Search results

Quality 4.0 is essential to the Industry 4.0 framework, notably in the electronics sector. It evaluates product quality in real-time using automatic process controls, quality tools and procedures. The implementation of Quality 4.0 criteria in the electronics industry is the subject of this study’s investigation and analysis. In this study, nine Customer Requirements (CRs) and 18 Design Requirements (DRs) have been defined to adopt Quality 4.0, aiming to increase yield while reducing defects. This study has developed a Quality 4.0 framework for effective implementation, incorporating the People, Process and Technology categories.

Many CRs and DRs of Quality 4.0 exhibit interdependencies. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) considers interdependencies among the criteria at various levels. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) can capture the customer’s voice, which is particularly important in Quality 4.0. Therefore, in this research, we use an integrated ANP-QFD methodology for prioritizing DRs based on the customers' needs and preferences, ultimately leading to better product and service development.

According to the research findings, the most critical consumer criteria for Quality 4.0 in the electronics sector are automatic systems, connectivity, compliance and leadership. The Intelligent Internet of Things (IIOTs) has emerged as the most significant design requirement that enables effective control in production. It is observed that robotics process automation and a workforce aligned with Quality 4.0 also play crucial roles.

Existing literature does not include studies on identifying CRs and DRs for implementing Quality 4.0 in the electronics industry. To address this gap, we propose a framework to integrate real-time quality measures into the Industry 4.0 context, thereby facilitating the implementation of Quality 4.0 in the electronics industry. This study can provide valuable insights for industry practitioners to implement Quality 4.0 effectively in their organizations.

Studies in corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure were initially focused more on disclosure “Quantity” than “Quality” and while they have started to explore “Disclosure Quality”, their assessment mechanisms are found to be immature. Thus, while a number of papers have sought to assess the quality of CSR disclosure, this paper aims to suggest an approach tied closely to both expectations in assessing “quality” derived from the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (revised 2018) and the global reporting initiative. The outcome is to offer a best practice approach to assessing CSR disclosure quality.

In this paper, prior literature is reviewed, qualitative characteristics from the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (revised 2018) and globally recognised guidelines such as the GRI are reviewed. The framework for a “CSR disclosure quality index” as an assessment tool to assess CSR disclosure quality is developed from qualitative characteristics and criteria identified.

The proposed CSR disclosure quality index is developed in stages from the qualitative characteristics identified in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (revised 2018) and criteria identified from the guidelines discussed. A table was then developed linking the qualitative characteristics to criteria providing a Likert scale approach to assessing the disclosures made by companies to make an assessment of the quality of the companies’ reports. It is argued this provides a robust assessment, being a direct and comprehensive measure of disclosure quality.

As with most qualitative work, there are alternative approaches to establishing an index, but the authors believe this is an approach offering links (and, therefore, credibility) to globally recognised guidelines in the assessment of CSR disclosure quality. Future work could enhance the alignment of this index with the sustainable development goals (SDGs), building on the preliminary connections established in this study.

At a practical level this index offers an approach to reviewing the quality of CSR disclosures which could prove useful to policymakers and in the future development and expansion of this framework offering greater objectivity to assessments and justification for proposed improvement in reporting practice. Also, this index serves as a benchmarking tool for companies to meet the disclosure expectations of stakeholders.

This approach has the potential to substantially fulfil stakeholder expectations by addressing the growing demand for transparency in this area, while avoiding practices that could be perceived as superficial or misleading (greenwashing). Focusing on social issues enables stronger connections between companies and their stakeholders. Furthermore, the index helps companies link their CSR efforts with SDGs and show their commitment to long-term social value building in discussion of governance factors to show accountability expectations are being met.

This paper contributes to CSR disclosure quality literature and provides a reliable method of assessing the quality of CSR disclosures. Opportunities for further and broader developments can be envisaged while offering a credible and reliable approach.

The inherent variability on process times and demand are the factors that prevent the efficient application of lean philosophy in multi-project product development (PD) environments. Considering this variability, a hybrid push–pull project control system is developed, and value stream costing (VSC) analysis is performed to reflect the relation between project lead time, capacity and project cost. The assessment of the push/pull project control on lead time improvement and long-term savings on capacity have been aimed with the proposed complete design structure.

