Lean manufacturing is the method to drive the costs down. Thesis concerns historic development of lean manufacturing methods giving special attention to Taylor's scientific management, husbands Gilbreth motion studies and Ford's production schema for "T" model. From today praxis the thesis is considering TPS (Toyota Production System) developed by Toyota Motor Corporation as an application of lean manufacturing. It was further developed by James Womack and Daniel Jones in their lean manufacturing theory analysis. The thesis introduces the example about fictitious HAD Corporation that is constructed on the bases of three real IT global companies. Analysis applies Womack's and Jones theory of lean manufacturing including five steps: value, value stream, flow, pull, perfection. The thesis can serve as an overview of lean manufacturing history, current methods and case study.

This work describes The Lean Development methodology that can be used for managing development without known customer. Moreover, it describes the development of an already finished project - a web application that did not involve this methodology. After that this work finds out which aspects of this development would change, if the Lean Development methods were integrated, and proposes a specific solution for subsequent development, compliant with this methodology. At the end, this work presents the list of activities that the development team must pass when developing without known customer.

Denna studie belyser hur samspelet mellan ledarskapet och organisationskulturen har påverkat Lean-implementeringen i två företag genom en komparativ fallstudie. Lean har flera definitioner och kan betraktas som ett koncept inom verksamhetsstyrning i syfte att minska slöseri, genom att eliminera icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter inom organisationen. Ett flertal studier poängterar vikten av ledarskapet där forskare menar att det är ledarskapet som formar en organisationskultur som stödjer Lean genom att uppmuntra och skapa förståelse bland medarbetarna. En annan viktig faktor att ta hänsyn till vid införandet av Lean är organisationskulturen eftersom den påverkar hur engagerade medarbetarna är i Lean. Denna studie bygger på en kvalitativ studie vilket var lämpligt att använda då den ger djupgående beskrivning av det valda forskningsproblemet. Vidare har det genomförts semistrukturerade intervjuer, där totalt 14 respondenter från både operativa nivån och ledning-nivån har intervjuats. Resultatet från denna studie visar att både ledarskapet och organisationskulturen har påverkat Lean implementeringen och att det krävs ett samspel mellan dessa faktorer för att få en lyckad Lean-implementering. I företag X kan det konstateras att ledarskapet har varit centralt, där ledarskapet förespråkar Lean men möter ett motstånd från organisationskulturen. Företag Y poängterar å andra sidan vikten av att bygga en kultur som stödjer Lean och menar att detta leder till ett långsiktigt Lean-tänkande. Samspelet mellan ledarskapet och organisationskulturen har varit avgörande för en lyckad Lean-implementering i båda organisationerna då dessa faktorer är ömsesidigt beroende av varandra. / This study emphasizes how the interaction between leadership and organisational culture has influenced Lean-implementation in two companies through a comparative case study. Lean has several definitions and can be considered a concept in business management aimed at reducing waste by eliminating non-value-added activities within the organisation. Several studies highlight the importance of leadership, where researchers argue that it is leadership that shapes a culture that supports Lean by encouraging and creating understanding among employees. Another important factor to consider when implementing Lean is organisational culture because it affects how engaged employees are in Lean. This study is based on a qualitative study, which was appropriate to use as it provides a comprehensive description of the selected research problem. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews have been conducted, where a total of 14 respondents from the operational and management level have been interviewed. The results of this study suggest that both leadership and organisational culture have influenced the Lean-implementation and that there is a need for synergy between these factors to achieve a successful Lean-implementation. In company X, it can be stated that leadership has been central, where leadership advocates for Lean but encounters resistance from the organisational culture. Company Y, on the other hand emphasises the importance of building a culture that supports Lean and argues that this leads to a long-term Lean-thinking. The interaction between leadership and organisational culture has been crucial for successful Lean-implementation in both companies, as these factors are mutually dependent on each other.

