Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Continuous improvement is a consensus theme used by many industries for improving product quality and service. In the last decade a new quality philosophy known as Six Sigma has become well established in many companies, e.g., Motorola, General Electric, Ford, Honda, Sony, Hitachi, Texas Instruments, American Express, etc. Some have suggested that the Six Sigma quality improvement philosophy is not only impacting the global business sector, but will also re-shape the discipline of statistics. The Six Sigma philosophy for improving product and service quality is based upon existing principles established by other well-recognised quality experts, (Le. Deming, Juran, and Ishikawa). The significant departure of the Six Sigma philosophy from existing quality philosophies is that it promotes a stronger emphasis on monitOring production yield and manufacturing costs associated with any quality improvement effort. The other significant contribution that Six Sigma makes to the quality movement is the detailed structure for continuous improvement and the step-by-step statistical methodology. The goal of any Six Sigma improvement effort is to obtain a long-term defect rate of only 3.4 defective parts per million manufactured. Lean and Six Sigma are recent developments in continuous improvement methodology that have been popularised by several high-profile companies. The success and complementary nature of these methodologies has led to their combination into a single methodology, commonly called Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Although there is considerable literature available and many implementations of LSS, very little published research addresses the practical experiences of companies that have implemented LSS. To formalise a Lean Six Sigma implementation strategy for MeG Industries the focus of this research was to answer the research question: "How and why are certain implementations of LSS successful or unsuccessful?" To answer this question, this research investigates the implementation processes of organisations by addressing the following investigative questions: .:. How has LSS been deployed and implemented in organisations? .:. What are barriers to LSS deployment and how are they overcome? .:. What are challenges experienced during a LSS implementation and how are they overcome? The investigative questions further focused the research question and identified several factors that appeared to significantly contribute to implementation success; these factors are: .:. Fusing business strategy with continuous improvement strategy .:. Leadership commitment and involvement in the deployment and implementation processes .:. The use of consultants that are proficient and experienced .:. A defined organisational model and infrastructure which links the continuous improvement efforts with the performance measurement system and senior leadership .:. Defined and standardised personnel selection criteria This research's purpose is to assist MeG Industries to structure a continuous improvement program that abates or eliminates the negative effects caused by deployment barriers and implementation challenges. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Deurlopende verbetering is 'n eenstemminge tema gebruik deur menige nywerhede vir die verbetering van produkgehalte en diens. Gedurende die afgelope dekade is 'n nuwe kwaliteitsfilosofie, bekend as Six Sigma, goed gevestig in verskeie maatskappye, bv. Motorola, General Electric, Ford, Honda, Sony, Hitachi, Texas Instruments, American Express ens. Sommige het voorgestel dat die Six Sigma kwaliteit verbeteringfilosofie nie alleenlik impak maak op die globale besigheidsekor nie maar sal ook die disipline van statistiek herskep. Die Six Sigma filosofie vir die verbetering van produk en dienskwaliteit is gebasseer op bestaande beginsels gevestig deur welbekende kwaliteitdeskundiges (bv. Deming, Juran en Ishikawa). Die betekenisvolle afwyking van die Six Sigma filosofie vanaf die bestaande kwaliteitfilosofie is die bevordering van 'n sterk klem op die moniteering van produksieopbrengs en vervaardigingskostes verbind met enige kwaliteitverbeterings inspanning. Die ander betekenisvolle bydrae wat Six Sigma aan kwaliteitbeweging maak is die struktuur vir deurlopende verbetering en die