Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Quality assurance of product'

Durant ces dernières années la qualité a beaucoup évolué. Elle est passée d'une qualité contrôlée à une qualité totale. Cette évolution oblige les entreprises à rechercher de nouvelles. Les travaux réalisés dans ce mémoire de thèse ont pour objectif de contribuer efficacement à l'amélioration des méthodes et techniques pour maitriser la qualité des produits. Ces travaux, pluridisciplinaires, couvrent des domaines aussi différents que l'informatique, l'organisation et la statistique. Ce mémoire de thèse a été structuré en trois contributions distinctes : - une intégration des données issues du processus de contrôle qualité dans un système d'information unifié. - une réalisation d'un modèle qualimétrique pour évaluer la mise en place d'un modèle normatif d'assurance qualité. - une analyse critique des conditions d'utilisation des plans d'expériences pour optimiser les procédés.

Cette thèse étudie deux facteurs majeurs pour le bien-être individuel, la qualité de l'emploi et l'accès aux soins. Dans le premier chapitre, nous étudions l'effet de la perte d’emploi suite à une fermeture d’usine sur un large panel d’indicateurs mesurant la qualité de l'emploi retrouvé. Nous utilisons une stratégie d’appariement exact par tranche qui prend en compte les inobservables fixes dans le temps. Nos résultats principaux montrent une dégradation de la qualité de l’emploi suite au licenciement, dont la durée et l’ampleur dépendent de la dimension considérée. Le second chapitre étudie l'impact d'une assurance maladie publique plus généreuse sur la consommation de soins de santé. Nous utilisons la coexistence de deux systèmes d'assurance maladie en France, tous deux publics et obligatoires : le système national, et le régime local d'Alsace Moselle, donc les taux de remboursement sont plus élevés. Nous évaluons comment les personnes déménageant en Alsace Moselle modifient leur consommation de soins, en utilisant les personnes déménageant entre d’autres régions françaises comme groupe de contrôle. En étudiant plusieurs postes de santé, nous trouvons qu’au total, le régime d’Alsace Moselle n’engendre pas de hausse des dépenses. Le dernier chapitre s'intéresse à l'effet de l'achat groupé sur les prix des médicaments dans les hôpitaux français, en utilisant les créations de groupements entre 2009 et 2014. Nos données contiennent les prix d’achat des médicaments innovants dans les hôpitaux publics. Nos résultats montrent que l'achat groupé baisse les prix des médicaments en oligopole, mais n'a aucun impact sur les prix des médicaments qui n'ont pas de concurrents<br>This thesis focuses on two major aspects of individual well-being : job quality and the availability of medical care. We first investigate the long-term effects of job displacement on several dimensions of job quality. We use a coarsened exact matching method that takes into account time-invariant unobservables. Our main findings point to a deterioration of job quality after displacement. The magnitude and duration of the observed negative impact depends on the dimension considered. The second chapter studies the impact of a more generous public health insurance. We use the coexistence of two compulsory public health insurance systems in France, the national system, and the Alsace Moselle local system, which offers higher reimbursement rates. We investigate how moving to Alsace Moselle affects healthcare consumption, taking individuals who move between other French regions as a control group. Overall, we show that the Alsace Moselle local system does not increase healthcare consumption. The third chapter estimates the impact of group purchasing on medicine prices in French hospitals. We take advantage of the creation of regional purchasing groups between 2009 and 2014. We use a unique database that provides information on the average annual prices paid by public hospitals for all innovative medicines. Using a fixed effects model controlling for medicine-specific bargaining abilities of hospitals and medicine-specific price trends, we find that group purchasing reduces prices of medicines in oligopoly markets, but has no impact on prices of medicines for which there exist no competitors

Geometrical variation is an unavoidable aspect in all types of manufacturing that may, unless managed, risk failure in fulfilling product requirements which may result in rework, delays and bad publicity. The term geometry assurance includes the tools, methods and processes that can be utilized to manage the effects of geometrical variation and to ensure fulfillment of esthetical, functional and assembly requirements. While state of the art research in geometry assurance is extensively applied within the automotive and aerospace industries with great success, its application in low volume manufacturing of complex products remains limited. The shipbuilding industry is an example of such an industry, often manufacturing large and complex products in low quantities. Further, the shipbuilding industry has historically been labor-intensive and relied on craftsmanship throughout the product realization process. However, studies indicate that a technology-intensive development is crucial for companies in order to maintain market competitiveness. This transition places high demands on a well-established geometry assurance process in order to ensure successful assembly and fulfillment of product requirements.  In this thesis, a feasibility study is conducted on how geometry assurance may be applied in low volume manufacturing of complex products. By developing guidelines on how geometry assurance may be applied, the purpose is to improve geometrical quality throughout the product realization process and to reduce lead times, costs and increase assembly precision.  To explore the feasibility of geometry assurance in low volume manufacturing of complex products, a work structure consisting of three phases was established. In the first phase, a current state analysis of the collaboration partner Saab Kockums was conducted parallel to studying state of the art research in geometry assurance. In phase two, the state of practice of companies in the automotive and aerospace industries was studied in order to determine how they apply state of the art research. By interviewing industry specialists and combining gained knowledge from the first two phases, guidelines on how geometry assurance may be applied in low volume manufacturing of complex products was developed. In phase three, based on these guidelines, suggestions on how the geometry assurance process in pipe manufacturing at Saab Kockums can be improved was developed. The results of this study indicate that geometry assurance is applicable in low volume manufacturing of complex products. However, alternative methods may be required. Based on gained knowledge and insights from interviews with industry specialists, guidelines on how geometry assurance in low volume manufacturing of complex products may be applied are proposed. In order to improve the geometry assurance process in pipe manufacturing at Saab Kockums, this study proposes general guidelines for improvement along with a process and prototype measurement tool for the fitting-pipe methodology. The specially designed prototype measurement tool presents an alternative measurement method that can be used in cramped spaces where it is difficult to access with a 3D-measurement arm, the proposed primary measurement technique. In conclusion, this study indicates that geometry assurance is applicable in low volume manufacturing of complex products and suggests three methods for how it may be achieved. However, each of these methods needs to be further investigated in order to determine their applicability in other low volume manufacturing industries. Further, the prototype measurement tool and process for the fitting-pipe methodology indicates potential for improving the geometry assurance process in pipe manufacturing. However, further work is needed to complete the process for fitting-pipes and to finalize the prototype measurement tool for production use.

Orientador: Miguel Juan Bacic<br>Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica<br>Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T02:12:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vannucci_JoaoCarlosPiedade_M.pdf: 266701 bytes, checksum: 10ee6b7ec000accb8cfc088a830a6efc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004<br>Resumo: As normas ISO 9000, constituindo o guia mais adequado para estabelecer, manter e documentar um Sistema de Qualidade formalizado em empresas de países economicamente expressivos, têm sido o tema de vários estudos e artigos em revistas especializadas. Acredita-se que parte do seu sucesso se deva ao fato de o Sistema da Qualidade ser passível de certificação por um organismo independente. Tal certificação pode indicar que a firma adota um mínimo de controle em seus processos produtivos, podendo gerar bens e serviços. Porém, fica uma questão controversa: a certificação traz ganhos para as empresas certificadas? Este trabalho procura estabelecer uma ligação entre a certificação e a performance empresarial, investigando as pequenas indústrias químicas paulistas que se certificaram nas normas ISO 9000. Dados financeiros públicos de empresas certificadas e não certificadas foram usados para testar a hipótese. Os resultados aqui obtidos podem auxiliar as empresas e os estudiosos do assunto, na sua decisão sobre as vantagens ou desvantagens da certificação<br>Abstract: ISO 9000 procedures, the most popular indicator to establish, upkeep and document a quality system at almost any company worldwide, have been discussed in many studies and articles in related magazines. Part of its success may be due to the fact that the quality system procedure can be certified by an independent organization. ISO 9000 would show that those certified companies have a certain control over their productive process, and may offer high quality goods and services. However, there still remains a controversy: does ISO 9000 actually bring profits to those certified companies? This essay is to establish a connection between the Certificate itself and certified companies¿ results, focusing on small chemical industries in the state of São Paulo that have adopted ISO 9000 procedures. Public financial data from both certified and non-certified companies were used to verify the hypothesis. The results obtained here may help related researchers and companies, on their decision about whether or not the Certificate brings more advantages<br>Mestrado<br>Gestão da Qualidade Total<br>Mestre Profissional em Engenharia Mecanica