The need for small and medium size manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) to have access to unbiased advice on best practices and related improvement approaches has been well established. However, this need was not found addressed very effectively in the research literature. Current practice is consultants peddling assessment tools which have the veneer of objectivity, but in reality only highlight the need to purchase their canned solutions. In response, this research attempts to synthesize previous research results and other published assessment methodologies into a taxonomy based assessment methodology (TBAM) which targets the delivery of focused recommendations which target improved performance of the manufacturing enterprise. The assessment methodology which emerges from this research, draws upon two different taxonomies, termed the Manufacturing Enterprise Taxonomy (MET) and the Production System Taxonomy (PST). The MET was developed as one of the deliverables of this research and the PST was developed by a modest modification of previously published research. The TBAM approach was piloted using three different SMEs in order to obtain feedback from the field. As a result TBAM was enhanced using feedback obtained from these three pilot cases. In addition, a review panel process was developed so that a third party review was made of the methodology and its application within the case studies. The review panel was comprised of senior managers which have substantial experience in leading improvements across small and medium size manufacturers. Also, concerns about reliability and validity were addressed and a preliminary set of measures was obtained and evaluated. Based upon this preliminary technique, the validity and reliability results associated with the TBAM approach appear promising.

With the increase of awareness and focus on university research commercialization, much research had been conducted to investigate this subject. It was revealed that because universities were not traditionally built to serve the purpose of commercialization, many obstacles existed in the path of university research commercialization. Historically, research had largely focused on identifying critical factors that impacted the performance of commercialization. However, it was not clear how those findings could be systematically incorporated into the commercialization improvement plan of individual cases. This research intended to fill this gap and provide a framework that could be used by most universities to access and improve their research commercialization process. A case study of a U.S. land-grant university was conducted and a narrative approach was mainly used as the method of data analysis. Under the scope of a single-case study, four sub-studies were conducted to address the goals of this research. First, a framework was developed that incorporated theories of existing research and the value stream map of lean management. Interviews with the intellectual property office and faculty were conducted to determine if the theoretical framework was applicable. It was found that the framework fitted well with the current process of university research commercialization. After that, a survey that covered a sample size of 1110 researchers at the targeted university was conducted to investigate the importance of different resources at different stages of the process. Resources that were under investigation were grouped into four categories: technical, human, social, and financial resources. This research identified the most important resources for research commercialization were industrial connections (social resource) and assistance from the intellectual property (IP) office (human resource), with industrial connections playing a more importance role at the beginning of the process and the IP office from the stage of patent application. To assess organizational characteristics of the targeted university, interviews were conducted with 22 faculty, three representatives from the administration, one representative from the intellectual property office, and one representative from an external organization. Six criteria derived from previous research were used to guide the assessment: (1) expenditures on research and development (RandD), (2) intellectual property policy, (3) research field, (4) key individuals, (5) commitment to innovation, and (6) networking with external relations. It was found that the targeted university had strong evidence of the advantages of expenditures on RandD and research field, however, it was relatively weak in the other four characteristics. The last part of the research involved interviews with two companies for the purpose of developing a best practice for research commercialization with the examples from the industry. Recommendations to improve targeted university's research commercialization were developed based on findings of the research. / Ph. D.

Hydrogen use in a gas turbine engine has many benefits. Chief among these is the elimination of carbon based emissions. The only products and emissions from the combustion process are water vapor and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). However due to the lower flammability limit of hydrogen, it can be burned at much lower equivalence ratios that typical hydrocarbon fuels, and thus reducing the emissions of NOx. Multiple efforts have been made for the design of premixing injectors for gaseous hydrocarbon fuels, but very few attempts have been made for hydrogen. To this end a premixing hydrogen injector was designed for the cruise engine condition for a PT6-20 turboprop engine. Swirl generated by tangential entry was utilized as a means to enhance mixing and as a convenient means to stabilize the flame. A prototype was designed to prevent flashback and promote a high degree of mixing, as well as a test combustor to evaluate the performance of the injector at scaled engine conditions. Numerical simulations were also performed to analyze the flowfield at the engine conditions. Performance and emissions data are used to draw conclusions about the feasibility of the injectors in the PT6 engine. / Master of Science

No description available.

