Search results for: quality of product

Authors: Badli Shah Mohd Yusoff, Khairur Rijal Jamaludin, Rozetta Dollah

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The emerging of reverse logistics and product recovery management is an important concept in reconciling economic and environmental objectives through recapturing values of the end of life product returns. End of life products contains valuable modules, parts, residues and materials that can create value if recovered efficiently. The main objective of this study is to explore and develop a model to recover as much of the economic value as reasonably possible to find the optimality of return acquisition and sorting to meet demand and maximize profits over time. In this study, the benefits that can be obtained for remanufacturer is to develop demand forecasting of used products in the future with uncertainty of returns and quality of products. Formulated based on a generic disassembly tree, the proposed model focused on three reverse logistics activity, namely refurbish, remanufacture and disposal incorporating all plausible means quality levels of the returns. While stricter sorting policy, constitute to the decrease amount of products to be refurbished or remanufactured and increases the level of discarded products. Numerical experiments carried out to investigate the characteristics and behaviour of the proposed model with mathematical programming model using Lingo 16.0 for medium-term planning of return acquisition, disassembly (refurbish or remanufacture) and disposal activities. Moreover, the model seeks an analysis a number of decisions relating to trade off management system to maximize revenue from the collection of use products reverse logistics services through refurbish and remanufacture recovery options. The results showed that full utilization in the sorting process leads the system to obtain less quantity from acquisition with minimal overall cost. Further, sensitivity analysis provides a range of possible scenarios to consider in optimizing the overall cost of refurbished and remanufactured products.

Keywords: core acquisition, end of life, reverse logistics, quality uncertainty

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Authors: Kious Mecheri, Hadjadj Abdechafik, Ameur Aissa

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The wear of cutting tool degrades the quality of the product in the manufacturing processes. The online monitoring of the cutting tool wear level is very necessary to prevent the deterioration of the quality of machining. Unfortunately there is not a direct manner to measure the cutting tool wear online. Consequently we must adopt an indirect method where wear will be estimated from the measurement of one or more physical parameters appearing during the machining process such as the cutting force, the vibrations, or the acoustic emission etc. In this work, a neural network system is elaborated in order to estimate the flank wear from the cutting force measurement and the cutting conditions.

Keywords: flank wear, cutting forces, high speed milling, signal processing, neural network

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Authors: Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom

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This research is objected to study the pattern and channel of distribution of Ang Thong’s court doll OTOP product and try to develop the quality of distribution of the court doll product. The population of this research is 50 court doll manufacturers of Ang Thong’s court doll. The data and information was collected by using the questionnaire and use percentage, mean and standard deviation as an analysis tools. The distribution channel of Ang Thong’s court doll can be separated into 3 channels which are direct distribution from the manufacturer, via the middleman and via the co-operated manufacturing group. In the direct distribution from the manufacturer channel, it was found that the manufacturer is given the highest rate of importance to how they keep the inventory. In the distribution via the middleman channel, it was found that the manufacturer is given the highest rate of importance to the distribution efficiency. But in the distribution via the co-operated manufacturing group, it was found that the manufacturer is given the highest rate of importance to the public relationship.

Keywords: distribution, court doll, Ang Thong province, business and social sciences

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Authors: Kateřina Struhařová

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The paper gives the evidence of quality of accounting information of Czech private companies. In general the private companies in the Czech Republic do not see the benefits of providing accounting information of high quality. Based on the research of financial statements of entrepreneurs and companies in Zlin region it was confirmed that the quality of accounting information differs among the private entities and that the major impact on the accounting information quality has the fact if the financial statements are audited as well as the size of the entity. Also the foreign shareholders and lenders have some impact on the accounting information quality.

Keywords: accounting information quality, financial statements, Czech Republic, private companies

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Authors: Cristina da Silva Torres, José Luis Duarte Ribeiro, Maria Auxiliadora Cannarozzo Tinoco

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As a result of the rapid growth of the Brazilian Air Transport, many airports are at the limit of their capacities and have a reduction in the quality of services provided. Thus, there is a need of models for assessing the quality of airport services. Because of this, the main objective of this work is to propose a model for the evaluation of quality attributes in airport services. To this end, we used the method composed by literature review and interview. Structured a working method composed by 5 steps, which resulted in a model to evaluate the quality of airport services, consisting of 8 dimensions and 45 attributes. Was used as base for model definition the process mapping of boarding and landing processes of passengers and luggage. As a contribution of this work is the integration of management process with structuring models to assess the quality of services in airport environments.

