reduction. The material and information flow improvements involved a CONWIP-like (CONstant WIP) approach to inventory control. As part of the plant's kaizen process, the setup time reduction activities were intended to begin run size reductions as an enabler for future material and information flow simplification and better achievement of the manufacturing system's objectives. As outlined herein, once run size reductions are achieved, the next step for this facility should be toward a simpler system using kanban with standard-work-in-process. The work of this project resulted in significant improvements, as measured by the facility. In addition, the project provided invaluable lessons for the author which were both technical and people/leadership related. / by Brad D. Forry. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis follows the transfer of a thin film from development to manufacturing. Problems of differences in equipment and differences in manufacturing methods were overcome to complete the transfer. The film was characterized using UV-Visible, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. Hydrogen forward scattering, surface bead angle, and atomic force microscopy were also employed. A series of experiments was conducted to: 1) Analyze the impact of deposition parameters on the performance of the film. 2) Match the performance of films produced in the manufacturing site to the performance of films produced in the development site. Both the development and manufacturing sites were acquired by a new company during the period of this transfer. The cultures of the development and manufacturing sites had not merged before this occurred. This fact, coupled with subsequent reorganization undertaken by the new management, has the potential to slow product introductions. The transfer of this film was successful despite the organizational upheaval occurring at the same time. Three factors contributed to this success: 1) The development engineer stayed with the process throughout the transfer to manufacturing. 2) The collaboration of upstream manufacturing steps integrated the new process with the existing line. 3) Early involvement of manufacturing speeded acceptance and lessened training costs. Recommendations to better link the manufacturing and technology development groups, based on observations made during work on the film transfer, are presented for management's consideration. Key among these is the establishment of common goals and the building of a communication infrastructure between the two sites. / by Brad Houston. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121). / In the industrialized world, the automotive industry faces growing environmental regulation in the form of standards for local air pollutant emissions and fuel economy. Yet another target for regulation in the near future could be carbon dioxide, as its greenhouse gas behavior becomes increasingly linked to climate disturbances on a global scale. And as the automotive industry expands its operations to emerging markets with exponential population growth, the appropriateness of a crude oil-dependent internal combustion infrastructure may be called into question for reasons of fuel availability and price. Out of concern for these developments, some auto companies are working to make the automobile more sustainable. A major part of their efforts involves pursuit of alternative propulsion systems in parallel with the evolving internal combustion engine. In this thesis, I explore how propulsion regimes might shift in the near term (ten-year) future using a set of scenarios generated with a system dynamics model. Moreover, in this way I test the usefulness of the system dynamics methodology for scenario creation. While a variety of fuels can be used to power a given propulsion system, I limit this study to one fuel option per system. Four specific systems are considered: a gasoline internal combustion engine (ICE); a gasoline hybrid system that combines an ICE with an electric motor to conserve fuel; a battery electric vehicle (EV) charged regularly from the electricity grid; and a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) that electrochemically converts hydrogen to electricity for propulsion. I first examine the motivation and method for exploring future propulsion regimes, and then provide a technology assessment of propulsion attributes on the basis of existing studies. Next is a description of how these attributes can feed a system dynamics model to explore how technology demand might evolve in consideration of the relative presence of infrastructure, availability, and awareness for each propulsion option. Using this model, a set of three scenarios is created by adjusting model parameters and providing supporting rationale. Finally, I discuss strategic implications both of the scenarios themselves and of insights gleaned through the system dynamics modeling exercise. / by Sara Susanne Metcalf. / S.M.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-86). / by Louis W. Rassey. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004. / Page 146 blank. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-108). / Much academic literature exists in the fields of Product Development and Project Management. This thesis uses the framework provided by the literature to analyze a case study development project which the author led from January through August of 2003. The phases of the product development process are investigated as is the scheduling of the project. The case study project was an effort to develop a system to measure minute settlements in an existing London Underground subway tunnel as new tunneling work was taking place below it. The system developed would use wireless technology for its data communication. This development project was a part of a larger initiative to promote low-cost, low-impact wireless monitoring systems for ageing infrastructure. It was funded by the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI). Particular attention is paid in this thesis to the role uncertainty played in the development process. The importance of using flexibility in addressing uncertainty is highlighted. The relatively new field of Real Options is employed to frame the flexibility and uncertainty issues in an analytic light. / by James Raymond Brooks. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-110). / The overriding objective of diagnostic assessment is change. Assessment processes are a mechanism to identify areas that merit change. In order to maximize the possibility that a company will adopt recommended changes following a diagnostic assessment, the assessment process itself must be matched to the companies needs. This research presents a model of factors that affect the level of change adoption in firms. From this model, a framework was developed to evaluate the degree to which diagnostic assessment processes facilitate change adoption in a firm. The framework was then applied to the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), a business support service in the UK. Operational aspects of the MAS are also explored. The lessons of the MAS are then applied in the larger context of business support through policy recommendations for the UK Department of Trade and Industry. / by Amy S. Vallely. / S.M. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96). / While the pace of technical innovation in the semiconductor industry continues to accelerate, business processes and supply chain techniques have not kept up. Microprocessor performance improvement continues to follow Moore's Law, but increased variability has complicated efforts to accurately forecast demand and set inventory targets. Products are becoming more complex, often containing assemblies of multiple parts. Lifecycles are becoming shorter; made possible by technology breakthroughs and efficient manufacturing ramp-ups. Demand and supply are ever more stochastic and non-stationary. Inventory is one of the few ways that a firm can buffer themselves from the inherent and increasing variability, while still meeting required service levels. We explore the sources of the variability in the semiconductor supply chain. On the supply side, we evaluate variability in throughput time, yield and other factors not explicitly considered in standard models. Here, we primarily focus on the natural stochasticity of the manufacturing process and disregard the variability arising from forecasting of these supply parameters. For demand, the natural stochastic process is not well understood, so we evaluate the forecast error and use it as a proxy for demand variability. We then apply these data to the base-stock model - constrained by its associated assumptions - to calculate inventory targets required to meet a certain level of service. Using a two-node base-stock model in conjunction with the actual variability data, we develop inventory estimates across the network and evaluate tradeoffs between different inventory strategies. We then determine what each variability parameter contributes to inventory. The combination of a simple yet representative / (cont.) model of the semiconductor supply chain with actual data from the variability characterization provides the tools to make powerful recommendations to reduce variability and decrease inventories throughout the supply network. / by Joseph C. Levesque. / S.M. / M.B.A.