New System for Environmental Management EvaluationTsuyoshi Kametani
2004 Asian Journal on Quality
doi: 10.1108/15982688200400003
In Japan, where ISO14001 certifications have passed the 10,000 mark, the need for environmental management has taken firm root among companies. However, in the small‐ and medium‐enterprise sector, and among tiny businesses, there are firms not obtaining ISO certification due to their concern about human resources and increased work load. On the other hand, among businesses that have already succeeded in gaining ISO certification, one does not sense any growth with regard to the continual improvement. Voices from certain quarters indicate there is a lack of incentive to keep on improving. With this background, we herewith present a new system to evaluate the level of environmental management in a company by means of a 5‐step system.
Service Quality Design through a Smark Use of Conjoint AnalysisStefano Barone; Alberto Lombardo
2004 Asian Journal on Quality
doi: 10.1108/15982688200400004
In the traditional use of conjoint analysis, in order to evaluate the relative importance of several elements composing a service, interviewed customers are asked to express their judgement about different scenarios (specific combinations of elements). In order to reduce the number of possible scenarios, design of experiments methodology is usually exploited. Previous experiences show that, even a limited number of proposed scenarios cause difficulty in answering for the interviewed customer if the scenarios differ for elements of very low interest to him/her. Consequently, a high rate of abandon of the interview has been observed. In this study it is assumed that a service can be decomposed in several improvable elements and/or enriched with new “optionals”. In both cases, what under study is assumed to be a set of dichotomous attributes. For each of these attributes, its marginal contribution to customer satisfaction has to be modelled and estimated. To obtain the required information, an opportune questionnaire is proposed to a sample of interviewed customers. An interviewing procedure consisting in a customer driven design of scenarios is followed, starting from the full‐optional scenario and eliminating one by one the less satisfying elements. for each interviewed customer, a ranking of attributes is so obtained. Then, by asking the interviewed customer to evaluate on a metric scale the scenarios he previously selected, a rating of attributes can also be obtained. A case study conducted in collaboration with a public transportation company is presented. Contrarily to previous experiences, the abandon rate proved extremely reduced.
A Hybrid Approach to Statistical Process ControlMassimiliano Giorgio; Michele Staiano
2004 Asian Journal on Quality
doi: 10.1108/15982688200400005
Successful implementation of statistical process control techniques requires for operational definitions and precise measurements. Nevertheless, very often analysts can dispose of process data available only by linguistic terms, that would be a waste to neglect just because of their intrinsic vagueness. Thus a hybrid approach, which integrates fuzzy set theory and common statistical tools, sounds useful in order to improve effectiveness of statistical process control in such a case. In this work, a fuzzy approach is adopted to manage linguistic information, and the use of a Chi‐squared control chart is proposed to monitor process performance.
The Compensation of Machine Vision Image DistortionYi‐Chin Chung; Yau‐Wen Hsu; Yu‐Tang Lin; Chih‐Hung Tsai
2004 Asian Journal on Quality
doi: 10.1108/15982688200400006
The measured values of a same object should remain constant regardless of the object’s position in the image. In other words, its measured values should not vary as its position in the image changes. However, lens’ image distortion heterogeneous light source, varied angle between the measuring apparatus and the object, and different surroundings where the testing is set up will all cause variation in the measurement of the object when the object’s position in the image changes. This research attempts to compensate the machine vision image distortion caused by the object’s position in the image by developing the compensation table. The compensation is accomplished by facilitating users to obtain the correcting object and serves the objective of improving the precision of measurement.
Critical Success Factors of Supplier Quality ManagementI‐Ki Yeung; Kwai‐Sang Chin
2004 Asian Journal on Quality
doi: 10.1108/15982688200400007
Supplier quality management (SQM) is considered as a proactive approach in the buyers’ perspective to seek for continuous supply quality improvement and collaborative ongoing alliance between buyers and suppliers. Therefore, it is important for the buyers to understand their circumstances for managing their suppliers, and thereby to search for an improved way to rectify managerial deficiencies, if any. This paper aims to identify the critical factors of SQM, and then propose a hierarchical framework which can facilitate the assessment of their SQM performance in the buyers’ perspective and also serve as a working tool for managing supply quality performance.