Keywords: quality airport services, model for identification of attributes quality, air transport, passenger

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Authors: H. Emari, Z. Emari

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The main objective of this research was to determine the dimensions of service quality in the banking industry of Iran. For this purpose, the study empirically examined the European perspective suggesting that service quality consists of three dimensions, technical, functional and image. This research is an applied research and its strategy is casual strategy. A standard questionnaire was used for collecting the data. 287 customers of Melli Bank of Northwest were selected through cluster sampling and were studied. The results from a banking service sample revealed that the overall service quality is influenced more by a consumer’s perception of technical quality than functional quality. Accordingly, the Gronroos model is a more appropriate representation of service quality than the American perspective with its limited concentration on the dimension of functional quality in the banking industry of Iran. So, knowing the key dimensions of the quality of services in this industry and planning for their improvement can increase the satisfaction of customers and productivity of this industry.

Keywords: technical quality, functional quality, banking, image, mediating role

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Authors: Filiz Ersoz, Deniz Merdin, Taner Ersoz

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The objective of this study provides an insight into enterprises, who need to carry on their sustainability in harmony with the changing competition conditions, technology and laws, regarding the ISO 9001:2015. In the study, ISO 9001:2015, which is planned to be put in force and exists as a draft, was studied and its differences from the previous standard, ISO 9001:2008, were determined. To find out the differences, a survey was conducted among enterprises that implement a quality system. According to the findings obtained at the end of the study, it was observed that the enterprises attach importance to quality and follow the developments about quality management system, and they find the changes in the new draft document necessary.

Keywords: ISO 9001, quality, quality management system, quality revision

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Authors: Assia Sadki, Soumiya Mekkaoui, Abdellatif Ait Heda

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Territorial marketing is a crucial element in the improvement of the attractiveness and competitiveness of a region, city or country. It is important to identify the different tools that distinguish the area from the other places and use them in order to achieve territorial marketing objectives. This paper tries to present the assets of Argan oil, the endemic terroir product, in the development of the tourism sector in Souss Massa. Starting from the Argan tree forests to the final use of the oil, every stage of the process can be developed as a tourism product in order to make the region more appealing to tourists.

Keywords: territorial marketing, terroir product, rural tourism, ecotourism, Argan oil

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Authors: Ana Paula Cavalcanti Furtado, Silvio Meira

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Context: The quality of a software product can be directly influenced by the quality of its development process. Therefore, immature or ad-hoc test processes are means that are unsuited for introducing systematic test automation, and should not be used to support improving the quality of software. Objective: In order to conduct this research, the benefits and limitations of and gaps in automating software testing had to be assessed in order to identify the best practices and to propose a strategy for systematically introducing test automation into software development processes. Method: To conduct this research, an exploratory bibliographical survey was undertaken so as to underpin the search by theory and the recent literature. After defining the proposal, two case studies were conducted so as to analyze the proposal in a real-world environment. In addition, the proposal was also assessed through a focus group with specialists in the field. Results: The proposal of a Framework for Automating Software Testing (FAST), which is a theoretical framework consisting of a hierarchical structure to introduce test automation. Conclusion: The findings of this research showed that the absence of systematic processes is one of the factors that hinder the introduction of test automation. Based on the results of the case studies, FAST can be considered as a satisfactory alternative that lies within the scope of introducing and maintaining test automation in software development.

