Achieving Quality Control Research Articles

Study on the Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Sand Mold Specimens with Complex Hollow Structures.

Casting, as a fundamental process in metal forming, finds widespread applications in the manufacturing industry. The advent of 3D printing hollow sand mold technology presents a novel method for casting technology to revolutionize traditional dense sand molds, offering increased flexibility in achieving quality control and improvement in casting processes. Consequently, this study delves into an examination of the mechanical strengths of 3D-printed sand molds with complex hollow structures and further investigates the influence of hollow sand mold concession on castings. The results indicate that compressive and high-temperature residual tensile and bending strengths vary in hollow structures. Multi-layer shells have greater high-temperature residual tensile, compressive, and bending strengths than truss hollow sand molds with roughly the same hollow volume fraction. Compared to dense sand molds, hollow sand molds, which have a lower mechanical strength, have better retractability, which helps reduce the residual stress and crack tendency of castings. The breaking of hollow structures is limited to local areas, unlike the penetrative cracking of dense sand molds. The I-beam-shaped casting test results indicate that a hollow structure is beneficial for the preservation of the integrity of a sand mold during the casting process. Compared to dense and truss hollow molds, a multi-layer shell hollow sand structure has the comprehensive advantages that it improves retractability while maintaining strength relatively well, reduces the residual stress, and avoids cracks in castings and itself.

Association rules combined fuzzy decision quality control technology in intelligent manufacturing

In the context of the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing, effective quality control has become the key to improving manufacturing efficiency and product quality. Traditional quality control methods are often inadequate when faced with complex production data and changing manufacturing environments. Therefore, exploring new intelligent quality control technologies to cope with these challenges in intelligent manufacturing has become an important research direction. In view of this, the study proposed a quality control technology that combines association rules and fuzzy decision-making. Firstly, association rule mining methods are used to analyze production data and extract the relationships between key quality factors. Secondly, based on these association rules, fuzzy decision technology is used to adjust and optimize the production process, ultimately achieving quality control of products in the intelligent manufacturing production process. The data showed that when running on the training set and validation set, the research method reached a stable state at 18 and 46 iterations of the system, respectively, with a minimum cost loss function value. In both batch production lines, the detection efficiency under the operation of the research method remained at 2200 units per minute. During the process of repeating the system for 6 times, the research method consistently achieved maximum control accuracy and minimum time consumption. The satisfaction of the four experts with the operation of the research method in small batch production and large batch production was 9.32 and 9.2, respectively, significantly higher than other algorithms. The above results indicated that the proposed method can effectively improve the efficiency of product quality control, reduce production costs, and ultimately reduce the rate of defective products in the production process.

Infrared thermography enabled morphology detection approach for additive manufactured flexible electrodes

Additive manufactured flexible electrodes show prospect applications in flexible electronics. However, morphological defects may affect a flexible electronic device's sensitivity, response value, reliability, etc. Therefore, accurate and efficient defect detection is still challenging, especially for mass-manufactured flexible electrodes. This paper proposed and tested a rapid morphological defects detection approach with infrared thermography technology. This approach shows advantages of high detect resolution (minimum test defect: 183.38um), good linearity (R2 = 0.9887), efficiency, and nondestructive and large-scale applications, thereby achieving quality control and process evaluation in the mass additive manufacturing of flexible electrodes. Furthermore, resulting in improves the reliability and consistency of flexible electronic devices.

Quality Management Practices in Building Construction through Questionnaire Survey

Quality management systems are being operated in almost all sectors for products and services in the present time. In the construction sector quality control and quality assurance are of great concern for the construction project managers as the poor quality of construction results in early defects and failure of the structure this lowers the reputation of the company and leads to heavy repair costs. Further extra expenditure in achieving quality control and quality assurance is compensated by the advantages gained in the form of less maintenance, better quality and effective utilization of construction resources. There are many problems in applying the quality management effectively in construction due to its typical nature. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of quality management system (QMS) in construction projects. In the present work an effort is made to assess the quality management and quality assurance practices awareness and implementation among the construction personnel involved in building construction. A questionnaire containing questions related to quality control and quality assurance aspects of building construction is prepared and send to the construction personnel in Gwalior and nearby cities of Madhya Pradesh, India.

