The project degree is written within the department of Industrial Engineering & Management at Uppsala University. The object with this study is to improve the current capabilities of the Internal Collection process at the service credit company Hoist Finance with the improvement methodology Lean Six Sigma and associated DMAIC cycle. In order to find out how the methodology should be adapted a case study and a literature study was carried out. The literature study was about previous research in the area of processes, Lean Six Sigma and the company Hoist Finance. The case study was performed over 4 months at Hoist Finance in the operational excellence team to understand how the methodology should be used on the company. The degree project shows great potential to apply the methodology to improve the process and if the recommendations on how the process should be performed is implemented, the process time can be reduced with 25 days and the costs with 23.34 euros per debt.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1992 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / For research purposes on helicopter rotor acoustics a large data acquisition system called TEDAS (Transputer based Expandable Data Acquisition System) has been developed. The key features of this system are: unlimited expandability and sum data rate, local storage of data during operation, very simple analog anti aliasing filtering due to extensive digital filtering, and integrated computational power which scales with the number of channels. The sample rate is up to 50 kHz/channel, the resolution is 16 bit, 360 channels are realized now. TEDAS consists of blocks with 8 A/D converters which are controlled by one transputer T800. The size of the local memory is 4 Mbyte. Any number of blocks (IDAM = Intelligent Data Acquisition Module) can be combined to a complete system. Data preprocessing is done in parallel inside the IDAMs. As for 16 bit systems the analog antialiasing filtering becomes a dominant factor of the costs, delta sigma ADCs with oversampling and internal digital filtering are used. This produces an exact linear phase and a stop band rejection of -90 dB.

Organizations worldwide have been turning to Six Sigma program (SSP) to eliminate the defects in their products or drive out the variability in their processes to attain a competitive advantage in their marketplace. An effective certification program has been touted as a major contributor to successful implementation of SSP. An effective certification program provides the professionals involved with SSP projects a clear understanding of what their responsibilities should be in reducing the variability in their processes. Despite the benefits, a significant number of professionals who attend certification training fail to become certified. This study aimed to develop a predictive model to address the certification challenges that organizations face in implementing SSP. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study investigated the perceived responsibility factors of reducing inefficiencies in Information Systems (IS) processes and the influence of these factors on the intention of professionals to acquire SSP certification. The qualitative approach was employed to gather responsibilities in reducing process inefficiencies. The quantitative approach was used to uncover the responsibility factors for a large group of SSP certification candidates in an IS organization. Survey instruments were used to collect data from the IS department of a Fortune 500 company in both qualitative and quantitative phases. The results of the qualitative and quantitative approaches indicated that five responsibility factors of leadership (LDS), technical expertise (TEX), project selection and management (PSM), analysis (ANA), and certification (CET) would have significant contribution on intention of professionals to acquire SSP certification (INI). However, the results of the Ordinal Logistic Regression predictive model developed in this study indicated that only CET was a significant predictor of INI. This study makes two important contributions to successful SSP implementation in an IS organizations. The first contribution is that CET is a significant predictor of GB candidates' intention to acquire certification. The second contribution of the present study is that gender differences affect the intention to acquire certification.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1988 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / A switched-capacitor technique for realization of one bit serial A/D converter is presented. A conversion accuracy that is higher than 15 bits can be expected from its integrated realization. Results of simulation are presented. It is shown that arithmetic operations on bit serial signals are possible. Using arithmetic operations on delta-modulated signals, it is possible to build inexpensive options necessary in instrumentation.

<p>Sigma-delta modulators (SDM) have come up as an attractive candidatefor analog-to-digital conversion in single chip front ends thanks to the continuousimproving performance. The major disadvantage is the limited bandwidthdue to the need of oversampling. Therefore, extending these convertersto broadband applications requires lowering the oversampling ratio (OSR) inorder. The aim of this thesis is the investigation on the topology and structureof sigma-delta modulators suitable for wideband applications, e.g. wireline orwireless communication system applications having a digital baseband aboutone to ten MHz.It has recently become very popular to feedforward the input signal inwideband sigma-delta modulators, so that the integrators only process quantizationerrors. The advantage being that the actual signal is not distorted byopamp and integrator nonlinearities. An improved feedforward 2-2 cascadedstructure is presented based on unity-gain signal transfer function (STF). Theimproved signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) is obtained by optimizing zero placementof the noise transfer function (NTF) and adopting multi-bit quantizer.The proposed structure has low distortion across the entire input range.In high order single loop continuous-time (CT) sigma-delta modulator, excessloop delay may cause instability. Previous techniques in compensation ofinternal quantizer and feedback DAC delay are studied especially for the feedforwardstructure. Two alternative low power feedforward continuous-timesigma-delta modulators with excess loop delay compensation are proposed.Simulation based CT modulator synthesis from discrete time topologies isadopted to obtain the loop filter coefficients. Design examples are given toillustrate the proposed structure and synthesis methodology.Continuous time quadrature bandpass sigma-delta modulators (QBSDM)efficiently realize asymmetric noise-shaping due to its complex filtering embeddedin the loops. The effect of different feedback waveforms inside themodulator on the NTF of quadrature sigma-delta modulators is presented.An observation is made that a complex NTF can be realized by implementingthe loop as a cascade of complex integrators with a SCR feedback digital-toanalogconverter (DAC), which is desirable for its lower sensitivity to loopmismatch. The QBSDM design for different bandpass center frequencies relativeto the sampling frequency is illustrated.The last part of the thesis is devoted to the design of a wideband reconfigurablesigma-delta pipelined modulator, which consists of a 2-1-1 cascadedmodulator and a pipelined analog-to-digital convertor (ADC) as a multi-bitquantizer in the last stage. It is scalable for different bandwidth/resolutionapplication. The detail design is presented from system to circuit level. Theprototype chip is fabricated in TSMC 0.25um process and measured on thetest bench. The measurement results show that a SNR over 60dB is obtainedwith a sampling frequency of 70 MHz and an OSR of ten.</p>