Keywords: software process improvement, software quality, software testing, test automation

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Authors: Narendra Akhadkar, Silvestre Cano, Christophe Gourru

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Injection-molded parts are widely used in power system protection products. One of the biggest challenges in an injection molding process is shrinkage and warpage of the molded parts. All these geometrical variations may have an adverse effect on the quality of the product, functionality, cost, and time-to-market. The situation becomes more challenging in the case of intricate shapes and in mass production using multi-cavity tools. To control the effects of shrinkage and warpage, it is very important to correctly find out the input parameters that could affect the product performance. With the advances in the computer-aided engineering (CAE), different tools are available to simulate the injection molding process. For our case study, we used the MoldFlow insight tool. Our aim is to predict the spread of the functional dimensions and geometrical variations on the part due to variations in the input parameters such as material viscosity, packing pressure, mold temperature, melt temperature, and injection speed. The input parameters may vary during batch production or due to variations in the machine process settings. To perform the accurate product assembly variation simulation, the first step is to perform an individual part variation simulation to render realistic tolerance ranges. In this article, we present a method to simulate part variations coming from the input parameters variation during batch production. The method is based on computer simulations and experimental validation using the full factorial design of experiments (DoE). The robustness of the simulation model is verified through input parameter wise sensitivity analysis study performed using simulations and experiments; all the results show a very good correlation in the material flow direction. There exists a non-linear interaction between material and the input process variables. It is observed that the parameters such as packing pressure, material, and mold temperature play an important role in spread on functional dimensions and geometrical variations. This method will allow us in the future to develop accurate/realistic virtual prototypes based on trusted simulated process variation and, therefore, increase the product quality and potentially decrease the time to market.

Keywords: correlation, molding process, tolerance, sensitivity analysis, variation simulation

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Marjan Fayyazi, Parisa Sefati

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Audit quality is a popular topic in accounting and auditing research because recent decades’ financial crises reduce the reliability of financial reports to public investors and cause significant doubt about the audit profession. Therefore, doing research to identify effective factors in improving audit quality is necessary for bringing back public investors’ trust to financial statements as well as audit reports. In this study, we explore the relationship between audit rotation and audit quality. For this purpose, we employ the Duff (2009) model of audit quality to measure audit quality and use a questionnaire survey of 27 audit service quality attributes. Our results show that there is a negative relationship between auditor’s rotation and audit quality as we consider the auditor’s reputation, capability, assurance, experience, and responsiveness as surrogates for audit quality. There is no evidence for verifying a same relationship when we use the auditor’s independence and expertise for measuring audit quality.

Keywords: audit quality, auditor’s rotation, reputation, capability, assurance, experience, responsiveness, independence, expertise

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Authors: Nevruz Zogu, Shpetim Rezniqi

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It is very important that a new environment where work shall be constructed in such a strong record to be creative and eligible for workers, can not have success in the workplace. But, is it possible to design the inner-inspire to create and collaborate? By watching and analyzing examples of creativity in business, construction managers can learn ways on how to encourage their imagination inside buildings. We struggle to find and retain talented employees and skilled labor environment is becoming more and always an important tool for recruiting and retaining employees. Managers who recognize the importance are gaining an edge over their competitors. The physical work environment is as important as its quality is often used as a recruiting tool and even to companies with The relationship between the company and the employees between strategy and behavior, between the product and the customer can reincorporated under the light of symbolic mediation of space, as instrument and interpreter of the core values and identity of the organization.

Keywords: strategy, business, quality, productivity, space, offices, assets

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Authors: Vahid Bairami Rad

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With the rapid growth of the Internet and the globalization of the market, most enterprises are trying to attract and win customers in the highly competitive electronic market. Better e-service quality will enhance the relationship with customers and their satisfaction. So the measurement of eservice quality is very important but it is a complex process due to the complex nature of services. Literature predicts that there is a lack of universal definition of e-service quality. The e-service quality measures in banking have great importance in achieving high customer base. This paper proposes a conceptual model for measuring e-service quality in Iranian Banking Iran. Nine dimensions reliability, ease of use, personalization, security and trust, website aesthetic, responsiveness, contact and speed of delivery had been identified. The results of this paper may help to develop a proper scale to measure the e-service quality in Iranian Banking Industry, which may assist to maintain and improve the performance and effectiveness of e-service quality to retain customers.