New EU regulations are currently taking effect, which means there will be stricter requirements on lighting units and more necessity for labs to perform photometric quality control. In the project a flickermeter setup was constructed at the Swedish Energy Agency's lab for performing quality assurance of luminaries by measuring the relevant metrics PST, SVM, and ITHD. By accomplishing this in accordance with the relevant IEC Standards, it creates an example setup which can be reproduced in other labs without the need for expensive nontransparent commercial devices. The project also examines the viability of creating such a setup from scratch without prior expertise, using the IEC Standards as a guide. To ensure the reliability of our setup multiple verifications were performed in accordance with the IEC Standards. Most gave positive results, but some issues were also discovered, mainly in regards to the optical filter needed for the setup. A suitable replacement for the missing optical filter was introduced, with which good results were acquired for both SVM and PST when compared to commercial flickermeters. Good results were also acquired in regards to the effects of dimming and the ITHD measured. Aside from the results, some issues regarding the procedures used for quantifying flicker were raised and discussed, along with discussing inconsistencies and discrepancies in the standards used.

New EU regulations are currently taking effect, which means there will be stricter requirements on lighting units and more necessity for labs to perform photometric quality control. In the project a flickermeter setup was constructed at the Swedish Energy Agency's lab for performing quality assurance of luminaries by measuring the relevant metrics PST, SVM, and ITHD. By accomplishing this in accordance with the relevant IEC Standards, it creates an example setup which can be reproduced in other labs without the need for expensive nontransparent commercial devices. The project also examines the viability of creating such a setup from scratch without prior expertise, using the IEC Standards as a guide. To ensure the reliability of our setup multiple verifications were performed in accordance with the IEC Standards. Most gave positive results, but some issues were also discovered, mainly in regards to the optical filter needed for the setup. A suitable replacement for the missing optical filter was introduced, with which good results were acquired for both SVM and PST when compared to commercial flickermeters. Good results were also acquired in regards to the effects of dimming and the ITHD measured. Aside from the results, some issues regarding the procedures used for quantifying flicker were raised and discussed, along with discussing inconsistencies and discrepancies in the standards used.

O presente trabalho propõe uma nova metodologia para elaboração do DFMEA (Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis - Análise dos Efeitos e Modos de Falha do Projeto) utilizando as técnicas da EV (Engenharia do Valor) para determinação das funções do produto. Para isto, o trabalho é estruturado de forma que os conceitos fundamentais do DFMEA e EV sejam vistos individualmente e, em um segundo momento, mostra a intersecção dessas técnicas, surgindo assim a referida metodologia, batizada de DFFMEA (Design Function Failure Modes and Effects Analysis - Análise dos Efeitos e Modos de Falha para a Função do Projeto). A proposta é validada através da aplicação de três estudos de casos, cujo resultado objetivo é a redução do tempo de desenvolvimento do DFMEA e a otimização da mão-de-obra intelectual. Resultados subjetivos também são apresentados, como incentivo à criatividade. O trabalho pretende, igualmente, divulgar as técnicas da metodologia da EV dentro da organização, incentivando o seu uso e possibilitando ganhos financeiros.<br>Present work proposes a new methodology to do DFMEA (Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) using Value Engineering techniques in order to obtain the product functions. For this purpose, the work is structured in such a way that DFMEA and EV basic concepts are examined individually and, in a second moment, it exhibits the intersection of these techniques, when above mentioned methodology named DFFMEA (Design Function Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) appears. The proposal has been validated through the application of three studies of cases, which objective results are the time reduction for development of DFMEA and the optimization of intellectual labor. Subjective results are also brought out, as an incentive to creativity. The work equally intends to spread the EV methodology techniques throughout the organization, stimulating its use and making possible financial profits.

This Master thesis deals with the requirements for the quality of ISO standard compliant pneumatic cylinders, which are machined and assembled by a local manufacturer. According to the philosophy of continuous improvement, this thesis describes the project to decrease the number of air leaks detected by automatic testing machines. The main benefits of the thesis are the improvement of the design of pneumatic cylinders and the improvement of their assembly procedure leading to a reduction in the number of air leaks from pneumatic cylinders on automatic test equipment. It also provides an overview and general procedure for selecting, analyzing, implementing measures and taking further opportunities to improve the quality management system of pneumatic cylinders in the company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2005.<br>Title from document title page. Document formated into pages; contains 1 v. (various pagings). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Cette thèse CIFRE s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une collaboration entre Acta-Mobilier, fabricant de façades laquées haut de gamme, et le Centre de Recherche en Automatique Nancy. L’idée est de tirer parti du concept de Système Contrôlé par le Produit dans un environnement industriel perturbé par de nombreuses boucles de production et par un taux de reprises (non-qualités) non négligeable engendrant des pertes de pièces, le non-respect des délais, des charges de travail instables, etc… le lien impossible entre le produit et un identifiant infotronique rendant en plus la traçabilité difficile. Les travaux sur l’ordonnancement et son optimisation sont freinés par ces perturbations sur la chaîne de production qui rendent les plannings intenables. Le traitement prioritaire des pièces défectueuses permet d’assurer un taux de service qui reste remarquable au regard du pourcentage de pièces à réparer. Mais cela engendre aussi des pertes de pièces qui empêchent la livraison complète de la commande. La problématique scientifique s’articule autour du pilotage des flux dans un contexte de production perturbé par les reprises et de la maîtrise de la qualité en évaluant son impact sur l’engorgement. L’enjeu de maîtrise de la qualité a été abordé à l’aide de réseaux de neurones capables de prévoir l’apparition du défaut auquel ils sont dédiés en fonction des paramètres de production et environnementaux. Cette anticipation permet de proposer une alternative de programme à utiliser ou à reporter la planification de la tâche. L’adaptation du modèle de prévision aux dérives du modèle physique au comportement considéré comme nerveux est réalisée « en-ligne » à l’aide de cartes de contrôle qui permettent de détecter la dérive et sa date de début. Malgré cette simplification des flux, le pilotage reste complexe en raison des boucles normales de production et des non qualités résiduelles. Il existe différents états de saturation du système pour lesquels la règle de pilotage la plus adaptée n’est pas toujours la même. Cette analyse est présentée sous forme de cartographie en deux dimensions dont chacun des axes présente un indicateur clé du taux de non-qualité et/ou de la perturbation des flux. Même si, contrairement aux algorithmes, la règle de pilotage la mieux adaptée ne sera pas toujours mise en évidence, cette cartographie présente d’autres avantages tels que la simplification du pilotage, la possibilité pour tous les utilisateurs d’avoir l’information importante sur l’état de l’atelier en un coup d’oeil, ou encore la nécessité d’homogénéisation sur la globalité de l’unité de production. Dans ce contexte, le container intelligent offre des perspectives intéressantes avec la volonté de tracer un groupe de produits ayant la même gamme de fabrication plutôt que des produits un à un, de partager des informations telles que sa date de livraison, son degré d’urgence, de connaître quels chemins ils doivent emprunter dans l’atelier et quelles sont les alternatives possibles ou encore de communiquer avec les machines et les autres systèmes dont celui de prévision de la qualité et retenir des informations au fil de la fabrication des produits. Le système proposé est donc interactif ou le conteneur est au coeur de la décision. Il signale sa présence au système d’ordonnancement seulement si les conditions qualité sont réunies, permettant ainsi de simplifier son travail autorisant alors un simple algorithme traditionnel de programmation linéaire à réaliser cette tâche particulièrement compliquée au premier abord. C’est en revanche à la charge de l’ordonnanceur de s’assurer de la règle de pilotage à utiliser et de demander les informations correspondantes aux lots disponibles. La contribution de cette thèse est donc une méthodologie de simplification de problèmes complexes par une répartition des tâches entre différents sous-systèmes acteurs appliquée au cas d’une entreprise de fabrication de façades de cuisine laquées haut de gamme<br>Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy. The idea is to take advantage of Product Driven System in an industrial environment disturbed by many loops and a rework rate (non quality) causing significant loss of products, non-compliance deadlines, unstable workloads, etc ... impossible link between the product and identifying infotronic lead to more difficult traceability. Work on scheduling and optimization are hampered by these disturbances on the production line that make them untenable schedules. Priority processing on defective products ensures a service rate that remains outstanding compared to the percentage of products to repair. But it also leads to loss of products that prevent the full delivery of the order. The scientific problem revolves around the control of flow in a production context disturbed by the loops and the quality level by assessing its impact on congestion. The quality-control issue has been addressed by using neural networks that can predict the occurrence of the defect to which they are dedicated from production and environmental parameters. This anticipation allows us to offer a program alternative to use or to plan to postpone the task. The adaptation of the forecasting model to the drift of the physical model with a behavior regarded as nervous is made "on line" using control charts that detect drift and its start date. Despite this simplification of flows, the flow control remains complex due to normal production loops and residual nonqualities. There are different system saturation states for which the most suitable control rule is not always the same. This analysis is presented in a two-dimensional mapping which each axis has a key indicator on non-quality rate and / or disruption of flows. Although, unlike algorithms, the most suitable control rule will not always be highlighted, this mapping has other advantages such as the simplification of the control, the ability for all users to have important information about the workshop state, or the need for homogenization of the global state of the production unit. In this context, the intelligent container offers interesting perspectives with the will to trace a group of products with the same rooting sheet rather than products one by one, to share information such as its delivery date, the urgency degree, to know what paths they should take and what are the possible alternatives or to communicate with other machines and systems including the quality forecasting system and retain information over the manufacture of the products. The proposed system is so interactive where container is at the heart of the decision. It reported his presence to scheduling system only if the quality system requirements are met, and simplify this work while allowing a traditional linear algorithm to achieve this task seen as particularly complicated at first. It is however the responsibility of the scheduler to ensure the pilot rule to use and request the relevant information available to the lots. The contribution of this thesis is a methodology to simplify complex problems by a division of work between different subsystems actors applied to the case of a manufacturer of high-finished lacquered panels