This dissertation explores methods of reducing the oversampling ratio (OSR) of both delta-sigma modulators and incremental data converters. The first reduced-OSR architecture is the high-order cascaded delta-sigma modulator. These delta-sigma modulators are shown to reduce the in-band noise sufficiently at OSRs as low as 3 while providing power savings. The second low OSR architecture is the high-order cascaded incremental data converter which possesses signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR) advantages over equivalent delta-sigma modulators at low OSRs. The final architecture is the time-interleaved incremental data converter where two designs are identified as potential methods of increasing the throughput of low OSR incremental data converters. A prototype chip is designed in 0.18um CMOS technology which can operate in three modes by simply changing the resetting clock phases. It can operate as an 8-stage pipeline analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, an 8th-order cascaded delta-sigma modulator, and an 8th-order cascaded incremental data converter with an OSR of 3.

The problem of estimating latent or unobserved states of a dynamical system from observed data is studied in this thesis. Approximate filtering methods for discrete time series for a class of nonlinear systems are considered, which, in turn, require sampling from a partially specified discrete distribution. A new algorithm is proposed to sample from partially specified discrete distribution, where the specification is in terms of the first few moments of the distribution. This algorithm generates deterministic sigma points and corresponding probability weights, which match exactly a specified mean vector, a specified covariance matrix, the average of specified marginal skewness and the average of specified marginal kurtosis. Both the deterministic particles and the probability weights are given in closed form and no numerical optimization is required. This algorithm is then used in approximate Bayesian filtering for generation of particles and the associated probability weights which propagate higher order moment information about latent states. This method is extended to generate random sigma points (or particles) and corresponding probability weights that match the same moments. The algorithm is also shown to be useful in scenario generation for financial optimization. For a variety of important distributions, the proposed moment-matching algorithm for generating particles is shown to lead to approximation which is very close to maximum entropy approximation. In a separate, but related contribution to the field of nonlinear state estimation, a closed-form linear minimum variance filter is derived for the systems with stochastic parameter uncertainties. The expressions for eigenvalues of the perturbed filter are derived for comparison with eigenvalues of the unperturbed Kalman filter. Moment-matching approximation is proposed for the nonlinear systems with multiplicative stochastic noise.

This research report aims to provide an insight into the implementation of multiple concurrent IT frameworks, and how to best implement each of the chosen frameworks resulting in a hybrid of best practices for implementing multiple concurrent IT frameworks

Abstract Academic Leadership and Development Academy (ALDA) was instituted by the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). In 2011-2012 ALDA intended goal was to emancipate participants to be able to take professional leadership positions, generate a funded research project, professional networking muscle and collaboration, including publishing in an accredited journal. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the needs of the fellows enrolled for the 2011-2012 ALDA leadership programme. The word ‘fellow’ refers to all candidates who were selected to participate in the ALDA programme. The programme was tailor-made to develop and prepare professional nurses for middle or high level leadership positions within the academic environment. Four African universities and colleges were involved. The research design was qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive in nature. The target population included all 2011-2012 fellows of the ALDA of the Sigma Theta Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter Africa. The sample consisted of all 14 fellows of the 2011-2012 ALDA who were involved in programme. This programme was the first of its kind in Africa engineered by ALDA in Africa in 2011. Data gathering was a self-report through naïve sketches. Tesch’s eight steps of data analysis were applied. An independent coder was engaged to improve trustworthiness of the data. The results showed that fellows needed professionalism and recognition; communication and setting the stage; and more collaboration with research expects. At first the programme did not have a clear curriculum content outlined and as such fellows were dissatisfied for some time which affected the progress as expected by both the fellows and the faculty. Faculty refers to experts involved in the programme. However, fellows managed to work cooperatively with one another, thus promoting a social learning environment and providing opportunities of collaborative research studies in the future.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / Increasing competitive pressure from global markets and technological developments has resulted in the continual demand for business improvement philosophies and methodologies to address this challenge. The LSS approach to business improvement has emerged in both the practitioner and academic literature as having a significant role in this area. In 2006, The Valspar Corporation embarked on a LSS initiative as a way to improve the business globally, to achieve sustained profitable growth and to enhance customer value. Valspar (SA) found the implementation of LSS a challenge because the organisation could not afford the appointment of a full-time Black Belt to manage the programme locally. Green Belts were appointed to lead LSS projects part-time. Management wanted to know if they have applied the LSS methodology correctly within the scope of the business, especially since not all organisations were successful in the implementation of LSS. The objective of this study was to determine the critical factors that affect the successful implementation of LSS at Valspar (SA) and to assess the degree to which these critical factors exist at Valspar (SA). In a census, the researcher used the questionnaire to gain information about the current views of employees on the LSS programme at Valspar (SA). The research highlighted the critical success factors for LSS implementation and the results of the evaluation revealed both the positive and negative aspects of the LSS programme at Valspar (SA). / Valspar Corporation / M