Keywords: electronic banking, Dimensions, customer service quality, electronic, communication

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Authors: Mei-Yi Wu, Shang-Ming Huang

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The online shoppers nowadays often search the product information on the Internet using some keywords of products. To use this kind of information searching model, shoppers should have a preliminary understanding about their interesting products and choose the correct keywords. However, if the products are first contact (for example, the worn clothes or backpack of passengers which you do not have any idea about the brands), these products cannot be retrieved due to insufficient information. In this paper, we discuss and study the applications in E-commerce using image retrieval and text mining techniques. We design a reasonable E-commerce application system containing three layers in the architecture to provide users product information. The system can automatically search and retrieval similar images and corresponding web pages on Internet according to the target pictures which taken by users. Then text mining techniques are applied to extract important keywords from these retrieval web pages and search the prices on different online shopping stores with these keywords using a web crawler. Finally, the users can obtain the product information including photos and prices of their favorite products. The experiments shows the efficiency of proposed system.

Keywords: mobile image retrieval, text mining, product information service system, online marketing

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Authors: Benjamin Castillo, Luis Pastenes, Fernando Cordova

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The pathogen growth in animal source foods is a common problem in the food industry, causing monetary losses due to the spoiling of products or food intoxication outbreaks in the community. In this sense, the quality of the product is reflected by the population of deteriorating agents present in it, which are mainly bacteria. The factors which are likely associated with freshness in animal source foods are temperature and processing, storage, and transport times. However, the level of deterioration of products depends, in turn, on the characteristics of the bacterial population, causing the decomposition or spoiling, such as pH level and toxins. Knowing the growth dynamics of the agents that are involved in product contamination allows the monitoring for more efficient processing. This means better quality and reasonable costs, along with a better estimation of necessary time and temperature intervals for transport and storage in order to preserve product quality. The objective of this project is to design a secondary model that allows measuring the impact on temperature bacterial growth and the competition for pH adequacy and release of bacteriocins in order to describe such phenomenon and, thus, estimate food product half-life with the least possible risk of deterioration or spoiling. In order to achieve this objective, the authors propose an analysis of a three-dimensional ordinary differential which includes; logistic bacterial growth extended by the inhibitory action of bacteriocins including the effect of the medium pH; change in the medium pH levels through an adaptation of the Luedeking-Piret kinetic model; Bacteriocin concentration modeled similarly to pH levels. These three dimensions are being influenced by the temperature at all times. Then, this differential system is expanded, taking into consideration the variable temperature and the concentration of pulsed bacteriocins, which represent characteristics inherent of the modeling, such as transport and storage, as well as the incorporation of substances that inhibit bacterial growth. The main results lead to the fact that temperature changes in an early stage of transport increased the bacterial population significantly more than if it had increased during the final stage. On the other hand, the incorporation of bacteriocins, as in other investigations, proved to be efficient in the short and medium-term since, although the population of bacteria decreased, once the bacteriocins were depleted or degraded over time, the bacteria eventually returned to their regular growth rate. The efficacy of the bacteriocins at low temperatures decreased slightly, which equates with the fact that their natural degradation rate also decreased. In summary, the implementation of the mathematical model allowed the simulation of a set of possible bacteria present in animal based products, along with their properties, in various transport and storage situations, which led us to state that for inhibiting bacterial growth, the optimum is complementary low constant temperatures and the initial use of bacteriocins.

Keywords: bacterial growth, bacteriocins, mathematical modelling, temperature

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Authors: Berie Abebe Getahun

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The tourism sector has been identified by the Ethiopian government as one of the priority economic sectors and planned to make Ethiopia among the top five African destinations by 2020. It is obvious international tourism demand for Ethiopia lags behind other African countries like South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, and Kenya. Meanwhile, the number of international tourists’ arrival to Ethiopia increases continuously. The main purpose of this study was to find out potentials, challenges, and opportunities of Ethiopian Cultural Center for tourism product development. Therefore, an attempt has been made to identify potentials over which tourism product development can be enhanced, and opportunities that promote tourism product development in Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, data have been collected by using observation, interview and focus group discussion with selected informants working the ministry of tourism and culture. The collected data has been analyzed by transcribing materials, and by using thematic analysis method based on the research objective. Likewise, the analyzed data has been discussed in the context of prevailing literature. As revealed in finding, Ethiopian cultural center has untapped potential for tourism product development that includes: meetings, incentives, conferences, events, availability of concerned stakeholders and demand of visitors. On the other hand, lack of awareness about tourism product development, financial constraints, skilled manpower, absence of tour guiding service and interpretation of heritages have been identified as the major challenges that hindering tourism product development in the cultural center. Moreover, the growth of domestic tourism, distinctive presence and rich culture of Ethiopia, and policy of Ethiopia that promotes the growth and preservation of indigenous cultures are deemed important opportunities for tourism product development in the country. And lastly, conducting a research based on tourism product development, reviewing the existing marketing and promotion strategies, training manpower, working harmoniously with the concerned stakeholders, and a careful examination of opportunities present in order to best utilize resources were implications drawn for future intervention.