Orientador: Cecília Mary Fischer Rubira<br>Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação<br>Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T19:51:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Franco_RomuloJose_M.pdf: 10351473 bytes, checksum: 560e490e6acebcaf56e0a906dd45d0ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014<br>Resumo: Serviços Web são usados como uma das formas de se obter uma Arquitetura Orientada a Serviços (SOA). Com aspectos interoperáveis, dinâmicos e distribuídos, tais serviços agregam valores de negócio, são unidades de software com alta coesão e são utilizados para integração entre aplicações empresariais. Em um contexto de SOA, provedores de serviços devem oferecer garantias de funcionamento de seus serviços. Esta garantia é realizada através de atributos de Quality of Service (QoS) inseridos em contratos do tipo SLA (Service Level Agreement). Atributos de QoS podem ter flutuações ou mudança de estado ao longo do tempo, dado que um serviço opera em um ambiente de alta dinamicidade e alta imprevisibilidade que são propriedades inerentes ao contexto SOA. Diante deste cenário, há uma clara necessidade de se conhecer as variações que ocorrem nos atributos de QoS. Para isso, é fundamental aplicar uma monitoração que possibilite conhecer os valores de atributos de QoS para compreender o contexto geral do ambiente que opera o serviço. Uma boa solução de monitoração deve oferecer meios flexíveis de monitorar diferentes atributos de QoS (e.g. disponibilidade, desempenho e confiabilidade), de diferentes modos de operar, considerando diferentes alvos ligados ao serviço (e.g. servidor, rede e aplicação servidora). Por meio de uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura identificamos que as soluções encontradas não apoiam a flexibilidade na monitoração. Face a este contexto, esta dissertação propôs a FlexMonitorWS uma solução de monitoração de serviços Web e de recursos de infraestrutura de TI ligada ao serviço Web. A FlexMonitorWS adota técnicas de Linhas de Produtos de Software para criar uma família de monitores a partir da variabilidade de software existente em sistemas de monitoração de serviços Web. Três estudos de caso foram executados para avaliar a viabilidade da ferramenta, obtendo-se resultados satisfatórios na entrega de valores de atributos de QoS e na compreensão do ambiente que opera o serviço Web. Ao final, apresentamos conclusões, contribuições e direções para trabalhos futuros<br>Abstract: Web services are used as a way of obtaining a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). With interoperable, dynamic and distributed aspects such services add business values are software units with high cohesion and are used to integrate business applications. In a SOA context, service providers must offer guarantees of the servces operations. This warranty is carried out by attributes Quality of Service (QoS) type contracts entered into SLA (Service Level Agreement). QoS attributes can have fluctuations or changes of state over time, given that a service operates in an environment of high dynamics and high unpredictability inherent in the SOA context properties. Given this scenario, there is a clear need to understand the fluctuations in the QoS attributes. Therefore, it is essential to apply a monitoring which allows to know the QoS attributes values to understand the overall context of the environment that operates the service. A good monitoring solution must offer flexible ways to monitor different QoS attributes (e.g. performance, availability and reliability) in different ways to operate, considering different targets linked to the service (e.g. server, network and server application). By analyzing existing solutions through a Systematic Literature Review identified that solutions do not support the flexibility in monitoring. Against this background, this thesis proposed a solution FlexMonitorWS monitoring of Web services and IT infrastructure resources connected to the Web services. FlexMonitorWS adopts techniques from Software Product Lines to create a monitors family from the existing variability in the Web services monitoring systems. Three case studies were performed to assess the tool feasibility, obtaining satisfactory results in delivering QoS attributes values and understanding to environment that operates the Web service. In the end, conclusions, contributions and directions for future work are presented<br>Mestrado<br>Ciência da Computação<br>Mestre em Ciência da Computação

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.<br>Thesis research directed by: Computer Science. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

