Product Quality Standards Research Articles

Challenges in Agribusiness and Rural Tourism Development in Albania

Agricultural sector is one of sectors that has a huge impact on the economy. Agricultural production is increasing but it has not had any lasting impact. On the other hand, the impact of investment in value chains, including different factors, resulted successful in increasing agricultural productivity and profitability, and this impact have demonstrated a high degree of economic stability. Thus, tourism is one of the most perspective sectors in Albania. There are also many difficulties, such as the lack of services, marketing or infrastructure. Furthermore, agribusiness sector and rural tourism have difficulties in funding because of lack of technology, lower product quality standards and market. Based on these facts, in this paper, we have analysed empirically difficulties of this sector and the opportunity to develop it. The main purpose of our research is to design a strategy for development of agribusiness and rural tourism sector. The methodology is based on primary and secondary sources. More specifically, we refer to previous research by other authors and other studies made by government and private agencies. The main goal is to provide data through interviews of business representatives. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p105

The role of European Pharmacopoeia monographs in setting quality standards for biotherapeutic products

The role of European Pharmacopoeia monographs in setting quality standards for biotherapeutic products

The Need for Product Quality Standards for Wheelchairs Provided in Less-Resourced Settings

The Need for Product Quality Standards for Wheelchairs Provided in Less-Resourced Settings

Joint Shewhart control charts for location and scale monitoring in finite horizon processes

Small production runs are becoming increasingly important in the manufacturing environment thanks to the technology advancements allowing products to be customized at competitive costs. Similarly, increasing flexibility in high volume production can allow for frequent and rapid changeovers from one part code to another to meet the lean principles. These manufacturing processes are characterized by finite production horizons. To assure high quality standards of products during a finite horizon production, implementing an efficient on-line process monitoring is a critical issue. In this paper we compare the performance of several control charts jointly monitoring location and scale for observations with a location-scale distribution in a finite horizon process where a limited number of inspections is scheduled. For an investigated set of symmetric distributions, our results show that the joint control charts implementing a signed-rank SR statistic and either the Downton’s D estimator or the average absolute deviation MD from median generally perform the best. An example illustrates the implementation of the control charts on a simulated dataset.

A qualitative model to evaluate biowaste composting management systems using causal diagrams: a case study in Colombia

This paper uses a systems thinking approach to analyze the elements that influence biowaste composting implementation. The review of local, national, and international experiences as well as the knowledge gained by the monitoring of the operation of five biowaste composting facilities in Valle del Cauca (Colombia) over an 8-year period has enabled to identify the elements that interact in an integrated composting system. Twenty-five key elements were identified and divided into four subsystems relevant to composting performance: quality and commercialization of the product, technological component, substrate characteristics, and business and financial management. Several causal diagrams were produced illustrating the interactions and integrating those elements. The systemic analysis helped to elucidate key strategies to improve biowaste composting sustainability: promoting administration within a business perspective, promoting marketing and commercialization initiatives, and implementing local technological development. In addition, some strategies more distant along the causal chain were proposed such as: developing standards and public policies to promote source separation, recognizing the economic and environmental benefits of composting, encouraging the use of products, such as compost, setting product quality standards in accordance with the potential uses of products and supporting technological development.

