Quality Control Cost Research Articles

THE INFLUENCE OF STRESS ON THE HEALTH OF WORKERS IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The frequent occurrence of stress and job-related-stress in recent times on workers at workplaces has become a trend of worry to: employers, management, employees, organizations, and society as a whole. Stress has a tremendous effect on job satisfaction, production, and workers’ motivation. In this regard, the study methodology of this literature review focused on secondary sources of data. In-depth secondary sources of data was gathered to review trends of both past and current literature and to elicit conclusion and recommendations for future studies. The sources of secondary data include; books, publications on internet, peer-reviewed journal articles, and etc. Furthermore, this research work shows that the presence of this phenomenon among workers has enormous influence on their job efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace. This study concludes that the frequent incident of intense stress on individuals conveys a sequence of disturbing and negative physiological and health consequences. Underlying effect is a reduction in the job performance due to illness, injury, absenteeism, quality control cost, turnover cost, and violence.

DETERMINATION AND RANGING OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT DEFINE THE RATIONAL DECISIONS OF RE-BARS CONNECTION

Purpose. The paper proposes: 1) determination and formulation of factors that influence the choice of rational method for joining re-bars of vertical support members of reinforced concrete frame; 2) determination of factor parameters; 3) ranging of factors by the expert evaluation (Delphi) method. Methodology. In order to achieve research objectives, it is necessary to carry out analysis of existent rebar connection methods, determination of factors and parameter variation limits for each of the methods. Performing factor ranking by the expert evaluation method. Findings. The results of the questioning materials of 14 experts in the area of monolithic construction allowed setting the following: when choosing the rational re-bars connections, the most significant values are the factors that define the time parameters: possibility of carcassing, time of joining the re-bars, length of rebar cage, prior operation run time, operation time of main lifting equipment. Herewith the factors that define the rebar cage parameters have a direct relation to the work performance time, as they determine the amount of bar connections in the course of building erection over wide range. Economic factors – rebar connection cost and quality control cost – have the less value. It is obvious that in the conditions of considerable construction expenses it is advantageous for an investor to increase the rebar joining cost for the work growth rate. Structural and technological factors have the least value: origin of eccentric load transmission between re-bars, possibility of use of the thermally work-hardened re-bars of А500 and higher grades, work category for implementation of works, necessity to use the scaffold and appurtenances for re-enforcement of constructions. The reason is analogical: a contractor is ready to go to complication of technology with the purpose of reduction of the facility erection terms. As the calculated Pearson’s matching criterion χ2 = 47.24 is higher than the tabular one (22.36203), then the obtained concordance coefficient W=0.26 is not casual value, and that is why the obtained results make sense and can be used in further researches. Originality. The author obtained factors that influence the choice of the rational method for re-bars connection the most. Practical value. Ranging of factors will allow objective approaching to the problem of choice of re-bars connection method, optimizing the labour and material costs, and also reducing the construction time.

Inventory Network Optimization with Assembly Line Balancing

Inventory network administration works at three levels, vital, strategic and operational. While the vital approach for the most part relates to the streamlining of system assets, for example, outlining systems, area and assurance of the quantity of offices, and so on., strategic choices manage the mid-term, including creation levels at all plants, gathering strategy, stock levels and part sizes, and operational choices are identified with how to settle on the strategic choices occur temporarily, for example, creation arranging and booking. This paper gave an itemized meaning of Jigs and apparatuses, and furthermore distinguished the various focal points that are related with the utilization of jigs and apparatuses in assembling to include: generation increment, cost diminishment, compatibility what's more, high exactness of parts, decrease of the requirement for investigation and quality control costs, diminishment of mishap as security is enhanced, computerization of machine instrument to a considerable degree, simple machining of mind boggling and overwhelming parts, and also low inconstancy in measurement which prompts to steady nature of made items. The work likewise clarified that since the configuration is subject to various elements which are examined to accomplish an ideal yield, that jig and installations ought to be made of inflexible light materials to encourage simple dealing with. The paper primarily examines and investigates how to understand the enhancement of vital and strategic choices together in the inventory network. Hence, a store network arrange (SCN) plan issue is considered as a vital choice furthermore, the sequential construction system adjusting issue is taken care of as a strategic choice.

Logistics Processes Management In Supply Chain

The aim of the article was to develop a model for managing logistics processes in the supply chain. The use of process analysis and integration of logistics processes in the supply chain enabled the continuity of power in the process of supply and in the production process and it also enables the effective and efficient distribution process management. Basing on the developed map of logistics processes author of the article described the place in the process where one can apply optimization methods of quantity and quality. By using statistical quality control it was possible to shorten the duration of the adoption process of delivery to the warehouse, thereby lowering the cost of quality control. Integration of supply processes and production logistics in the supply chain enabled the continuity of power of parts in the production process, however thanks to the combination of methods DRP (Distribution Requirements Planning), Kanban, VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) and CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment) we obtain the effective and efficient distribution process management.