This study discusses the purpose, process and practice of quality assurance in transnational education (TNE) wherein institutions in one country award their degrees to students studying in another. This arrangement raises the issue of how the quality and standards of the degree programmes are assured so that they enable the programmes delivered in one country to be considered as being of a comparable quality and standard to those delivered in another. The study explores how the cross-national implementation of quality assurance is conducted and perceived by those engaged in it and the challenges such activity faces. Using data collected via structured interviews in Sri Lanka and the UK, the study examines the perceptions of participants in TNE collaboration. The analysis is undertaken within a conceptual framework developed from inter-firm relationship and supply chain management theories. The concept of “relational capital”, and its creation through socialisation activity, is proposed as a key factor in understanding TNE. A further body of literature is explored, that of inter-cultural communication and inter-cultural competence. The study contributes to the literature on TNE and internationalisation by identifying a tension between the financial drivers behind TNE and the resource intensive activities required to build relational capital. The findings are developed into a conceptual model for quality assurance in TNE, which can be used in the planning, management and evaluation of TNE and is designed to develop relational capital through the relational and inter-cultural competences of those engaged in such work. Through such a development, it is argued, quality assurance in TNE can move away from a process of enforced compliance with the prevailing quality assurance processes to one driven by a shared quality culture in which capacity building in the partner institutions of TNE can be achieved.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The current skills development legislation was enacted in order to implement structures and processes to transform skills development in South Africa. Major changes to the South African training and education sector have taken place as a result of the implementation of the National Skills development strategy or NSDS (1998). One of the objectives of the National Skills development strategy is the implementation of learnerships, a work-based route for learning and gaining qualifications. The achievement of this objective is based not only on the quantity of learnerships implemented but also on the quality of the learnership implementation. This study project begins with a brief survey of learnerships and their context in vocational education and training in South Africa. A further review is conducted which explores the concept of quality, quality dimensions and quality indicators, in vocational education and training (VET) in South Africa and internationally. The aim is to identify quality dimensions and relevant quality indicators for the quality assurance of learnership implementation. One of the main challenges facing the SETAS is delivering not only the quantity but the quality of learnerships as set by the NSDS objective. The Serviceseta is a typical example of a SETA faced with the task of developing a quality assurance instrument to comprehensively assure the quality of learnership implementation. The Serviceseta Quality Assurance instrument for learnership implementation is examined by comparing the quality indicators to those identified in vocational education and training internationally. The achievement of quality assurance in learnership implementation will contribute to the achievement of the NSDS which will in turn solve the country's skills problems.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wetgewing vir vaardigheidsontwikkeling is vasgestel om strukture en prosesse te implementeer om vaardigheidsontwikkeling in Suid-Afrika te omskep. Groot veranderinge aan die Suid-Afrikaanse opleidings- en ontwikkelingsektor het plaasgevind as gevolg van die implementering van die Nasionale Vaardigheidsontwikkeling-strategie of NVS (1998). Een van die doelwitte van die Nasionale Vaardigheidsontwikkeling-strategie is die implementering van leerlingskappe, 'n werk-gebaseerde roete om te leer en om kwalifikasies te verwerf. Die sukses van hierdie doelwit is nie alleen gebaseer op die hoeveelheid leerlingskappe wat geimplimenteer word nie maar ook op die kwaliteit van die leerlingskap-implementering. Hierdie studieprojek begin met 'n kort oorsig van leerlingskappe en hul verband in beroepsopvoeding en opleiding in Suid-Afrika. 'n Verdere oorsig is uitgevoer wat die konsep van kwaliteit, kwaliteit dimensies en kwaliteit aanwysers in beroepsopvoeding en opleiding in Suid-Afrika en internasionaal ondersoek. Die doel is om kwaliteit dimensies en toepaslike kwaliteit aanwysers vir die kwaliteitsversekering van leerlingskap-implementering te identifiseer. Een van die hoof uitdagings van die SETAS is om nie net die hoeveelheid maar ook die kwaliteit van leerlingskappe soos deur die NVS doelwit bepaal, te lewer. Die Diens-seta is 'n tipiese voorbeeld van 'n SETA wat die taak in die gesig staar om 'n kwaliteit- versekeringsinstrument te ontwikkel ten einde die kwaliteit van leierskapimplementering omvattend te verseker. Die Diens-seta Kwaliteit-versekeringsinstrument vir die implementering van leierskap word ondersoek deur die kwaliteit aanwysers te vergelyk met dit wat internasionaal in beroepsopvoeding en opleiding geidentifiseer word. Die bereiking van kwaliteitsversekering in die implementering van leerlingskappe sal bydra tot die bereiking van die NVS wat op sy beurt die land se vaardigheidsprobleme sal oplos.