Keywords: challenges and opportunities of tourism, Ethiopian tourism potential, tourism product, tourism product development

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Authors: Mostafa Ahmed Shokshok

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Libyan industrial companies face many challenges in today's competitive market. Quality management culture approaches is one of these challenges which may furnish the road to the Libyan industrial companies to effectively empower their employees and improve their ability to respond to the international competition. The primary objective of this paper is to design a practical approach to guide Libyan industrial companies toward successful quality culture implementation.

Keywords: TQM, quality culture, Libyan manufacturing industries, quality framework

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Authors: Nadia Belu, Laurenţiu Mihai Ionescu, Agnieszka Misztal

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The automotive industry is one of the most important industries in the world that concerns not only the economy, but also the world culture. In the present financial and economic context, this field faces new challenges posed by the current crisis, companies must maintain product quality, deliver on time and at a competitive price in order to achieve customer satisfaction. Two of the most recommended techniques of quality management by specific standards of the automotive industry, in the product development, are Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Control Plan. FMEA is a methodology for risk management and quality improvement aimed at identifying potential causes of failure of products and processes, their quantification by risk assessment, ranking of the problems identified according to their importance, to the determination and implementation of corrective actions related. The companies use Control Plans realized using the results from FMEA to evaluate a process or product for strengths and weaknesses and to prevent problems before they occur. The Control Plans represent written descriptions of the systems used to control and minimize product and process variation. In addition Control Plans specify the process monitoring and control methods (for example Special Controls) used to control Special Characteristics. In this paper we propose a computer-aided solution with Genetic Algorithms in order to reduce the drafting of reports: FMEA analysis and Control Plan required in the manufacture of the product launch and improved knowledge development teams for future projects. The solution allows to the design team to introduce data entry required to FMEA. The actual analysis is performed using Genetic Algorithms to find optimum between RPN risk factor and cost of production. A feature of Genetic Algorithms is that they are used as a means of finding solutions for multi criteria optimization problems. In our case, along with three specific FMEA risk factors is considered and reduce production cost. Analysis tool will generate final reports for all FMEA processes. The data obtained in FMEA reports are automatically integrated with other entered parameters in Control Plan. Implementation of the solution is in the form of an application running in an intranet on two servers: one containing analysis and plan generation engine and the other containing the database where the initial parameters and results are stored. The results can then be used as starting solutions in the synthesis of other projects. The solution was applied to welding processes, laser cutting and bending to manufacture chassis for buses. Advantages of the solution are efficient elaboration of documents in the current project by automatically generating reports FMEA and Control Plan using multiple criteria optimization of production and build a solid knowledge base for future projects. The solution which we propose is a cheap alternative to other solutions on the market using Open Source tools in implementation.

Keywords: automotive industry, FMEA, control plan, automotive technology

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Authors: Worrapol Koranuntachai, Tonkid Chantrasmi, Udomkiat Nontakaew

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Medical latex gloves are made from the latex compound in production lines. Latex dipping is considered one of the most important processes that directly affect the final product quality. In a continuous production line, a chain conveyor carries the formers through the process and partially submerges them into an open channel flow in a latex dipping tank. In general, the conveyor speed is determined by the desired production capacity, and the latex-dipping tank can then be designed accordingly. It is important to understand the flow behavior in the dipping tank in order to achieve high quality in the process. In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the flow past an array of formers in a simplified latex dipping process. The computational results showed both the flow structure and the vortex generation between two formers. The maximum shear stress over the surface of the formers was used as the quality metric of the latex-dipping process when adjusting operation parameters.