stap vir stap statistiese metodiek. Die doel van enige Six Sigma verbeterings inspanning, is om 'n langtermyn defekgraad van net 3.4 defektiewe parte per miljoen vervaardig, te verkry. Lean en Six Sigma is onlangse ontwikkelings in deurlopende verbeteringsmetodiek, wat populer gemaak is deur verskeie hoe profiel maatskappye. Die sukses en komplimerende karakter van hierdie metodiekke het gelei tot die kombinasie van 'n enkel metodiek, algemeen bekend as Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Alhoewel daar aansienlike literatuur beskikbaar is, bestaan daar min gepubliseerde navorsingstukke wat die praktiese implementering van LSS deur maatskappye aanspreek. Om 'n Lean Six Sigma implementering strategie vir MCG Industries te formuleer is gefokus op navorsing wat die navorsingvraagstuk: Hoekom en waarom is sekere implementerings van LSS suksesvol of onsuksesvol?". Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord ondersoek die navorser die implementeringsprosesse van organisasies deur middel van die volgende navorsingvraagstukke: - Hoe is LSS ontplooi en geimplementeer in organisasies? - Wat is die hindernisse tot LSS ontplooiing en hoe word dit oorbrug? - Watter uitdagings word ondervind met die implementering van LSS en hoe word dit oorbrug? Die ondersoek bevraagteken verdere gefokusde navorsingvraagstukke en identifiseer verskeie faktore wat skynbaar 'n betekenisvolle bydrae lewer tot suksesvolle implementering; hierdie faktore is: -Samesmelting van besigheidstrategie met deurlopende verbeteringstrategie -Leierskapvertroue en betrokkenheid in die ontplooiing en implementerings prosesse -Die gebruik van bekwame en ervare konsultante -'n Gedefineerde organisasiemodel en infrastruktuur wat gekoppel word aan deurlopende verbeteringsinstelling deur middel van 'n prestasiemetingstelsel en senior leierskap -Bepaalde en gestandaardiseerde personeel seleksie kriteria. Die navorsing doel is om MCG Industries behulpsaam te wees met die struktuur van 'n deurlopende verbeteringsprogram wat vermindering of eliminasie van negatiewe uitwerkings, veroorsaak deur ontplooiings hindernisse en implementerings uitdagings.

As the world is increasingly dependent on energy for the economic and social development and China’s Total Net Electricity Generation （TNEG） has remained the highest since 1996 due to its rapid economic growth, it is important to closely examine the operations of China’s electric power market, particularly the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) since it is the largest Electric Power Grid Operator (EPGO) in both China and the world. This research has addressed the problem and the urgent needs for the development of a sound framework and methodology for the effective regulation and optimization of the operations and quality management of the SGCC. Based on the critical literature review, the aspects and steps of the solution to the problem have been progressively presented. Firstly, a Country Wealth (CW) curve has been developed to characterize electricity generation in terms of TNEG, with China’s unique position identified. Further, the data has clearly indicated that China’s TNEG has also been closely correlated with the economic growth and the carbon emissions during the 30 years period of 1980-2010. Secondly, compared with the Equilibrium Energy Regulation Model, there are clear deficiencies and problems with the current regulation of China’s electric power market. The improvements in the integration of regulation strategies and the formation of one single effective regulator have been identified and proposed. Thirdly, a uniform regulation structure and framework based on fractal theory and QFD (quality function deployment) has been developed to integrate the existing and future electric power strategies, including smart grid strategy and sustainable development strategy(etc.). Through the use of QFD, the EPGO (SGCC) functions and operations can be prioritized and appropriately designed. Finally, the QFD methodology has been extended to achieve the optimization of quality and service operations given the target cost of the business processes. The methodology can be applied to both business and technical processes of the EPGOs since quality may be interpreted as a total quality involving the needs and expectations of various customers or stakeholders.

