Computer Manufacturing Company Research Articles

Human performance in manufacturing tasks: Optimization and assessment of required workload and capabilities

This paper discusses some examples where human performance and/or human error prediction was achieved by using a modified version of the Rasch model (1980), where the probability of a specified outcome is modelled as a logistic function of the difference between the person capacity and item difficulty. The model needs to be modified to take into account an outcome that may not be dichotomous and to take into account the interaction between two macro factors: (a) Task complexity: that summarises all factors contributing to physical and mental workload requirements for execution of a given operative task & (b) Human capability: that considered the skills, training and experience of the people facing the tasks, representing a synthesis of their physical and cognitive abilities to verify whether or not they are matching the task requirements. Task complexity can be evaluated as a mathematical construct considering the compound effects of Mental Workload Demands and Physical Workload Demands associated to an operator task. Similarly, operator capability can be estimated on the basis of the operators’ set of cognitive capabilities and physical conditions. The examples chosen for the application of the model were quite different: one is a set of assembly workstation in large computer manufacturing company and the other a set of workstations in the automotive sector. This paper presents and discusses the modelling hypothesis, the interim field data collection, results and possible future direction of the studies.

Creating Social Handprints: Method and Case Study in the Electronic Computer Manufacturing Industry

This article introduces a process that can be used by companies to obtain an increasingly precise picture of their supply chain social footprint (negative impacts) and identify potential social handprints (i.e., changes to business as usual that create positive impacts) using social organizational life cycle assessment (SO-LCA). The process was developed to apply to the electronics sector but can be used by companies in any industry. Our case study presents the social footprint of a typical US computer manufacturing company and identifies potential salient social risks and hotspots using generic information about the inputs that are related to a global trade model. The global trade model enables us to map the likely supply chain based on where inputs are usually sourced from by the US electronic computer manufacturing sector. In order to identify material impacts, normalization factors were created and used. Once the material impacts and salient risks are known, it becomes necessary to identify root causes in order to plan actions that will truly make a meaningful change, addressing the issues at stake. The article concludes by establishing a methodology that enables the use of the industry-level impacts and assessment in combination with the organization’s own data to calculate company-specific results.

Decreasing the System Testing Makespan in a Computer Manufacturing Company

This paper investigates the system testing scheduling problem (STSP), using one of the largest computer manufacturing companies in the world as a case study. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model and a restricted simulated annealing (RSA) heuristic which applies two rules to eliminate ineffective job moves to minimize makespan in the STSP are presented. The proposed RSA is empirically evaluated using 188 simulation instances derived from the characteristics of a real technology company. The RSA computational results are compared with those of the traditional simulated annealing (SA) and the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithms. The statistical results demonstrate that the RSA, SA, and ABC provide much better solutions than the MILP model solved using Gurobi solver for small problems within a reasonable execution time. The RSA offers significant improvements over the SA and ABC algorithms when applied to large problems. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed RSA heuristic significantly decreases system testing makespan in a computer manufacturing plant at Taiwan.

온·오프라인 서비스 기업의 비즈니스모델 인식 차이에 관한 연구

Google was established an online service company. Lately, Google has widened to the business area until manufacturing industry. Apple was established a computer manufacturing company. So, new business models should develop and should be innovation in order to adapt to industry environments. New business model's development and innovation are attracted on strategy to expect the high performance at companies. In particular, it is important to companies facing a variety of problems. Therefore, the purposes of this study are as follows : First, there understand the perception difference on online service company, offline service company, manufacturing company. Second, there provide for the use of strategy on online service company, offline service company, manufacturing company. The results of this study are customer factor, strategy factor, revenue factor have been statistically significant differences using ANOVA analysis in industry field, and customer factor has been statistically significant difference using t-test in business field. Then, it will expect to increase business competition through the business model.