Studi Implementasi Sistem Rujukan Berjenjang Antar Fasilitas Kesehatan Tingkat Lanjut di Era JKN di Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan

One of the determinants of achieving quality control and cost control is the implementation of tiered referral health. This research was motivated by the absence of research on the implementation of referrals from FKTP to FKTL. Data from RSUP Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo’s annual report showed in 2015 and first half of 2016, >60% cases in class A hospital were level 1 severity case which should still be handle in class D and C hospitals. This affects the accumulation of patiens in tertiary hospitals and inefficient use of resources. It is a qualitative research with phenomenology approach to determine the implementation of a tiered referral system between advanced health facilities in JKN era in South Sulawesi. The results shows most of referral were made due to facilities limitation and inavailability of specialist. There were referrals which made based on patients requests not based on clinical reasons. It is also found hospital staff who did not know about the existing of standard operational procedure of referral in the hospital. Some hospital staff has no knowledge on the referral regulation nor about hospital classification. This research is expected to be able to contribute to the development of science and can be used as input for hospitals and BPJS in an effort to improve the optimization of tiered referral services. Based on the results of the study it is recommended to improve facilities and infrastructure that can support the provision of referral services in hospitals.

Meeting Treatment Goals in Patients on Extramural Dialysis in Health Social Security in Mexico

Introduction: For the majority of renal replacement therapy history, the main treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Mexico has been peritoneal dialysis. However, the use of hemodialysis is overwhelmingly increasing, driving public health care institutions to subrogate this service. Even when the actual hiring model for subrogation is accurate, there is a lack of quality control points in the hemodialysis prescription, poor adherence to clinical practice guidelines, and a few or no record of outcomes in hemodialysis patients of these subrogated services. The objective of this work is to fill this information gap to allow for uniform and safe hemodialysis for patients of Mexico. Material and Methods: An observational and cross-sectional study was performed, including all patients receiving chronic hemodialysis treatment in subrogated units of Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the northern region of Mexico City. Clinical and biochemical data as well as hemodialysis dose by Kt/V and urea reduction rate were collected and evaluated. To determine distribution, mean or median and SD or interquartile range were used; for nominal variables, the difference in proportions was estimated using the χ² test; proportions were analyzed for biochemical values using the statistical package SPSS version 25. Results: In our study, >60% (485) of the patients were anemic with an average hemoglobin of 9.39 mg/dL (SD ± 1.83); serum calcium was found below 8.4 mg/dL in 51.3% (383) of patients, and only in 45.8% (342) was at an optimal level of this parameter. Only 33.5% of patients have arteriovenous fistula for dialysis access. The hemodialysis dose was optimal in >75% of patients. Conclusions: It is necessary to enhance and monitor treatment of comorbidities in patients with ESRD in subrogated hemodialysis units in México. We observed adequate prescription of hemodialysis in a majority of patients, achieving quality control points for removal of nitrogen products. Yet, there is a lack of quality control of comorbidities; therefore, we should aim to optimize treatment for mineral-bone disorder, anemia, and nutritional status.

Strategies to improve the completeness of a system of substitute therapist in a rehabilitation center

In a rehabilitation center, every patient needs continuous rehabilitation to achieve optimal treatment effect. However, therapists need to take a rest whenever necessary. Therefore, a system of substitute therapist (SST) is required so that patients can acquire high quality of medical treatment service. Furthermore, the organization can operate normally. However, there is no sound SST. The completion rate of SST was 70.1% in April 2017. The objective of this project was to improve the completeness of SST. This project applied the procedure of task achieving quality control (QC) story to develop strategies to solve the issue. The goal setting was to achieve 90% of completion rate of SST. We developed the strategies by brainstorming and literature reviewing. The proposed strategies included: (1) applying labor-saving treatment (robot-assisted therapy, circuit training, interaction group, self-training); (2) applying ISBAR (Introduction-Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) for hand-off report; (3) implementing auditing system of original therapist and substitute therapist. The completion rate of SST was 93.3% after strategy one (July 2017), 94.4% after strategies one and two (August 2017), and 98.4% after strategies one, two and three (September 2017). Furthermore, the patient satisfaction increased form 3.9 points to 4.6 points (maximum is 5 points). All the three strategies were effective. Therefore, all the three strategies were adopted to formulate standard operation procedure (SOP) for SST. This project successfully improved the completeness of SST through task achieving QC story. The three strategies were implemented in sequence. First, the strategy one was to increase number of patients that substitute therapist can treat simultaneously. Then, the strategy two was to improve handoff communication. Finally, the strategy three was to consolidate behavior change of therapists. The strategies proved to be capable of providing solutions for clinical problems.