НАПРЯМКИ ПІДВИЩЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ АГРАРНОГО ВИРОБНИЦТВА В УМОВАХ ЄВРОІНТЕГРАЦІЇ

The paper recognized that important aspects of the specified Ukraine European integration course, is ensuring that European agricultural products quality and safety standards and, therefore, increase the competitiveness of agriculture of countries in the European market of agricultural products. The situation on the domestic agricultural market, points to the ineffectiveness of Ukraine defined priorities and directions of development of agrarian sector. It was established that the position of Ukrainian agricultural production has not reached the level at which began a rapid decline in the development of the agricultural sector. On this basis, highlights the main problems and lead to the worsening economic situation in the industry. Introduction to the principles of the Single Agricultural Policy of the EU revealed that at its core is a system of state regulation and financial support to the agricultural sector, which provides tax regulation and promotion of agricultural production, government support and funding for agricultural development, and aims to support agricultural cooperatives, management technical the progress and development of human resource capacity of the agricultural sector workers of the Member states. On this basis, determined that the European integration scenario Ukrainian agricultural production should be based on the current transformation of the existing principles of the industry and provide for technical and technological modernization of farms, improving their innovation activity, introduction of modern mechanisms to attract investment funds and harmonization of quality standards for agricultural products. An essential part of this process should be a system of state regulation and support the development of the agricultural sector, to facilitate an enabling environment for the realization of economic transformation in the industry and ensure improvement of the competitiveness of domestic agricultural production in the European market of agricultural products.

Development of methods for determination of phenolic acids and flavonoids in capsules containing Corylus avellana L. Dry extract

The questions of standardization and quality control of both herbs and herbal remedies remain relevant, because it is well-known that product quality standards are essential, whether consumer using herbs or drugs. The necessity of the standardization methods development for the initial herbal material and capsule dosage form for the further quality control under manufacturing conditions remains relevant. Aim. The aim of our research was to develop simple, specific, accurate and reproducible methods for identification of flavonoids and phenolic acids in capsule dosage form containing Corylus avellana L. dry extract. Methods. The samples of gelatine capsules containing Corylus avellana L. dry extract for oral administration were analyzed. The analysis was carried out using Camag HPTLC system. The absorption spectroscopy determination of the sum of flavonoids was carried out using THERMO Scientific Evolution 60S Spectroscope in wavelength range of 300–600 nm. Results. As a result of HPTLC research rutine and quercitrine have been identified in capsule dosage form containing Corylus avellana L. dry extract. Among phenolic acids, neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids have been identified. Under the given conditions, the spectrum of the test solution had a maximum absorption at wavelength 406 nm. The analysis of flavonoids total content in gelatine capsules containing Corylus avellana L. dry extract calculated as rutine has shown the content of 1,7 %. Conclusion. Effective HPTLC and absorption spectroscopy methods for determination of flavonoids and phenolic acids in capsule dosage form containing Corylus avellana L. dry extract have been developed. It has been found that described methods are promising enough for standardization of capsules with Corylus avellana L. dry extract and may be suggested for the quality control of the dosage form under manufacturing conditions

CD 1805 - Wheat with flour characteristics for cookie baking

CD 1805, indicated for the wheat growing in Regions 1, 2 and 3 in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana. The cultivar has quality standards for cookie production and high yield performance with a mean of 3899 kg ha-1, exceeding the controls by 4%.

Information for authors

Information for authors

Vertically Linked Industries, Product Quality and Minimum Quality Standards

Abstract This paper extends the seminal model of vertical product differentiation by Ronnen (1991) to a two-tier supply chain. While Ronnen considers the duopoly case, we add a vertical structure such that each downstream firm procures an input from a monopolistic upstream supplier. While simultaneous up- and downstream regulation in the form of a minimum quality standard restores Ronnen’s findings, if only one firm is regulated in the vertical chain, a free-rider effect results: all the bargaining power is given to the non-regulated member of the chain, which uses it to free-ride on the pressure exerted by the regulator onto the other member.

Defining Risk Assessment Severity Level of Geographical Indication Product Salak Pondoh (Sallaca edulis cv Reinw) Sleman

<p>Assessing severity level of agricultural products, including those with geographical indication (GI), is important to properly maintain their quality level. This study aimed to identify risk types of GI products and define their severity levels. The identification of risk types and definition of severity levels of GI products had been done on Salak Pondoh Sleman, which has been certified since 2014. These two objectives had been achieved through two approaches: (1) the use of international/ national quality standards of horticultural products; and (2) in-depth interview with each business actor at all tier of the product’s supply chain. The results are discussed in the paper. </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: geographical indication, risk assessment, Salak Pondoh Sleman, severity level </p>

THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE EXPORT POTENTIAL AND ITS FORMATION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF INTEGRATION

