This thesis outlines the development of a standard methodology for performing a time and motion study in a lean healthcare environment. Time and motion studies have been used in healthcare environments in the past, however they have nearly all been exclusive to a particular healthcare enterprise. To develop the time and motion study methodology, a study was designed to examine how resident doctors spend their time. This study was performed in response to coming changes in the work hours for all residents. Once the methodology was developed, trial observations were conducted. The data from these observations was analyzed to determine the effectiveness of both the time and motion study methodology and its usefulness for process improvement activities.

The purpose of this DBA is to develop a Customisation Blueprint so that consultancies can provide a more tailored, responsive service to clients. This study seeks to find out what matters to clients when purchasing consultancy, how clients substantiate this and how it affects their decision-making. This study also seeks to establish if the factors influencing buyer¿s evaluation of the consultant can be favourably influenced by the consultants. By fulfilling client requirements more precisely and effectively, consultants are able to better serve their clients. In this way they are also able to enhance both ongoing relationship and reputation. The history of consultancy is examined to establish the unfurling and growth of the industry and to understand the forces which have shaped its evolution. Relational and Operations literature is examined to establish what previous research is able to contribute to this quest for understanding what consultants need to do to better serve their clients. Financial Services and Utilities are the two largest private-sector buyers of consultancy. Managers involved in the purchase of consulting services from a selection of these companies were interviewed to capture how consultants are engaged and what selection criteria are the most important. A combination of guidance from the literature and an understanding of what matters to clients is used to develop a systematic approach for consultants to more clearly identify and articulate client needs and thereby serve them better. The outcome is the development of a Customisation Blueprint, a framework to personalise responsiveness and thus enhance customer satisfaction.

In spite of the fact that software reliability studies have attracted great deal of attention from different disciplines in 1970s, applications of the subject have rarely been involved in the software industry. With the rise of technological advances especially in the military electronics field, reliability of software systems gained importance. In this study, a company in the defense industries is inspected for their abilities and needs regarding software reliability, and an improvement proposal with metrics measurement system is formed. A computer tool is developed for the evaluation of the performance of the improvement proposal. Results obtained via this tool indicate improved abilities in the development of reliable software products.

This study investigates software development process improvement approaches. In particular, the static process evaluation methodology proposed by S. G&uuml / ceglioglu is applied on the requirements analysis and validation process applied in Project X in MYCOMPANY and an improved process is proposed. That methodology is an extension of the ISO/IEC 9126 approach for software quality assessment, and is based on evaluating a set of well-defined metrics on the static model of software development processes. The improved process proposed for Project X is evaluated using G&uuml / ceglioglu&rsquo / s methodology. The applied and improved process measurement results compared to determine if the improved process is successful or not.

This thesis focuses on measurement based software process improvement, especially improvement of requirements change management process. The literature on software measurement is investigated, software process improvement methodologies are studied and requirements change management metrics are examined. Requirements change management process at a private company working in the defense industry is observed and metrics obtained from various tools have been aggregated. Moreover, an improvement proposal, which also simplifies collecting metrics, is presented for the requirements change management process. A tool is developed for evaluating the performance of the improvement proposal using event driven simulation method.

[Truncated abstract] The primary tool for software process control is the project plan, with divergence from the schedule usually being the first indication that there are difficulties. Thus the estimation of the schedule, particularly the effort parameter, is a central element of software engineering management. Regrettably, estimation methods are poorly used within the software industry and accuracy is lacking when compared with other engineering disciplines. There are many reasons for this. However, the need to predict project effort remains, particularly in situations of tendering for contracts. The broad objective of this research is the improvement of project control by means of better estimation. . . The error in the prediction of a project parameter is investigated as the result of the variation in two distinct (estimation and actual development) processes. Improvement depends upon the understanding, control and then reduction of that variation. A strategy for the systematic identification of the sources of greatest variation is developed - so that it may be reduced by appropriate software engineering practices. The key to the success of the approach is the statistical partitioning of the Mean Square Error (of the estimate) in order to identify the weakest area of project control. The concept is proven with a set of student projects, where the estimation error is significantly reduced. The conditions for its transfer to industry are discussed and a systematic reduction in error is demonstrated on five sets of commercial project data. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the linking of the approach to current estimation methods. It should also have implications for the statistical process control of other projects involving small sample sizes and multiple correlated parameters.

In this paper, a sequence of implementation steps will be developed through the application of axiomatic design. This sequence will provide a design methodology for lean production which connects manufacturing system design objectives to operation design parameters. / Lean Aerospace Initiative