Keywords: medical latex gloves, latex dipping, dipping tank, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Maria Grazia Albanesi, Riccardo Amadeo

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This study presents a new model of the human image quality assessment process: the aim is to highlight the foundations of the image quality metrics proposed in literature, by identifying the cognitive/physiological or mathematical principles of their development and the relation with the actual human quality assessment process. The model allows to create a novel categorization of objective and subjective image quality metrics. Our work includes an overview of the most used or effective objective metrics in literature, and, for each of them, we underline its main characteristics, with reference to the rationale of the proposed model and categorization. From the results of this operation, we underline a problem that affects all the presented metrics: the fact that many aspects of human biases are not taken in account at all. We then propose a possible methodology to address this issue.

Keywords: eye-tracking, image quality assessment metric, MOS, quality of user experience, visual perception

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Authors: Andi Mursidi

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This study aims to investigate why the internal quality assurance system as the basis for the assessment of external quality assurance systems is not well developed at universities in Indonesia. To answer this problem, technical analysis used single instrumental case study with the respondents from ten universities. The findings of this study are the internal quality assurance system that is applied so far (1) only to gain accreditation; and (2) considered as a liability rather than as a necessity to meet the demands of quality standards. It needs strong commitment from internal stakeholders at the college/university to establish internal quality assurance systems that exceed the national standards of higher education. A high quality college/ university will have a good accreditation rank.

Keywords: internal stakeholders, internal quality assurance system, commitment, higher education

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Azadeh Maddahi, Arash Tahriri

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The purpose of this paper is developing a model for audit quality, with regard to the contextual and environmental attributes of the audit profession in Iran. For this purpose, using an exploratory approach, and because of the special attributes of the auditing profession in Iran in terms of the legal environment, regulatory and supervisory mechanisms, audit firms size, and etc., we used grounded theory approach as a qualitative research method. Therefore, we got the opinions of the experts in the auditing and capital market areas through unstructured interviews. As a result, the authors revealed the determinants of audit quality, and by using these determinants, developed an Integrated Audit Quality Model, including causal conditions, intervening conditions, context, as well as action strategies related to AQ and their consequences. In this research, audit quality is studied using a systemic approach. According to this approach, the quality of inputs, processes, and outputs of auditing determines the quality of auditing, therefore, the quality of all different parts of this system is considered.

Keywords: audit quality, integrated audit quality model, demand for audit service, supply of audit, grounded theory

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Authors: Qura-tul-aain Khair

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Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to empirically examining the strength of association of responsive market orientation and proactive market orientation with new product performance and exploring the possible moderating role of organizational learning based on contingency theory. Design/methodology/approach- Data for this study was collected from FMCG manufacturing industry and services industry, where customers are in contact frequently and responses are recorded on continuous basis. Sample was collected through convenience sampling. The data collected from different marketing department and sales personnel were analysed using SPSS 16 version. Findings- The paper finds that responsive market orientation is more strongly associated with new product performance. The moderator, organizational learning, plays it significant role on the relationship between responsive market orientation and new product performance. Research limitations/implications- this paper has taken sample from just FMCG industry and service industry, more work can be done regarding how different-markets require different market orientation behaviours. Originality/value- This paper will be useful for foreign business looking for investing and expanding in Pakistan, they can find opportunity to get sustained competitive advantage through exploring the proactive side of market orientation and importance of organizational learning.

Keywords: organizational learning, proactive market orientation, responsive market orientation, new product performance

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Authors: Ana Paula S. Horodenski, Priscila Pelegrini, Salli Baggenstoss