The gradually increasing competition that occurs in mature markets, pushes the companies to consider new ways of competing. The more mature the market becomes the higher level of competitive fulfillment and edge is needed. E.g. for Scania the dimension high quality was until now considered a competitive advantage, but is currently evolving towards a dimension that is necessary to fulfill to even act within the market. Thus, companies such as Scania have to push their limits everywhere possible across their organization. One way to push the limits of R&D and product development (PD) is, based on this thesis and other work, implementing a simulation based product development (SBPD) process. The aim of this thesis has been, by applying a quality function deployment (QFD) model, to show the influence a SBPD process can have on increased competitiveness. By combining published literature within the field with empirical results mostly gained from interviews, nine components representing a SBPD process could be found. These components were characterized in the following categories: IT-infrastructure, design, model & test, and organizational. Depending on the level of fulfillment of these components the SBPD process is more or less implemented within the company. The two components that are considered the most important for Scania in terms of both increased competitiveness and a possible transition towards a SBPD process are Virtual representa-tion of the product and the process throughout the whole PD process and A model driven/model based approach. The work of this thesis has also shown, in correlations with previous published literature, that a SBPD process can significantly decrease the lead-time and cost of development, and at the same time increase the knowledge about the product and the process. The research has also shown that a SBPD process can considerably improve both the internal and the external collaboration. However attaining such a process where these competitive advantages can be gained affects the whole organization, the way development is performed and also the way resources are used. A fully implemented SBPD process has been shown to positively impact the following competitive dimensions; Frequency of product introductions, Lead-time of development, PD process flexibility, Degree of innovation, Customization of the offer, Collaboration with internal and external partners, Knowledge about products and processes, R&D cost, manufacturing cost, Focus on customers operational economics, Product quality, Product safety and Focus on environmental sustainability of the product & the processes. But, to get a positive impact on all these dimensions the components representing a SBPD process must be implemented and applied. Furthermore, this thesis also provides a framework for other companies to evaluate the impact a SBPD process can have on their competitiveness. The analysis model aims to guide companies that want to adopt a SBPD process. The framework can indicate how a SBPD process would impact the firm's competitive strategy. But also to provide guidance to which components that would be more important to implement in order to reach a competitive SBPD process. / Den gradvis ökande konkurrens som uppstår på mogna marknader driver företagen att finna nya sätt att konkurrera. Ju mer mogen marknaden blir desto högre blir kraven på konkurrens. För Scania har faktorn hög kvalitet tills nu betraktas som en konkurrensfördel, men utveckling sker istället mot att det kommer att vara en faktor som är nödvändig att uppfylla för att ens kunna agera på marknaden. Företag som Scania måste således utvecklas över hela organisationen. Ett sätt att tänja på gränserna för FoU och produktutveckling (PD) är, baserat på detta arbete och annan tidigare forskning, att genomföra en förändring mot en simulering baserad produktutvecklings-process (SBPD). Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att, genom att tillämpa en quality function deployment (QFD) modell, visa effekten en SBPD-process kan ha på ökad konkurrenskraft. Genom att kombinera tidigare publicerad litteratur inom området med empiriska resultat, mestadels insamlat genom intervjuer, kunde nio komponenter som utgör en SBPD-process finnas. Dessa komponenter karakteriserades i följande kategorier: IT-infrastruktur, design, modellera och testa och organisatorisk. Beroende på graden av uppfyllnad på dessa komponenter blir den SBPD-processen mer eller mindre implementerad inom företaget. De två komponenterna som anses viktigast för Scania i form av både ökad konkurrenskraft och en eventuell övergång till en SBPD-process är Virtuell representation av produkten och processen genom hela PD-processen och Ett modellbaserat/ modelldrivet arbetssätt används. Arbetet har också visat i korrelation med tidigare publicerad litteratur, att en SBPD-process kommer att minska ledtiden och kostnaden för utveckling avsevärt och samtidigt öka kunskapen om produkten och processen. Denna studie har också visat att en SBPD-process kan förbättra både interna och externa samarbeten. Men att uppnå en sådan process där dessa konkurrens-fördelar kan vinnas kommer att påverka hela organisationen, det sätt som utveckling utförs på och också hur resurserna används. En fullt implementerad SBPD-process har visat positivt påverkan följande konkurrens faktorer; frekvens av produktlanseringar, ledtiden för utveckling, PD-processflexibilitet, innovationsgrad, anpassning av erbjudandet, samarbete med interna och externa partners, kunskap om produkter och processer, FoU kostnader, tillverkningskostnad, fokus på kundernas driftsekonomi, produktkvalitet, produktsäkerhet och miljöpåverkan av både produkten och processen. För att få en positiv inverkan på alla dessa faktorer måste alla komponenter som utgör en SBPD-process implementeras och tillämpas. Dessutom så presenteras även ett ramverk för andra företag att utvärdera effekterna en SBPD-process skulle ha på deras konkurrenskraft. Analysmodellen syftar till att vägleda företag som vill övergå till en SBPD-process. Ramverket kan ange hur en SBPD-process skulle kunna påverka företagets konkurrensstrategi men också ge vägledning om vilka komponenter som kan vara viktigare att börja implementera för att nå en konkurrenskraftig SBPD-process.