As empresas estão utilizando diversos processos de melhoria para adequarem seus negócios às necessidades dos clientes, à maior concorrência, a uma necessidade de flexibilização e de redução dos custos de seus processos de manufatura. O seis sigma e a produção enxuta são dois processos utilizados por empresas no Brasile no mundo. Atualmente a integração destes processos é um desafio para essas empresas, que buscam uma maneira mais eficiente de reduzir seus desperdícios e se adaptarem às necessidades de seus mercados consumidores. Surge, assim, o Lean Sigma aplicado nas empresas de diversas formas. O objetivo deste trabalho é estruturar, por meio de dois estudos de caso, como as empresas estão utilizando o seis Sigma e a Produção Enxuta em seus processos de melhoria. Verificou-se que existem diferentes formas de utilizar os processos em paralelo: na primeira empresa o processo iniciou em conjunto e depois foi separado em dois processos paralelos de melhoria. A segunda empresa foi ao contrário, começando de forma paralela, desagregada, e posteriormente se unindo em um único processo de melhoria, denominado Lean Sigma. O trabalho apresenta uma sistematização do processo de melhoria de duas empresas, dividido em Visão Geral e Objetivos, Estrutura Organizacional e Métodos de Melhoria. Foram verificadas as formas gerais de utilização dos processos de melhoria e que uma abordagem integrada, que contemple as peculiaridades de cada processo, se demonstra como uma melhor opção para um processo de melhoria que utiliza a Produção Enxuta e o Seis Sigma paralelamente. A pesquisa traz, também, como resultado, uma proposta de sistematização do Lean Sigma, considerando o conhecimento adquirido nos estudos de caso e na literatura consultada. / Enterprises are using several improvement processes to adequate their business to the clients needs, to the higher competition, to a need of been more flexible and to reduce the costs of their manufacturing costs. The Six Sigma and the Lean Production are two processes using by enterprises in Brazil and the world wide. Nowadays the integration of those two processes is a challenge to enterprises that search a more efficient way to reduce their wastes and get adapted to the needs of their markets. With this objective the Lean Sigma appears, been applied in the enterprises differently. The dissertation objective is to understand, trough two case studies, how enterprises are connecting Six Sigma and Lean Production in their improvement processes. It was verified that are several ways to run the processes in parallel: in the first enterprise, the two processes was integrated and them shared into two process in parallel. The second enterprise showed the opposite approach, beginning disintegrated, in parallel, and them running together in one improvement processes, called Lean Sigma. The dissertation presents the systematization of the improvement processes of these two enterprises, organized as follow: Global vision and Objectives, Organizational Structure and Improvement Method. Was verified the general approach used in the improvement process and that the integrated approach, that consider the peculiarities of each process, showns as a best option to run Lean Production and Six Sigma in parallel. The research presents, as a result too, a systematization proposal for Lean Sigma, considering the case studies and the consulted literature.