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The brewing industry with artisanal concepts seeks to serve a specific market, with diversified production that has been gaining ground in the national environment, also in the Amazon region. This growth is due to the more demanding consumer, with a diversified taste that wants to try new types of beer, enjoying products with new aromas, flavors, as a differential of what is so widely spread through the big industrial brands. Thus, through qualitative research methods, the study aimed to investigate how is the process of managing the production of a craft brewery in a city in the northern State of Mato Grosso (BRAZIL), providing knowledge of production processes and strategies in the industry. With the efficient use of resources, it is possible to obtain the necessary quality and provide better performance and differentiation of the company, besides analyzing the best management model. The research is descriptive with a qualitative approach through a case study. For the data collection, a semi-structured interview was elaborated, composed of the areas: microbrewery characterization, artisan beer production process, and the company supply chain management. Also, production processes were observed during technical visits. With the study, it was verified that the artisan brewery researched develops preventive maintenance strategies with the inputs, machines, and equipment, so that the quality of the product and the production process are achieved. It was observed that the distance from the supplying centers makes the management of processes and the supply chain be carried out with a longer planning time so that the delivery of the final product is satisfactory. The production process of the brewery is composed of machines and equipment that allows the control and quality of the product, which the manager states that for the productive capacity of the industry and its consumer market, the available equipment meets the demand. This study also contributes to highlight one of the challenges for the development of small breweries in front of the market giants, that is, the legislation, which fits the microbreweries as producers of alcoholic beverages. This makes the micro and small business segment to be taxed as a major, who has advantages in purchasing large batches of raw materials and tax incentives because they are large employers and tax pickers. It was possible to observe that the supply chain management system relies on spreadsheets and notes that are done manually, which could be simplified with a computer program to streamline procedures and reduce risks and failures of the manual process. In relation to the control of waste and effluents affected by the industry is outsourced and meets the needs. Finally, the results showed that the industry uses preventive maintenance as a productive strategy, which allows better conditions for the production and quality of artisanal beer. The quality is directly related to the satisfaction of the final consumer, being prized and performed throughout the production process, with the selection of better inputs, the effectiveness of the production processes and the relationship with the commercial partners.

Keywords: artisanal brewery, production management, production processes, supply chain

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Authors: U. Gunal, H. I. Turgut, H. Gurler, S. Kaya

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There are many ever-increasing and newly emerging problems with rapid population growth in the world. With the increase in people's quality of life in our daily life, acoustic comfort has become an important feature in the textile industry. In order to meet all these expectations in people's comfort areas and survive in challenging competitive conditions in the market without compromising the customer product quality expectations of textile manufacturers, it has become a necessity to bring functionality to the products. It is inevitable to research and develop materials and processes that will bring these functionalities to textile products. The noise we encounter almost everywhere in our daily life, in the street, at home and work, is one of the problems which textile industry is working on. It brings with it many health problems, both mentally and physically. Therefore, noise control studies become more of an issue. Besides, materials used in noise control are not sufficient to reduce the effect of the noise level. The fabrics used in acoustic studies in the textile industry do not show sufficient performance according to their weight and high cost. Thus, acoustic textile products can not be used in daily life. In the thesis study, the attributions used in the noise control and building acoustics studies in the literature were analyzed, and the product with the highest damping value that a textile material will have was designed, manufactured, and tested. Optimum values were obtained by using different material samples that may affect the performance of the acoustic material. Acoustic measurement methods should be applied to verify the acoustic performances shown by the parameters and the designed three-dimensional structure at different values. In the measurements made in the study, the device designed for determining the acoustic performance of the material for both the impedance tube according to the relevant standards and the different noise types in the study was used. In addition, sound records of noise types encountered in daily life are taken and applied to the acoustic absorbent fabric with the aid of the device, and the feasibility of the results and the commercial ability of the product are examined. MATLAB numerical computing programming language and libraries were used in the frequency and sound power analyses made in the study.

Keywords: acoustic, egg crate, fabric, textile

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Authors: Malinda Gayan Sirisena

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The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of software quality assurance approaches of Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations, and to propose a framework which could be used across all offshore software development organizations. An empirical study was conducted using derived framework from popular software quality evaluation models. The research instrument employed was a questionnaire survey among thirty seven Sri Lankan registered offshore software development organizations. The findings demonstrate a positive view of Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance – the stronger predictors of Stability, Installability, Correctness, Testability and Changeability. The present study’s recommendations indicate a need for much emphasis on software quality assurance for the Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations.