Tendencies in product development of today make it likely that many future products will be functional equivalent and therefore hard to distinguish between for the customer. Customers will decide by highly subjective criteria which product to purchase. One task for product development in this context is to be able to capture the customer’s considerations and feelings of products and translate these emotional aspects into concrete product design. Today a number of different methods, such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Semantical Environment Description (SMB), Conjoint Analysis and Kansei Engineering exist and are used in practical applications. The purpose of this thesis is to understand and apply Kansei Engineering methodology and explore ways to integrate the methodology into an industrial product development process. This was done by conducting a study on forklift trucks in different European countries and business areas and by exploring ways of integrating Kansei Engineering in product development processes. The number of Kansei words collected was reduced based on the result of a pilot study using a combination of different tools. A computerized data collection method was used in combination with a modified VAS-scale in order to reduce the time for filling out the evaluation forms The results of the study in the visited Northern and Middle European companies make it evident that Kansei Engineering has to be adapted in several aspects to the circumstances in each situation. The data showed that there are differences in attitude towards reach trucks in the different European countries. These results were used in order to adapt the product requirements for each specific country. Starting at Cooper’s stage gate model Kansei Engineering was applied on a macro level, a micro level and for verifying purpose. Using QFD, Kansei Engineering helps to identify customer needs their importance and the technical responses as well as to conduct benchmarking and to connect the customer needs mathematically to the technical responses. This study of Kansei Engineering revealed that there was no general model on the methodology available in English literature. Outgoing from a previous flowchart, a conceptual framework of Kansei Engineering was developed integrating the existing Kansei Engineering Types and future tools. / <p>ISRN/Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic 2002:19</p>

A competitividade existente no setor sucroenergético faz com que as empresas busquem novos modelos de sobrevivência e desenvolvimento. A produção da cultura de cana-de-açúcar apresenta elevada complexidade, sendo constituída de inúmeros processos interdependentes, de modo que a qualidade da matéria prima é dependente destes processos. O dinamismo natural e a complexidade do processo de produção da cana apresentam um grande número de variáveis que podem afetar a qualidade da matéria-prima. Devido a este fato surgem dificuldades de priorização das atividades (foco), contribuindo para a não otimização dos processos, gerando assim desperdícios. O objetivo deste projeto foi planejar a qualidade do processo, identificando os indicadores críticos. O mapeamento do processo de produção foi identificado por meio de revisões bibliográficas obtendo-se assim as qualidades exigidas e as características da qualidade para todo o processo de produção da cultura da cana-de-açúcar, resultando na construção da matriz da qualidade. A qualidade exigida pela cana de açúcar foi dividia em 5 macroprocessos e as características da qualidade foram divididas em 3 macroprocessos. Por meio da metodologia do Desdobramento da Função da Qualidade (QFD) identificou-se que das 122 qualidades exigidas prioritárias identificadas por meio de revisões bibliográficas para o processo de produção, 86 delas correspondem a 80% de toda a qualidade exigida e das 93 características da qualidade identificadas, 52 correspondem a 80% de todos os indicadores críticos. Após a identificação das qualidades exigidas prioritárias e das características da qualidade para o processo de produção da destilaria efetuou-se a correlação entre os indicadores. Ao realizar as correlações observou-se que os indicadores produtividade do canavial e porcentagem de falha foram os indicadores que tiveram maior correlação, devido a eles estarem diretamente ligados a todo o processo de produção. / The existing competitiveness in the sugarcane industry causes companies to seek new models of survival and development. The sugarcane production has a high level of complexity, consisting of several