In a team-based structure, formed through clustering, push control techniques for planning tasks within cross-functional teams and pull control techniques for planning tasks between cross-functional teams are developed. The final step evaluates the proposed structure through VSC and long-term savings have been pointed out, especially in terms of freed-up capacity. For the validation of the proposed methodology, an office furniture manufacturing firm’s PD department has been considered and the performance of the hybrid system has been observed through simulation experiments and based on the simulation results, the lean system is evaluated by VSC.

The results of simulation experiments show a superior performance of the proposed hybrid push/pull project control mechanism under different settings of cycle time between projects or shortly project cycle time, dispatching rules within teams and variability levels. The results of the Box-Score (tool to apply VSC) indicate increased capacity in the long term to add extra projects during the planning period with the same project lead time and without additional cost.

Although extensive simulation experiments have been performed to quantify the effect of project control structure and positive results have been reported on lead time and cost, the proposed design structure has not been tested in all existing PD environments.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, the quantification of the effect of hybrid project control with VSC is the first attempt to be applied in lean PD projects.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which TQM has influenced the legal system in Australia, an area seldom investigated in the quality or legal literature.

Documentary and policy analysis of legislation, rules and rulemaking documentation based on a partial application of historical-policy analysis (HPA). Textual analysis was based on Dean and Bowen's (1994) definition of TQM and Vinni's (2007) review of new public management and Swiss (1992) “reformed TQM” concepts.

Australia's Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act of 2011 and supporting legal documents such as Guidance Notes include language reflective of TQM principles, providing evidence that present-day administrative law schemes include TQM practices and tools to undergird procedures of regulatory expectations (sometimes in the form of standards), monitoring and general operations. Oftentimes, it is the supporting legal documentation where TQM practices are found and operationalized.

This is a proof-of-concept research study to determine the feasibility to identify TQM concepts within the existing language of legal statutes and supporting regulatory documentation. As such this study worked out the preliminary research challenges in performing this type of analysis.

Understanding TQM's impact on legal systems expands the system's perspective of organizations that do not always factor in the influence government policy has on organizational behaviours and outlooks. More specifically, understanding TQM's influence sheds insight on regulatory requirements imposed on a sector and the normative aspects of regulatory compliance that impact the operations and strategic planning of organizations.

The article provides an example of how legal administrative rulemaking influences organizational operational and strategic activities to remain viable in the organization's business or industrial sector.

There are few research papers or literature reviews pertaining to the subject of TQM concepts embedded in laws and regulations, most of which date from the 1980s through early 2000s.

This study aims to investigate four internal (organisational structure, quality of information technology, business strategy and market orientation) and two external (competition intensity and perceived environmental uncertainty) contextual factors affecting the use of production planning and control accounting techniques (PPC), as well as the impact of PPC usage on organisational competitiveness.

Seven major PPC techniques were investigated, namely: attribute costing, lifecycle costing, quality costing, target costing, value-chain costing, activity-based costing and activity-based management. By deploying a multi-informant strategy, a structured questionnaire was used to gather survey data from 129 senior accounting, finance and production personnel of publicly quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria.

The results, using structural equation modelling, show that market orientation is the strongest determinant of PPC usage. The inability of competition intensity and perceived environmental uncertainty to notably affect PPC usage suggests that external environmental pressure to use PPC is weak. Although PPC can engender organisational competitiveness, their interactive usage yields optimal results.

The study contributes to knowledge by: (i) presenting evidence that although PPC techniques can engender organisational competitiveness, it is their interactive usage that yields optimal results; (ii) empirically demonstrating that contextual factors influence PPC usage in line with the contingency theory; and (iii) validating the diffusion of innovation theory that organisations will typically deploy PPC techniques because of their relative advantage of improving organisational competitiveness.

Quality management practitioners have yet to cease the potential of digitalisation. Furthermore, there is a lack of tools such as frameworks guiding practitioners in the digital transformation of their organisations. The purpose of this study is to provide a framework to guide quality practitioners with the implementation of digitalisation in their existing practices.

A review of literature assessed how quality management and digitalisation have been integrated. Findings from the literature review highlighted the success of the integration of Lean manufacturing with digitalisation. A comprehensive list of Lean Six Sigma tools were then reviewed in terms of their effectiveness and relevance for the hybrid digitisation approach to process improvement (HyDAPI) framework.