A structural process-oriented mechanism for supplier selection involved in the early stage of new product development

The supplier selection involved in new product development (NPD) is an extremely important decision in contemporary business systems, in which collaborative design is a common feature. The current researchers emphasise studies aimed at finding reasonable supplier indexes or developing good methods for selecting adequate suppliers. There remains a lack of a complete framework for supplier selection in the NPD stage from a process-oriented viewpoint. This paper proposes a unique process-oriented supplier selection mechanism which considers the NPD information process between companies and partners across the design chain. In the proposed mechanism, the design chain operations reference (DCOR) model, including a four-level framework, is adopted to systematically describe NPD processes. Then, the design structure matrix (DSM) is used to analyse the process relationship based on the results from the last level of the DCOR. A method presented by Steward (1981) is applied to partition the DSM so as to obtain the weighted aggregated scores with respect to the metrics provided by the DCOR. Finally, given weights provided by the experts, the cluster analysis is executed to select the best supplier for different processes. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed mechanism, a well-known computer manufacturing company in Taiwan was chosen.

Bi‐negotiation integrated AHP in suppliers selection

PurposeThis paper seeks to propose a new approach for tackling the uncertainty and imprecision of identifying suitable supplier offers, evaluating these offers and choosing the best alternatives in bi‐negotiation. In a build‐to‐order supply chain, the handling of uncertainties is addressed by a real time information sharing system and appropriate supplier selection.Design/methodology/approachA methodology integrated analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with bi‐negotiation agents based on the multi‐criteria decision‐making approach and software agent technique is then developed to take into account both qualitative and quantitative factors in supplier selection.FindingsDuring the decision‐making between buyer and suppliers, the AHP process matches product characteristics with supplier characteristics. Next, agents assist the user in the debate to negotiate a joint representation of the supplier chosen and automatically justify proposals with this joint representation.Originality/valueThis study focused on a multi‐attribute negotiation mechanism including qualitative conditions, which enables automated negotiation on multiple attributes. Finally, a fuzzy membership function represented the joint representation's cognition for each condition such as quantity, price, quality, and delivery for the outsourced component. A case study in a high‐end computer manufacturing company is given to demonstrate the potential of the methodology.

Mortality among US employees of a large computer manufacturing company: 1969–2001

BackgroundPrevious studies suggested increased cancer incidence and mortality in workers exposed to solvents and other chemicals in computer manufacturing jobs. Most previous studies were of small cohorts and findings were inconsistent. A lawsuit involving a large U.S. company produced a data file for analysis. This study sought to elucidate patterns of mortality in workers who were engaged manufacturing computers and related electronic components in the largest database available to date.MethodsA proportional mortality and proportional cancer mortality analysis of deaths in eligible workers between 1969 and 2001 was carried out, with U.S. population mortality data as the standard for comparison. Mortality and work history data was from corporate mortality and work history files produced during litigation and standard U.S. and state mortality files. The study base comprised 31,941 decedents who died between 1969 and 2001, who had worked for at least five years and whose death information was collected in the corporate mortality file. Proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) and Proportional Cancer Mortality Ratios (PCMRs) and their 95% confidence intervals were computed for 66 causes of death in males and females.ResultsPMRs for all cancers combined were elevated in males (PMR = 107; 95% CI = 105–109) and females (PMR = 115; 95% CI = 110–119); several specific cancers and other causes of death were also significantly elevated in both males and females. There were reduced deaths due to non-malignant respiratory disease in males and females and heart disease in females; several specific cancers and other causes of death were significantly reduced in both males and females. Proportional cancer mortality ratios (PCMRs) for brain and central nervous system cancer were elevated (PCMR = 166; 95% CI = 129–213), kidney cancer (PCMR = 162; 95% CI = 124–212), melanoma of skin (PCMR = 179; 95% CI = 131–244) and pancreatic cancer (PCMR = 126; 95% CI = 101–157) were significantly elevated in male manufacturing workers. Kidney cancer (PCMR = 212; 95% CI = 116–387) and cancer of all lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue (PCMR = 162; 95% CI = 121–218) were significantly elevated in female manufacturing workers.ConclusionMortality was elevated due to specific cancers and among workers more likely to be exposed to solvents and other chemical exposures in manufacturing operations. Due to lack of individual exposure information, no conclusions are made about associations with any particular agent.