Examensarbetet är ett förbättringsarbete på DHL Supply Chain i Örebro. Verksamheten i Örebro fungerar som ett mellanlager för två kunder som är Volvo och Ford som delar på lagerutrymmet men är två olika enheter med respektive processer. Dessa kunder förlägger uppdrag hos DHL Supply Chain i Örebro för en bestämd betalning av tjänsten. Kunderna som ligger runt om Sverige beställer färdiga varor vid behov och får det distribuerat av DHL Supply Chain. Inriktningen i rapporten kommer att vara på Volvos lageravdelning och innehåller en studie av deras processer från inleverans av produkter, till utleverans. Syftet är att effektivisera verksamhetens processer i Volvos avdelning för att minska antal reklamationer som i dagsläget är för hög, vilket i sin tur kommer att minska kostnader samt höja leveranssäkerheten. Målet är att möjligtvis komma med förbättringsförslag som förbättrar flödet i Volvos avdelning. / This thesis project will be done in DHL Supply Chain in Örebro. The business in Örebro serve as an interim storage for two customers, Volvo and Ford, which share the warehouse but are two different units with respective processes. These customers place orders at DHL Supply Chain in Örebro for a fixed payment of the service. Customers located around Sweden order finished goods as needed and get it distributed by DHL Supply Chain. The focus of the report will be on Volvo's department in the store and will include a study of their processes from inbound delivery of products to the warehouse, to outbound delivery for costumers. The purpose is to enhance the efficiency of the business in Volvo's department to reduce the number of reclaims that is currently higher than intended, which in turn will reduce costs and increase delivery assurance. The goal is to possibly come up with improvement suggestions that improve the flow in Volvo department.

The Health Care System has struggled with many problems such as medical errors, poorly designed processes, waste, and customer dissatisfaction. The Lean Six Sigma methodology has been shown to be efficient in solving problems in the manufacturing industry and in services, as well. In this study, a framework for applying Lean Six Sigma to the health care industry is presented. The framework depicts a systematic methodology to solve problems typically found in this industry. A case study is also presented on how to apply this framework. The DMAIC Model has been conducted in an Imaging Department to identify the root causes of problems and to define a future state of the process

A melhoria de processos é um tema abordado em diversos setores. Este trabalho concentrou-se na melhoria do processo de produção de tecidos metálicos usados como material de reforço na fabricação de pneus radiais. O estudo foi realizado em uma indústria fabricante de pneus, em uma calandra de configuração Z e teve como objetivo aprofundar os conhecimentos a respeito deste processo identificando oportunidades de melhorias para reduzir perdas causadas por problemas qualitativos. Além disso, buscou melhorar a qualidade percebida pelo cliente interno sem afetar a qualidade do produto final, percebida pelo cliente externo. Para tanto, foi realizado um mapeamento do processo produtivo em questão, seguido de um estudo do efeito das temperaturas neste processo. O mapeamento mostrou que muitas etapas possuem influência direta na qualidade dos tecidos, as oportunidades de melhoria foram destacadas durante e após o mapeamento e estão relacionadas principalmente ao controle das temperaturas da calandra e dos moinhos, à automatização do processo, aos procedimentos operacionais e à instalação de dispositivos de controle e alerta. Uma vez que o controle das temperaturas de toda a linha da calandra resultou ser um fator crítico para o processo, realizou-se um estudo do efeito das temperaturas usadas durante a produção, a partir do uso da metodologia de Projeto de Experimentos com a aplicação de um Projeto Fatorial 25-1 sem repetição Quatro variáveis de resposta foram estudadas: quantidade de grumos pré-vulcanizados, aderência tecido-tecido, reversão de enxofre e adesão borracha-metal. Os fatores controláveis usados foram: temperatura dos moinhos alimentadores, temperatura dos cilindros 1 e 4, temperatura dos cilindros 2 e 3, temperatura dos tambores de resfriamento e temperatura do aquecimento das cordas metálicas. Pela otimização das variáveis de resposta, chegou-se aos valores ótimos para o processo, sendo todos eles no seu nível alto, com exceção da temperatura dos cilindros 2 e 3 que apresentou o melhor valor no nível baixo. Os resultados deste trabalho aprofundaram os conhecimentos num processo que, apesar de muito antigo, ainda possui poucos textos publicados a respeito. Adicionalmente, forneceu uma otimização experimental para as afirmações encontradas na literatura sobre a importância do controle de temperaturas no processo de fabricação de tecidos metálicos. / The process improvement is a topic widely used in several sectors. In this work this topic deals with improving the production process of metallic fabrics used as reinforcement material for radial tires. The study was carried out in a tire industry in a Z configuration calender and aims to deepen the knowledge about this process by identifying improvement opportunities to reduce losses caused by quality problems in metallic fabrics. It also seeks to improve the quality perceived by internal costumer without affecting the quality of the final product, perceived by the external customer. Thus, a mapping of the production process in question was made, followed by a study of the effect of temperature in this manufacturing process. The mapping shown that many steps have direct influence on fabric quality, the opportunities for improvement were highlighted during and after the mapping and are related mainly to control the temperature of the calender and mills, to process automation, operational procedures and the installation of devices for control and alert. Since the temperature control of whole calender line proved to be a critical factor in the process, a study of the effect of the temperatures used during the production was performed from the use of the design of experiments methodology with the application of a factorial design 25-1, without replication Four response variables were studied: number of pre vulcanized lumps, tack, sulfur reversion and steel-rubber adhesion. The controllable factors chosen were: feeder mills temperature, temperature of rolls 1 and 4 of the calender, temperature of rolls 2 and 3 of the calender, temperature of cooling drums and heating temperature of steel cords. By the optimization of the response variables, it was reached the optimum values for the process, all of which are in its high level except for the temperature of the rolls 2 and 3 which showed the best value in the low level. These results obtained deepened knowledge in a process which, though very old, still has a few articles published. Additionally, it provided quantitative data to the statements found in the literature about the importance of temperature control in the manufacturing process of metallic fabrics.