The implementation of the proposed HyDAPI framework in an industrial case study led to increased efficiency, reduction of waste, standardised work, mistake proofing and the ability to root cause non-conformance products.

The activities and tools in the HyDAPI framework are not inclusive of all techniques from Lean Six Sigma.

The HyDAPI framework is a flexible guide for quality practitioners to digitalise key information from manufacturing processes. The framework allows organisations to select the appropriate tools as needed. This is required because of the varying and complex nature of organisation processes and the challenge of adapting to the continually evolving Industry 4.0.

This research proposes the HyDAPI framework as a flexible and adaptable approach for quality management practitioners to implement digitalisation. This was developed because of the gap in research regarding the lack of procedures guiding organisations in their digital transition to Industry 4.0.

Technological advancements have benefited businesses all over the world in how they set up production lines, create new products/services and trade goods. Multinational corporations can communicate instantly with their distant operations by utilizing information technology tools and communication networks. Businesses have taken a significant shift and new factors have emerged which affect company's competitiveness. In case of resorting to an outsourcing option, a comprehensive approach for valuing the essential criteria is often missing. While specifically focusing on the decisions that have a huge impact on company's performance, it is crucial to pay close attention to the ways of selecting suppliers. The purpose of research is to choose the optimal manufacturing alternative from a set of possibilities.

The current research utilizes the Delphi technique for collection of vital criteria such as “quality”, “cost”, “delivery”, “warranties and claims”, “supplier profile”, “relationship and communication” and their respective sub-criteria. The purpose of research is to choose the optimal manufacturing alternative from a set of possibilities. In this regard, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique is employed.

The current research enlightens that outsourcing can yield promising beneficial results. The results highlighted that in Hi-tech public sector organizations, international alternative is found best in almost all criteria especially in vital criteria such as “Quality”, “Cost”, “Delivery”, “Supplier Profile,” etc. Similarly, in case the outsourcing is done to a Domestic alternative, still the Domestic alternative is found effective in comparison to in-house manufacturing setups. The research showed unexpected results. Because previously it was assumed that in-house manufacturing would be more beneficial. However, the current findings support the “NASA” strategy which moved toward outsourcing to private sector.

Limitations of the proposed methodology also produce opportunities for further exploration of the topic. One key limitation of the research described in this study is that the parameters and their sub-parameters interdependency were not taken under consideration. This means that quality and cost are not dependent upon each other. However, in reality quality and cost are interlinked. This means if quality is increased, cost is also increased. Similarly, for products having zero percent of re-claim, the product would have to be manufactured with high quality.

The study is advantageous for both suppliers and purchasers, in any type of businesses where decision-making problem are under consideration. This model aids suppliers in revealing, how they can expand their profile, by focusing on the current research's selection criteria. In this way alternatives profile can now be perfected. Moreover, buyers can now rank suppliers on their quality management, financial status and other essential factors in order to conduct purchasing decisions. For the decision maker, the results illustrate which critical factors to evaluate when screening suppliers by applying current model techniques.

It is obvious that nearly almost every industry is forced to look for alternatives for all of its operations if outsourcing is an option. The study's findings have major benefits for all industries with an important role in manufacturing and supply chain operations. These objectives will serve the industries well and they will be able to prioritize their alternative selection criteria based on their operations. The findings of this study can assist any organization in their selection of vendors by providing a more detailed explanation of the impact that various criteria have on the decision-making process.

To the best of authors' knowledge, no previous study has used two approaches (AHP and Delphi study) to propose a model for making manufacturing decisions with domestic, in house and international alternatives in Hi-tech public sector organizations. The model not only benefits the manufacturers for choosing suitable suppliers but also aids suppliers to build their profile in an improved fashion by focusing on the vital attributes. This research benefits managers to improve their ability to make effective purchasing decisions, and also opens new avenues for researchers to further explore such findings in other areas as well.

Three-dimensional (3D) casting means using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques to print the mould for casting the cast tool. The printed mould, however, should be checked for its dimensional accuracy. 3D scanning can be used for the same. The purpose of this study is to combine the different AM techniques for 3D casting with 3D scanning to produce parts with close tolerance for preparing electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes.