interdependent processes, which the quality of raw materials depends upon. The dynamic nature and complexity of sugarcane production, containing a large number of variables, can affect the quality of raw material. Therefore, difficulties in prioritizing activities (focus) arise, not contributing to the optimization of the processes, thereby generating waste. The objective of this project was to plan the quality of the process, identifying the critical indicators. The production process mapping was identified from literature reviews, thus obtaining the required qualities and the characteristics of quality for the entire sugarcane process, resulting in the construction of the quality matrix. The quality demanded by the sugarcane was divided into five macro processes, whereas the quality characteristics were divided into three macro processes. Through the methodology of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), it was identified that of the 122 priority required qualities identified from literature reviews, 86 of them account for 80% of all required quality; of the 93 identified quality characteristics, 52 correspond for 80% of all critical indicators. After the identification of the priority required qualities and the quality characteristics for the production process of distillery, a correlation between the indicators was done. It was observed during the correlation stage that the sugarcane productivity and the failure percentage were the indicators with the greatest correlation, due to them being directly connected to the entire production process.

O Brasil é um dos maiores produtores de alimentos e de energia renovável do mundo e a sua economia está fortemente associada ao segmento do agronegócio. Para continuar a ter o desempenho e sustentabilidade nesse segmento, as empresas agrícolas necessitam manter uma rentabilidade adequada. Para isso, novas técnicas para o aumento da produtividade e redução dos custos de produção devem ser empregadas e uma das possibilidades é o uso da agricultura de precisão. A agricultura de precisão permite com que os fertilizantes e corretivos, que representam uma boa parcela dos custos, sejam aplicados a lanço em taxa variável, para atender as diferentes condições do ambiente. Para realizar uma aplicação de qualidade é necessário que os usuários compreendam as interações entre as variáveis do processo. Com isso, o objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar as variáveis envolvidas na operação de aplicação a lanço em taxa variável e caracterizar a importância dessas variáveis para a qualidade da operação. Para tanto empregou-se a metodologia da função desdobramento da qualidade (QFD quality function deployment). Para a qualidade exigida pelo cliente identificou-se 87 itens, itens esses que necessitam de 117 requisitos técnicos para serem atendidos. Os requisitos técnicos fundamentais estão associados à máquina, operador e produto. Para a aplicação em taxa variável existem três requisitos principais associados à máquina. As correlações entre esses três itens, com os outros requisitos técnicos, devem ser consideradas. / Brazil is one of the largest producers of food and renewable energy in the world and its economy is strongly associated with the agribusiness segment. To continue to have the performance and sustainability in this sector, companies need to maintain an agricultural fair profit. For this, new techniques for increasing productivity and reducing costs of production should be employed and one possibility is the use of precision agriculture. Precision farming allows that fertilizer and lime, which represent a good portion of the costs are carried by throwing in a variable rate, to meet different environmental conditions. To make a quality application is necessary for users to understand the interactions between process variables. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the variables involved in the operation of application by throwing in a floating rate and characterizes the importance of these variables to the quality of the operation. For this the methodology of quality function deployment (QFD - Quality Function Deployment) was used. For the quality required by the client was identified 87 items, those items that require 117 technical requirements to be met. The basic technical requirements are associated with the machine operator and product. For variable rate application there are three main requirements associated with the machine. The correlations between these three items, with the other technical requirements must be considered.