Microfabrication for Drug Delivery.

This review is devoted to discussing the application of microfabrication technologies to target challenges encountered in life processes by the development of drug delivery systems. Recently, microfabrication has been largely applied to solve health and pharmaceutical science issues. In particular, fabrication methods along with compatible materials have been successfully designed to produce multifunctional, highly effective drug delivery systems. Microfabrication offers unique tools that can tackle problems in this field, such as ease of mass production with high quality control and low cost, complexity of architecture design and a broad range of materials. Presented is an overview of silicon- and polymer-based fabrication methods that are key in the production of microfabricated drug delivery systems. Moreover, the efforts focused on studying the biocompatibility of materials used in microfabrication are analyzed. Finally, this review discusses representative ways microfabrication has been employed to develop systems delivering drugs through the transdermal and oral route, and to improve drug eluting implants. Additionally, microfabricated vaccine delivery systems are presented due to the great impact they can have in obtaining a cold chain-free vaccine, with long-term stability. Microfabrication will continue to offer new, alternative solutions for the development of smart, advanced drug delivery systems.

ANALISIS EFISIENSI PENGENDALIAN BIAYA KUALITAS PADA AKSAN BAKERY MANADO

Quality being the competitiveness of the most important for the company's products and also because the quality has been the hope and desire of everyone, especially the consumer. Customers are not going to focus on a product / service only in terms of price but in good quality inherent in the product or service. Viewed from the importance of the quality of products, each company needs to spend quality, cost of quality is the cost refers to the cost incurred to prevent or expenses incurred as a result of producing a quality product. Efforts to improve the quality of the product will not run without the cost of quality control to overcome the problems faced by the company, where quality control can help the company determine the feasibility of the quality of products based on control limits have been set. This study aims to see how the cost of quality control and to analyze the efficiency of the implementation cost of quality control conducted by Aksan Bakery in Manado. Analysis of the data used is descriptive analysis with qualitative approach and using methods of presentation quality cost ratio analysis to assess the efficiency cost of quality. Based on analysis of the cost of quality control conducted by the company it appears that the cost of quality control conducted by the company do not meet the quality standards that have been set at 2.5% of sales, for the cost of quality issued by the company is greater than a predetermined quality standards, namely amounting to 13.89% of sales. This may imply that the cost of quality control has not been carried out efficiently. Keywords : Efficiency , Cost of Quality

Progressive Plant Extension Applied to the Soil Treatment Facility of the “Arge Ground Unit”, Particularly Enhancement of the Treatment Range and Optimization of the Product Flows: An Example for Successful Urban Mining

The wet-mechanical soil treatment plant (soil washing plant) of the consortium “Arge Ground Unit”, located at the industrial area Linz (Upper Austria), was extended progressively. Particular mineral processing techniques were applied for the enrichment of contaminants and a continuous optimization process was implemented, pertaining all material flows from coarse gravel fraction to filter cake. Considerable quality control improvement and cost reduction were achieved by optimizing the wet-mechanical soil treatment plant. Particularly the disintegration and pre-separation of low-density material from the contaminated input material, the efficiency of the process water cycle and the decontamination of the sand fraction 0/4 mm were improved significantly in regard to higher PAH-contaminated material from the high priority remediation site ‘Cookery Linz (O76)’. In addition, flotation tests were performed with contaminated sand and dewatered filter cake, which finally led to the final extension step of integrating a two-step froth floatation unit into the existing plant concept for the treatment of the highly-contaminated thickener sludge. Owing to the plant expansion, the CO2 reduction within the operation period of 2009–2015 was in a considerable range of 2,280 metric tons. The current status and insights gained are subject of this technical note.

Simultaneous quantification of artesunate and mefloquine in fixed-dose combination tablets by multivariate calibration with middle infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares regression.