The four processes, namely, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modelling and vacuum casting, are used to print the casting mould. The mould is designed in two halves, assembled to form a complete mould. The mould is 3D scanned in two stages: before and after using it as a casting mould. The mould's average and maximum dimensional deviations are calculated using 3D-scanned results. The eutectic Sn-Bi alloy is cast in the mould. The surface roughness of the mould and the cast tool are measured.

The cast tool is selected from the four processes in terms of dimensional accuracy and surface finish. The same is electroplated with copper. The microstructure of the cast tool (low-melting-point alloy) and deposited copper is analysed using a scanning electron microscope. Energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques are used to verify the composition of the cast and coated alloy. The electroplated tool is finally tested on the EDM setup. The material removal rate and tool wear are measured. The performance is compared with a solid copper tool. The free-form customised EDM mould is also prepared, and the profile is cast out. The same is tested on the EDM. Thus, the developed path can be successfully used for rapid tooling applications.

The eutectic composition of Sn-Bi is cast in the 3D-printed mould using different AM techniques combined with 3D scanning quality to check its feasibility as an EDM electrode, which is a novel work and has not been done previously.

In light of the recent changes in the internal audit (IA) landscape, the role of auditors has undergone a significant transformation. This paper aims to investigate the effects of applying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) techniques on the effectiveness and efficiency of IA.

The study used a quantitative approach, surveying Iranian internal auditors with a sample size of 384 participants. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The analyses demonstrate a significant association between LSS application and IA effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, an exploratory analysis indicates that the application of LSS techniques by less experienced internal auditors had a reverse effect on IA function quality as a component of IA competency. However, IA motivation factors, including education and position, did not mediate the impact of LSS on IA effectiveness and efficiency.

This study was conducted with Iranian internal auditors, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other countries. However, the primary academic implication of this research lies in its novel perspective on emphasizing the concept of continuous improvement in IA through the use of LSS techniques. By focusing on the need for internal auditors to add value to the business in new ways, this research contributes to the literature on IA quality.

This study has significant implications for the effective management of IA departments. By promoting the application of LSS techniques in IA, lean auditing is enhanced, and IA can create value by improving the quality of its functions. Moreover, IA regulators can benefit from this study as it emphasizes providing guidance and training on LSS techniques to enhance IA skills.

This research is pioneering in applying LSS methodology to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of internal auditing. It also considers the integration of lean thinking into current audit practices, making it unique and valuable in internal auditing research.

Quality has always been a competitive advantage for every organisation that strives for customer satisfaction when offering services or products. Technological advancements during the industrial revolutions have enabled organisations to grub improvement and transition opportunities into a new paradigm in operating business processes. In light of the fourth industrial revolution (FIR), in which Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) leveraged its technologies, this study establishes the need for service organisations to transition to Q4.0. It unveils the awareness level within the organisation, the existing challenges and the benefits of transitioning to Q4.0.

The data for this study was acquired through a survey methodology; it involved qualitative and quantitative methodologies and a mix of primary and secondary sources. The challenges and benefits regarding Q4.0 adoption were obtained from the relevant literature and used as a base of assessment in the selected service organisations. Minitab version 20 and SPSS 21.0 software packages analysed the gathered data.

The study found a high level of awareness regarding Q4.0 among the selected service organisations. Despite the high level of awareness, it was revealed that neither of the Q4.0-related technologies have been implemented nor in the process within the selected service industries. This is due to numerous challenges, including inadequate high-speed internet, a high cost of investment, inadequate skilled personnel and inadequate scepticalness to the implementation outcomes. Despite these challenges, leveraged technologies, potential benefits and Q4.0 awareness all demonstrate the need for Q4.0.

The study introduces the advent of the FIR and the disruptive nature of the associated technologies. It also unveils the potential of the contemporary technologies of the FIR that could elevate quality service provision to increase their competitiveness. Moreover, it also assists service organisations in planning and properly allocating their resources to ensure all the challenges are addressed in the Q4.0 adoption process. The study is limited in that it merely considers service organisations in Tanzania without categorising what type of service organisations were considered, i.e. banking, telecommunications, health, etc. thus generalising the findings.

Much has been discussed in the literature regarding Q4.0 in manufacturing organisations, focusing less on service organisations. This study uniquely assessed the need to transition to Q4.0 for service organisations, which has yet to be covered in the literature.