Sergio Dinis Sousa

University of Minho · Departamento de Produção e Sistemas (DPS)

Inspection strategy (IS) is a key component impacting quality costs. Although often considered an inflexible output of initial quality plans, it may require revisions given the dynamic quality situation of the manufacturing system. It is from this background that the present study aims to model and compare different IS based on the cost of quality...

The goal associated with quality costs management, is to reduce them, because they can make up a significant proportion of a company’s overall expenses, but the majority of Portuguese companies from the textile industry sector do not use quality cost management systems. Additionally, there is a scarcity of sectorial case studies on this topic. Thus...

Process quality planning should establish a Quality Control Plan (QCP) to achieve the desired quality level with minimum Cost of Quality (CoQ). This plan establishes the critical quality variables, control stations in the process, and control method at each control station. The purpose of this study is to, through a simulation approach, determine a...

Considering the existing amount of work on quality control in manufacturing companies, this work analyses its applicability to remanufacturing systems. After reviewing different quality control methods, we describe the distinguishing features of remanufacturing compared to manufacturing systems, such as increased variability of key remanufacturing...

The efficient use of lean tools and techniques leads to the reduction of non-value-added activities in production systems. Continuous Improvement (CI) efforts in a workshop format, a.k.a. Kaizen Event (KE), is one of these lean tools. Measuring the gain from KEs has always been a challenge and as a result, firms spend much effort fixing issues that...

Introduction-Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used in many organizations to facilitate decisions and actions. A KPI life cycle is composed of four phases: design, implementation, use, and review. In the review phase, indicators may eventually be deleted, included, or replaced. The literature lacks analyses of the real improvement caused by the...

Organizations internally seek to develop adaptation and resilience processes or adaptation mechanisms to cope with drastic changes in the environment in order to survive. The changes in the environment affect the perception of product and service quality by the consumer, which are related to customer satisfaction. The purpose of this work is to ide...

- Taguchi's method allows to reduce the number of experiments from 768 to 96. - Main-effect plots and ANOVA analysis allow to determine the process variables that optimize the heat transfer performance over the impinging plate. - The optimized configuration obtained by Taguchi's method is S = 3D, H = 2D for a staggered configuration, and a higher R...

This paper aims to study the use of performance indicators (PIs) by business managers in the civil construction sector in a region that encompasses eight districts located in the north of Portugal. Through the literature review, it was possible to gather a list of twenty potential PIs used in this sector. Subsequently, a questionnaire was applied t...

This paper consists of an exploratory literature review whose main research objectives were the identification of the service quality factors that are considered more important in the construction sector, the service quality models that are used to measure quality, and how are they related to success factors. The research methodology is documental...

Purpose The general objective of this research was to identify the practices of the mass production industries, on the decisions related to the detection of defective products and to identify relevant criteria, actions, effects and variables to be used in a decision-making model. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was developed and...

Purpose This paper proposes a decision support model that can be used to help decide the destination of defective products, for mass production industries. The objective of this model is to reduce the cost of the defect, and consequently reduce the total quality costs. Design/methodology/approach The decision model was developed based on the theor...

The Civil Construction Industry is considered dangerous due to its dynamic nature. Occupational safety and health management systems establish, implement and maintain processes for monitoring, measuring, analyzing and evaluating safety performance. Most of the current proactive monitoring practices rely on manual efforts that, not only require a lo...

A dynamic programming model for designing a quality control plan in a manufacturing process

This paper aims to improve the performance of Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) used in asbestos detection processes in a business context. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) were studied, identifying the critical failure modes, proposing risk reduction measures and changing maintenance practices based on the Reliability Centered Maint...

A case study is presented in a food and beverage company, during the transfer of a production plant location. To address the problems of loss of industrial technicians and closing emerging gaps in knowledge of tasks' execution to be performed by new technicians, the company has implemented mitigation actions: work characterization, the creation of...

The construction process is so dependent on supply chain partners that selecting the best ones has an impact on its performance. The literature on supplier selection in the construction industry is little explored and its proposals are complex using techniques that industry managers are unfamiliar. This work's purpose was to study a construction or...

In manufacturing companies, quality control plans are essential to fulfill quality requirements and have associated quality appraisal and failure costs. However, there are barriers to the determination of quality costs, limiting the ability of companies to establish quality control plans at the lowest cost and, consequently, becoming more competiti...