BackgroundMalaria is one of the most lethal and life-threatening infectious diseases in the world, causing more than half a million deaths annually. Treatment with mefloquine and artesunate is currently recommended by the World Health Organization, and was historically the first artemisinin-based combination therapy used clinically for treatment of Plasmodium falciparum. The problem of poor-quality medicines, such as counterfeit and sub-standard anti-malarials, is a worldwide issue; therefore, it is essential to develop rapid, low cost, solvent-free, and reliable methods for routine quality control for these drugs. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a novel multivariate method for direct simultaneous quantification of mefloquine and artesunate in tablets by diffuse reflectance, middle infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares regression (MIR-PLS).MethodsDiffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and partial least squares regression were applied for simultaneous quantification of artesunate and mefloquine in tablets provided by the Brazilian Government. The model was obtained with full spectra (4000–400 cm−1) preprocessed by first derivative and Savitzky-Golay smoothing followed by mean centring, and built with three latent variables. The method was validated according to Brazilian and international guidelines through the measuring of figures of merit, such as trueness, precision, linearity, analytical sensitivity, selectivity, bias, and residual prediction deviation. The results were compared to an HPLC–MS/MS method.ResultsThe MIR-PLS method provided root mean square errors of prediction lower than 2.0 mg per 100 mg of powder for the two analytes, and proved to be valid according to guidelines for analytical methods that use infrared (IR) spectroscopy with multivariate calibration. For the samples obtained from Brazilian healthcare units, the method provided results statistically similar to those obtained by HPLC–MS/MS.ConclusionMIR-PLS was found to be suitable for the quality control of these drugs. It is fast, does not use solvents, and does not generate chemical waste. Furthermore, the proposed method may be transferred and developed for use in portable equipment, increasing the possibilities for assessing the quality of these drugs.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONTROL LABOR AND COST AS THE MAIN MODE CONNECTION VALVE

Purpose. To substantiate the rational organizational and technological solutions of modern methods of con-trol quality for the main types of connection fittings on the example of the working reinforcement of vertical load-bearing elements of a monolithic reinforced concrete frame building. Methodology. Monitoring and operational timing of the basic quality control operations on the construction site, the comparison of the complexity and cost of existing methods of implementation of quality control. Comparison of the complexity of the regulatory and cost to the real. Findings. Based on these results a comparative analysis of the complexity and the cost of quality control of reinforcing connections. Defined the most rational ways valve connection relative to the cost and complexity of work on quality control. Less labor-intensive quality control is when the reinforcement splice. Quality control for welding vannoshovnogo. Originality. A comparative analysis of the complexity and the cost of quality control for the basic ways of connection fittings used on the territory of Ukraine. Practical value. When choosing a rational method of connection fittings must consider not only the design features of the building, the cost and time consuming reinforcement connections performance, but also the complexity of basic operations for quality control of reinforcement connections. Using a rational way to control the quality of rebar connections and improves the reliability of the results leads to significant cost savings, reduced labor costs and overall construction time.

Pork as a Source of Omega-3 (n-3) Fatty Acids.

Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, but typical feeding practices give it a high omega-6 (n-6) to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid ratio and make it a poor source of n-3 fatty acids. Feeding pigs n-3 fatty acids can increase their contents in pork, and in countries where label claims are permitted, claims can be met with limited feeding of n-3 fatty acid enrich feedstuffs, provided contributions of both fat and muscle are included in pork servings. Pork enriched with n-3 fatty acids is, however, not widely available. Producing and marketing n-3 fatty acid enriched pork requires regulatory approval, development costs, quality control costs, may increase production costs, and enriched pork has to be tracked to retail and sold for a premium. Mandatory labelling of the n-6/n-3 ratio and the n-3 fatty acid content of pork may help drive production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork, and open the door to population-based disease prevention polices (i.e., food tax to provide incentives to improve production practices). A shift from the status-quo, however, will require stronger signals along the value chain indicating production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork is an industry priority.

Integrated preventive maintenance and production decisions for imperfect processes

This paper integrates production, maintenance, and quality for an imperfect process in a multi-period multi-product capacitated lot-sizing context. The production system is modeled as an imperfect machine, whose the status is considered to be either in-control or out-of-control. When the machine is out of control, it produces a fraction of nonconforming items. During each period, this machine is inspected and imperfect preventive maintenance activities are simultaneously performed to reduce its age, proportional to the preventive maintenance level. The objective is to minimize the total cost, while satisfying the demand for all products. Our optimization model allows for a joint selection of the optimal values of production plan, and the maintenance policy, while taking into account quality related costs. A solution algorithm is developed and illustrative numerical examples are presented. It is found that the increase in PM level leads to reductions in quality control costs. Furthermore, if the cost of performing PM is high to the point where it is not compensated for by reductions in the quality related costs, then performing PM is not justifiable. Finally, using non-periodic preventive maintenance with the possibility of different preventive maintenance levels may result in an improvement of the total cost.