This thesis covers the development of a component specification for the steering system of vehicles engineered by CEVT. This includes the components steering column, intermediate shaft, steering gear and tie rods. Due to the reuse of requirements on the component specification from previous projects it now lacks connection to customer needs. A verification of the component specification is necessary to ensure that no redundant or unnecessary requirements are present. The verification was performed through a comparison between a newly established specification and the current one. Identified customer needs were gathered on complete vehicle level and classified according to customer satisfaction with respect to implementation according to the Kano model. The subjective customer needs were translated into objective, quantifiable metrics on complete vehicle level that was then decomposed onto component level. Customer needs and metrics were then correlated against each other and visualized through the House of Quality matrix. Numeric targets for the metrics were based on its impact on customer satisfaction. This resulted in 50 identified metrics connected to the steering column and 58 metrics connected to the steering gear. The comparison resulted in 22 deviations between the new and current specification where 8 metrics was identified for further investigation. Further development would include investigation of these 8 identified metrics and relate targets to competitors’ performance.

Garantir a qualidade durante as operações de plantio é o primeiro passo para se alcançar o bom desenvolvimento e lucratividade da cultura. O plantio é uma das etapas de produção da cana de açúcar que mais demanda conhecimento técnico e planejamento adequado, pois as decisões tomadas nesse momento repercutirão por todo o ciclo produtivo. A recente disponibilidade do sistema mecanizado de plantio gera dificuldades aos que decidem implantá-lo, principalmente para definir e controlar, em meio às diversas variáveis, as prioridades do sistema. Diante dessa realidade, o objetivo desse trabalho foi identificar as prioridades técnicas e estabelecer metas de desempenho para o planejamento da qualidade do plantio mecanizado de cana de açúcar utilizando o método do Desdobramento da Função Qualidade (QFD). O trabalho foi desenvolvido por meio de reuniões com uma equipe técnica formada dentro de uma empresa de bioenergia (açúcar, álcool e energia elétrica). Em relação às exigências da qualidade do plantio mecanizado, foi extraído um total de 54 itens. Desses itens, os aspectos gerenciais do plantio apresentaram maior importância, envolvendo: baixo custo e bom desempenho operacional da colheita de mudas; falhas no fornecimento de mudas à plantadora; distância do viveiro à área de plantio. Obteve-se um total de 58 características da qualidade (requisitos técnicos) que abrangem as operações realizadas em pré plantio, plantio e pós plantio. Desse total extraíram-se 17 características, as quais foram consideradas prioridades e estabelecidas como metas de desempenho para o plantio mecanizado da empresa. As características da qualidade com maiores pesos relativos foram a densidade de gemas viáveis, o consumo de mudas e a distância da área de plantio até viveiro de mudas. Os resultados obtidos permitiram compreender como e com que intensidade as variáveis do processo de plantio mecanizado se relacionam. / To reach a good growing and profitability of sugar cane crops, the first step is to guarantee the quality during the planting operations. The planting is one of the steps in the production that demands more technical knowledgement and a proper planning. The decisions made at that moment will influence throughout the productive cycle. The planting mechanization is a technique recently available and it has generated some difficulties to the ones who decided to install it, mainly to define and control the system priorities, despite the several variables. Before this scenery, the aim of this study was to plan the sugar cane mechanized planting, to identify the technical priorities and to establish goals of performance. The methodology used was based on quality function deployment (QFD). The work was developed and organized after some meetings with a staff consisted of a bio-energy enterprise (sugar, ethanol and electrical energy). There were a total of 54 items under the mechanized planting of quality demands. The items related to management aspects of planting presented the higher importance because they involve low cost and a good operational performance of the seedlings harvesting, failures on the seedlings supplying to the planter and the distance from the nursery to the planting area. A total of 58 technical requirements that involve the operations realized in pre-planting, planting and postplanting were obtained. Out of these total, 17 characteristics were considered the priorities and established as the performance goals for the enterprise mechanized planting. The characteristics that presented higher relative weighs were the density of viable buds, the seedlings consume and the distance from the planting area to the nursery. The results made possible to understand the manner and the intensity that the variables of mechanized planting process relate to each other.