In manufacturing companies, quality control plans are essential to fulfil quality requirements and can be expressed by quality appraisal and failure costs. However, there are barriers to the determination of quality costs, limiting the ability of companies to establish quality control plans at the lowest cost and consequently becoming more competit...

Jet impingement is widely implemented in a variety of engineering applications and industrial processes where high average heat transfer coefficients and the uniformity of the heat transfer over the impinging surface are required to enhance the process and to avoid local hot (or cold) spots. Multiple jet impingement involves several parameters that...

In recent decades, research has been done to better assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a production process. Therefore, some methods like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) or Overall Line Effectiveness (OLE) were proposed, however, none of the analysed methods has been able to illustrate accurate results in terms of adherence to a produ...

The control of critical to quality (CTQ) parameters can be done in a given process or in a downstream process. Companies must decide which CTQ parameters will be controlled, in which process, and define the control method: statistical process control (SPC) or 100% inspection. However, operational constraints can influence its definition. Overall, t...

Process quality planning should establish the quality control plan to achieve the desired quality level with the minimum quality cost (appraisal and failure costs) for the final product. This plan sets out the critical quality variables, the control stations in the process, and the control method at each control station. The quality costs associate...

In recent decades, research has been done to better assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a production process. Therefore, some methods like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) or Overall Line Effectiveness (OLE) were proposed, however, none of the analysed methods has been able to illustrate accurate results in terms of adherence to a produ...

Process quality planning should establish the quality control plan to achieve the desired quality level with the minimum quality cost (appraisal and failure costs) for the final product. This plan sets out the critical quality variables, the control stations in the process, and the control method at each control station. The quality costs associate...

In recent decades, research has been done to better assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a production process. Therefore, some methods like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) or Overall Line Effectiveness (OLE) were proposed, however, none of the analysed methods has been able to illustrate accurate results in terms of adherence to a produ...

Continuous improvement or more generally improvement is a necessity for companies in a dynamic context. The effectiveness and efficiency of such improvement can foster company sustainability, particularly if it exhibits characteristics of a learning organisation. This paper shows a methodology to develop organisational learning through the use of o...

Before mass production of individual components industries may assess its capability to produce it according to specifications. This capability assessment is a common requirement in the automotive sector. This work shows a case study, providing an in-depth analysis, on a critical component and finds evidence of process degradation over two years of...

Developing and implementing dashboards is common in large companies. However, these practices should be adapted to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), since they differ in several characteristics, including at information system level. This paper proposes a procedure to develop dashboards for SMEs aimed at improving the performance of productive e...

The textile sector in Portugal has a relevant economic and social importance. In this sector, dyeing and finishing are a significant part of the value chain of a textile product and the majority of companies are SMEs, lacking specialized human resources. Most of these companies have human and technological resources necessary for a smooth operation...

This work presents a case study on the application of quality tools to improve product quality. One component was selected as object study because it presented higher percentage of nonconformities and was increasing over time. Before mass production, at pre-production, Statistical Process Control (SPC) was performed and it was concluded that the pr...

This work presents an industrial case study focused on improving the quality of production processes, using lean production tools. The analysis of the initial situation was done using cause-effect diagrams, Pareto's analysis, study of setup times and performance indicators, allowing identifying the main problems, such as high setup times, low avail...

This paper presents a design procedure to develop dashboards to support and improve the performance of productive equipment and processes, to implement at the shop floor level. The procedure can be applied by other industries with the same objective, giving its simplicity and comprehensiveness. The dashboard to be designed allows an interactive per...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology to represent the uncertainty generated in performance measures (PMs) during the operational step or “use step” of the performance measurement process (PMP). The different steps of the methodology are described and exemplified through an application example. Design/methodology/approach A...

The competitive market that companies are facing nowadays leads them to introduce frequently new products and, therefore, producing small series. This dynamic environment requires frequent changes in production lines and requires flexibility in the processes, which can cause reductions in the level of quality and productivity. This paper presents a...

The implementation of international quality management standards and of food safety management systems (FSMS) has significantly increased worldwide. The edition of ISO 9001:2015 brought new concepts and approach to this International Standard, like consideration of organizational context and key stakeholders, risk based thinking, more emphasis on p...

Organizations need to make decisions about risk acceptance, in order to decide about the need of risk-reducing measures. In this process, the personal judgments of Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) practitioners have a great importance. If on one hand they have the technical knowledge about risk, on the other hand the decisions can be dependent on...