Informal Problem Solving in the Technology-Mediated Work Place

This paper reports the findings of a three-year ethnographic study of problem-solving activities in a high-tech computer manufacturing company. Contrary to the expressed belief that technology redu...

Design of an Automated Shop Floor Material Handling System with Inventory Considerations

Material handling systems are almost always intertwined with the production system they serve, but problems at this interface are rarely considered together. This paper develops a model that explicitly considers the costs of material handling and inventory to simultaneously design a material handling system and set shop floor inventory policy. The research was inspired by material handling problems we observed at computer manufacturing companies such as Apple Computer and Hewlett Packard Company. Shop floor inventory policies are often a result of trial and error or simple usage calculations—and material handling system design is usually addressed given an existing inventory policy. However, a tradeoff exists between shop floor inventory policy (reorder quantities and safety stock amounts) and demands for material handling. Inventory decisions can have a particularly large impact on cost when an automated material handling system, such as an automated guided vehicle system, is used to deliver materials. This paper develops a material handling/inventory system design model that is a nonlinear mixed integer program with nonlinear constraints, and presents a solution approach based on decomposition. Computational results show that simultaneous consideration of inventory policy and material handling system design can lead to significant reductions in overall production cost.

Commercial Pressures upon Electronic Publishing

Considers the tendency of individuals and companies to misuse their accreted power; with particular reference to commercial electronic publishing. Illustrates the threats posed to freedom of expression and circulation of ideas and information with three examples of recent trends. Considers the admission, by Bill Gates to a Senate Judiciary Committee enquiry, that the Microsoft Corporation imposes artificial restrictions upon computer manufacturing companies and information providers, which prevent them from promoting or preloading Netscape’s products. Considers also the pressure exerted by Rupert Murdoch on editors at HarperCollins to insist that an author, Chris Patten, tone down his comments on the Chinese government or cancel publication of his book. Considers that a more far reaching development was the proposed merger (since withdrawn) between the publishers, Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer, with its potential for imposing artificially restrictive conditions upon the use of their publications. Concludes by considering possible licensing conditions which would prevent academic publishers from restricting the manner and format in which their information could be stored, which could insist that electronic document delivery be considered as an integral part of a journal subscription.

Detection of submaximal effort with computer-assisted grip strength measurements.

The purpose of this study was to establish a simple observation to help in distinguishing patients who are giving their maximal effort during computer-assisted grip strength measurements from those who are not. Preliminary observations had suggested that maximal effort with this grip-strength device was characterized by greater force in the radial digits than the ulnar digits and a small variability in force between individual grasps. These observations were then prospectively analyzed in the following groups: (a) 178 assembly workers tested during a routine screening at a computer manufacturing company and during pre-placement physicals; (b) 196 workers with a hand injury or cumulative trauma disorder who were seeking consultation for medical treatment; (c) 55 workers with a hand injury or cumulative trauma disorder being measured to determine their return to work status or impairment rating; and (d) 58 asymptomatic volunteers. The volunteers were instructed to perform the maximal grip in the same fashion as the other groups and then to repeat the test exerting a submaximal effort they estimated to be 50% of their own maximal effort. The results of this study demonstrated that there is a highly significant association, P < 0.001, between the presence of a "total pattern" (radial over ulnar force being less than 1.0, unilateral grip variation greater than 15%, and difference between the left and right grip variation greater than 5%) and the presence of submaximal effort during grip-strength measurements.

The relationship between job status, gender and work-related stress amongst middle-aged employees in a computer manufacturing company.