The aim of the article is to analyze the factors affecting the export capacity of the country and their interpretation by domestic and foreign scientists; to distinguish the basic classification and to form the unified system of factors that affect export potential of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises. On the basis of the classification of factors it is necessary to distinguish the main stages of development of the export opportunities of agrarian formations in the context of European integration. The method. Theoretical and methodological basis of the study is a critical analysis of the fundamental works devoted to the export potential increasing. The given tasks were solved on the basis of a systematic approach with using the scientific methods of analysis and synthesis. The method of abstraction was used in order to research the economic essence of the economic factors that impact the export potential of the company. The combination of the methods of analysis and synthesis were used to determine the priority directions of export opportunities development. The results of the research. The analysis of theoretical approaches to identify factors influencing the export potential of the enterprise is provided. This allowed identifying the several directions of classification. Results of the research helped to shape a common classification of factors that affect the export potential of agricultural enterprises and to distinguish the integration processes as a separate group of factors. On the basis of the classification of the main factors it was formed the phase of development of export opportunities in the context of approximation of the Ukrainian economy to the European standards. The prospects of development of the domestic agriculture export potential under the influence of international integration processes are grounded. They consist of the ability to increase the efficiency by redistribution of export volumes among major importers. The directions of activating the process of increase of efficiency of the basic agricultural branches export potential using by creating a positive image of agricultural enterprises and the directions of improving product competitiveness and quality standards of the European Union are determined. The recommendations for the ways of regulatory policy improvement at forming the legal provision of export potential in the context of European integration are developed (the selective support of structural changes in ways that exclude the possibility of using protectionist instruments by trading partners; creating the information system of foreign trade; expert and consultative support of export transactions). The practical meaning. The practical meaning of the results is the formation of the unified classification and grounding the factors which influence on the export potential of agricultural enterprises. The conclusions can be used in further improving the mechanism of foreign policy in Ukraine, in particular, in the process of the legal and regulatory framework improving, and in the process of assessing the prospects of the development of the international cooperation between Ukraine and foreign countries by Ukrainian ministries and special agencies. Significance/originality. The formed classification of factors will help to provide a better understanding of the export potential formation and can be used in management decisions by the leaders of farms in Ukraine and others countries.

Enhancement of Productivity of Traditional Brass Manufacturing Industry Using Sustainable Manufacturing Concept

The Sri Lankan Brass manufacturing industry has evolved through centuries. Since then, this industry has been operated as family business, there are many gaps compared to modern manufacturing industries. Hence it faces sever threats from different aspects including escalation of raw material prices, proper reverse logistic mechanism to collect scarp brass material, lack of competencies to adapt new technology. This research is carried out to investigate the adaptation of appropriate technology to replace traditional sand casting process and manual sheet metal carving process. As a secondary measure, a methodology is developed to introduce appropriate technology to marginalized community as University - Industry partnership. This is paramount important since they do not have required level of technical competencies to use CAD, CAM. Outcomes reveal that there are number of productivity enhancements in terms of product quality, material efficiency and process standardization.

Human resource management at 'AD Imlek Belgrade'

Human resources include overall human potential within an organization: the available knowledge and experience, usable skills and abilities, possible ideas and creations, the level of motivation and interest in the achievement of organizational objectives, etc. The objective of this paper is to highlight the role and importance of human resource management (HRM) in achieving business success, based on the analysis of the most important theoretical and practical aspects of human resource management at the 'Imlek' Company. This study required the use of different methods and techniques such as: content analysis, case study, observation, testing and systemic approach. The study showed that sale of the Imlek Company products was widespread in the country and the region. An ongoing market advantage is achieved due to a high quality standard of products, and primarily due to an effective management of human resources. Company management should make formalization and unification, and implement a set of measures in order to improve discipline of the employees. Top workers should be motivated through incentives for performance and innovation.