La terapia de hadrones es actualmente una realidad médica en oncología de radiación y una técnica probada en la lucha contra el cáncer. Hoy en día, el uso de la terapia de hadrones está ampliamente extendido en el tratamiento de pacientes con tumores profundos, no operables o resistentes a la radioterapia, debido a la ventaja de administrar una alta dosis de radiación con respecto al volumen del tumor. De esta forma se obtiene un mejor del control y protección del tejido circundante comparado con la radioterapia tradicional basada en haz de fotones. A pesar de que solo 35 centros médicos están actualmente tratando a pacientes de cáncer, la terapia de hadrones sigue considerada como una técnica medica emergente. Uno de sus retos permanentes consiste en la verificación de la dosis administrada al paciente ya que las propiedades físicas de los hadrones hacen que la terapia sea efectiva solo si se administra con precisión estrictamente al volumen del tumor. El control de calidad se consigue mediante la utilización de novedosas técnicas de diagnóstico por medio de detectores de radicación similares a los desarrollados para experimentos de física de partículas que ya se vienen utilizando en la producción de imágenes médicas. Las radiografías de protones se usan no solo para verificar el estado del paciente previo a los tratamientos de radioterapia, utilizando haces de protones de alta energía y baja intensidad, así como para obtener información necesaria para calcular de forma precisa el nivel de radiación de hadrones en los tejidos del paciente. Los cálculos de nivel de radiación se hacen hoy en día por medio de datos CT de rayos X, que se caracterizan por tener poco precisión. Durante la irradiación con haz terapéutico, la activación de los tejidos del paciente causados por interacciones nucleares con el haz de hadrones se puede visualizar por medio de detectores PET, haciendo posible representar en el momento la dosis administrada solo unos minutos después. En este contexto, esta Tesis presenta un estudio amplio sobre detectores de radiación novedosos que han sido desarrollados para asegurar la calidad en terapia de hadrones clínica. Tres diferentes soluciones se describen a continuación, un aparato de radiografía de protones y dos detectores cuya tecnología se utiliza para saber en el momento la dosis administrada durante el plan de tratamiento. En el caso de la radiografía en el rango de protones (PRR), se ha desarrollado un nuevo instrumento llamado PRR10, que tiene un área activa de 10 x 10 cm2 cubriendo un rango residual de 10 cm de longitud de tramo en equivalente de agua (WEPL). El PRR10 ha sido testeado ampliamente con haz de protones en el Instituto Paul Scherrer (PSI) en Villagen, Suiza y en el Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (CNAO) en Pavia, Italia. Se han tomado medidas con una resolución de rango residual de 1.6 mm WEPL así como una resolución espacial inferior a 1 mm. El PRR10 esta instalado actualmente en el CNAO a la espera de nuevos test mientras un nuevo instrumento, el PRR30 que tiene un área activa de 30 x 30 cm2 está llegando a su última etapa de desarrollo. El PRR30 permitirá imágenes PRR a tamaño completo y está previsto que se empiece a testar con haz de protones en el PSI y el CNAO hacia finales de 2013. Para realizar dosimetría en vivo, se ha procedido al estudio de dos tecnologías PET diferentes. La primera está basada en escintiladores orgánicos (cristales) acoplados a un foto-detector, con muchas similitudes con respecto a aparatos PET convencionales de medicina nuclear. El diseño del detector PET de cristales sigue las tendencias actuales en investigación PET para obtener la medida de la profundidad de interacción (depth-of-interaction, DOI) así como el tiempo de vuelo (time-of-flight TOF) entre protones concurrentes. Ambas técnicas suponen una mayor sensibilidad efectiva y una mejora en la eliminación de ruido y por tanto en la calidad de las imágenes PET. Dos prototipos han sido construidos y testados, usando cristales LYSO de 12 x 60 x 30 cm3 y foto detectores de multi-ánodo y placa multi-canal (MPC). De esta forma se ha demostrado la excelente localización de la interacción de fotones, 1.2 mm en dirección transversal y 15 mm en DOI, con una resolución de energía de 13% FWHM. La resolución de concurrencia de TOF medida es de 810 ps. La segunda tecnología PET estudiada hace uso de las cámaras de placa resistiva multi-hueco (multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers, MRPCs) que se utilizan raramente en PET debido a su baja eficacia de detección a gammas de 511 KeV. Los módulos compactos MRPC han sido construidos y testados, y tienen una área activa de 7 x 10 cm2 y 12 x 390 cm2. El diseño y el procedimiento de ensamblaje es apto para producción a gran escala, un requerimiento necesario para contrarrestar su baja eficacia. Módulos MRCP de 4 huecos de 7 x 10 cm2 han sido sometidos a test y muestran un eficacia de 0.66 a 0.01 % a gammas de 511 KeV. Además, se han obtenido tiempos entre lecturas de fin de franja en ambos lados del módulo de 38 ps., suficiente para permitir una localización de interacción de 3.5 mm. La resolución del detector simple TOF entre dos RPCs de hueco único y dos MRPCs de 4 huecos es de 310 ps y 370 ps respectivamente, con una poco esperada resolución de coincidencia de 150 ps. Para complementar los resultados experimentales obtenidos, se han efectuado simulaciones Monte-Carlo usando la herramienta GATE en escáneres PET como el LYSO-MCP y MRCP. También han sido incluidos en el estudio dos detectores comerciales como el Gemini de Philips y el HiRez de Siemens. El escáner de anillo completo LYSO-MCP ha demostrado tener un 57 % más de sensibilidad que el Gemini a 70 cm en línea de la fuente, como consecuencia del aumento de profundidad (30 mm) de los cristales LYSO utilizados en su diseño. Un escáner MRPC-PET, después de la optimización de sus parámetros de sensibilidad muestra un factor 2.5 en sensibilidad con respecto al Gemini. Aunque los recursos en términos de desarrollo para construir un escáner MRPC-PET son considerables, la ganancia en sensibilidad con respecto a los escáneres comerciales de hoy en día, unido a las excelentes resoluciones TOF, hacen de esta tecnología una interesante alternativa a los cristales, tanto para control de calidad de terapia de hadrones como para imágenes PET de cuerpo entero.<br>Hadrontherapy is currently a clinical reality in radiation oncology and a proven technique in the fight against cancer. In the world today, hadrontherapy is being more and more widely employed for treating patients with non-operable deep-seated or radio-resistant tumours because of its advantage in delivering a highly conformal dose to the tumour volume. This offers an increased likelihood of tumor control and a better sparing of healthy surrounding tissue as compared with traditional radiotherapy which use photon beams. Despite the fact that 35 centers are currently treating patients, hadrontherapy is still considered to be an emerging clinical technique. One of the persisting challenges to hadrontherapy is the verification of the dose delivered to the patient since the physical properties of hadrons are only beneficial for therapy if they can be delivered precisely to the tumour volume. Quality assurance can be achieved using novel diagnostic techniques which make use of radiation detectors similar to those developed for high-energy physics experiments and already used in medical imaging. Proton radiography can be used to verify the patient setup prior to irradiation, using a diagnostic proton beam of higher energy and lower intensity, but can also provide directly the information needed for accurately computing the range of hadrons in the patient tissues. Range calculations currently rely on X-ray CT data, and are characterized by a small but non-negligible uncertainty. During irradiation with the therapeutic beam, the activation of the patient tissues caused by nuclear interactions with the hadron beam can be visualized by PET detectors, making it possible to perform in-vivo dosimetry during irradiation and in the minutes immediately following. In this context, this thesis presents an expansive study of novel radiation detectors which have been developed for quality assurance in clinical hadrontherapy. Three distinct detector solutions are described, a proton radiography instrument and two detectors technologies which could be used for performing in-vivo dosimetry of the delivered treatment plan. In the case of proton range radiography (PRR), a novel instrument called the PRR10 has been built having 10x10 cm2 active area and covering a residual range of 10 cm water-equivalent path length (WEPL). The PRR10 has been extensively tested with proton beams at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villagen, Switzerland and at the Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (CNAO) in Pavia, Italy. A residual range resolution of 1.6 mm WEPL has been measured as well as a spatial resolution better than 1 mm. The PRR10 currently sits at the CNAO center awaiting further testing while a new instrument, the PRR30, which has an active area of 30x30 cm2, is reaching a final stage of completion. The PRR30 will allow full-size PRR images to be made and is scheduled for testing with proton beams at PSI and the CNAO by the end of 2013. To perform in-vivo dosimetry, two different PET technologies have been studied. The first is based on inorganic scintillators (crystals) coupled to a photodetector, having many similarities to conventional PET hardware for nuclear medicine. The design for a unit PET detector based on crystal follows the trends in current PET research allowing for the depth-of-interaction (DOI) to be measured as well as the time-of-flight (TOF) between the coincidence photons. Both techniques result in a higher effective sensitivity and a better rejection of noise, and therefore higher quality PET images. Two prototypes have been assembled and tested, built using 12x60x30 cm3 LYSO crystals and a multi-anode Multi-Channel Plate (MCP) photodetector. An excellent localization of the photon interaction, 1.2 mm in the transverse direction and 15 mm in DOI, have been demonstrated with an energy resolution of 13% FWHM. The coincidence TOF resolution has been measured as 810 ps. The second PET technology we have studied makes use of multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs), which are highly unusual in PET because of their low detection efficiency to 511 keV gammas. Compact MRPC modules have been built and tested, having 7x10 cm2 and 12x30 cm2 active area. The design and assembly procedure has been shown to be suitable for mass-production, a requirement for overcoming the intrinsic low efficiency. A 4-gap 7x10 cm2 MRPC module has been tested and shown to have an efficiency of (0.66 0.01)% to 511 keV gammas. In addition, the timing between ends of the strip readout at either side of the module has been measured as 3.8 ps, enough to allow an interaction localization of 3.5 mm. The single-detector TOF resolution between two single-gap RPCs and two 4-gap MRPCs has been measured as 310 ps and 370 ps, respectively with a coincidence resolution of 150 ps expected shortly. To compliment the experimental results, Monte-Carlo simulations of both LYSO-MCP and MRPC-based PET scanners have been carried out using the GATE toolkit. Two commercial detectors, the Philips Gemini and Siemens HiRez, have also been included in the study as a benchmark for the results. The full-ring LYSO-MCP scanner has been shown to have a 57% higher sensitivity than the Gemini to a 70 cm long line source, a consequence of the increased depth (30 mm) of the LYSO crystals used in our design. An MRPC-PET scanner, after performing a sensitivity optimization of various parameters, has been shown to be a factor of 2.5 higher than the Gemini. Although considerable development will be required to build such a MRPC-PET scanner, the gains in sensitivity over existing commercial scanners, coupled with their excellent TOF resolutions, make this technology an exciting alternative to crystals, whether for hadrontherapy quality assurance, or whole-body PET imaging.

This thesis is a study of the theory of quality assurance in fire safety engineering. The aims are to examine the implication of the general concepts of quality and quality assurance in the context of fire safety engineering, to investigate the causes and effects of the development of quality assurance in fire safety engineering firms, and to identify the factors that affect the effectiveness of the quality systems in these firms. Research was carried out on four major perspectives: (1) quality definition of fire safety systems in buildings (2) quality assurance in fire safety engineering projects, (3) quality assurance in fire safety engineering firms, (4) the macro quality assurance system in fire protection industry. A model for defining quality of fire safety systems in buildings is described. Features of quality assurance in fire safety engineering are identified. A systematic approach for assuring quality in fire safety engineering projects is proposed, which consists of total system quality planning, sub-system quality planning, and quality management systems in fire safety engineering firms. The investigation found that the driving forces for fire safety engineering firms to adopt quality assurance come from client's need, market competition, development of certification schemes, and the business development strategy of the company. Research data suggests that fire safety engineering firms have gained benefits through the implementation of quality assurance. However, the effectiveness of quality systems is affected by a number of factors both internal and external.