As empresas estão utilizando diversos processos de melhoria para adequarem seus negócios às necessidades dos clientes, à maior concorrência, a uma necessidade de flexibilização e de redução dos custos de seus processos de manufatura. O seis sigma e a produção enxuta são dois processos utilizados por empresas no Brasile no mundo. Atualmente a integração destes processos é um desafio para essas empresas, que buscam uma maneira mais eficiente de reduzir seus desperdícios e se adaptarem às necessidades de seus mercados consumidores. Surge, assim, o Lean Sigma aplicado nas empresas de diversas formas. O objetivo deste trabalho é estruturar, por meio de dois estudos de caso, como as empresas estão utilizando o seis Sigma e a Produção Enxuta em seus processos de melhoria. Verificou-se que existem diferentes formas de utilizar os processos em paralelo: na primeira empresa o processo iniciou em conjunto e depois foi separado em dois processos paralelos de melhoria. A segunda empresa foi ao contrário, começando de forma paralela, desagregada, e posteriormente se unindo em um único processo de melhoria, denominado Lean Sigma. O trabalho apresenta uma sistematização do processo de melhoria de duas empresas, dividido em Visão Geral e Objetivos, Estrutura Organizacional e Métodos de Melhoria. Foram verificadas as formas gerais de utilização dos processos de melhoria e que uma abordagem integrada, que contemple as peculiaridades de cada processo, se demonstra como uma melhor opção para um processo de melhoria que utiliza a Produção Enxuta e o Seis Sigma paralelamente. A pesquisa traz, também, como resultado, uma proposta de sistematização do Lean Sigma, considerando o conhecimento adquirido nos estudos de caso e na literatura consultada. / Enterprises are using several improvement processes to adequate their business to the clients needs, to the higher competition, to a need of been more flexible and to reduce the costs of their manufacturing costs. The Six Sigma and the Lean Production are two processes using by enterprises in Brazil and the world wide. Nowadays the integration of those two processes is a challenge to enterprises that search a more efficient way to reduce their wastes and get adapted to the needs of their markets. With this objective the Lean Sigma appears, been applied in the enterprises differently. The dissertation objective is to understand, trough two case studies, how enterprises are connecting Six Sigma and Lean Production in their improvement processes. It was verified that are several ways to run the processes in parallel: in the first enterprise, the two processes was integrated and them shared into two process in parallel. The second enterprise showed the opposite approach, beginning disintegrated, in parallel, and them running together in one improvement processes, called Lean Sigma. The dissertation presents the systematization of the improvement processes of these two enterprises, organized as follow: Global vision and Objectives, Organizational Structure and Improvement Method. Was verified the general approach used in the improvement process and that the integrated approach, that consider the peculiarities of each process, showns as a best option to run Lean Production and Six Sigma in parallel. The research presents, as a result too, a systematization proposal for Lean Sigma, considering the case studies and the consulted literature.

Assim como a literatura de lean, pouco se tem abordado acerca a sustentabilidade de melhorias de lean healthcare. Considerando as altas taxas de insucesso de iniciativas lean relatadas na literatura, este trabalho tem como objetivo testar, através de um estudo de caso em um hospital, os fatores críticos de sucesso para a sustentabilidade de melhorias lean healthcare apontados na literatura. Para tal, foi necessário identificar na literatura os fatores críticos de sucesso para a sustentabilidade lean e de lean healthcare, de modo que depois foram agrupados e consolidados em 17 fatores críticos. A partir deles, foram elaboradas 24 proposições teóricas para que fossem testadas no hospital utilizado como estudo de caso. Como resultado, 15 proposições puderam ser confirmadas com as evidências do caso, enquanto que 6 foram divergentes do previsto na literatura e 3 não tiveram dados suficientes para análise. As divergências foram relacionadas aos fatores críticos de alinhamento estratégico, cultura organizacional, envolvimento dos colaboradores e duração dos projetos. A partir das proposições divergentes, este trabalho contribui com novas proposições sugeridas que foram baseadas nas evidências do estudo de caso realizado. / As in lean literature, little has been addressed about sustainability in healthcare settings. Considering the high failure rates of lean initiatives reported in the literature, this paper aims to test, through a case study in a hospital, the critical success factors for sustainability in healthcare settings reported in literature. To accomplish that it was necessary to identify in the literature the critical success factors for lean and lean healthcare. They were grouped and consolidated into 17 critical factors. From these, 24 theoretical propositions were prepared to be tested in the hospital used as a case study. As a result, 15 propositions could be confirmed with the evidence from the case, while 6 were divergent from that was predicted in the literature and 3 did not have enough data for analysis. The divergences were related to the critical factors strategic alignment, organizational culture, employee involvement and project duration. From the divergent propositions, this work contributes with new suggested propositions that were based on the evidence of the case study.