1,720,959 research outputs found
An analysis of factors leading to the production of defective wagons in Transnet Engineering
No full textA research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science in Engineering, In the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment , School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024Rail manufacturing industries play a crucial role in many countries by developing cost-effective transportation solutions to move freight more efficiently. To date, the industry has seen the implementation of traditional quality management practices that are critical in driving efficiencies and better-managed operations to improve the quality of their freight wagons. Despite the conventional quality management techniques, the rail industry continues to manufacture defective rolling stock due to design changes, errors and omissions, and inadequate skills. Over the past few decades, industry and academia have identified various factors contributing to rolling stock manufacturing defects. Nevertheless, which factors were predominantly responsible for the defective wagon production at the Transnet Engineering (TE) Bloemfontein factory remained unclear. Identifying the most prevalent causes of defects is essential in addressing the organisation's quality issues. The primary purpose of this study was to gain insights into the root causes of the defects and recommend strategies to minimise them. The study used an interpretive methodology to identify the root cause of defective wagons produced at TE. Data was collected using purposive sampling. Ten experienced TE employees actively engaged in freight wagon manufacturing were selected for face-to-face interviews. During the research study, the interviews were conducted with the employees using a semi-structured format that allowed for open-ended questions. Investigative techniques, such as cause-and-effect diagrams and the Five "Whys" root cause analysis tool, were used to investigate defects' root causes on the customer complaints register. Additionally, thematic analysis was applied to thoroughly analyse the interviews conducted with the employees, which allowed for a deeper understanding of the issues at hand. The findings showed that inadequate skills, human errors and omissions, a lack of quality culture, time constraints, management's failure to enforce accountability, and poor workshop maintenance/machinery all contribute to defective wagon production. The research provided recommendations, including adopting innovative technology and skills transfer programs to enhance the company's quality management practices.MM202
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Digitalisation of shop-floor operations in the South African tool, die and mould making industry
Get PDFThesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2018.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This doctoral dissertation focuses on the digitalisation of shop-floor operations in the South
African Tool, Die and Mould Making (TDM) industry through the development of a Mobile Data
Collection (MDC) tool known as a Shop-floor Management System (SMS). Recent results of
the benchmarking initiative in the South African TDM industry have shown that most firms
struggle on the global market due to intense external competition and internal shortcomings.
Digitalisation has been advocated as a possible solution that can improve the competitiveness
of tooling companies in the 21st century. The recent rise of digital technologies makes
digitalisation an achievable reality now. However, how does one adopt such a factor in a South
African tool-room environment? This study aims to answer this question through a systematic
method of analysis, design, development and testing of a solution. This research demonstrates
the application of systems thinking by implementation of current technology in a tooling factory
environment. The theoretical framework established by Professor Schuh for the “Fast Forward
Tooling Approach” on digitalisation was employed in this study. A Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of recent South African TDM industry
benchmarking study results was conducted to decide on areas of deficiency which can be
improved through digitalisation. A deficiency in the areas of shop-floor data collection and
manipulation within most TDM firms was identified and selected as one of the major problems
to be addressed. Thereafter, company visits were conducted to finalise the industry specific
characteristics in the South African tooling industry and desired system goals were
established. Mobile and web-based technologies were selected as a sustainable solution for
near real-time data collection in production environments. Furthermore, an analysis followed
of the tool production value chain through company visits of firms within the Western Cape
Province. The sub-processes of cost estimation, process planning and job-card data collection
were identified as areas which can be improved by digitalisation. Key parameters for each of
the identified processes were derived through knowledge engineering and the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methodology was used to rank the identified parameters. Based
on a decision matrix for development software platform selection, the AppSheet platform was
chosen and utilised in the development of mobile data collection modules for the abovementioned
functions. Another decision matrix for selection of hardware tools was used to
determine the appropriate input devices to be used for recording of shop-floor data by the
tooling factory personnel. The ‘Google Sheets’ cloud computing platform was utilised for the
development of the back-end database. Reports on cost analytics, resource performance and
order progress status were generated by the system in real-time for process-planning,
rescheduling and maintenance decisions. The system also facilitates alerts in cases of event
changes within the tooling value stream process. The developed SMS was validated in a selected company for various scenarios and cases. The system outputs show that the use of mobile devices and web-based cloud computing platforms for data collection and manipulation effectively improves the shop-floor real-time data collection and visibility of a tooling factory environment.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie doktorale proefskrif fokus op die digitalisering van werkswinkel bedrywighede in die Suid-Afrikaanse gereedskap industrie, ‘n Mobiele data versamelings stelsel vir bestuurbesluitneming in die gietstuk- en vormvervaardiginig bedryf word ontwikkel. Onlangse resultate van die inisiatief in die Suid-Afrikaanse TDM-bedryf het getoon dat die meeste firmas sukkel op die globale mark as gevolg van intense eksterne mededinging en interne tekortkominge. Digitalisering is 'n moontlike oplossing wat die mededingendheid van gereedskapmaatskappye in die 21ste eeu kan verbeter. Die onlangse ontwikkellings in nuwe digitale tegnologie maak digitalisering in die werkswinkel 'n haalbare werklikheid. Die vraag is; Hoe neem mens egter so 'n faktor in 'n Suid-Afrikaanse instrumentkameromgewing aan?