Determining an optimal production run length with an extended quality control policy for an imperfect process

In this paper an extended quality control policy is proposed for determining the optimal production run length, where the production system is subjected to random deterioration from an in-control state to an out-of-control state and in which the elapsed time until the process shift is assumed to be a general shift distribution. To minimize the quality-related cost for a given production run length, a quality control policy for product inspection, repair and salvage was rigorously developed. The conditions for the two most commonly used inspection policies, namely no inspection or full inspection, were explored. Also, our proposed quality control policy is an extension of several previously reported proposals. In our proposed quality control policy, the optimal production run length can be obtained by minimizing the expected total cost per product per production cycle, which includes the costs of setup, inventory holding, process maintenance and quality control. Herein, we provide an illustrated numerical example to show how the use of our proposed quality control model for determining optimal production run length results in a lower cost per product than the model proposed by Hu and Zong (2009).

Preparing for budget-based payment methodologies: global payment and episode-based payment.

Use of budget-based payment methodologies (capitation and episode-based bundled payment) has been demonstrated to drive value in healthcare delivery. With a focus on high-volume, high-cost surgical procedures, inclusion of anaesthesiology services in these methodologies is likely. This review provides a summary of budget-based payment methodologies and practical information necessary for anaesthesiologists to prepare for participation in these programmes. Although few examples of anaesthesiologists' participation in these models exist, an understanding of the structure of these programmes and opportunities for participation are available. Prospective preparation in developing anaesthesiology-specific bundled payment profiles and early participation in pathway development associated with selected episodes of care are essential for successful participation as a gainsharing partner. With significant opportunity to contribute to care coordination and cost management, anaesthesiology can play an important role in budget-based payment programmes and should expect to participate as full gainsharing partners. Precise costing methodologies and accurate economic modelling, along with identification of quality management and cost control opportunities, will help identify participation opportunities and appropriate payment and gainsharing agreements. Anaesthesiology-specific examples with budget-based payment models are needed to help guide increased participation in these programmes.

How to Evaluate the Performance of the Taiwan Biotech and Biopharmaceutical Corporations?

Modern biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, the most developmental mainstream, has been generally acknowledged in the 21 st century. The approach of this study surmounted the traditional DEA and SFA, combining with modified Delphi approach, ISM, FANP and performance evaluation table to build evaluation mode of operating performance precisely and completely in Taiwan biotech and pharmaceutical corporations. Considering 4 criteria and 18 sub-criteria complied to evaluate the operating performance in the enterprise. The analyzed result appeared, the significance of criteria is “Product and technology R&D”, “Financial performance”, “Production and quality management” and “Organization characteristics and operation management” in sequence. The top 5 key sub-criteria influence the evaluation of operating performance in Taiwan biotech and pharmaceutical corporations are “Profitability”, “Efficiency of production and cost”, “Innovative products and R&D strategies”, “Quality management and cost control” and “Operation strategy and business mode”. The last 5 key sub-criteria are “Human resources management”, “Project management”, “Innovation of process technology”, “Competence of financial operation” and “Market share”. Finally, the top 10 of conglomerate revenue in listed companies taken as the sample of empirical research on this study. According to the experts’ evaluation, the total point of weighted average is 58.9020 of whole sample in complete period in all enterprises, which fell at the grade of ‘Slightly good’ as a whole. The related results accord with the real situation in the industry. The result of this study is able to be a significant basis as the policies drawn up by government, operating performance evaluated by the enterprise and investment target measured by the investors.

Gaps in Material Specifications—A Manufacturer's Perspective

Abstract There are numerous areas of materials specifications accepted or not covered regarding current specifications in ASTM, American Concrete Institute (ACI), or other recognized standards groups. In the past, specifications made utilizing ASTM C150 portland cement and ASTM C33 aggregates were the norm. Utilization of supplementary cementitious materials added to the potential for quality improvements and cost control. Further expansion occurred with use of recycled aggregates, re-graded and blended with conventional aggregates. Newer cements and aggregates have been researched, produced on a limited basis and tested. Some have been proven to be successful and are in use commercially. Some are used in Ultra High Performance Concretes. The use of these materials has been hindered by lack of inclusion in specifications. In those cases that have had specifications for these newer materials developed, lack of acceptance by building codes, departments of transportation, and others has hindered their use. Efforts are needed to develop standard specifications as needed along with efforts to gain acceptance by building codes and transport bodies. It will describe acceptances gained and further efforts needed.