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Organisational culture and external quality assurance in higher education have both drawn significant attention to their promise of greater organisational effectiveness and efficiency and enhanced, improved higher education respectively. In recent years, these constructs have been linked by an assumption that an organisational culture that is amenable to change would be more receptive to the introduction of formal external quality‐assurance structures, systems and instruments, as these are aimed at effective and efficient higher education practices, processes and outcomes. However, this assumption has not been sufficiently tested given that there are significant philosophical, conceptual and methodological controversies and contestations surrounding both constructs. While the organisational culture literature has been littered with a proliferation of paradigms and, albeit, fragmented theories, there has been a paucity of theory building in the corresponding literature on quality in higher education in general and on the impact of external quality assurance on institutions specifically. A qualitative case study was conducted at a newly merged university of technology to investigate two taken‐for‐granted assumptions: first, that organisational cultures are homogenous, unitary and centred around shared values and could therefore easily be manipulated (usually from the top by management), and second, that the introduction of external quality assurance is an unproblematic technology that will be accepted without question by higher education institutions as it was premised upon the laudable aim of improving the quality of those institutions. A conceptual four‐perspective framework was developed to critically evaluate the literature and provide the basis for the threedimensional model used in analysing the findings. The research generated several key conclusions that appear to challenge commonly held and articulated positions with regard to organisational culture and external quality assurance. First, organisational culture should be considered as being more ephemeral than concrete, multidimensional than singular, characterised simultaneously by conflict, consensus and indifference and in a constant state of flux. Second, external quality assurance is not necessarily a value‐free and neutral exercise aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning, as promised in its early conceptualisation and implementation. Third, multiple cultures may exist simultaneously, interact with and influence each other constantly and of course determine interactions within the organisation and the nature of engagement with externally originated initiatives. Fourth, external quality assurance has purposes that go beyond its often morally just and public‐good motives as it tacitly and overtly acts as an agent of control, empowerment and transformation and simultaneously as an agent of the state, though not necessarily to the same extent.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisatoriese kultuur en eksterne gehalteversekering in hoër onderwys het albei die aandag in groot mate gevestig op hulle belofte van groter organisatoriese doeltreffendheid en doelmatigheid en gevorderde, verbeterde hoër onderwys onderskeidelik. In die afgelope paar jaar is hierdie konstrukte byeengebring deur ʼn veronderstelling dat ʼn organisatoriese kultuur wat vatbaar is vir verandering, meer ontvanklik sal wees vir die invoer van formele eksterne strukture, stelsels en instrumente vir gehalteversekering, aangesien dit op doeltreffende en doelmatige praktyke, prosesse en uitkomste vir en van hoër onderwys gerig is. Hierdie aanname is egter nie voldoende getoets nie gegee die feit dat daar aansienlike filosofiese, konseptuele en metodologiese strydvrae en twispunte ten opsigte van albei konstrukte bestaan. Terwyl literatuur oor organisatoriese kultuur deur ʼn magdom paradigmas en weliswaar gefragmenteerde teorieë oorweldig is, was teoriebou in die ooreenstemmende literatuur oor gehalte in hoër onderwys in die algemeen en oor die impak van eksterne gehalteversekering op instellings in die besonder redelik skaars. ʼn Kwalitatiewe gevallestudie is onderneem by ʼn universiteit van tegnologie wat onlangs saamgesmelt het om twee aannames wat as vanselfsprekend aanvaar is, te ondersoek: eerstens, dat organisatoriese kulture homogeen, unitêr en óm gedeelde waardes gesentreer is en dat dit dus maklik gemanipuleer kan word (gewoonlik van bo af deur die bestuur), en tweedens, dat die invoer van eksterne gehalteversekering ʼn onproblematiese tegnologie is wat sonder teenspraak deur hoëronderwysinstellings aanvaar sal word, aangesien dit op die prysenswaardige oogmerk van verbetering van die gehalte van daardie instellings gegrond is. ʼn Konseptuele raamwerk bestaande uit vier perspektiewe is ontwikkel vir die kritiese evaluering van die literatuur en dit verskaf die grondslag vir die driedimensionele model wat vir die analise van die bevindings gebruik is. Die navorsing het verskeie belangrike gevolgtrekkings na vore laat kom wat algemeen geldende en duidelik bepaalde posisies ten opsigte van organisatoriese kultuur en eksterne gehalteversekering blyk uit te daag. Eerstens moet organisatoriese kultuur beskou word as efemeries eerder as konkreet, multidimensioneel eerder as enkelvoudig, terwyl dit gelyktydig deur konflik, konsensus en onverskilligheid gekenmerk word en in ʼn gedurige toestand van wisseling verkeer. Tweedens is eksterne gehalteversekering nie noodwendig, soos in die vroeë konseptualisering en implementering belowe, ʼn waardevrye en neutrale oefening gemik op verbetering van die gehalte van onderrig en leer nie. Derdens kan veelvuldige kulture gelyktydig bestaan, met mekaar in interaksie tree en mekaar voortdurend beïnvloed en natuurlik interaksies binne die organisasie en die aard van betrokkenheid by inisiatiewe wat ekstern ontstaan, bepaal. Vierdens het eksterne gehalteversekering oogmerke wat veel verder strek as die motiewe daarvan wat dikwels moreel geregverdig en vir die openbare beswil is aangesien dit stilswyend en op overte wyse optree as ʼn agent vir beheer, bemagtiging en transformasie en tegelyk as ʼn agent van die regering, alhoewel nie noodwendig tot dieselfde mate nie.

Poor software quality leads to lost profits and even loss of life. U.S. organizations lose billions of dollars annually because of poor software quality. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that quality assurance (QA) leaders in small software development organizations used for successful software quality assurance (SQA) processes. A case study provided the best research design to allow for the exploration of organizational and managerial processes. The target population group was the QA leaders of 3 small software development organizations who successfully implemented SQA processes, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was total quality management (TQM) established by Deming in 1980. Face-to-face semistructured interviews with 2 QA leaders from each organization and documentation including process and training materials provided all the data for analysis. NVivo software aided a qualitative analysis of all collected data using a process of disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data into themes, interpreting the meaning, and concluding the data. The resulting major themes were Agile practices, documentation, testing, and lost profits. The results were in contrast to the main themes discovered in the literature review, although there was some overlap. The implications for positive social change include the potential to provide QA leaders with the strategies to improve SQA processes, thereby allowing for improved profits, contributing to the organizations' longevity in business, and strengthening the local economy.

The radiotherapy clinics in Sweden have been without a functioning national platform consisting of dose data from patients undergoing radiotherapy. A national collaboration between clinics will improve the quality of radiotherapy since clinics will be able to compare dose data from treatment plans between clinics. It will also help and improve future researches in radiotherapy. A new national quality registry for radiotherapy in Sweden is under development and is located on the INCA platform. The aim of this study is to do a quality assurance of the INCA registry. The data stored in the registry are calculated from the treatment plans stored locally at the clinics. The quality assurance of the registry is done by creating a program run by Python code and by using Streamlit as the graphical user interface. The program takes dose and volume data from the dose volume histograms located in treatment plans from the INCA database and compares it with the dose and volume data from the local clinics' treatment planning system. The different treatment planning systems considered in the program are Oncentra(Elekta, Sweden), Eclipse(Varian, U.S.), RayStation(RaySearch Laboratories, Sweden) and Monaco(Electa, Sweden). The compared absorbed doses are the dose to 99% of the structure volume(D99%), D98%, D50%, D2% and D1%. The program generates how much the INCA data differs from the TPS data in percent and is named QARS(Quality Assurance of the Radiotherapy Database in Sweden). A verification of the created program and a preliminary evaluation is done on a limited dataset containing three patient groups(prostate patients, lung patients and head and neck patients) with five patients in each group. The dataset is run through the program with patient data from both Oncentra and Eclipse. The result indicates that all the near-maximum doses, D2% and D1% in INCA are very close to their corresponding TPS dose. There is a more noticeable difference in the near-minimum doses, D99% and D98% but also for some D50% where the difference seems to increase in larger structure volumes with very low doses and in very small structure volumes, smaller than 0.01 cm3. It is compared how well INCA agrees with Oncentra and Eclipse respectively and it is clear that Eclipse has a smaller difference to INCA than Oncentra for structures with very small volumes and larger structures with low doses. To summarise the study, it generates a program for quality assurance of the national quality registry for radiotherapy in Sweden which hopefully can help improve the quality of radiotherapy and help future researches in the field.