The risk of not achieving process outcomes in key processes should be identified and reduced to achieve better results. The identification of risks involves defining the possible events that compromises the achievement of process outcomes and also the consequences of the occurrence of these events. This paper proposes a methodology to minimize oper...

The process of performance measurement encompasses the activities of designing, data collection and analysis. The lack of quality of performance measures (PMs) may influence decision-making. Since the process of performance measurement involves generally several actors, the decision-maker may not be aware of the level of uncertainty associated with...

Companies from the motorcycles components branch are dealing with a dynamic environment, resulting from the introduction of new products and the increase of market demand. This dynamic environment requires frequent changes in production lines and requires flexibility in the processes, which can cause reductions in the level of quality and productiv...

In this paper, we present Social Network-based Education (SNE) and Learning Factory (LF) as emergent forms of education and training, including their application for the field of Quality Management. This novel learning method has some features of education 3.0 paradigm since participants have freedom to choose what, how and when to learn, as well w...

In this work, the performance measurement process is studied to quantify the uncertainty induced in the resulting performance measure (PM). To that end, the causes of uncertainty are identified, analysing the activities undertaken in the three following stages of the performance measurement process: design and implementation, data collection and re...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a new methodology to be used by small and medium enterprises to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and areas for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the main causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a methodology tha...

Este artigo propõe uma nova metodologia para Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PME), destinada a caracterizar o seu desempenho na gestão da qualidade, destacando pontos fracos e áreas de melhoria. A metodologia visa identificar as principais causas dos problemas de qualidade e ajuda a estabelecer prioridades na definição de iniciativas de melhoria. Trata...

Organizations need constantly to take decisions about risk. In this process, Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) practitioners' judgments have a great importance. If on one hand they have the technical knowledge about risk, on the other hand the decisions can be dependent on their level of risk acceptance. In view of this, this paper analyzes the vi...

The process of performance measurement encompasses the activities required for data collection (use stage), which was previously designed (design stage) and contribute to decision-making after data analysis (analysis stage). The lack of quality of performance measures (PMs) may influence decision-making. Since the process of performance measurement...

Lean logistics and continuous improvement methodologies, such as Six Sigma, are key subjects to reduce non added value activities and improve intrinsic processes in the supply chain of an organisation. This work explores, trough a case study in a company that manufactures multimedia car devices, Lean Six Sigma application in the internal logistics...

The narrow and probabilistic, ergodic approach to risk, to date, has potentially not fully understood or incorporated the dynamical synthetic ecology in which our systems actually operate. A dynamic synthetic ecology made even more complex and potentially uncertain and unstable through the degrees of socio-info/techno connectivity we now enjoy comp...

In this paper, the graph theory is used to quantify the uncertainty generated in performance measures during the process of performance measurement. A graph is developed considering all the sources of uncertainty present in this process and their relationship. The permanent function of the matrix associated with the graph is used as the basis for d...

This paper presents an approach, based on propositional satisfiability (SAT), for the resource constrained project scheduling problem with general precedence relations. This approach combines propositional satisfiability formulations with a bisection method, in order to achieve an optimal solution. The empirical results suggest that when the optima...

Organizations need to improve their processes to continually achieve customer satisfaction and, to do that in an effective and efficient way, should use quality tools. The main objective of this research project is to improve the level of quality through the use of quality tools in a company in the installation phase. The PDCA cycle is applied as a...

Lean logistics and continuous improvement methodologies, such as Six Sigma, are key subjects to reduce non added value activities and improve intrinsic processes in the supply chain of an organisation. The aim of this work is to identify the variables influencing the quality and performance of raw material supply process throughout a case stud...

Organizations need to improve their processes to continually achieve customer satisfaction and, to do that in an effective and efficient way, should use quality tools. The main objective of this research project is to improve the level of quality through the use of quality tools in a company in the installation phase. The PDCA cycle is applied as a...

Data quality is a multi-dimensional concept and this research will explore its impact in performance measurement systems (PMSs). Despite the large numbers of publications on the design of PMSs and the definition of critical success factors to develop Performance Measures (PMs), from the data user perspective there are possibilities of finding data...

Data quality issues of performance measures in the area of Safety and Health at Work are explored based on a set of uncertainty components previously proposed. A case study protocol is developed to ascertain the quality of such performance measures. Results provided by three case studies show that respondents have the perception that the performanc...