Keywords: software quality assurance (SQA), offshore software development, quality assurance evaluation models, effectiveness of quality assurance

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Authors: Yi-Fung Lin, Pei-Chen Tsai

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Background: The hospital healthcare team provides 24-hour patient care, and therefore shift-work is inevitable in the nursing field. There is an increased awareness that shift-work affecting circadian rhythms may cause various health problems, especially in poor sleep quality, which may harm the quality of life. Purposes: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of demographic characteristics on nurses’ sleep quality and quality of life and the relationship between these predictors of nurses’ quality of life. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was conducted with purposive sampling of 520 female nurses in a medical center in north Taiwan from July to September 2014. Data were collected with structured questionnaires using Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF). Outcomes: The main results include: 1) Irregular menstruation, non-regular exercisers, and more daily caffeine consumption have negative impacts on sleep quality. 2) Younger age, fewer children, low education level, low annual income, irregular menstruation, pain during menstrual cycles, non-regular exercisers, constipation, and poor sleep quality all contribute negative impacts on the quality of life. 3) The odds ratio of sleep disturbance between 12-hour shifts and 8-hour shifts was 2.26, but there was no significant difference regarding their quality of life scores. Conclusion: This study showed that there is a strong correlation between oncology nurses’ sleep quality and quality of life. Sleep quality is a significant predictor of quality of life in oncology nurses.

Keywords: oncology nurses, sleep quality, quality of life, shift-work

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Authors: Martin Cai, Khadijah B. Hashim, Leng Leo, Edmund F. Tian

Abstract:

Analysis of traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) supplements has always been a laborious task, particularly in the case of multi‐ingredient formulations. Traditionally, herbal extracts are analysed using one or few markers compounds. In the recent years, however, pharmaceutical companies are introducing health supplements of TCM active ingredients to cater to the needs of consumers in the fast-paced society in this age. As such, new problems arise in the aspects of composition identification as well as quality analysis. In most cases of products or supplements formulated with multiple TCM herbs, the chemical composition, and nature of each raw material differs greatly from the others in the formulation. This results in a requirement for individual analytical processes in order to identify the marker compounds in the various botanicals. Thin-layer Chromatography (TLC) is a simple, cost effective, yet well-regarded method for the analysis of natural products, both as a Pharmacopeia-approved method for identification and authentication of herbs, and a great analytical tool for the discovery of chemical compositions in herbal extracts. Recent technical advances introduced High-Performance TLC (HPTLC) where, with the help of automated equipment and improvements on the chromatographic materials, both the quality and reproducibility are greatly improved, allowing for highly standardised analysis with greater details. Here we report an industrial consultancy project with ONI Global Pte Ltd for the analysis of LAC Liver Protector, a TCM formulation aimed at improving liver health. The aim of this study was to identify 4 key components of the supplement using HPTLC, following protocols derived from Chinese Pharmacopeia standards. By comparing the TLC profiles of the supplement to the extracts of the herbs reported in the label, this project proposes a simple and cost-effective analysis of the presence of the 4 marker compounds in the multi‐ingredient formulation by using 4 different HPTLC methods. With the increasing trend of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) bringing natural products and health supplements into the market, it is crucial that the qualities of both raw materials and end products be well-assured for the protection of consumers. With the technology of HPTLC, science can be incorporated to help SMEs with their quality control, thereby ensuring product quality.

Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine supplement, high performance thin layer chromatography, active ingredients, product quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Siri-Orn Champatong

Abstract:

The objectives of this research were to study the attitude of service marketing mix that affected the decision making behavior to use fitness service in case of the fitness in Thailand. This study employed by survey research and questionnaire was used to collect the data from 400 of consumers who have used the service and interested in using the service in the future. The descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data. The results revealed that the attitude toward overall marketing mix was at moderate level. For particulars, attitude toward product and service aspects were at good level, however, attitude toward price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and service quality aspects were at moderate level. The hypothesis testing results showed that attitude toward each aspect affected word of mouth, however, attitude toward product and service, place, promotion, people and physical evidence affected tendency to use fitness service at .05 statistically significant level.

Keywords: decision making behavior, fitness, marketing mix, marketing service

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Meimei Zheng

Abstract:

Product personalization could not only bring new profits to companies but also provide the direction of long-term development for companies. However, the characteristics of personalized product cause some new problems. This paper investigates how companies make decisions on the supply of personalized products when facing different customer attitudes to personalized product and service, constraints due to limited capacity and updates of personalized demand information. This study will provide optimal decisions for companies to develop personalized markets, resulting in promoting business transformation and improving business competitiveness.

Keywords: demand forecast updating, limited capacity, personalized products, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 263