In the field of product development, many organizations struggle to create a value proposition that can overcome the headwinds of technology change, regulatory requirements, and intense competition, in an effort to satisfy the long-term goals of sustainability. Today, organizations are realizing that they have lost portfolio value due to poor reliability, early product retirement, and abandoned design platforms. Beyond Lean and Green Manufacturing, shareholder value can be enhanced by taking a broader perspective, and integrating sustainability innovation elements into product designs in order to improve the delivery process and extend the life of product platforms. This research is divided into two parts that lead to closing the loop towards Sustainable Value Creation in product development. The first section presents a framework for achieving Sustainable Lifetime Value through a toolset that bridges the gap between financial success and sustainable product design. Focus is placed on the analysis of the sustainable value proposition between producers, consumers, society, and the environment and the half-life of product platforms. The Half-Life Return Model is presented, designed to provide feedback to producers in the pursuit of improving the return on investment for the primary stakeholders. The second part applies the driving aspects of the framework with the development of an Adaptive Genetic Search Algorithm. The algorithm is designed to improve fault detection and mitigation during the product delivery process. A computer simulation is used to study the effectiveness of primary aspects introduced in the search algorithm, in order to attempt to improve the reliability growth of the system during the development life-cycle. The results of the analysis draw attention to the sensitivity of the driving aspects identified in the product development lifecycle, which affect the long term goals of sustainable product development. With the use of the techniques identified in this research, cost effective test case generation can be improved without a major degradation in the diversity of the search patterns required to insure a high level of fault detection. This in turn can lead to improvements in the driving aspects of the Half-Life Return Model, and ultimately the goal of designing sustainable products and processes.

AIMS:The project examines the perceptions of significant stakeholders in the Catholic Education system concerning the nature, outcomes and effectiveness of the implementation of the Quality Assurance Processes developed by the Catholic Education Office (CEO), in the Archdiocese of Sydney. The study identifies factors that were assisting or hindering the effective implementation of these processes as they existed in 1996. It offers suggestions and recommendations for a future and more effective implementation of these processes. SCOPE This research is qualitative in nature, and uses interview as the main source of data collection. The Catholic schools selected for this study are those that have been involved in the implementation of the first Cycle of the Quality Assurance Processes of the CEO, Sydney. Care was taken to select two schools from each of the three Regions under which the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney are presently organised. CONCLUSIONS The achievement and maintenance of quality outcomes has always been an integral part of Catholic Education. Through the brief historical background, this study has revealed that leaders in Catholic Education in Sydney have always sought to achieve and maintain quality outcomes since the establishment of the first schools, up until the implementation of the current quality assurance processes. This study found that the current form of Quality Assurance Processes is a most effective means of achieving and maintaining quality outcomes in the present-day Catholic education system. The Processes are professionally articulated in context with current practices, and have the potential to enhance accountability, credibility and development of both the personnel and the schools system. The implementation of the Quality Assurance Processes, to a great degree, has been effective and successful, the present study has shown that, stakeholders are becoming more and more aware of the actual nature and outcomes of these processes. The study also found great optimism among in the key player about the future of the Processes and has concluded that they well received and appreciated across the system. There were a few concerns about the clarity of aims and objectivity, the link between the different processes, and the apparently high and technical terms involved in naming/describing these Processes. The study has, therefore, concluded further that the Processes need streamlining, regular reviews and training programs to strengthen the practice and consolidate the gains and achievement. The implementation of Cycle 2 with appropriate modification is desirable.

The objective of the proposed research is to design and evaluate end-to-end solutions to support the Quality of Experience (QoE) for the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service. IPTV is a system that integrates voice, video, and data delivery into a single Internet Protocol (IP) framework to enable interactive broadcasting services at the subscribers. It promises significant advantages for both service providers and subscribers. For instance, unlike conventional broadcasting systems, IPTV broadcasts will not be restricted by the limited number of channels in the broadcast/radio spectrum. Furthermore, IPTV will provide its subscribers with the opportunity to access and interact with a wide variety of high-quality on-demand video content over the Internet. However, these advantages come at the expense of stricter quality of service (QoS) requirements than traditional Internet applications. Since IPTV is considered as a real-time broadcast service over the Internet, the success of the IPTV service depends on the QoE perceived by the end-users. The characteristics of the video traffic as well as the high-quality requirements of the IPTV broadcast impose strict requirements on transmission delay. IPTV framework has to provide mechanisms to satisfy the stringent delay, jitter, and packet loss requirements of the IPTV service over lossy transmission channels with varying characteristics. The proposed research focuses on error recovery and channel change latency problems in IPTV networks. Our specific aim is to develop a content delivery framework that integrates content features, IPTV application requirements, and network characteristics in such a way that the network resource utilization can be optimized for the given constraints on the user perceived service quality. To achieve the desired QoE levels, the proposed research focuses on the design of resource optimal server-based and peer-assisted delivery techniques. First, by analyzing the tradeoffs on the use of proactive and reactive repair techniques, a solution that optimizes the error recovery overhead is proposed. Further analysis on the proposed solution is performed by also focusing on the use of multicast error recovery techniques. By investigating the tradeoffs on the use of network-assisted and client-based channel change solutions, distributed content delivery frameworks are proposed to optimize the error recovery performance. Next, bandwidth and latency tradeoffs associated with the use of concurrent delivery streams to support the IPTV channel change are analyzed, and the results are used to develop a resource-optimal channel change framework that greatly improves the latency performance in the network. For both problems studied in this research, scalability concerns for the IPTV service are addressed by properly integrating peer-based delivery techniques into server-based solutions.

Ett av projekten som drivs av Försvarets Materielverk (FMV) går ut på att kvalitetssäkra de surrogatminor som används för att utvärdera minskyddet hos stridsfordon. Surrogatminorna gjuts i TNT av företaget Nammo LIAB och används sedan enligt en testprocess som är reglerad av standarden STANAG 4569 (Edition 2) Protection Levels for Occupants of Armoured Vehicles och AEP55 Procedures for evaluating the protection level of armoured vehicles. Testprocessen är väldigt dyr och det är därför av stor vikt att minimera osäkerheter i minornas verkan. Ingen standard för minornas kvalité finns idag. Arbetet med denna standard uppnås i två steg genom att först tillse att spårbarhet finns i tillverkningen och standardisera variationer i den samma. Steg två är att verifiera kvalitéten med en metod där stickprov ur leveranser kan provsprängas för att säkerställa kvalitén. Syftet med denna rapport är att ta fram en metod för steg två: att verifiera laddningarna. Efter att bakgrundsstudien avhandlat grunderna i sprängverkan så skapades en QFD-matris där kraven på metoden ställdes mot olika tekniska egenskaper varvid riktvärden erhölls för fortsatt idé-generering. En brainstorming-process genererade sedan fyra koncept som sedan ställdes mot varandra i en Pugh-matris. Det vinnande konceptet blev efter ett antal designantaganden sedan modellerat i FEM-programmet ANSYS där ett antal design-parameterar undersöktes med hänsyn till både spänningar, deformationer och svängningar. Säkerhetsfaktorn för materialdimensionering av komponenterna erhölls med hjälp av Pugsleys metod. Svagheter i designen identifierades och nödvändiga modifikationer för att konceptet ska kunna realiseras presenteras.<br>The Swedish defense administration (FMV) is working on a project with the goal of a quality assurance method for surrogate-mines used in evaluating the mine protection level of armoured vehicles on the behalf of customers. The mines are molded in TNT by Nammo LIAB and are tested according to the standard STANAG 4569 (Edition 2) Protection Levels for Occupants of Armoured Vehicles and related document AEP55 Procedures for evaluating the protection level of armoured vehicles. This is an expensive process that needs to produce repeatable results, something that could be achieved in two steps. The first is to obtain traceability in the manufacturing process and to standardize allowed variations in it. Step two is to be able to employ a verification method in which samples out of delivery batches can be tested to quality assure the batch. The purpose of this thesis is to develop and evaluate a method for step two. After a background study where the fundamentals of the explosive process was examined, a QFD-matrix was created where the demands from FMV was put against various technical properties of the method. The QFD generated some design guidelines that aided in a brain-storming process where four different concepts were generated. These concepts were then put against each other in a Pugh-matrix. The winning concept was then modeled in the FEM-program ANSYS where a number of design parameters was examined with respect to both stresses, deformations and vibrations. The safety factor for dimensioning the material of the components was obtained with the help of Pugsleys method. Weaknesses in the design was identified and necessary modifications needed for the concept to be realized was presented.