뿜칠내화피복 작업 자동화시스템을 위한 RTLS 기술 적용에 관한 연구

철골구조에서 뿜칠내화피복재는 화재발생시 철골구조물의 내력이 저하되는 것을 방지하는 중요한 자재이다. 그러나 인력에 의한 작업 등으로 인하여 품질관리가 어렵고, 기능인력의 수급도 용이하지 않으며, 기능인력이 유해한 환경에 노출될 가능성도 높은 실정이다. 일반적으로 이와 같이 품질관리가 어렵고 인체에 유해한 건설작업들은 자동화 장비를 도입함으로써 문제를 어느 정도 완화할 수 있다. 그러나 기존의 건설현장은 환경이 비구조화되어 있기 때문에 장비의 주행이나 작업위치선정 등까지 자동화하기는 매우 어려웠다. 본 연구에서는 뿜칠내화피복 작업을 자동화하기 위한 기초연구로써, 자동화시스템과 첨단기술인 RTLS와의 연계성을 검토하고 내화피복 뿜칠 자동화작업의 시나리오, 시스템 구성요소 등을 제안하였다. 제안된 시스템은 아직 개념단계이므로 많은 제약조건들이 해결되지는 않았으나, 제안된 시스템으로 작업하면 내화피복의 균일한 피복두께를 유지할 수 있으며, 철골 구조물과의 일체성을 확보하며, 내화성능을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. 또한 내화피복의 품질이 확보됨에 따라, 대형 철골 구조물에 화재가 발생하더라도 일정한 강도를 유지할 수 있어서, 화재의 전이를 방지하는 데에 효과가 있을 것으로 예상된다. 향후에는 첨단 IT인 USN등 첨단 모니터링 기술, BIM기술, 자재의 위치정보 인식기술 등과 연계하여 본 연구를 진행할 예정이다. 이와같은 기술과 본 연구가 연계되면, 국내 건설자동화 수준을 제고시키고, 건설 자원의 효율적 체계적 관리를 통한 비용절감, 공기단축, 정밀시공 등을 구현하는 데에 더욱 기여할 수 있을 것이다. In a steel structure, spray-applied fire resistive materials are crucial in preventing structural strength from being weakened in the event of a fire. The quality control of such materials, however, is difficult for manual workers, who can frequently be in short supply. These skilled workers are also very likely to be exposed to environmental hazards. Problems with construction work such as this, which are specifically the difficulty of achieving quality control and the dangerous nature of the work itself, can be solved to some degree by the introduction of automated equipment. It is, however, very difficult to automate the work process, from operation to the selection of a location for the equipment, as the environment of a construction site has not yet been structured to accommodate automation. This is a fundamental study on the possibility of the automation of spray-applied fire resistive coating work. In this study, the linkability of the cutting-edge RTLS to an automation system is reviewed, and a scenario for the automation of spray-applied fire resistive coating work and system composition is presented. The system suggested in this study is still in a conceptual stage, and as such, there are many restrictions still to be resolved. Despite this fact, automation is expected to have good effectiveness in terms of preventing fire from spreading by maintaining a certain level of strength at a high temperature when a fire occurs, as it maintains the thickness of the fire-resistive coating at a specified level, and secures the integrity of the coating with the steel structure, thereby enhancing the fire-resistive performance. It also expected that if future research is conducted in this area in relation to a cutting-edge monitoring TRS, such as the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) and/or building information model (BIM), it will contribute to raising the level of construction automation in Korea, reducing costs through the systematic and efficient management of construction resources, shortening construction periods, and implementing more precise construction