Multi-Point Stereovision System for Contactless Dimensional Measurements

The paper focuses on the design of a fast and reliable multi-point vision-based measurement system able to be flexible, low cost and accurate for quality control in industrial robotics applications. The paper discusses a new method for integrating visual quality control in highly dynamic manufacturing lines, where products are added or removed from production. The structure of the vision-based measurement system is described. In particular, the stereo system is created by the movement of a single camera mounted on a six-axis manipulator. The visual software is structured in three phases: single camera and stereo calibration, addition of the visual inspection tasks for the object to be measured, stereo measurement. The feasibility of the proposed solution has been tested in a real industrial application with strong requirements on robot speed. The comparison of experimental results on a target with a simple and well-defined shape has shown that the proposed solution provides better results, in terms of accuracy and measurement speed, when compared to commercial libraries and RGBD vision systems. Besides, the robot motion policy adopted by the solution proposed here guarantees a continuous movement without the need for stop&go phases.

A fuzzy quality cost estimation method

Quality cost control is one of the most important aspects in the development of a quality management system. This paper presents a method for the estimation of quality cost that aims to take into account the so-called hidden quality costs, which are typically unobserved or unknown. Although this is a subject that has already been approached in other studies, subjectivity and uncertainty are not included in their formal approach, which any attempt to address hidden quality costs should include. Our methodology begins by observing the position each business occupies in Crosby's Quality Management Maturity Grid. Obtaining the stage index on the basis of the experts' opinions permits the valuation of the company's membership for each of the stages of Crosby's Maturity Grid. The application of Crosby's corrector coefficient to an adequate weighting of the stage index makes it possible to obtain the fuzzy number quality cost. The measures obtained and their short-term predictions enable us to know the situation at all times and act accordingly, establishing precise corrective plans that will correct tendencies and make continuous improvement possible.

The United States Health System in Transition

—After six years of an intensely polarized legislative and implementation process, the United States has achieved significant national health reform. Though much implementation work remains, the essential reform structure stands and is increasingly immune from repeal by its opponents. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the first law ever in US history to attempt comprehensive health reform by simultaneously addressing access, quality, and cost control. Regarding access, the ACA is on target to cover about half the US uninsured population by 2017, or 92% of all citizens and authorized immigrants, though offering no meaningful lessons to all other advanced nations that have already created universal health insurance systems. Regarding quality improvement and cost control, the ACA's numerous initiatives will offer increasingly valuable evidence and insights to other advanced nations struggling to develop greater efficiency, quality, and effectiveness in their medical care systems. The US is moving quickly and unevenly to transform its health care financing model away from fee-for-service and toward a capitated-accountable-global payment structure that rewards quality and efficiency over volume. As the political storm over “Obamacare” subsides, policy makers will increasingly focus on making continuous policy improvements to this historic law.

Cost of quality control to improve production cost efficiency and sales productivity (Case study on companies in Sidoarjo)

Companies require producing quality products at competitive prices. As a result, they should have an edge or more value than their competitors. This study aims to determine the optimal cost of quality control to be able to improve cost efficiency and productivity in the company. This study is using a qualitative approach. This case study is using interviews with managers and employees of the accounting firms to get information and documents. It shows that the companies have not yet reported the cost of quality; neither did they set standards for the cost of quality. Beside they did not analyze the reports relating to the cost of quality. The companies expected to report the cost of quality in particular, apart from reports of production costs. In charge of quality control, the company expected to set the standard for the cost of quality that should be removed. Control over the cost of quality also should be accompanied by an increase in sales. Analysis on the cost of quality cost should be done so at the expense of quality control can improve cost efficiency and productivity of the Company.

Is the readmission rate a valid quality indicator? A review of the evidence.

Introduction Hospital readmission rates are increasingly used for both quality improvement and cost control. However, the validity of readmission rates as a measure of quality of hospital care is not evident. We aimed to give an overview of the different methodological aspects in the definition and measurement of readmission rates that need to be considered when interpreting readmission rates as a reflection of quality of care.Methods We conducted a systematic literature review, using the bibliographic databases Embase, Medline OvidSP, Web-of-Science, Cochrane central and PubMed for the period of January 2001 to May 2013.Results The search resulted in 102 included papers. We found that definition of the context in which readmissions are used as a quality indicator is crucial. This context includes the patient group and the specific aspects of care of which the quality is aimed to be assessed. Methodological flaws like unreliable data and insufficient case-mix correction may confound the comparison of readmission rates between hospitals. Another problem occurs when the basic distinction between planned and unplanned readmissions cannot be made. Finally, the multi-faceted nature of quality of care and the correlation between readmissions and other outcomes limit the indicator's validity.ConclusionsAlthough readmission rates are a promising quality indicator, several methodological concerns identified in this study need to be addressed, especially when the indicator is intended for accountability or pay for performance. We recommend investing resources in accurate data registration, improved indicator description, and bundling outcome measures to provide a more complete picture of hospital care.