THE PERFORMANCE OF JUICER MACHINE ON VEGETABLE MILK PRODUCTION FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRIES

The purpose of this research is to make juicer machine to produce vegetable milk for small and medium-scale industries, and the machine has been able to be made with a juicer machine dimensions 90 cm X 40 cm X 114 cm. With ½ HP motor power and motor speed 1420 r / min so as to grind soy beans, green beans and corn with a production capacity of each of the milk is on average 15 liters, 12 liters and 12 liters.The first study is to design and create a juicer machine to produce vegetable milk based soy bean, green beans and corn by using some filter size is 60 mesh, 80 mesh and 100 mesh to obtain a best filter size for each type of vegetable milk. And organoleptic test to determine the level of preference for vegetable milk and obtained the most preferred type of vegetable milk is soy milk with a 100 mesh filter.Anti-E.coli test result on vegetable milk as product quality standards, not found any E. coli in each sample tested. While the feasibility of vegetable milk production using a juicer machine is feasible to use in the business of making the three types of vegetable milk because it can give the advantage of 1.20-fold for each unit of the issued capital, the benefits outweigh the effort of making industrial scale vegetable milk usual household. And in terms of the market, producing vegetable milk is still a promising business seen from vegetable milk organoleptic test average of 60% is still loved and considers it important to consume vegetable milk.

A Framework for Evaluating the Software Product Quality of Pregnancy Monitoring Mobile Personal Health Records.

Stakeholders' needs and expectations are identified by means of software quality requirements, which have an impact on software product quality. In this paper, we present a set of requirements for mobile personal health records (mPHRs) for pregnancy monitoring, which have been extracted from literature and existing mobile apps on the market. We also use the ISO/IEC 25030 standard to suggest the requirements that should be considered during the quality evaluation of these mPHRs. We then go on to design a checklist in which we contrast the mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring requirements with software product quality characteristics and sub-characteristics in order to calculate the impact of these requirements on software product quality, using the ISO/IEC 25010 software product quality standard. The results obtained show that the requirements related to the user's actions and the app's features have the most impact on the external sub-characteristics of the software product quality model. The only sub-characteristic affected by all the requirements is Appropriateness of Functional suitability. The characteristic Operability is affected by 95% of the requirements while the lowest degrees of impact were identified for Compatibility (15%) and Transferability (6%). Lastly, the degrees of the impact of the mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring requirements are discussed in order to provide appropriate recommendations for the developers and stakeholders of mPHRs for pregnancy monitoring.

REDUÇÃO DO TEMPO NO PROCESSO DE COZIMENTO DE MORTADELA E AVALIAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE FINAL DO PRODUTO

Resumo Em indústrias de alimentos, o processo de cozimento é um dos mais importantes para a conservação e garantia da qualidade do produto final, principalmente de mortadelas. Porém, este é um processo que necessita de elevados investimentos em equipamentos modernos, além de apresentarem gastos com energia elétrica e vapor. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi propor um método de cozimento das mortadelas elaboradas com carne suína e com carne de frango com tempo reduzido pelo aumento da temperatura no interior da estufa. Foram realizadas avaliações do comportamento da atividade de água (Aw), pH e textura das mortadelas ao longo da vida de prateleira. A partir dos resultados obtidos, foi possível verificar que tanto as mortadelas cozidas pelo processo atual quanto as que passaram pelo processo de cozimento em tempo reduzido não apresentaram diferenças significativas com 95% de confiança para nenhuma das características analisadas. Sendo assim, todos os tratamentos apresentaram valores próximos e podem ser considerados dentro dos padrões estabelecidos de qualidade dos produtos, tanto para a atividade de água quanto para pH e textura.

ANALISIS FAKTOR-FAKTOR PENENTU KEBERHASILAN KLASTER (STUDI PADA KLASTER PERTANIAN TERPADU KABUPATEN SUKOHARJO)