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

From the beginning, public tests and examinations were instruments of policy. The Imperial Chinese examination was created to permit the emperor to replace the patronage system by which powerful lords were choosing their own candidates to be mandarins. The Jesuit schools in 17th-century France introduced a weekly testing system to allow central control of classroom teaching. In 19th-century England, Thomas Macaulay argued for employing the Chinese principle in selecting cadets for the Indian Civil Service; a similar system was later used for the British Civil Service. A primary school examination system was set up in England at the end of the 19th century to serve the same purpose of achieving quality control and accountability in public schools as was proposed for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that is being bitterly disputed in 21st-century United States. Chauncey's primary goal after World War II in developing the Scholastic Achievement Test for admission to elite U.S. universities was to replace the children of the wealthy establishment with highly qualified students who would see their role as contributing to public service.

Calculating Roller Requirements for Chip Seal Projects

This paper details a mathematical algorithm to determine the required number of rollers for a chip seal project's equipment spread based on maximizing the asphalt distributor's production and adhering to specified roller time requirements. The paper reports one of the findings of a three-year constructability review of the Texas Department of Transportation's statewide seal coat program. One of the findings of that study was that there was a correlation between the number of rollers used on a job and the loss of aggregate after construction was completed. The roller is the tool used to seat the aggregate and create embedment in the asphaltic binder. Thus, the failure to achieve design embedment depth is primarily a function of achieving quality control requirements for roller linger time. The paper illustrates a straightforward method to calculate the required number rollers to achieve both maximum productivity for the chip seal paving train and to ensure a uniform distribution of roller coverage across the width of the shot. The paper concludes that designing the roller spread is in the best interests of both the chip seal contractor and the owner.

Achieving On-Aim Product Quality Control by Design

One important reason for delivering excellent dynamic performance in a new or existing process centers on the need to control product quality on-aim (defined as keeping product quality variables at a given target with low variability around that target). This consistency requirement is a particularly key issue for pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, specialty chemicals, monomers, polymers, fibers, etc., where it is often impossible to measure all properties and where small differences in impurities can cause a significant change in end-use characteristics. Achieving the ability to control product quality on-aim does not happen by accident, it happens by deliberate design. This paper summarizes an industrial view on incorporating controllability and developing plantwide control strategies at the stage where a new process is being designed. It presents several industrial examples to highlight key concepts.

Optimizing Systems Engineering Specification Quality Control Processes

AbstractInspection is a proven technique for achieving quality control of specifications and, identifying associated process improvements. In fact, Inspection can be applied to any discipline which produces documents. It has been applied with excellent results to hardware engineering (e.g. aircraft and electronics), management and sales contracts documentation.Software Inspections are widely known within the software industry, but most organizations do not make the most of them. This is because many people misunderstand and misinterpret Inspection. This paper aims to provide some direction as to how to get the most value from your Inspections.

Videotaping in the admitting area: a most useful tool for quality improvement of the trauma care.

The treatment of trauma patients in the admitting area is performed under stress and requires team work. The goals of this research were to develop and analyse the implementation process of videotaping trauma care. The Rambam Medical Center is a 900-bed referral teaching hospital. It serves a population of more than 1.5 million in northern Israel. The trauma unit has focused on various activities to increase the quality of trauma care over the past few years. We installed a video camera and taped the treatment as part of a programme for the quality improvement of trauma care. Reviewing the tapes was carried out by the trauma team under guidance in order to identify deviation from treatment protocols, errors in techniques, improper usage of time, equipment failure and problems in team work. After 3 years' experience, we found that videotaping is an accurate and inexpensive way of achieving quality control in the admitting area. It now serves as a regular method in Israeli trauma centres and we encourage others to try this method.