A cultura da cana de açúcar é uma importante atividade de produção de energia renovável e que envolve diversos setores da economia do país. Nas duas últimas décadas houve um aumento significativo nos investimentos e consequentemente da produção dessa cultura. Na produção da cana de açúcar são necessárias várias operações, envolvendo do preparo e sistematização do solo à colheita e transporte da matéria prima para a indústria. As operações podem ser analisadas com o enfoque de um processo fornecedor-cliente onde a operação anterior influencia as subseqüentes. A colheita é de extrema importância, pois além dos custos envolvidos e de ser a última operação do processo agrícola, ela é responsável pelo fluxo contínuo de matéria prima a ser entregue na indústria. Portanto, para o sucesso da atividade, existe a necessidade de se realizar um planejamento adequado da operação de colheita, necessidade que é reforçada pelo aumento da produção e das áreas de colheita mecanizada. Com isso, o objetivo desse trabalho foi definir as prioridades técnicas referentes ao planejamento do processo de colheita mecanizada de cana de açúcar. Para tanto utilizou-se a metodologia função do desdobramento da qualidade (QFD ) para definir os requisitos e os parâmetros do projeto. No presente caso, uma Usina produtora de açúcar e álcool foi considerada como cliente da colheita mecanizada. Os resultados evidenciaram que para atender as necessidades dos clientes os principais requisitos técnicos necessários foram a capacidade de processamento da máquina, o tempo da colhedora efetivamente em operação, tempo de manobra, número de manobras por hectare, tempo perdido com a falta de transbordo. A metodologia permitiu planejar a operação de colheita, identificando e priorizando os requisitos técnicos. / Sugar cane is an important activity which generates renewable energy and involves several sectors of the countrys economy. For the last two decades, there was a significant increase on investments and production at this crop. Several operations that involve the preparing and soil systematization to harvesting and raw material transportation to industry are necessary on sugar cane production. The operations can be analyzed focusing a supplier-client process where the previous operation influences the following ones. The harvesting, the last operation in the agriculture process, is very important for, besides the involved costs it is also responsible for the continuous flow and the quality of raw material delivered to industry. Therefore, to be a successful activity, there must be a proper planning or the harvesting operation, which is pointed out by the increasing of the production and areas of mechanized harvesting. Due these factors the objective of this study was to define the technical priorities for the mechanized harvesting planning. So, the QFD Method was used in order to establish the requirements considered critics by the client and the compatibility between theses requirements and the project parameters. In this current case, a mill that produces sugar, alcohol was considered as the client for mechanized harvesting. The results showed that in order to satisfy the clients needs, the main technical requirements were the machine processing capacity, the effective time of the harvester in operation, the maneuver time, the number of maneuver by hectare, the lack of infield wagon. It was possible to plan the harvesting operation, identify and define the technical requirements because of the methodology used.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:05:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Flavia_Ferraz_Pego.pdf: 542086 bytes, checksum: c357aa162f3c73833516a514f7949dd3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This paper has the objective of identifying the priority points of the Urban Passengers Transport System by bus within the city of Vitória ES by the passengers, hereafter referred to as `users´, the bus company and the office within the local Government, applying the Quality Function Deployment (QFD), that established the correlation between the company and both the Government body and users perception. From results obtained, it is the intention to give subsidies for the bus company and the Government body in order to prioritize some aspects relating to the quality of service, taking into consideration the users perception in relation to the importance of customer satisfaction. Amongst the stages of the methodology highlights the following: Questionnaire for the customers whereby the levels of customer satisfaction was gauged, and the degree of