Die studie beoog om hierdie vraag te beantwoord deur middel van 'n sistematiese metode van analise, ontwerp, ontwikkeling en toetsing van 'n oplossing. Hierdie navorsing demonstreer die toepassing van stelselingenieurswese deur die implementering van huidige tegnologie. Die teoretiese raamwerk, wat deur professor Schuh vir die "Fast Forward Tooling Approach" op digitalisering voorgestel is, word in die studie gebruik. 'n Sterk, Swakpunte, Geleenthede en Bedreigings (SWOT) -analise van onlangse Suid-Afrikaanse TDM-industrie se beginpunt-studie resultate is uitgevoer om te besluit op tekortgebiede wat deur digitalisering verbeter kan word. 'n Tekort op die gebied van data-insameling en hantering van winkelvloere binne die meeste TDM-firmas is geïdentifiseer en gekies as een van die belangrikste probleme wat aangespreek moet word. Daarna is maatskappybesoeke gedoen om die bedryfspesifieke eienskappe in die Suid-Afrikaanse gereedskapbedryf te finaliseer en stelseldoelwitte vas te stel. Mobiele en webgebaseerde tegnologie is gekies as 'n volhoubare oplossing vir byna intydse data-insameling in die produksieomgewing. 'n Analise van die waardeketting van die gereedskapsproduksie is gedoen tydens maatskappybesoeke van firmas in die Wes-Kaapprovinsie. Die subprosesse kosteberaming, prosesbeplanning en werkkaart data-insameling is geïdentifiseer as gebiede wat deur digitalisering verbeter kan word. Sleutelparameters vir elk van die geïdentifiseerde subprosesse is afgelei. Die metode van analitiese hiërargiese prosesse (AHP) is gebruik om die geïdentifiseerde parameters te rangskik. 'n Keusematriks is gebruik om die ontwikkelingsprogramplatformkeuse te maak en die AppSheet-platform is gekies en aangewend. Dit is ontwikkel en toegepas op die mobiele data-insamelingsmodules vir bogenoemde funksies. Nog 'n keusematriks is gebreuk vir die keuse van hardeware-gereedskap om die toepaslike sensorapparate te bepaal wat gebruik word vir die meting van werkwinkeldata gebruik deur die gereedskapfabriek-personeel. Die Google Sheets-wolkrekenaarplatform is gebruik vir die ontwikkeling van die ‘back-end’ databasis. Verslae oor koste-analise, hulpbronprestasie en bestellingsstatus is deur die stelsel in-tyd vir prosesbeplanning, herskikking en instandhoudingsbesluite genereer. Die stelsel waarsku die gebruiker in gevalle van veranderinge binne die gereedskapwaarde-stroomproses. Die ontwikkelde stelsel is deur 'n geselekteerde maatskappy gevalideer vir verskeie scenario's en gevalle. Die stelseluitsette toon dat die gebruik van mobiele toestelle en webgebaseerde wolkrekenaarplatforms vir data-insameling en manipulasie die werkswinkelvloer in-tyd data-insameling en sigbaarheid van 'n gereedskap-fabrieksomgewing effektief verbeter.Doctora
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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