Certified reference materials for the quality control of environmental analysis within the standards, measurements and testing programme (formerly BCR)

A great number of analyses is performed every year, the results of which are used for many purposes, e.g. the quality of goods and food, the status of quality of the environment or the health of patients. The accuracy of these results is a prerequisite for a good interpretation of the data obtained. One of the most powerful tool for achieving quality control of chemical analysis is to use reference materials (RMs) and certified reference materials (CRMs). These materials are necessary for one or more of the following items: method validation (CRMs), monitoring of the state of statistical control (RMs), samples in inter-comparisons (RMs), etc. The requirements and use of RMs and CRMs in chemical analysis are described, with special emphasis on environmental analysis, and some examples of environmental materials currently in production within the Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme (formerly BCR) of the European Commission are given.

The effects of data entry error: An analysis of partial verification

Modern data entry technology has greatly reduced entry errors by building quality control mechanisms such as cross-field and range edits directly into data entry programs. In many application areas the increased accuracy of modern data entry techniques has made 100% verification unnecessary to assure high standards of data quality. Verification of randomly selected forms combined with 100% verification of critical fields provides a cost efficient alternative to 100% verification of all fields. This paper analyzes the effects of data entry error on study findings and provides a basis for designing a partial verification scheme for achieving quality control goals in a cost efficient manner.

Comparisons of Acoustic Courtship Signals in Wild and Laboratory Reared Mediterranean Fruit Fly Ceratitis capitata

A major concern in rearing insects for sterile release is the production of males that are sexually competitive with wild rivals. A means of achieving quality control is to first quantify sexual signals in wild insects and then monitor these signals in laboratoryreared individuals (eg. Boller & Chambers 1977). Male acoustic signals are important components of courtship and territorial defense in lekking tephritids (Sivinski & Burk 1988). The sexual repertoire of the male Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.), includes three distinct sounds: 1) the calling song, produced simultaneously with pheromone emission and often in the absence of other nearby flies, 2) the approach song, an intermittent series of buzzes made when other flies are nearby, and 3) the precopulatory song, a brief sound produced by males when they mount a prospective mate (Webb et al. 1983). Females in captivity make the equivalent of the first two songs although their function is presently obscure. We have on two occasions, April 1985 and 1987, recorded Mediterranean fruit flies in Guatemala City, Guatemala C.A. On the first of these occasions we obtained wild flies, reared from maggots in local coffee beans, and fertile laboratory-reared insects produced by the Moscamed Commission facility in San Miguel Petapa. On the second, both fertile laboratory-reared and irradiated sterile laboratory-reared flies from the above facility were recorded. With our data we can make three comparisons pertaining to the quality of the Guatemalan medfly product: 1) the acoustic signals of wild flies versus those of flies reared in the laboratory for several generations, 2) courtship sounds of sterile flies (irradiated at 17 kR 48 h before eclosion) versus fertile laboratory-reared flies, 3) flies reared in the laboratory in 1985 versus those of the same genetic stock still in the laboratory in 1987. The insects, when recorded, were held in either groups of 10 or less, in 10 cm x 7 cm wire screen cylinders or in large numbers (>100) in 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm plexiglass and wire screen cages. A condenser microphone (Sony MTL-96, Sony Corp., New York, NY) was held approximately 1-2 cm from the dorsal surfaces of calling males and the sounds were recorded on a Nakamichi 550 cassette recorder Sounds were later analyzed with a Nicolet 660A fast Fourier analyzer (Nicolt Instrument Corp., Madison, WI). The examined sound parameters were fundamental frequency (peak frequency in the first harmonic bandwidth), first harmonic bandwidth (total range of frequencies about the mode created by the fundamental frequency), and percent waveform distortion (the proportion of energy in a sound that is contained in the first harmonic band; for more details see Webb et al. 1984). Due to imperfect recordings or small sample sizes, not all of these features were measured for each category of fly. Statistical analysis is by Duncan's multiple range test and t-test. All results are in Table 1. There was a significant difference in the fundamental frequency of the calling song of wild males compared to those of both laboratory-reared males and females in 1985 (P<0.05). However, there were no differences among flies of the three groups in bandwidth or distortion of the song. The approach song of the wild male was also produced at a higher frequency than that of the laboratory-reared male (P<0.002). A possible contributing factor to the lower frequency of the reared flies was their notice-