This work main objective is to adapt and apply the three realities approach (Gemba, Genbutsu, and Genjitsu) to the analysis of field quality problems in a motorcycle industry and gain advantage with regard to the quality of the product on the market (quality management) and transfer to partners financial responsibilities regarding the origins of th...

Currently, companies are in increasingly competitive environment in which customers' satisfaction and loyalty are vital factors in the success of any organisation. This requires the use of continuous improvement methodologies, such as Six Sigma, which enable companies to improve customer satisfaction and meet their expectations. This paper describe...

This article presents the results of a study conducted in a footwear SME. The study aimed to characterize the state of quality in the company highlighting weaknesses and areas for improvement. The methodology employed makes use of a set of tools for data collection and analysis such as interviews, flowcharts, process analysis diagrams, defects regi...

This article proposes a new methodology to be used by SMEs (Small and Medium enterprises) to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and area for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the principal causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a self-assessment methodology that...

In an increasingly competitive market, companies have the need to seek and implement best practices to continuously improve their processes. Recently, several quality management tools and quality improvement methodologies have emerged in literature. However, there is a gap between theory and practice. This study aims to assess to what extent the me...

In an increasingly competitive market, companies have the need to seek and implement best practices to continuously improve their processes. Recently, several quality management tools and quality improvement methodologies have emerged in literature. However, there is a gap between theory and practice. This study aims to assess to what extent the me...

A gestão das organizações torna-se cada vez mais um desafio, face às exigências da sociedade, das legislações, dos stakeholders, da sazonalidade da economia, fazendo mais complexas as respostas estratégicas e apontando para a integração dos subsistemas de gestão. Objetiva-se apresentar a validação do modelo SIGA integrado pelos sistemas de gestão d...

Decision making processes are based on performance measures that are compared with other performance measures values or with targets. Generally, the performance measure is only a number which do not consider the uncertainty associated with obtaining it such as measurement errors, precision and accuracy of measurement tools and subjective judgment....

Keywords: performance measure(s); performance measurement system; measurement system analysis, data quality, balanced scorecard. INTRODUCTION Performance measurement systems (PMSs) are receiving increasing attention from academics and practitioners particularly after the development of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) [1], and many PMSs are available n...

The after-sales maintenance service can represent a significant part of costs and incomes for some companies, Therefore, it is important for the company maintaining their equipments to full operating efficiency, thus avoiding any unscheduled actions in order to reduce costs and avoid disruptions to their clients and preserving an image of quality a...

This study focus on the characterization of PMs’ uncertainty in existing PMS to help the decision making process. How do organisations reflect the uncertainty of their systems in the PMs relevant to the decision making process? The research methodology to characterise PM will comprise both deductive and inductive stages. It starts with a literat...

An investigation was made to identify the variables influencing the customer complaints management process throughout a case study in the automotive industry. The process follows the 8D methodology to satisfy customer complaints; i.e. to solve problems, reduce the overall costs of quality and to improve customer satisfaction. This work also describ...

Quality gurus all recognise the importance of measurement to track progress and ensure quality improvement according to an accepted plan. They emphasise the use of local measures for evaluating performance because of the ease with which a standard can be established. To measure quality, all areas of an organisation and its environment must be addre...

This work studies the use of Performance Measures (PMs) in high uncertainty contexts. It focuses particularly in the Balanced Scorecard because it is the basis of many widely used performance measurement systems (PMSs). The relevance of uncertainty of data is provided with examples of customer performance measures. The Fuzzy Set Theory is used for...

There are different definitions of continuous improvement (CI) and related terms such as continual improvement or continuous innovation. The Deming Cycle and Kaizen are amongst the most discussed approaches to implement CI in organisations. Companies that have a quality management system (QMS) certified according to ISO 9001:2000 requirements, are,...

The aim was to empirically validate a strategy for implementing various quality measurement tools as part of a continuous improvement programme in independent small and medium enterprises (SMEs). To that end, a case study protocol was defined. A framework to facilitate the use of a performance measurement system (PMS) tailored to SMEs, and based on...

Purpose To determine the current state of knowledge related to performance measures and their degree of implementation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in England. Design/methodology/approach The paper starts with a literature review and then goes on to discuss the methodology used. The survey is briefly presented together with the analysis...

This paper describes a survey that was undertaken at the initial stage of a research project looking at performance measures and quality tools. Its objective was to determine the level of knowledge of performance measures and their degree of implementation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal. It also addressed the level of use of qua...

Tese de mestrado. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Área de especialização de Sistemas). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 1998