73 pp.<br>Originally developed in Iowa and adapted for Arizona. Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Member Manual; Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Activity Guide.<br>This trainer's reference is for use in implementing the youth livestock quality assurance program. The curriculum is designed to provide youth and adults with a better understanding of the risks involved in the food production industry, better understand the Good Production Practices (GPP's) that can help them produce a safer product and therefore, implement these GPP's in their own livestock production system.

32 pp.<br>Originally developed in Iowa and adapted for Arizona. Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Trainer's Reference; Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Activity Guide.<br>The youth manual is a reference manual for the youth livestock quality assurance program. The curriculum is designed to provide youth and adults with a better understanding of the risks involved in the food production industry, better understand the good Production Practices (GPP's) that can help them produce a safer product and therefore, implement these GPP's in their own livestock production system.

32 pp.<br>Originally developed in Iowa and adapted for Arizona. Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Trainer's Reference; Arizona Youth Livestock Quality Assurance Activity Guide.<br>The youth manual is a reference manual for the youth livestock quality assurance program. The curriculum is designed to provide youth and adults with a better understanding of the risks involved in the food production industry, better understand the good Production Practices (GPP's) that can help them produce a safer product and therefore, implement these GPP's in their own livestock production system.

This study was undertaken to address the need of professionals responsible for assuring the quality of hospital care for a framework for understanding and evaluating quality assurance mechanisms and their impact on hospital quality of care. Primary data were collected from 70 Virginia short term acute care general hospitals on the design and resources of their quality assurance programs in 1986. Adverse outcome data for 1986 were collected from the Medical Society of Virginia Review Organization. Hospital structural data were obtained from the American Hospital Association computer data base and the Federal Register. The intermediate outcome variables are: rate of unexpected return to the operating room, rate of treatment/medication problems, rate of in-hospital trauma, rate of medical instability at discharge, and rate of unexpected deaths. Exploratory analyses of hospital size and specialization demonstrate that size positively affects the numbers of RNs in quality assurance, the number of quality assurance professionals with academic degrees above the associate level, and negatively affect the ratio of quality assurance personnel full-time equivalents (FTEs) — both total and professional — to total hospital FTEs. Hospital specialization negatively affects the ratio of quality assurance personnel FTEs — both total and professional — to total hospital FTEs. Structural equation models, causally relating the adequacy of quality assurance design and resources to adverse outcomes of hospitalization, were used to test the causal relationships. The model supports the work of Donabedian and of Deming. The model demonstrates the effects of quality assurance constructs on perceived organizational commitment to quality assurance and commitments effect on process-related outcomes. Process-related outcomes are strongly and positively related to the terminal measure of unexpected deaths. When size and specialization are controlled, some changes are noted in the model. The R2 increases, the Chi-square/df ratio increases and the adjusted goodness of fit ratio decreases. This change was not unexpected due to the statistical significance of the percent of board certified physicians (BRDCERT) on the outcome variable unexpected death (DEDPROBR).

Abstract The thesis consists of the summary and eight refereed articles presenting the national, regional and institutional levels of strategic planning and quality assurance. National or regional networks may have either general or functional strategies. An organisation may have an overall strategy and its support services may have functional strategies. Quality assurance typically takes constantly smaller steps to develop processes. Strategic planning produces strategic objectives for a better future, while the purpose of a quality assurance system is to safeguard that these objectives can be achieved. This interpretation thus integrates strategic planning into quality assurance in internal processes and information systems. The higher education institutions can and should be managed to attain a better future and ensure high quality, but the management of higher education institutions need a framework. The objective of this study is to provide a common framework of strategic planning and quality assurance for higher education institutions. The framework does not only help management communicate and implement the strategies, but also to plan strategies in the strategy process, evaluate the performance and achievement of desired objectives and provide a structure for quality assurance and management information system. The framework is also rigorously tested in practice. At the national level, the study presents a network strategy of the universities of applied sciences (formerly polytechnics) and the functional strategic plans of their libraries. At the regional level, the study presents a network strategy of higher education institutions and the strategy of the Turku University of Applied Sciences as part of the strategy of the City of Turku. At the institutional level, the study presents competitive strategies, which are applied in continuing education. Finally, the study analysed the importance of various measures in process control to improve the quality of education.

Electron beam welding is used for fabricating critical components for the aerospace and nuclear industries which demand high quality. The cost of materials and associated processes of fabrication is also very high. Therefore, manufacturing processes in these industries are highly controlled. However, it has been found that even minor changes in the electron beam gun itself can produce large variations in beam characteristics, leading to unpredictable welding performance. Hence, it is very important to ensure the beam quality prior to carrying out welds. This requires some kind of device and process to characterise the electron beam to indicate variations. A detailed review of different technologies used to develop devices to characterise electron beams has been carried out. At this time, it is uncommon for beam measurement to be carried out on production EBW equipment. Research carried out for this thesis is focused on development of a novel approach to characterise the electron beams using a slit-probe to maintain the quality of the welds. The challenge lies in deriving relevant features from the acquired probe signal which can effectively differentiate between the beams of different quality. Wavelet transformation, with its advantages over other methods for simultaneous time and frequency localization of signals, has found its application to feature extraction in many pattern based classifications. This technique has been used to analyse probe signals considering that different quality beams will possess unique signal profiles in the form of their distribution of energies with respect to frequency and time. To achieve the aim of the thesis, an experimental approach was used by carrying out melt runs on Ti-6Al-4V plates focusing on aerospace requirements, and varying beam properties and acquiring probe signals for all beam settings. Extracted features from the probe signals have been used in classification of the electron beams to ensure these will produce welds within the tolerance limits specified by aerospace standards for quality assurance. The features vector was compiled following statistical analysis to find the significant beam characteristics. By analysing the performance of classifier for different combination of parameters of the features vector, the optimum classification rate of 89.8% was achieved by using the parameters derived from wavelet coefficients for different decomposition levels. This work showed that the use of wavelet analysis and classification using features vectors enabled identification of beams that would produce welds out-of-tolerance. Keywords: Electron beam welding, probe devices, electron beam characterisation, quality assurance, wavelet transform, features vector, linear discriminant classifier, weld profiles, weld defects.

Published Article<br>Higher education institutions find themselves on the brink of a completely transformed educational scene. However higher education institutions are also influenced by international trends in higher education and these influences impact on the roles of the educators and students. In pursuit of quality, academics and students must be continuously engaged in a process of finding opportunities for improving the teaching and learning process, the quality of the learning experience and the way it is delivered and assess. The focus in this paper will be on quality assurance of student learning, but with a special focus, on quality assessments as used in the module Public Human Resource Management III at the Central University of Technology Free State. The purpose of this article is to investigate to what extent a group of 87 third year students according to their own perceptions attach value to the assessment methods (selfassessments, assignment and formal test) associated with the critical outcomes of the Public Human Resource Management III Module.