職業性ストレスが心血管性疾患発生の危険因子の一つとして注目されている. Karasekらは仕事の意志決定度(Decision latitude: DL)と仕事の要求度(Job demand: JD)の2つの尺度を提唱し, JDが高くDLが低い集団に虚血性心疾患の発症が多いことを報告した.またJohnsonらは,これに社会的支援(Social support: SS)を加えたモデルにより, SSが低いほど心血管性疾患死亡率,有病率が高いことを示した.近年,川上らによりKarasekの考案したJob Content Questionnaire (JCQ)の日本語版が紹介されたので,これを用いて,あるコンピュータ製造企業の35-61歳の労働者の性および従業上の地位と, Karasekのモデルにより評価される職業性ストレスとの関連性を検討した.該当する労働者308人を対象としてJCQ質問票を用いた自己記入式のアンケート調査を実施した.最終的に286人から有効回答を得た(有効回答率93%).その結果,特にDL, SSにおいて,男性より女性で,また従業上の地位が低くなるほど得点が低くなり,したがってKarasekのモデルによる職業性ストレスが大であるという結果であった.対象者数も限られた今回の調査結果から断定的な結論は下せないが,従業上の地位の低い労働者の健康管理等にあたり,職業性ストレスが大きくなりがちであることと,それによる虚血性心疾患の発生にも,今後注意を払う必要のあることが示唆される.

ホワイトカラー男子勤務者の年齢層別にみた労働生活と健康状態 （第二報） 保健行動と健康状態

The purpose of this study is to clarify the age differences of health behavior and health status of the white color male workers. The data used in this study is obtained from a survey of 1131 male workers in a major national computer manufacturing company in 1988. 1) After controlling for section, position, income, and education, age affects on most of health behavior and health status of the white color male workers, excepting regular eating habitation, the number of absent days, stress feeling, and general fatigue. 2) The 24-29 year old group has the most problematic health behavior which is caused by longer working hours and therefore sitting up till late at night. They complaints cumulative fatigue symptoms more frequently and hold lower job morale than the higher age groups. 3) Health behaviors of the 30-39 year old group are also problematic. Frequent coffee intakes and smoking, restlessness, and lack of exercise are observed among this group. These damaging behaviors are caused by the greatest responsibility for their jobs and family. 4) The 40-49 year old group shows more improved health behaviors such as having enough exercise and rest than the previous groups. However, they tend to drink much because of settai or business dinner and complaint gastroenteric disorder most frequently in all age workers. 5) Health behaviors of the 50-53 year old group are generally well organized and health damaging effects from their work are not observed. Also their subjective health status measured with feeling of fatigue is the most desirable in all age groups. However, owing to their advanced age, they have geriatric disorder most frequently in all age groups.

ホワイトカラー男子勤務者の年齢層別にみた労働生活と健康状態 （第一報） 労働生活とライフスタイル

The purpose of this study is to examine the age differences of work and life of the white color male workers. The data used in this study is obtained from a survey of 1131 male workers in a major national computer manufacturing company in 1988. 1) After controlling for section, position, income, and education, age affects on most of work and life of the white color male workers. 2) The 24-29 year old group has the longest working hours in all age groups. The majority of this group retire the latest at night. Leisure activities and hobbies, not work, are meaningful to these workers. The degree of their job's satisfaction is the lowest. 3) The 30-39 year old workers find their work and family life most worthwhile. Moreover, the 35-39 year old group has a greater degree of satisfaction and load in both job and family life. 4) Finding shows that the 40-44 year old workers' working hours are shorter and their bed time is earlier than those of the workers aged below 40. A contradictory finding in observed between the 40-44 year old workers and the 45-49 year old workers. The former find their work meaningful, and the latter complaint frequently of the evaluation of their job ability made by their superintendents, and they value the leisure activities andhobbies than their job. 5) Although the 50-53 year old workers have the shortest working hours of all, their work are meaningful to them. They express, however, the highest degree of dissatisfaction with the evaluation of their job ability made by their superintendents.

Book review editor's note

I am implementing a suggestion made by Professor R.E. Nance (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) to seek out "systems sketches" from commercial sources of computer software and hardware (see &lt;u&gt;FORUM&lt;/u&gt;, Winter 1976). Letters are being mailed to computer manufacturing companies, software houses and consulting firms. If your company is interested in submitting a technical description of a new (or recently improved) database management system, operating system, or other major software or hardware project, please forward your material to Robert C. Groman, DESC Building, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543.