<div class="WordSection1"><p><em>Center for Integrated Farming in Agribusiness</em><em> </em><em>Regency</em><em> Sukoharjo is one of</em><em> </em><em>centers in the Sukoharjo Regency</em><em> </em><em>potential number of units SM</em><em>E’s</em><em> agribusiness, which has considerable potential to further developed</em><em> </em><em>forward. The research method is implemented with the survey and FGD (Focus Group Discussion). </em><em>The results showed </em><em>s</em><em>takeholders </em><em>performance </em><em>within </em><em>Integrated </em><em>Agricultural Cluster </em><em>development </em><em>seen from the achievement of the results of the institutional activities that had been undertaken by </em><em>related agencies involved in the Integrated Agriculture cluster development in </em><em>Sukoharjo</em><em>, Sukoharjo Regency FEDEP, among others, the </em><em>Bappeda Sukoharjo Regency</em><em>, </em><em>local Government of </em><em>Sukoharjo through service related, and </em><em>Agricultural Cluster Integrated Rembug Forum as targets of mentoring activities during this FEDEP is enough well, though still not optimal. The role of BDS (Business Development Service) as escort agency nor an escort FEDEP Integrated Agricultural Cluster during this already plays well. The role of the College during this already good. While the</em><em> role of </em><em>financing institution has also been good, especially Banking as long as it's been good in support of cluster development in </em><em>integrated </em><em>agricultural.</em><em> </em><em>The role of the association profession</em><em> </em><em>and</em><em> </em><em>non government (NGO)</em><em> </em><em>in Sukoharjo Regency have already </em><em>good </em><em>much seen in Integrated Agriculture cluster development Sukoharjo Regency</em><em> </em><em>.</em><em> </em><em>Determinants of the success of the integrated Agriculture Cluster, among others, specialization, research and development capacity, knowledge and skills, </em><em>human resource </em><em>development, networking and social capital, proximity to suppliers, capital availability, the soul of entrepreneurship, as well as leadership and shared vision. Determinants of the success of the integrated Agriculture Cluster, among others, specialization, research and development capacity, knowledge and skills, </em><em>human resource</em><em> development, networking and social capital, proximity to suppliers, capital availability, the soul of entrepreneurship, as well as leadership and shared vision. Some of the determinants of the success of the cluster has been running quite well for example in terms of networking and social capital, proximity to suppliers, and the spirit of entrepreneurship, while other factors are still not running optimally. Suggestions in this study include 1). </em><em>Capacity building of</em><em> institutional FEDEP and Agricultural Integrated Cluster Forum Sukoharjo Regency, </em><em>2) </em><em>upgrade </em><em>human resource in </em><em>Cluster of integrated Farming, with a wide range of training courses is gradually and continuously</em><em>, intensively involved with the College and the </em><em>state-owned enterprises </em><em>as well as private </em><em>owned companies</em><em>, and 3).</em><em> </em><em>Network Development efforts on Integrated Agricultural Cluster through the integrated system between the sub cluster, through cooperation between the sub cluster associated with the provision of raw materials, production technology, product innovation, product quality standards (certification), institutional, and product marketing, with facilitation and mentoring of stakeholders associated within FEDEP Sukoharjo Regency</em><em>. </em><em>The expected </em><em>s</em><em>ynergies also </em><em>i</em><em>ntercity </em><em>in SOLO RAYA.</em></p></div>

Increasing energy access: the rise of pay-as-you-go solar and innovative financing partnerships

Improving access to sustainable energy services and reducing the carbon footprint and deforestation of developing countries presents a substantial challenge to the development industry. This paper aims to critically assess two prevalent business models emerging to meet this challenge: financial institution–technology provider partnerships and the one-stop-shop, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model. The authors find that collaborations between financial institutions and energy providers need to address grey areas such as product quality standards, marketing, and post-sales services, and incorporate feedback loops to continually evaluate the performance of the partnership. Pay-as-you-go presents an intriguing business case to leapfrog more traditional energy access programmes. However, more robust results from the field need to be reported before the PAYG movement can claim success. Ultimately, collaborative and integrated actions by all stakeholders are needed to achieve universal energy access.

Testing Procedure for Timber Strength Grading

Despite the variability and particularities that the timber reveals, the strength class grading system has been developed to meet the need to correlate structural design standards with quality standards for timber products. The paper presents the standardised approaches for determining the characteristic values of properties for timber products, with the purpose of classifying the material according to the strength classes system presented in European standards.