Jiju Antony, Michael Hughes and Mike Kaye
Experimental design is a powerful technique for understanding a process, studying the impact of potential variables affecting a process and providing spontaneous insight for…
Abstract
Experimental design is a powerful technique for understanding a process, studying the impact of potential variables affecting a process and providing spontaneous insight for continuous quality improvement possibilities. It has proved to be very effective for improving the process yield, process performance and reducing process variability. A number of successful applications of the experimental design technique for process optimisation have been reported by both US and European manufacturers over the last ten years. This paper illustrates an application of Taguchi methods (TM) in an industrial setting for identifying the critical factors affecting a certain process and subsequently reducing process variability. Both the analysis of variance (ANOVA) on mean response and the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) have been carried out for determining the optimal condition of the process. A significant improvement in the process performance was observed in terms of variation reduction.
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Jiju Antony Mike Kaye and Andreas Frangou
It is widely considered that the advanced statistical quality improvement techniques (ASQIT) such as design of experiments and Taguchi methods form an essential part of the search…
Abstract
It is widely considered that the advanced statistical quality improvement techniques (ASQIT) such as design of experiments and Taguchi methods form an essential part of the search for effective quality control. These quality improvement techniques are well established methodologies in which statisticians are formally trained. Research has shown that the application of these ASQIT for solving process quality problems by industrial engineers in manufacturing companies are limited and when applied they are often performed incorrectly. Presents a strategic and practical methodology with the aim of assisting industrial engineers to tackle manufacturing quality problems in a systematic and structured manner. The potential benefit of this practical methodology is its simplicity in usage and it is therefore readily accessible to the engineering fraternity for solving quality problems in real life situations. Also highlights the results of five industrial case studies which were used to validate and refine the methodology.
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Type “quality programs” into any popular search engine today and in a very short space of time you would be able to find a near limitless amount of companies advertising their…
Abstract
Type “quality programs” into any popular search engine today and in a very short space of time you would be able to find a near limitless amount of companies advertising their commitment to this particular discipline. For many, the word “quality” is closely associated with the core business offering, or a desire to “be the best”. Indeed, billions of dollars are spent on quality‐related initiatives worldwide.
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Mike Kaye and Rosalyn Anderson
This study advocates a planned and integrated approach for achieving continuous improvement in an organisation. A model based on ten essential criteria and supporting elements of…
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This study advocates a planned and integrated approach for achieving continuous improvement in an organisation. A model based on ten essential criteria and supporting elements of “best practice” is provided. The role of senior management in ceaselessly driving the improvement cause is emphasized together with the need to focus on stakeholder requirements, measure performance and learn from results. The underpinning foundations are seen to be a culture for innovation, focusing on critical processes and the involvement of employees, together with the integration of improvement activities throughout the organisation. Use of the proposed model is seen as preparatory for, and complementary to, the more complex models (such as the business excellence model or Baldrige criteria) which are useful where an organisation already has the foundations and culture for improvement and wishes to stretch itself further.
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A summer spent at Stanford University in 1973 contributed significantly to my emerging perspective on organizations and generated the spark I needed to begin working on what…
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A summer spent at Stanford University in 1973 contributed significantly to my emerging perspective on organizations and generated the spark I needed to begin working on what became Organizations and Environments (Aldrich, 1979). Dick Scott invited me to be the second visiting scholar to participate in the Research Training Program on Organizations and Mental Health, following my Cornell colleague, Karl Weick, who had done it the year before. Curiously enough, Paul Hirsch, a former colleague of mine in graduate school, was the third visiting scholar in the program. I taught an organizational theory course to a class that included Chuck Snow, Kaye Schoonhoven, and a number of Mike Hannan and John Meyers' students. I suspect that I learned as much over those three months as did the students in my course.
This chapter attempts to explain why the community of scholars at Stanford University generated an unparalleled amount of highly influential theory and research on organizations…
Abstract
This chapter attempts to explain why the community of scholars at Stanford University generated an unparalleled amount of highly influential theory and research on organizations in the last three decades of the 20th century.1
In the late 1970s, the much beloved tradition of Asilomar began. But then, of course, it was not even located at Asilomar. Rather it was a much smaller event that was held at…
Abstract
In the late 1970s, the much beloved tradition of Asilomar began. But then, of course, it was not even located at Asilomar. Rather it was a much smaller event that was held at Pajaro Dunes. Nonetheless, it featured what ultimately became the traditional blend of informal sessions that mixed students and faculty from around the University. The most memorable conference of that time featured working papers by Jeff Pfeffer and Jerry Salancik, John Meyer and Brian Rowan, and Mike Hannan and John Freeman. Each of these pairs of authors presented fledgling work that would go on to become keystone statements for three highly influential theories: resource dependence (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978), “new” institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), and population ecology (Hannan & Freeman, 1977).