importance given to each issue found in previous research. Also including correspondence received in customer suggestion boxes was taken into consideration. Meetings taken place with both the employees of the bus company and the government body, whereby the employees identified the items necessary for monitoring and checking, and established its correlation of Quality Demand. From the outcome of both the results of the questionnaire and issues addressed at subsequent meetings, were built the matrix for quality of both Company and Government body, which resulted in the prioritization of monitoring and checking. In relation to the users satisfaction level, the research showed that more than half of those interviewed evaluated the items towards the fleet and crew as ´good´. The response relating to the actual operating of the company had the highest percentage of results identifying rated as ´regular´ ´bad´ and´ ´ very bad´. Also where the items that had the highest number of evaluations were rated ´very important´ and ` important´. In relation to prioritizing the items of the company monitoring, highlighted the items related to index of execution of trips and rate of occupation of the vehicle. In relation to prioritizing of checking by the Government body concluded that it had had three areas highlighted: to assure the accomplishment of the constant trips in the Orders of Service of Operation and to assure that the schedule of exit and arrival of the vehicles are accomplished. A further priority raised was the penalty which would be applied to the company in the event of a violation of the items being checked. Through this prioritization was observed a difference of point of view between the users and the Government body regarding the quality of service provided by the bus company. This indicated the necessity of a review of priorities of the Government body and the afore mentioned company. / Este estudo tem como objetivo identificar os pontos prioritários do Sistema de Transporte Urbano de Passageiros por Ônibus da cidade de Vitória ES, sob as perspectivas dos usuários, da empresa e do órgão gestor, aplicando uma metodologia baseada no método Desdobramento da Função Qualidade QFD, que estabelece uma correlação entre as percepções da empresa e do órgão gestor com as percepções dos usuários. A partir dos resultados obtidos, pretende-se fornecer subsídios para a empresa e para o órgão gestor priorizarem determinados aspectos relacionados à qualidade do serviço, considerando a percepção dos usuários a respeito da importância e da satisfação com estes aspectos. Dentre as etapas da metodologia, destacam-se: a aplicação de um questionário junto aos usuários, onde foram medidos o nível de satisfação e o grau de importância que os mesmos atribuem aos itens da qualidade demandada que foram identificados a partir de informações de pesquisas de satisfação anteriores e fichas de reclamação e sugestão da empresa; e reuniões realizadas com os funcionários da empresa e do órgão gestor, onde os funcionários identificaram os itens de monitoramento e fiscalização, respectivamente, e estabeleceram suas correlações com os itens da qualidade demandada. A partir das matrizes de correlação, foram construídas as Matrizes da Qualidade da empresa e do órgão gestor, que resultou na priorização dos itens de monitoramento e de fiscalização. Em relação ao nível de satisfação dos usuários, a pesquisa mostrou que mais da metade dos entrevistados avaliou os itens referentes à Frota e a Tripulação como bons. Os itens relacionados à Operação tiveram os maiores percentuais de avaliação regular, ruim e péssimo, e foram também os itens que tiveram maior número de avaliações muito importante e importante. Em relação à priorização dos itens de monitoramento da empresa, destacam-se os itens relacionados a atrasos dos veículos, índice de cumprimento de viagens e taxa de ocupação do veículo. Em relação à priorização dos itens de fiscalização do órgão gestor, conclui-se que, a realização das viagens constantes nas Ordens de Serviço de Operação e o cumprimento de horário de saída e chegada dos veículos são os três itens de maior prioridade. Os itens de fiscalização também foram priorizados considerando além da satisfação e da importância, os valores das multas aplicadas às empresas na ocorrência de infração dos itens de fiscalização. Por meio desta priorização, foi observada divergência entre o que o usuário e o órgão gestor consideram importante para a qualidade do transporte coletivo urbano, o que indica a necessidade de revisão dos itens prioritários do órgão gestor e também das empresas operadoras.